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Yesterday we brought you John Hollon's overall assessment of what he regarded as a very uplifting HR Tech 22.

But TLNT regular Brett Farmiloe was also there - and he picked up on the far less cheery fact that employers are increasingly using (and talking about using) technology to monitor their staff - including counting employee keystrokes to determine productivity and compensation. This was especially-so, he observed, due to the mass rise of remote working.

So is the world of work really ready for such intrusive interventions?

To find out TLNT asked Farmiloe to canvass delegates at the show for their views on this.

Here are seven perspectives gleaned about employee productivity metrics vs employee morale:

Productivity should be based on deliverables not on presence

There may be a place for tracking software

Employee productivity is not measured in keystrokes

Productivity does not have to mean burnout

Build trust and empathy with your employees rather than micro-managing

Today's organizations reap the culture they sow

Low employee morale is killing employee productivity

Productivity should be based on deliverables not on presence

"Are employee productivity metrics killing employee morale? Absolutely! To feel psychologically safe, and feel valued and respected, requires trust. How can an employee feel like they are valued when their boss insists on measuring how much they are typing in a day? I believe productivity should be based on deliverables - not on presence. It's ridiculous that employers across the country are requiring their teams to be active at all times on their messaging apps or respond immediately to test emails to confirm attendance. I've even heard of some companies requiring their employees to be on camera for the full eight-hour day - just so managers can make sure their working from home, chained to their desk. Would you see positive morale in a situation like that? I know I wouldn't. In a competitive talent market, don't be the company that treats their employees like children in a Big Brother-like dystopia." - Eric Mochnacz, senior HR consultant, Red Clover

There may be a place for tracking software

"Personally, I've had quite a few applicants tell me that they actually enjoy being tracked at work. If you're a quiet or introverted person, you might be relieved to no longer have to toot your own horn, so to speak. Instead, your work speaks for itself. Recently, I spoke to a female applicant who felt she'd been passed over for promotions due to her gender. After her company started tracking their activity, management took a new interest in her, and she was finally offered the role she'd coveted. In her case, tracking software eliminated bias from the system." - Linn Atiyeh, founder and CEO, Bemana

Employee productivity is not measured in keystrokes

"Employee productivity metrics are absolutely killing employee morale. I do not believe that you can count employee "keystrokes" to determine productivity and compensation. An employee's productivity cannot be counted by just their "keystrokes" as they can still be working if they are talking to another employee or customer. They can also be using the telephone or calculator. Employees also bounce ideas off each other in the office or on the telephone which cannot be counted." - Lindsey Hight HR professional, Sporting Smiles

Productivity does not have to mean burnout

"When productivity and metrics come together, some might picture endless overwork, hustling cultures and increased stress levels. In some organizations, this is very much the case - that to achieve more productivity, our health and satisfaction in our work must suffer. But this is not how it's supposed to be. Smarter organizations carefully balance productivity and employee wellness and joy. This is because workloads and performance are measured based on output and the quality of people's work rather than how many hours everyone clocks each day. Team members will thrive in a flexible environment that promotes breaks and deep work time. This is when staff feel they can look after their health and perform to a high standard." - Shauna Moran, founder, Operate Remote

Build trust and empathy with your employees rather than micro-managing

"Knowledge work cannot be monitored like a production line. Keystrokes do not mean the output the employee is producing is worthwhile. Employees will always game a system they feel is unfair. That's why sales for 'mouse jigglers' are rising sold rapidly. You'd do far better building trust and empathy with your employees - by investing in their development and optimizing the work they do for the skills they have and are interested in building. This, of course, requires a future-focused coach/leader mindset, not a micromanaging, transactional management mindset. If morale is being killed, the chances are management needs to look in the mirror and consider what skills they need to improve." - Nola Simon, hybrid & remote work futurist, Nola Simon Advisory

Today's organizations reap the culture they sow

"As a consultant, I work with a variety of organizations: remote-First; hybrid and on-site. I recently encountered a remote-first organization that (1) counts hours worked as productivity (managers' report working 12-15 hours/day), and (2) runs the organization as a factory (with firm productivity metrics), for front-line employees. But guess what? Morale is low, engagement is low. Participation in "opt-in" professional development is less than 10% because there's concern that attendance will negatively impact their "metrics." Turnover is one of the highest I've seen in any industry. This environment is extreme but not unusual today. Hire adults, compensate fairly, help people find/build meaning and purpose in their role, and offer (and encourage), opportunities for growth and development. Most people want to do their best every day and absolutely can if organizations extend trust and provide people with the tools and resources to do so." - Elizabeth Boyd, workplace experience consultant, TalentLab.Live

Low employee morale is killing employee productivity

"Too many companies say they care about their culture, but don't actually support their people. And that's where the culture begins - with people. Culture is how you treat your people, how you engage with your people, how you nurture your people, and what you offer them as a benefit to deliver their best work with confidence, clarity, and a sense of pride. When your people win, everyone wins." - Wendy Ellin, president, The 25th Hour, Inc.

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HR Tech '22 (Take 2): People data is thriving, but is employee morale dying? - TLNT

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Yesterday we brought you John Hollon's overall assessment of what he regarded as a very uplifting HR Tech 22. But TLNT regular Brett Farmiloe was also there - and he picked up on the far less cheery fact that employers are increasingly using (and talking about using) technology to monitor their staff - including counting...

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To help you take the right steps to change behaviors in your life that bother you, we asked coaches, people managers, and business leaders this question for their best insights

From identifying your cue-routine-habit scheme to finding proper help, there are several tips that may help you correct negative or unhealthy behaviors in your life to set you on a positive path of growth.

Here are nine tips these leaders follow to change their behaviors they are unhappy with:

Identify Your Cue-Routine-Habit Scheme

Take the Step to Seek Help

Define the Identity You Aspire for

Ask and Respond to Key Questions

Establish and Stay Within Healthy Boundaries

Change Your Thoughts

Find an Accountability Partner

Make the Desired Behavior Easier Than the Undesirable

Find the Proper Help

Identify Your Cue-Routine-Habit Scheme

Most of our behaviors are manifestations of habits, which in turn are governed by cues and rewards. In order to change your behavior, you need first to identify what cue is causing you to perform the routine activity and what you treat as a reward for doing it. Such self-awareness is a crucial step in decomposing our behaviors into prime factors. Changing only one step in a "cue-routine-habit" scheme is way easier than overhauling your behavior completely.

Michal Jonca, Outreach Specialist, PhotoAiD

Take the Step to Seek Help

Sun Tzu said that to conquer others is easy, but conquering yourself is almost impossible. The pen is mightier than the sword: cut to the heart of the matter. Why are you behaving badly? What is the behavior giving you that you think you need? What do you need to replace it with? Take alcohol. Do you need confidence? There's a reason alcohol is called Dutch courage. Is it to sleep? Maybe you just like the taste and to have self control? Write your feelings about how your mistake makes you feel.

Are you truly motivated to change? Use your head. How will you behave differently?
Einstein is quoted as saying that doing the same thing again and again expecting a different result is insane. For your well-being, you need to do something different. Make decisions. You may need outside help, and accountability. You may need deeper insight into a food or mineral analysis deficiency or a microbiome dysfunction which is impairing your ability to change. Others can help you.

Dr Ben Gibson, Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner and Award winning pharmacist, Awesome We Can Do It Better Together

Define the Identity You Aspire for

Try using identity as a motivator. According to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, the key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first. Here are some examples: Want to become a content creator? Become the type of person who creates and shares 1 new content daily. Want to become an effective networker? Become the type of person who meets and connects with 3 new people weekly. Defining the identity you aspire for is at the core of maintaining a new habit and changing your behaviors.

Leang Chung, Founder, CEO, Pelora Stack

Ask and Respond to Key Questions

I discovered that the only way to change behaviors that I am unhappy with is to constantly adhere to specific tasks by outlining my everyday habits. I was motivated not by an inspirational quote or a benevolent cause that drove my motivation. I was rather followed by a very intentionally designed question that affected every single decision I made. The question was, "Will this help me to change my behavior?"

When I was deciding whether or not to go to that 5 am workout: "Will this make me fitter?" When I was choosing between french fries or groats: "Will this make me fitter?" When you are working toward changing your own behaviors, discipline is of utmost importance. I found that the best way to create this unwavering sense of discipline is to ask yourself incessantly, "Will this help me to change my behavior?" If the answer is no, then you know it's not the right choice. But, if the answer is yes, then break out that paddle and start changing behaviors you are not happy with.

Tomasz Bartczak, Marketing Specialist, PhotoAiD

Establish and Stay Within Healthy Boundaries

Living life away from any limitations and rules may seem fun, but it drags your self-respect to the ground. Being aware of your bad traits is the first step in breaking its cycle. Establishing boundaries is one of the keys to breaking unhealthy habits and behaviors. Boundaries teach you how to put yourself first in various ways and approaches. As the saying goes, respect begets respect. It is a two-way street in creating a connection with other people. Boundaries create a better relationship with yourself and a healthier relationship with others.

Laura Martinez, Consultant and Content Writer, PersonalityMax

Change Your Thoughts

If you want to change your behavior, start with your thoughts. Your thoughts directly affect your actions and your reactions to the world around you. If you become more aware of your thought patterns, you can change both your emotions and behavior. Mindfulness practice can help. When you catch yourself thinking something negative, picture a stop sign and ask yourself, what would be a healthier thought that would actively help me achieve my goals? Practice stating the new healthy thought three times a day in a confident voice.

Karen Robinson, Trauma Recovery Expert, Heal Thrive Dream, LLC

Find an Accountability Partner

No matter the behavior change, it's always great to have an accountability partner. Recently I hosted a power of positive language workshop and one of the exercises I asked the attendees to do for a week was to select a partner to call out when you need to reframe your language to support more positive messaging. I challenged people to give it a week and found that 78% of people kept their partnership longer than the week because it was so beneficial. This type of partnership applies to most things, physical exercise, and/or activities you are less than excited about. By having a partner, you are accountable to another person, and that's a powerful way to drive sustainable & habit-building change.

Elizabeth Boyd, Talent Development & Learning | Workplace Experience Consultant, TalentLab.Live

Make the Desired Behavior Easier Than the Undesirable

Ask yourself: What is one easy thing I can change in my environment so that it is easier to do what I want to do than what I don't? Becoming aware of how our environment influences our actions is an immediate way to understand and change some of them. In design thinking this is called affordance. What is your environment encouraging you to do because it saves energy? Always drop the shoes by the door, only to end up calling yourself a slob? Put a shoe tray at the entrance. Reaching for the candy bar, when you know it's not healthy? Have nuts or dried fruit handy and leave the candy at the store. Stop the self-abuse and change your environment to make it easy to support your amazing self! Humans are wired to conserve energy in thought and action. Where are you making things harder than they need to be? What are the least amount of steps you can take to achieve the desired results?

Shana Horrigan, Futurist Coach, Act with Clarity, LLC

Find the Proper Help

Some highly effective counseling is the key to any form of behavioral disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, known as CBT is the best key to dealing with these issues. In any problem, admission is the first step any psychologist will tell you. After admission, opening up and dealing with the problem is the second step then taking steps to learn how to deal with the problem long term is the third. Tammy Sons, CEO, TN Nursery

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Ready to Grow? Here is the Starting Line | The Good in U

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From identifying your cue-routine-habit scheme to finding proper help, there are several tips that may help you correct negative or unhealthy behaviors in your life to set you on a positive path of growth.

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Your Game Plan for Interviewing with Confidence

When working in a toxic work environment, you may be subject to a myriad of stressful events (micromanagement, gossip, bullying, harassment, discrimination, etc.). So, when you're in the middle of an interview, how can you respond to the question, "Why are you looking for a...

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11 Ways to Explain a Toxic Work Environment During a Job Interview

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Your Game Plan for Interviewing with Confidence When working in a toxic work environment, you may be subject to a myriad of stressful events (micromanagement, gossip, bullying, harassment, discrimination, etc.). So, when you're in the middle of an interview, how can you respond to the question, "Why are you looking for a...

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How can you build a company culture remotely?
Before remote jobs became commonplace in the tech community, we may have taken for granted the ease of building and maintaining corporate culture and workplace culture when we were all in the office together, naturally interacting with our colleagues in-person every day. But that everyday camaraderie is a bit harder to replicate with remote jobs and remote-first workplaces.

There are still ways to build a company culture in remote work despite the distance, especially with the advent of new tech and social apps. That's why we asked 20 tech leaders for company culture examples on the impact of remote working on company culture. They provided the following tips for culture building strategy and building company culture in a remote work environment. Follow these tips to learn how to build company culture, how to build a remote team, and learn more about what is company culture at a remote startup.

Here are 20 actionable tips from leaders at companies with remote work culture that you can use while building team culture remotely:

Spent More Time Together to Build Remote Culture

Define What Great Work Looks Like with Goals and Standards

Show Up with Humility, Equity, and Authenticity

Reach Out and Build Relationships

Turn On Your Camera

Use the 3 A's to Build a Resilient Remote Culture

Employ Active Listening With Your Team

Hold Regular, No-Agenda and Optional Meetings

Engage With Colleagues Through Events

Set up Virtual Happy Hours and Coffee Breaks

Communicate Clear-Set Goals and Standards

Intentionally Create Moments of Fun

Use a Slack Bot to Spark Conversation

Put Business Values and Company Culture First

Normalize Employee Connections Consistently

Build Strong Connections With the Employees You Lead

Encourage Accountability by Restricting Micromanagement

Respect Out-of-Work Responsibilities

Create Moments to Meaningfully Connect

Build Genuine Relationships and Human Connections

Spent More Time Together

I believe the most important factor in a strong and healthy remote culture is the same as in an in-person one: time together. It's difficult to get time with individuals and even more difficult to have the entire team in the same room when remote, but it's absolutely critical to do so as often as possible.

Mitch Causey, CEO, Demandwell

Define What Great Work Looks Like with Goals and Standards

Choosing a hybrid or remote workstyle and being flexible in our work doesn't have to mean we are allowing everybody to dictate and rule their own work schedules. Organizations can still keep to their goals and cultural standards. Once we define what great work looks like, we can give the freedom for people to work where (and when) they want to.

Stephanie Murphy, Leadership Consultant, ADVISA

Show Up with Humility, Equity, and Authenticity

Building company culture with a distributed workforce starts with regularly taking time to create a space where everyone feels safe and comfortable contributing to conversations as much or as little as they are willing, without fear of judgment. When everyone-including leaders-shows up with humility, interest, equity, authenticity, and fallibility, it strengthens trust and mutual respect. This foundation makes adopting a "one team" attitude easier. When teams are aligned and know they're "in it" together, an environment of support that's free from blame develops. Everyone rises together, and everyone catches each other together if there's a stumble

Dawn Lego, Director of Brand Engagement and Channel Marketing, Onecause

Reach Out and Build Relationships

If you are sitting next to a team member in the office every day, it won't take long to start learning about them; without even trying, you start getting a sense of who they are as a person, family life, hobbies. Find ways to reach out to team members outside of the office dialog. I've found that I tend to work better with people I know and like.

Alden Miller, Storyteller, Alchemy

Turn On Your Camera

Do not underestimate the power of body language and visual cues. There is no replacement for facetime with teammates. We believe so strongly in this that it's a requirement that all employees turn on their video during meetings - with a few exceptions.

Jake Miller, CEO, Engineered Innovation Group

Use the 3 A's to Build a Resilient Remote Culture

Building a resilient remote company culture starts with keeping your workforce human, engaged and agile. Unnecessary meetings certainly aren't unique to remote work, but it can be tempting to schedule a quick call for every little task. And as everyone knows, these "quick calls" can often turn into bigger meetings. Create agendas for meetings and ensure you stick to them. Give everyone a chance to speak but keep the pace going with time limits for particular subjects.

Above all, it's important to remember that you won't get it right straight away. Request anonymous feedback from everyone once a month. Ultimately it's about following the "3-A model": Ask your team what you think could be improved, analyze performance and responses, and act to make your changes and adjust over time.

Employ Active Listening With Your Team

Building a great company culture is very hard, especially if it's 100% remote because people are behind a computer from wherever they choose to be. Destroying a company's culture is very easy. The best way to build something that is worth it, is by being 100% inclusive and being able to actively listen to your team. People have different points of view and being able to listen to and include them is what makes a company truly special. If you are able to bring people from different backgrounds together then you are indeed building a culture worth sharing.

Hold Regular, No-Agenda and Optional Meetings

The number one recommendation I have for building a great company culture in a remote workplace is holding regular meetings with no agenda for the sole purpose of connecting with teammates. We do this a couple of times every week at Compt and it has been a fantastic opportunity to get to know everyone on a more personal, meaningful level, which builds a sense of camaraderie that's so important in a fully remote startup.

On Monday mornings we have an optional-to-attend coffee chat where we can talk about our weekends, laugh about things happening in our personal lives, or discuss anything else you typically would at the office water cooler. On Wednesday afternoons we have a Zoom meeting set aside to play games (also optional). During this time we get competitive, have fun, and release some mid-week stress. Both meetings have afforded us the opportunity to build connections across departments we may not otherwise have.

Engage With Colleagues Through Events

I personally think that being remote is great. You get time for yourself, for your family and you don't have to go through a daily commute to the office. But what you miss out is engagement with your colleagues, with your managers, leaders and friends. So, it's important that companies with remote-first culture must plan employee engagement initiatives.

This can present as regular monthly offsite events, rolling out workation once a quarter, or holding virtual and in-person hackathons. Employee engagement and bonding is extremely underrated. And it should be the priority of any organization that's willing to be remote-first.

Set up Virtual Happy Hours and Coffee Breaks

Maintaining a strong company culture can be challenging in any workplace, but it can be especially difficult in a remote environment. One way to overcome this challenge is to make sure that everyone feels like they are part of the team. This means regular check-ins with employees, encouraging collaboration and sharing of ideas, and promoting a sense of belonging. It can also be helpful to create opportunities for social interaction, such as virtual happy hours or coffee breaks. By making company culture a priority, you can help to ensure that your remote workplace is a thriving and supportive environment.

Communicate Clear-Set Goals and Standards

The distance between coworkers seems to cause certain problems. But there are a ton of ways to deal with them. My personal tip for building company culture in a remote workplace is most certainly to encourage employees to see and apply the vision behind the company.

Clear-set goals and standards, as well as systems that allow the employees to self-regulate to a degree and easily find solutions to their problems. And that's what I tirelessly try to instill in the people I work with. Regardless of what the vision for your company is, it's important that all individuals that make up the work collective within their workspace see the same vision and aspire to make that vision a reality.

Intentionally Create Moments of Fun

Don't forget to create opportunities where your team can have fun together. Your vision, mission, and values should be what define and drive your remote company culture, but you also need "moments of fun" where your team can get together, laugh, joke around, and get to know one another on a deeper level.

Think about happy hours that you'd have when working in an office together. You need to recreate those in a remote setting so that you gain the same cultural benefits from them. If you fail to incorporate these "moments of fun", your culture will feel stuffy, people won't get to know one another as closely, and it'll impact overall morale over time.

Use a Slack Bot to Spark Conversation

It's hard to make up for the watercooler talk and casual friendly updates in the workplace when you're limited to Zoom and Slack. That's why I love Slack bots like S'Up that randomly pairs team members for casual video calls. It'll give you prompts like "which superhero would you be and why" or "what's something you're looking forward to in the next few months" to spark conversation and help facilitate friendly interactions.

Put Business Values and Company Culture First

Company culture is a way of life, the safety net for any business. You have your goals in front of you, but you have the culture to back you up from behind. It's the invisible force that can sustain or ruin your future. Core values and rituals need to be implemented from day one, and every new employee should match those values. Never hire for skills alone without having that similar vibe to share with the future employee. Think in terms of tribes. It'll be much more difficult to align or fire someone who doesn't embrace your values and way of being. Business is a significant part of life. Make it worthwhile and evaluate people holistically.

Normalize Employee Connections Consistently

In order to build a positive company culture in a remote setting, employees need regular and consistent times to connect. Company values are built and sustained through action and connection, which don't happen in a vacuum. I've seen this look like weekly power hours, lunch and learns, or even regular D&D meetups which can all be done virtually. The key is to normalize connecting with each other consistently.

Build Strong Connections With the Employees You Lead

Building connections with employees when leading your remote teams provides the glue needed to strengthen work culture performance. From a TIGERS 6 Principles perspective it improves trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk resolution and success in the workplace. Getting to know your employees streamlines tasks, improves delegation, and provides you the inroads to develop employees.

When you combine this with online opportunities that introduce remote workers to one another you create new rituals and ceremonies that strengthen the beliefs and norms that make up your culture-not replace them. This ultimately means filling your employee pipeline with online activities such as learning circles where employees learn and practice training you provide them. This produces a cooperative work environment and the type of manager to co-worker relationships that feel like a tight knit family focused on helping one another and boosting employee wellbeing.

Encourage Accountability by Restricting Micromanagement

Remote working is more than just letting your team work from anywhere, at any time. If you really want to go beyond flexibility, you need to build a culture where working in silos yet collaborating with one another proactively is something everyone is accountable for. The one tip that has helped our remote marketing agency efficiently deliver work across projects, is that the team is well aware of their responsibilities and the tasks in the first week of the month.

We then make use of project management tools and Slack for communicating our sprint with the others in the team. Watching one another set realistic daily sprints also serves as a great motivation for low days; and when we do unrealistic sprints, we reach out to one another to talk about workloads. This little practice has helped us remove micromanagement by almost 90% already.

Respect Out-of-Work Responsibilities

Leaders need to understand that people have responsibilities outside the workplace. This is not about Work/Life balance where you pay faux respect to the notion that people have lives and interests outside work. This is understanding that their responsibilities outside work-caring for elderly parents, taking care of children, being involved in community groups, and anything else-are important elements of team members' lives.

Respect these responsibilities. Enable them to live up to and meet these obligations. And they'll reward you with enhanced performance in the workplace, greater employee engagement, and higher results.

Create Moments to Meaningfully Connect

I've supported tech organizations for several years now as a Talent Development & Workplace Experience Consultant and the companies that do it best create intentional spaces and moments for connection and fun. Whether it's a Slack channel for banter or skill sharing or weekly virtual lunches-organizations that thrive that focus on creating cohesion and cross-department collaboration. Strong relationships are central to successful organizations.

So, the very best cultures also nurture an environment that believes in two-way feedback, consistent 1:1s and offering opportunities for growth and development-in addition to the fun stuff. Great cultures aren't accidental, they are fostered by all levels of the organization and created with the goal in mind of building connections, competencies and elevating communication.

Elizabeth Boyd , Talent Development & Learning | Workplace Experience Consultant, TalentLab.Live

Build Genuine Relationships and Human Connections

Building company culture in a remote workplace should come from the heart. People are the heart. They're the core. Never lose sight of that. This is true, of course, in every type of company but especially important in a remote workplace. As much as our remote team loves having the flexibility and freedom of a remote work life, we all need human connection from time to time.

Build genuine relationships through online chats, share life stories, and ask others to do the same. Share updates from your life, host virtual events (sparingly), and most of all-never make people feel like anything is mandatory or an obligation. Allow people to genuinely come to you and share with the team when they want to. Post funny gifs, remember birthdays and anniversaries, and make people laugh whenever you can. Have someone responsible for this type of engagement.

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Follow these tips for building company culture in a remote work environment, and you can build a remote culture where your team members can thrive.

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20 Tips for Building Company Culture Remotely - Powderkeg

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How can you build a company culture remotely? Before remote jobs became commonplace in the tech community, we may have taken for granted the ease of building and maintaining corporate culture and workplace culture when we were all in the office together, naturally interacting with our colleagues

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How Encouraging Professional Development Benefits a Business | Maricopa Corporate College

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12/16/22: How Encouraging Professional Development Benefits a Business

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12/16/22: How Encouraging Professional Development Benefits a Business

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How Encouraging Professional Development Benefits a Business | Maricopa Corporate College

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From clarifying expectations and guiding performance to increasing collective knowledge, here are 12 reasons how encouraging an employee’s professional development can benefit a business.

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Creating a rich preboarding program that connects people with the culture and their new role is a win!

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What are HR onboarding best practices? - Best of HR

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From preboarding to shadowing senior management, here are answers to the question, “What are HR onboarding best practices for new employees?”

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From thinking outside of the box to reminding yourself of your role model behavior, here are 14 answers to the question, "Can you share your most helpful tips for measuring effective action in business and life?"

Consider Intangibles and Outside Opinions

Promote Accountability and Growth With Clear Expectations

Look at Your Business's Financial Statements

Assess the Impact You've Had On Others

Set Up Proper Benchmarking

Track Smaller Tasks Connected to a Goal

Be Patient When Considering Results

Ask Yourself, "What Problem Am I Solving?"

Make It Actually Measurable

Measure in Satisfaction

Start With Your Desired Goal and Work Back

Evaluate Objectively Year Over Year (YOY)

Average How Many New Customers You Get

Notice When Other People Use You as An Exemplar

Consider Intangibles and Outside Opinions

Measuring effective action in both business and life requires a proactive approach. For example, instead of always focusing on measurable results, consider the intangible benefits, such as increasing customer satisfaction or creating efficiencies.

Unconventional tactics, such as bringing in an external consultant, can provide added perspective to the problem and shed light on solutions that may have been previously undetected. This outside opinion can often lead to insights that would otherwise be unachievable. By strategically using these tools, it is possible to effectively measure progress towards any goal and alter course when needed.

Promote Accountability and Growth With Clear Expectations

One tip for measuring effective action in your business and life is to set clear responsibilities and expectations. An uncommon example that illustrates this principle could be peer-reviewing to measure success.

Providing an opportunity for colleagues or team members to review each other's work can be a great way to hold each other accountable while encouraging growth and collaboration. Peer-review processes can also help eliminate potential biases, promote constructive criticism, and add value by bringing multiple perspectives together on single tasks or projects.

Look at Your Business's Financial Statements

Financial statements, such as income statements and balance sheets, can give you a clear overview of your business's financial position, so they are essential for measuring the effectiveness of any action that you take.

They can provide insight into how well your business is doing, show where improvements can be made, and identify areas with potential for growth. Additionally, these documents can give you insight into how much cash flow your business is generating, allowing you to better understand the financial health of your business.

Michael Fischer, Founder, Elite HRT

Assess the Impact You've Had On Others

The best way to measure effective action in your business and life is to see what kind of impact you've had on others. The impact you've left on people's lives is the best way to measure action because it's the most important part of being a leader. You want to see how many lives you have changed and how many people have been positively influenced by your presence.

Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Rephrasely

Set Up Proper Benchmarking

Setting up a benchmarking system is essential if you want to gauge how effectively you are acting in both your business and your personal life. This entails monitoring results in relation to predetermined objectives so that you may base decisions on accurate information.

Setting benchmarks correctly necessitates having a clear idea of what success looks like in order to compare future outcomes to these standards. Consider factors like resources and timeframe when evaluating results since they could be just as important success indicators as the outcome itself. You may foster an atmosphere where slow but significant progress over time is both conceivable and likely by routinely monitoring successful action.

Track Smaller Tasks Connected to a Goal

I measure effective action by tracking the completion of smaller tasks connected to a larger goal that I set. Breaking a large goal up into chunks and celebrating the smaller wins is an incredible way to see how far you've come without getting disheartened about progress or losing track of the final goal destination.

Be Patient When Considering Results

Like many small business owners, I'm ambitious and driven. These qualities have allowed me to grow my company nationally over the last decade, but also mean I sometimes feel dissatisfied when a fresh approach or technique doesn't quickly bear fruit; I hold myself to a high standard.

Over the years, though, I've discovered that the worst thing you can do is give up on a project or expansion prematurely. That campaign you think is a failure may only need more time to turn around; cutting it short ensures you've wasted time and effort. So, if you're a result-driven person like me, consider talking to industry insiders or colleagues to ensure you're not setting impossible timelines for yourself.

Ask Yourself, "What Problem Am I Solving?"

Time is limited. I can keep myself toxically productive all day, both personally and professionally, if I do "stuff" and hope for the best. However, in the last couple of years, I've found that by asking myself, "What problem am I solving?" I can manage my attitude toward the project, create a plan or to-do list, implement the right behaviors to approach my project with the highest level of efficiency, and meet all my deadlines, accountabilities, and objectives.

This method keeps me on course and productive healthily. By breaking down how I allocate and spend my time solving for resolutions or hitting milestones. Whether it's how to pick up my sons from their events ending at the same time in opposite areas of the city or how I pace out my work week for the greatest impact-I can ensure that I am creatively meeting all of my accountabilities because every action I take is getting me closer to my goal(s).

Make It Actually Measurable

Let's make it clear: It's only possible to measure your effectiveness and success by considering how you will measure it. For every goal, write steps with a direct plan on what, how, and when you want to accomplish it. Break it down. Map it out. Add numbers. That's the meat and potatoes of every project.

And yet, many people miss this step. Every time you come back to the task, you'll immediately see the progress. A great bonus? You use the same psychological trick that long-distance runners use. When they feel exhausted, do they think about how many kilometers are left? No, they look at an object before them and focus on reaching it. Rinse and repeat.

Measure in Satisfaction

Measuring personal satisfaction would be the one advice I would like to offer to gauge the effectiveness of activity in both work and personal life. Whether you are a business leader or an employee who turned up for a hard day's work, how you feel about your own achievement can serve as a decent gauge for how you feel about your company's success and about yourself‌.

It is a solid sign that a company is successful overall if everyone (or nearly everyone) feels successful. Besides the company, if you are satisfied with the choices you made, it signifies that you have made some wise selections on a personal level as well.

Start With Your Desired Goal and Work Back

Reverse engineering your goals is key to measuring how effective your actions are. You start with where you want to be, then work backward by creating the steps that need to get you there. When you approach work, you ask whether these steps are key to helping you gain traction toward that goal.

If they are, you dial down your efforts. If not, you can delegate the task or shelve it until you have time to get to it. Reflection is key. You need to take time to review your actions and your progress. This helps you determine if you're on target to reach your goal or need to adjust effort, strategy, and actions.

Evaluate Objectively Year Over Year (YOY)

As humans, we are largely boxes of habits, some proudly positive and some shamefully negative. To measure effective action in your life, you must curate an objective inventory of your bad habits at periodic intervals, say at specific months or anniversaries in your life. Next, commit to improving these habits and have a non-biased year-over-year evaluation of your habit inventory.

Let us imagine you had your habit inventory in January 2022 and now in January 2023. Compare both inventories, which bad habits are missing (or which have been added). If you have a shrinking inventory of bad habits year-over-year, it is clear because you are taking effective actions in your life.

Now, specifically identify such positive actions and consolidate them. In situations where bad habits are added, diagnose which activities birthed those activities (or routines) and work on eliminating them.

Lotus Felix, CEO, Lotus Brains Studio

Average How Many New Customers You Get

This can be a useful indicator of whether your actions are effective. If you see an increase in the number of new customers, it is likely that your efforts are producing results. If there is a decrease in the number of new customers, then it may be time to rethink your approach and make changes.

It's also a good idea to be sure to look at the customer retention rate. This can provide a good overall picture of how well your business is doing and give you an idea whether your efforts are making a difference. Being able to measure your success in terms of customer acquisition and retention will help you make informed decisions about marketing strategies, product development, and other business decisions.

Notice When Other People Use You as An Exemplar

The most telling method of measuring effective action involves observing other people's perceptions of you. When you act effectively and deliver, people take notice and associate those achievements with you personally.

For example, if someone asks, "What makes a good manager?" and someone puts you forward as a relevant exemplar, you know that you have succeeded in this domain. We naturally want to emulate successful people, and if people hold you to this standard, it suggests your actions have been effective.

Although this can be difficult to track, when it occurs, you must recognize the importance of being an exemplar, recognizing your achievements while continuing to set a good example for those who look up to you.

Ready to take ACTION? Register today and join the movement: CLARAfi.app/register

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From thinking outside of the box to reminding yourself of your role model behavior, here are 14 answers to the question, "Can you share your most helpful tips for measuring effective action in business and life?"

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2/6/23: SHRM - 14 Proven Ways to Motivate Your Employees

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2/6/23: SHRM - 14 Proven Ways to Motivate Your Employees

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14 Proven Ways to Motivate Your Employees

Posted by AZSHRMMarkitors on Feb. 6, 2023 / Subscribe

From celebrating your team's wins to creating an inclusive work environment, here are 14 answers to the question, "What are your best strategies for motivating your employees?"

Celebrate The Team's Wins

Keep Reinventing the Wheel

Do Right by Your People and They'll Do Right by You

Motivate People Through Real-time Feedback

Ask for Employee Input

Make Sure You Are Always On Your Employee's Side

Show Your Team You Trust Them

Keen Listening is Key

Offer Rewards that Go Beyond the Salary

Make Time for Growth and Development

Dedicate One-On-One Time to Audit Development

Align On Purpose, Invest in People, and Use More Data

Involve Staff in Decision-Making Processes

Create a Positive and Inclusive Work Environment

Celebrate The Team's Wins

I make sure I say "thank you" to each of my team members at least once a month. I also empower them to recognize each other with a peer-to-peer recognition program from Motivosity. On average, our team members are celebrated four to five times per month for the good work they're doing. Generally, people are motivated when they are appreciated for their work, and since I can't see everything happening, recruiting my entire team to celebrate is crucial. It's a great way to motivate and support each other!

Keep Reinventing the Wheel

As driven and passionate as your teams may be, they aren't immune to boredom and apathy when things get mundane. The only way out is for organizations to take it upon themselves to shake things up every once in a while and keep reinventing their employee engagement strategies to keep things fresh.

This calls for a proactive effort in evaluating current engagement strategies, considering what works and discarding what doesn't. You don't need a handful of Zoom meetings every week to get the point across - you could just turn to asynchronous video messaging tools instead. Or instead of creating pages and pages of process documents, create an internal podcast instead.

You could also turn to your employees to gather feedback about their needs and preferences so you know you're on the right path.

Do Right by Your People and They'll Do Right by You

People are motivated by a few things: they want to work on something they believe in, they want to work for a company that sets a clear direction, and they want to know that the company they work for sees them as an individual (and creates an environment that can support them as such).

Most people don't want to be overworked and are leery of places with "hustle culture" that will drive them to burn out. People also want to know they are compensated fairly for the work they do.

My strategy in building a supportive work environment where employees feel satisfied and engaged is to make sure all of those things are in place. As a result, we're able to rapidly scale as a startup without burning out our team, which is so prevalent in tech. If these things aren't in place, there is no amount of cheerleading that will motivate the team.

Bottom line: People are smart. Treat them as such and do the right thing.

Motivate People Through Real-time Feedback

As a Founder & CEO, real-time feedback serves as a clarity and confidence tool for my direct reports. In line with our values of "learning" and "being the bridge," offering real-time feedback allows my team never to guess how they are performing and their level of impact.

I offer real-time feedback in a few ways, directly on projects or processes completed, during recurring one-on-one meetings, informally in team meetings and text message communication, and during year-end reviews. Team members repeatedly express appreciation for feedback and often leverage feedback offered to amp up productivity and performance.

For the feedback to feel reciprocal, I constantly ask my team if there is anything I could do differently to support their growth and development. Motivate your team by investing in their total development; help them understand that feedback is a gift!

Ask for Employee Input

Asking your employees for their opinions is a surefire way to motivate them. Everyone appreciates being involved, rather than feeling like it doesn't concern them - especially in a professional setting. This idea makes people feel valued, heard, and like they are a real part of the team.

Too often, creative or planning discussions can be held behind closed doors with 'managers' and 'leaders' discussing the more creative, forward-focused ideas, but this not only minimizes the creativity that could be involved from the entire organization, but also makes the people who aren't involved feel like their voice is unheard, which can often replicate in other parts of their work. Why put your best foot forward if you don't think anyone cares about your input anyway?

Make Sure You Are Always On Your Employee's Side

The best way to motivate your employees is to make sure that you are always on their side. You have to be genuinely interested in them and their lives, and then they will be more likely to feel invested in the company as a whole.

I've seen this work in action many times. When I was a manager at a fast-food restaurant, it was hard for me not to get involved with the people who worked for me-their lives were so different from mine, but we were all working toward the same goal: making sure everyone got fed quickly and well!

But getting involved with my employees wasn't just about building stronger relationships with them; it also made them feel like part of something bigger than themselves. It's easy for people who work with you every day not to feel like they're making a difference; when you show them how much their work matters, it makes all of your efforts worthwhile!

Show Your Team You Trust Them

Showing employees that you trust them is one of the ways to motivate them. People in general simply want to be shown that they are trusted. Building trust helps foster employee loyalty and engagement, which will keep them motivated and even invested.

One of the ways you can show employees that you trust them is by not micromanaging. The main reason leaders micromanage is that they don't trust their employees to do a good job; so they have to constantly check everything is going right before it goes wrong. Employees notice this, and it does not help their confidence, nor does it help motivate them.

Get rid of all kinds of micromanaging in your leadership strategy, and this will help motivate your employees.

Keen Listening is Key

People can have different motivators; you first need to know your employees and what matters to each of them. For example, some people need to be acknowledged and know they matter. Some want to be invited to the decision table to share and collaborate. Some want to be heard, and everyone needs to be heard. Some need flexibility for balance, and some need to voice their feelings.

Offer Rewards that Go Beyond the Salary

Rewarding hard workers is essential to keeping a motivated workforce. Some businesses believe that holding back pay is the best way to keep employees in check, but this is a surefire way to sour things. The only thing that this does is create an environment where people are looking for ways to get around the rules. When employees know that they'll be appropriately compensated for their hard work, they're more likely to put in the extra effort.

In our company, our strategy isn't just about the pay either. We offer other kinds of rewards, like time off, small gifts, or family dinners. Since we implemented that kind of reward, we have seen our workforce trying to exceed our expectations.

Make Time for Growth and Development

As so many companies scale back staffing, we're asking more of our people today. We all have our jobs, and frequently those responsibilities take up most, if not all, of our time.

The best strategy I have implemented in the last six months is to dedicate 10% of the team's week to their professional growth and development and/or well-being. We call it Investment Time. It took a few weeks and conversations to ensure that people knew this was real and important, but after that, we noticed an increase of 13% in productivity.

People are learning things they apply to be more effective and efficient in their roles. Things that are inspiring them!

We noticed a 34% increase in our #Skill_Share Slack channel postings and engagement. We noticed a 20% increase in our "Strongly Agree" in the "The company cares about me as an individual" question on our Q1 2023 pulse survey. We also noticed an 11% increase in Employee Referrals in Q4 2022 and an 18% increase in referrals (so far) in Q1 2023.

Elizabeth Boyd , Talent Development and Learning, Workplace Experience Consultant, TalentLab.Live

Dedicate One-On-One Time to Audit Development

Everyone one-on-one should include a dedicated portion on their development. Questions I like to include are: 1. What have you learned this week? 2. What is the one part of your development plan you've worked on since the last time we spoke? 3. What is an area you're really interested in learning more about? 4. If you could paint a picture of your dream job and responsibilities, what would it be? What are the gaps keeping you from attaining this role? It's a balance of managing them where they are now and where they want to go. This should be a standard part of your meetings with your team; they remain engaged and feel your commitment to them as well.

Align On Purpose, Invest in People, and Use More Data

I think there are three big considerations when motivating an employee base, especially in the context of reaching Gen Z or Millennials. The first is educating employees about the broader purpose of what you are doing as a company and how their role fits that broader purpose. If your company exists strictly to make money, then it will be hard to get people motivated day in and day out.

Second, you have to invest in your people. I believe deeply that you have to invest in learning and development for your people, not just so they can help your company, but because they are employees of your company. Employees see that you are taking care of them, leading to better retention.

Lastly, use data and people analytics to hold people to a high bar on what they can achieve. It's important not to be subjective or use hype and tactics to motivate employees. Whenever you give feedback or criticism, do it with as much data to give you perspective as possible.

Involve Staff in Decision-Making Processes

One of the best ways to motivate your employees is by involving them in decision-making processes. This can help build trust between them and you, and make them feel like their opinion matters.

For example, when I was a manager at a training company, I noticed that morale was low and staff turnover was high. I decided to introduce a weekly team meeting where I would discuss store goals and the direction we wanted to take, and then open up the floor for ideas from my team. This gave them a sense of ownership and empowerment, and it created an environment where everyone was working together and ideas were openly shared.

The result was that morale improved and staff turnover fell significantly. It showed my team that I valued their input, which had a positive impact on their motivation and overall performance.

Create a Positive and Inclusive Work Environment

One of the best strategies for motivating employees is to create a positive and inclusive work environment that promotes collaboration and teamwork. This can be done by fostering an open-communication culture, where employees feel heard and valued, and by building trust and respect with them.

An example of how this strategy worked in action was when I was leading a team at a technology company. I worked to create a positive and inclusive culture by promoting open communication and encouraging collaboration among team members. I also made it a point to get to know my team members on a personal level and to build trust and respect with them. This helped to create a positive work environment where employees felt valued and motivated to perform their best.

Additionally, I would also regularly organize team-building activities, parties, and events that helped to create a sense of togetherness and belonging among the team members, which also helped to boost their motivation.
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14 Proven Ways to Motivate Your Employees

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2/9/23: Pursue the Passion - What Jobs Are Best for People Who Like To Interact With Others?

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2/9/23: Pursue the Passion - What Jobs Are Best for People Who Like To Interact With Others?

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What jobs are there that interact with others? - Pursue The Passion

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From nursing to event management, here are answers to the question, “What jobs are there that interact with others?”

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2/15/23: What is the Hardest Question In the World?

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2/15/23: What is the Hardest Question In the World?

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What is the hardest question in the world?

From "What is Consciousness?" to "How Are You?", here are 11 answers to the question, "What is the hardest question to answer?"

What is Consciousness?

Why Does It Work that Way?

What is Your Purpose in Life?

What is the Purpose of Our Existence?

Are You Happy in Life?

Where Do You Want to Be in Five Years?

Can a Statement Be True and False at the Same Time?

How Much is Enough?

Is There a God?

What Are Your Weaknesses?

How Are You?

What is Consciousness?

One of the most challenging questions to answer is "What is consciousness?" This concept has been debated for centuries, yet nobody can come to an absolute conclusion about its origin and purpose. Some view consciousness as nothing more than a physical stimulus-response mechanism. Others go as far as suggesting that consciousness is an intrinsic part of the universe, beyond mere biology or materialism.

One thing almost everyone agrees on is how difficult it is to define and study something intangible like consciousness with measurable scientific methodology. Trying to define and explain something that has the power to question itself makes this question truly daunting.

Natalia Brzezinska, Marketing and Outreach Manager, PhotoAiD

Why Does It Work that Way?

This is one of those questions that applies in every industry and every walk of life, and oftentimes being able to answer it means knowing a process forwards and backwards. Plenty of people can tell you how something works. Significantly fewer people can tell you why that thing works the way it does, rather than in a different way.

Dragos Badea, CEO, Yarooms

What is Your Purpose in Life?

When someone asks what your purpose in life is, it can be challenging to know how to respond because the answer can change with every season of life, and one person can represent many things. For example, you may be passionate about the mission of your business and feel called to that purpose - but you may also put your family first and have character traits that make you unique, like being a good listener or making people laugh. It's OK not to have one purpose but many purposes in this life.

Patricio Paucar, Co-founder + Chief Customer Officer, Navi

What is the Purpose of Our Existence?

This question is challenging to answer because it is a philosophical and subjective inquiry that has been the subject of discussion among scholars, religious figures, and individuals throughout history. The purpose of existence is open to various interpretations and may vary from person to person, as it can be shaped by cultural, religious, personal, and philosophical perspectives. Furthermore, there is no one set answer to this question as it can often stimulate a more thorough evaluation of one's values and beliefs, leading to further philosophical exploration.

Georgi Todorov, Founder, ThriveMyWay

Are You Happy in Life?

Relatively straightforward, yet still emotional, this is one of the most difficult questions a person might be forced to answer. Here, the response is not always clear-cut. Happiness is a complex emotion that can vary significantly from person to person and can be influenced by many factors, such as life experiences, relationships, personal values, and beliefs. It is also dynamic, meaning it can change over time, making it difficult to define or quantify.

Determining if we're happy in life requires introspection and self-reflection, which can be difficult and may require the consideration of multiple aspects of one's life. Additionally, there might not be a straightforward answer as life is a mixture of positive and negative emotions and has both joyful and challenging moments. Therefore, the question "Are you happy in life?" can be difficult to answer as it taps into deeply personal and subjective experiences that can be hard to articulate and explain.

Nina Paczka, Community Manager, Resume Now

Where Do You Want to Be in Five Years?

Maybe it's just me, but the excitement of my professional life has been in discovering my latent talents, polishing and leveraging them, and creating new and exciting channels to grow. Doing this has taken me on several different paths in the past five years. Experiences I didn't expect to have. Making new acquaintances, I didn't know I needed in my life. Traveling to places I hadn't ever planned on going (that have been magical). It would have disappointed me had I followed a pedestrian career path.

Certainly, I can answer that question in a way I know will satisfy someone's banal expectations, but that requires me to be not completely honest. My true answer: I plan to stay creative and open to exciting opportunities to grow and develop, and make the most of each day. This can take me on a path (or paths) I am unaware of today - which makes living life such an adventure.

Elizabeth Boyd, Talent Development and Learning | Workplace Experience Consultant, TalentLab.Live

Can a Statement Be True and False at the Same Time?

The Liar's Paradox, a question that has intrigued philosophers for centuries, is whether a statement can simultaneously be both true and false. This paradox is one of the most intriguing and confounding philosophical questions and has no clear answer. While some believe that statements cannot be both true and false simultaneously, others argue that certain statements are self-referential and thus can have different interpretations and be both true and false.

Despite the continued debate, it is unlikely that a definitive answer will be reached, and the paradox may remain an unresolved puzzle for future generations to contemplate. The Liar's Paradox remains a captivating and thought-provoking enigma that continues to challenge our understanding of truth and language.

Burak Özdemir, Founder, Online Alarm Kur

How Much is Enough?

We often want more than we have now: more money, more gadgets, better furniture, a better house, a better car, more clothes, more shoes, more success. And what happens when we get more? We aren't satisfied, because there are new ads for new iPods, new laptops, new iPhones, new cars, and new clothes. We have to have those. It's impossible to satisfy that hunger for more, because our culture is not satisfied with what we have, but is geared toward wanting more. It's consumerism, and it's the official religion of the industrialized world.

If money was the answer to all needs, then why would rich and famous people commit suicide, why would politicians who have money that can last for several generations still be corrupt? The hardest question to answer is "How much is enough?" Ask yourself if there truly is an answer.

Jocelyn Bowmaker, Marketing Manager, The Mindset Development Group

Is There a God?

The hardest question to answer is one that fundamentally challenges our beliefs or values. These questions are difficult because they require us to reflect deeply on our beliefs and values and confront the possibility that our beliefs may be wrong or incomplete.

Questions such as "Is there a God?" challenge us to confront our own beliefs and values and consider the possibility that our answers may be wrong. These types of questions can also be difficult because they require us to think beyond our own experiences in order to consider other perspectives. These questions can be difficult to answer because the answers we give can have profound implications for our lives.

For example, answering that morality is relative may mean that we have to modify or change our behavior or beliefs in order to live in a way that is consistent with that belief. Similarly, answering that there is no God may require us to reevaluate our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Janie Doyle, Marketing Director, Scvehiclehire

What Are Your Weaknesses?

I find this a really tough question to answer, and that's probably why it's a common job interview question. You want to give a good, honest, and truthful answer, but at the same time, it's hard to know what to say in the context of a job interview, where you're keen to impress. It goes against your instincts to try and give a great impression.

James Townend, Foster Agency Director, Fitzgerald Fostering

How Are You?

It's a deceptively simple question, but one that can be so hard to answer. As a hardworking husband and father, I spend so much time planning, thinking, and doing that I rarely stop to ask myself how I'm feeling, so when someone else does, it can come as a shock. Of course, it's important to consider context. When a waiter politely asks this, they're probably more interested in getting your order than your life story. But when a loved one asks how you are, it can be difficult to know how to respond.

I often have to take a minute to consider, then answer authentically but appropriately. For instance, if one of my kids asks this, and I've had a hard day, I don't want to burden them, but I also want to teach them it's okay to share. I might say something like, "Today's been tricky, but I'm glad to be home." When someone asks me this and really means it, it's powerful. It can open up conversations and strengthen connections. I always ask this sincerely, and it's amazing how people respond.

Shawn Hill, Owner, The Grilling Dad

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Related Questions

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What is the hardest question in the world? - Terkel

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From "What is Consciousness?" to "How Are You?", here are 11 answers to the question, "What is the hardest question to answer?" What is Consciousness? Why Does It Work that Way? What is Your Purpose in Life? What is the Purpose of Our Existence? Are You Happy in Life?

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13 Tactics Employers Are Using To Improve The Employee Experience - HR.com

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3/15/23 HR.com - 13 Tactics Employers are Using to Improve the Employee Experience

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3/15/23 HR.com - 13 Tactics Employers are Using to Improve the Employee Experience

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13 Tactics Employers Are Using To Improve The Employee Experience - HR.com

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Looking for ways to improve your organization’s employee experience? Discover 13 effective tactics, from solid onboarding to side project time, that can help enhance engagement and satisfaction.

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5/17/23 TalentCulture: Employee Retention Strategies - 9 Ideas That Are Working

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5/17/23 TalentCulture: Employee Retention Strategies - 9 Ideas That Are Working

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Keeping valued employees onboard is top-of-mind for many organizations these days. But what kind of employee retention strategies are actually working?

To find out, we asked numerous HR and business leaders to tell us which methods are making a difference for their workforce. And they responded with a variety of answers worth considering. Here are 9 of the best ideas we received:

Actively Support Employee Mental Health

Invest in Employee Growth

Invite Family Members to Team Events

Support Employee Sabbaticals

Assign an Employee Partner for Each New Hire

Create a Culture of Trust and Connection

Offer a Generous PTO and Benefits Policy

Build Meaningful Onboarding Connections

Provide Professional Development Opportunities

To learn more about how your organization can make the most of these employee retention strategies, read the full responses below...

9 Effective Employee Retention Strategies

1. Actively Support Employee Mental Health

One of the most powerful ways we have improved our retention rate is by proactively supporting employee mental health. We make workplace wellbeing a priority by encouraging mindfulness and reminding people to take short mental health breaks every day.

To ensure our employees benefit from improved wellbeing, we've also brought in trainers to teach various mindfulness exercises. These simple improvements have been easy to implement. Yet, they've helped our employees become happier and more engaged at work. This, in turn, has led to increased retention.

2. Invest in Employee Growth

To help retain our best talent, we provide ongoing internal and external opportunities for career growth.

For each position in every department, we publish clear, open-source career ladders. And we offer programs that help each employee develop skills and competencies needed to become a subject expert at their current level or qualify for success at the next level.

These opportunities include a robust Skill Enhancement and Employee Development (SEED) program for individual contributors, and a rich Leadership Essentials and Development (LEAD) program for people leaders. These are cohort-based programs we offer twice a quarter. In conjunction with other social learning activities, these programs improved our retention rate by 28% in the second half of 2022.

On the external development front, we offer a Be Your Best Self program that lets employees spend up to $1,500 a year on certifications, conferences and other activities in line with their professional goals. This initiative elevated our retention by 13% in the second half of last year.

3. Invite Family Members to Team Events

Rather than hosting happy hours and team events for "employees only," we invite spouses and children, too.

In addition to helping employees get to know their colleagues better, this is an excellent way for families to become familiar with colleagues their wife, husband, partner, mother or father works with each day. This means family members can put faces to names during future at-home conversations about work.

What's more, these informal family relationships often help employees become much closer. Sometimes, colleagues' family members become friends, as well. All of this leads to a much happier workplace that employees hesitate to leave.

4. Support Employee Sabbaticals

Effective work-life balance isn't just a distant goal to achieve. It's a reality we are all continuously managing and renegotiating. Sometimes, for whatever reason, the life component suddenly takes precedence. That's when an employee must radically rebalance key priorities.

By offering extended time away through sabbatical leave, you provide significant reassurance. Should the worst happen, employees know they can take time away from work without risking their employment status.

Similarly, if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arises, such as long-term traveling, studying, or focusing on personal growth, people know a formal mechanism is in place to support them.

Some of our organization's most engaged and loyal employees have taken sabbatical leave multiple times. Even those who haven't exercised their right to a sabbatical think highly of the option. They appreciate the fact that we offer flexibility, should the need arise.

5. Assign an Employee Partner for Each New Hire

Whenever you're expanding your team, think about group dynamics. Sometimes when you hire new staff for positions that are similar to others' roles, members of your team will feel scared. They may assume you're looking to replace them when that's not the case.

To ease any tension or anxiety, ask existing employees to team-up with new people on relevant projects. Give them responsibility for delegating tasks to the new hires, so they feel included and empowered to make onboarding more successful.

This helps existing staff feel more control over the situation. They'll also pick up on the fact that you need more resources to manage a growing workload. By recognizing this is an investment in everyone's success, existing staff should feel more secure in their positions. This also means they'll be less likely to look elsewhere out of fear.

Dennis Consorte, Digital Marketing and Leadership Consultant for Startups, Snackable Solutions

6. Create a Culture of Trust and Connection

We've found that one of the most effective ways to keep employees is to focus on building a culture based on trust and connection. This doesn't happen overnight. But it can make a huge impact over time.

We started by implementing weekly team meetings where people from different departments discuss issues or challenges we're facing. This opens lines of communication among team members. Everyone is welcome to share ideas for improvement. It's also a forum to discuss what has worked in the past or could work in the future. This creates an active dialogue around innovation that encourages employees to grow professionally.

These regular meetings give us a chance to build stronger relationships through group problem solving. They also help us develop mutual understanding, while recognizing everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Plus, we have an opportunity to celebrate individual and collective successes.

7. Offer a Generous PTO and Benefits Policy

Because our entire team works remotely, we have to make sure the work people do is more valuable to them than the work they would otherwise be doing in a more traditional setting. That's why we offer 38 days of PTO (personal time off) each year, as well as private healthcare stipends employees can use to maintain their mental and physical health.

Similar companies typically don't offer any of these benefits. That's why we stand out among competitors. It helps us recruit strong talent, and ultimately it means employees stay with us longer, as well.

8. Build Meaningful Onboarding Connections

Our organization invests in multiple policies and programs to improve employee retention. One stand-out initiative is our structured onboarding plan, which includes intentional workforce integration activities such as team-building exercises and networking events.

We believe strong retention really begins on Day One. So, by introducing every new hire to the company culture, we can help people more quickly feel comfortable in their roles. This has led to increased overall engagement across the organization. It has also helped improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover.

9. Provide Professional Development Opportunities

One of the best ways to keep people engaged in their jobs is to provide opportunities for professional growth. It not only helps employees learn new skills, but also demonstrates that your organization wants to invest in their growth and development.

This could include internal or external training programs, mentorship opportunities, tuition reimbursement programs, or a combination of these options. For example you can provide funding for people to attend relevant conferences or networking events, so they can develop a broader range of professional relationships skills in your industry. This not only helps build a more knowledgeable and competent workforce, but also improves retention.

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Employee Retention Strategies: 9 Ideas That Are Working

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Keeping valued employees onboard is top-of-mind for many organizations these days. But what kind of employee retention strategies are actually working? To find out, we asked numerous HR and business leaders to tell us which methods are making a difference for their workforce. And they responded with a variety of answers worth considering.

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5/18/23 Benepass.com - A Guide to Stipends & Employee Perks

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5/18/23 Benepass.com - A Guide to Stipends & Employee Perks

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Employee compensation is about so much more than a regular paycheck. It's about employers acknowledging that their workforce consists of well-rounded people with health concerns, hobbies, homes to run, and more. Companies that offer holistic support with a full range of paid employee stipends take the weight off their workers' shoulders and improve lives both inside and outside of work.

In this guide, we'll dig into stipends and employee perks - their benefits, examples of what other companies offer, and best practices when implementing your program.

What are stipends and employee perks?

Stipends and employee perks form part of a company's benefits strategy. Employers offer a stipend to cover living expenses and employee perks, such as travel allowances, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, or remote working. But these examples merely scratch the surface of what's available to accompany your employees' regular pay.

Example: Your company might offer a fixed sum, such as $120 per month as a fitness stipend, $89 as a food allowance, and $109 to cover phone and internet costs.

How do stipends work?

A stipend is fixed or regular pay provided to employees as a form of allowance or financial aid. Typically, it is delivered upfront as a one-off lump sum or periodic payment, such as an annual, quarterly, or monthly stipend.

Stipends differ from reimbursement policies, where employees spend money, submit a claim for the expenses incurred and wait to receive the money back. Instead, upfront stipends and perks enable employees to use a predetermined allowance toward their preferred mix of eligible living expenses.

Even a small stipend is usually classified as taxable income and treated as part of your employees' overall compensation package.

4 benefits of offering stipends and employee perks

Here are four reasons to consider delivering stipends and employee perks to your workforce:

1. Saves resources

Traditional benefits programs are laden with paperwork, processes, and requirements. A stipend can cut out a lot of time-consuming administration for your benefits team and employees. Instead of your employees filing expense reports to obtain a reimbursement, they can receive the stipend upfront without any extra red tape.

2. Offers flexibility

Stipends allow employers to treat employees as the individuals they are. Instead of assuming all employees want or need access to the same benefits, you can tailor your stipend to offer more personalized perks. For example, some companies partner with a single gym venue to offer discounted memberships to employees - but not every employee will enjoy that particular method of exercise. Flexible stipends enable employees to choose what works best for them, whether that's a gym membership, yoga classes, running shoes, or biking equipment.

3. Improves employer brand

Glassdoor reveals that companies that invest in their reputation as an employer could reduce staff turnover by 28%. Offering an attractive range of stipends and employee perks ensures you appeal to potential candidates and remain relevant with your existing crew. By anticipating and catering to their needs, you strengthen the relationship between your business and its employees. By doing so, you'll motivate your workforce to talk positively about you in their personal and professional networks.

4. Supports distributed workforce

Stanford University researchers found that 27% of all paid, full-time days were worked from home in early 2023. Remote working is here to stay, but employers must support their distributed team members differently from their office-based colleagues as their needs vary based on location and home office setup. Offering stipends and perks relevant to people in multiple locations is the best way to remain equitable.

10 examples of stipends and employee perks

Stipends and perks are both broad terms, but we can split them down into these popular categories:

1. Emotional wellness stipend

The 2023 State of Mental Health in America Survey finds that 21% of Americans have at least one mental health condition, and 55% are not receiving any treatment. Clearly, we need to do better in offering support and ensuring people know where to turn. Employers can do their part by providing an emotional wellness stipend covering wellness apps, self-help books, or online therapy. For example, ReachDesk offers a generous monthly $150 wellness stipend.

2. Physical wellness stipend

Medical debt is the top reason that people file for bankruptcy in the United States. Although your health insurance will cover medical care, a physical wellness stipend aims to maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce the likelihood of needing health treatments.

Employers like Mindbody offer a stipend that employees can spend on exercise to remain fit and active. Physical wellness stipends can cover items such as fitness programs, gym memberships, health screening kits, medical equipment, vitamins, and diet consultations.

3. Social wellness stipend

30% of Americans report they feel lonely, thanks to working longer hours, attending a physical workplace less often (if at all), and lacking friends in multiple areas of their lives. Interestingly, Maine, Vermont, and Oregon residents report feeling more isolated than employees based elsewhere in the country.

Employers can take charge of social wellness by following the lead of Automox, whose AX Connect program uses stipends for physical and virtual coffee dates to stay connected.

4. Spiritual wellness stipend

Spiritual stipends can support employees in feeling grounded and better equipped to handle the stresses of the modern-day work environment. Studies suggest that 20 to 40 minutes of mindfulness or meditation daily can make a world of difference to your employees' physical and mental health.

Spiritual wellness stipends range from yoga apps and classes to retreats and mindfulness training. Ensure your package covers a broad selection of activities that resonate with your team.

5. Intellectual wellness stipend

Intellectual wellness enables learning and encourages us to challenge and expand our knowledge. Providing stipends in this area positively impacts team performance, and employees will appreciate the opportunity to become experts in new areas.

Examples include art classes, writing workshops, MasterClass subscriptions, and more. Crisis Text Line offers a stipend that employees can use on professional enrichment opportunities like these.

6. Environmental wellness stipend

Gen Z and Millennials are more concerned about impacting the world's future than other generations in your workforce. To meet their needs, employers can offer environmental stipends, including tree planting schemes, gardening activities, and carbon offset initiatives.

7. Remote work stipend

Work from home stipends enable employees to set up a distraction-free workspace in their remote offices, equipped with all the essentials they need to perform their jobs well. Jefferson McCall, the Co-founder and HR Head of TechBullish, explains why this is important in the current benefits landscape:

"One of the most successful perks programs that companies are implementing worldwide is remote work stipends. With the ongoing trend of remote work, helping employees set up their home office can increase productivity and employee satisfaction."

Follow Jamf's example by offering a remote work stipend to use on items such as computer monitors, chargers, keyboards, headphones, office furniture, and printers or scanners. Because of its flexibility, Jamf's program sees a 98% engagement rate among employees.

8. Professional development stipend

94% of employees would stay longer at a company if it invested in learning and development, according to LinkedIn. Professional development stipends provide employees with the opportunity to upskill and develop new skills. Examples include language classes, coding boot camps and professional development certifications.

Elizabeth Boyd, Fractional Director of Talent Development and Learning for TalentLab.Live, shared the success of implementing such a career development program:

"One of the initiatives was a stipend for external learning opportunities - our Be Your Best Self Program allows each individual to spend up to $1,500 annual stipend on certifications, conferences, workshops, memberships, etc., that will benefit their current and future role(s). Each person brings their proposal to their leader, and they discuss the options. Afterwards, the leader approves initiatives that are best aligned with the person's goals and roles. This program allows an elevated level of career self-advocacy that has been a massive success as an employee-driven perk. In 2022, we had 93% usage of the stipend in the organization."

9. Meals and food stipend

Office pizza parties no longer cut it, with increased remote workers and office-based employees keen to leave their desks on time to support work-life balance. Instead, companies offering flexible food stipends can see engagement rates of 90% or more. Meal and food stipends allow employees to access grocery stores, restaurants, meal kits, and more to stay well-fed and healthy.

Check out how Wix provides equitable food perks to its workforce in our case study.

10. Commuter stipend

If your employees commute to the office, consider providing stipends so transportation and parking costs don't eat into their regular salary. For example, Moderna launched a commuter benefit that covers public transit, taxis, rideshare services, and parking to help employees with these costs.

Opt for a lifestyle spending account

Instead of offering multiple specialized stipends, you could also opt for a lifestyle spending account (LSA). With this program, you can add a variety of spending categories and lifestyle spending account eligible expenses to your benefit policy. For example, you could elect to allow employees to spend on massages, gym memberships, meals and groceries, art classes, online therapy, and more - all under one account. This gives your employees more freedom to decide how they spend their benefits.

How to properly implement these perks in your organization

Follow the below best practices to demonstrate your commitment to your employees' overall well-being:

1. Use a third-party platform for stipend and perks management

Small companies and startups may initially feel drawn to keeping benefits administration in-house to save money. But this can be a false economy, as the time spent on repetitive tasks will prevent your skilled team members from doing what they do best.

Instead, choose the right third-party platform to manage your benefits programs. This switch will give you more control over your budget and transparency into how people use their stipend and other benefits. People and Culture Director Grace He shared the thought process behind why TeamBuilding has handed over the burden of perks and stipends administration to an external provider:

"Originally, we were administering our company's meeting meal perks and monthly healthy living stipends by manually reimbursing receipts, but this process was not scalable and was cumbersome for the staff handling the requests. Our new solution allowed us to send a preloaded digital credit card to our staff quarterly to cover meal and related perk expenses. We've also used this system for occasions like team retreats. This platform makes it easy to distribute funds to employees and audit usage in bulk instead of reviewing individual purchases. It is easy for staff to use the cards at a wide variety of vendors instead of limiting their options. Simplicity and usability are key with perks, and this solution fulfilled those needs."

Check out Benepass's Customer Stories for details of how we've helped countless organizations win back valuable hours.

2. Benchmark your program against competitors

How do you know that your stipends and perks are competitive and attractive compared to others? Conduct thorough market research to benchmark your offerings against the competition. This step is vital in determining your budget and separating your nice-to-haves from your must-haves.

Get started by digging into our Benepass Benefits Benchmarking Guide based on our internal customer data. View averages by:

Company size: Large, medium, small

Industry: Healthcare, tech, etc.

Categories: Fitness and wellness, LSA, personal enrichment, food and meals, etc.

3. Don't impose too many restrictions

Workforces comprising multiple generations find their employees' needs and preferences vary widely, so flexibility should be at the heart of a successful stipend and perks program. Achieve this by providing a range of options to ensure everyone feels supported:

Tracey Beveridge, HR Director of Personnel Checks, advises:

"Go as bespoke as you can, allowing your employees the greatest degree of control over their benefit choices, which align directly with what they deem the most useful to them. For certain gym memberships, training days, and health plans - the requirement or even 'want' for each of these is likely to vary between employees, so giving them the option not only shows that you want what's best for them but also means that perk or stipend usage is greatly increased on a per-employee basis."

CEO Matthew Ramirez explains how allowing a lot of leeway with stipend usage works in practice at his company Paraphrase Tool:

"Some stipends come with strings attached. Companies stipulate that employees must use their stipend to pay for gym membership to encourage healthy habits. But not all employees want to join a gym, or can even find one that fits their needs. We have some employees who are parents and don't have time for a gym. We don't stipulate that the stipend be spent on a gym membership. Instead, we stipulate that the money be spent on an activity that helps the employee maintain their health or well-being."

4. Offer transparency about your stipend and perks programs

The scope of your program

Who is eligible to join

How it will benefit them

How to apply (for example, auto or manual enrollment)

Communication is key when introducing a new perk or stipend program to your workforce. Talk about your program regularly throughout the year, celebrate success stories, highlight new partnerships or vendors, and explain changes to the program. Give employees details about:

Take the time to implement stipend and perks programs with honest communication, and you'll create a culture of engagement and appreciation within your workforce. Administrative Manager Antreas Koutis from Financer shares a success story about a former employer that went the extra mile to involve its employees in discussions about its benefits culture:

"I've found that transparency is vital when implementing perks and stipends. We introduced a health and wellness stipend, but instead of simply informing employees about this addition, we organized a town hall meeting. During this, we walked them through the reasons behind the perk, how it would benefit them, and the process. We also invited questions and feedback to foster a sense of involvement and understanding. This open approach not only increased engagement but also boosted morale, as employees felt valued and heard. Providing clear, accessible information about the benefit programs helps employees to utilize them better and enhances their overall job satisfaction."

5. Build an equitable and compliant benefits program

Part-time and full-time employees

Remote, hybrid, and office-based workers

Employees of any tenure

Employees based in any geographical location

Employees from all departments and branches

Have you decided who is eligible to participate in your stipend and perks program? Stay fair by outlining how you'll distribute equitable benefits for:

Eligibility decisions may be determined by state or federal regulations so ensure compliance by reviewing your stipends and perks program each year. This keeps your organization in line with the Department of Labor rules and the changing legal landscape. Remember: the rules in different countries and states may vary if you have a globally distributed team.

6. Conduct a post-implementation evaluation

Relevant to your employees: Do they adequately support their work-life balance?

Competitive in the market: Do other companies include something more attractive in their package?

Meeting your benefits goals: Are you achieving your business objectives (i.e., reducing employee churn, improving employee productivity, or increasing uptake of benefits?)

Once your stipends and perks program is live, never assume that your work is done. The most successful initiatives need maintenance to ensure they're still:

1. How would you rate our employee benefits packages?

2. Have you used any of our employee benefits?

3. How would you rate our flexible work policy?

4. How often have you used our insurance plan?

Saikat Ghosh, Associate Director of HR and Business for Technource, conducts an evaluation after implementing stipend and perks packages. He recommends using a survey with the following questions:

Pro tip: Include a mix of close-ended and open-ended questions. Close-ended questions with Yes/No answers are quick for employees to answer and offer useful quantitative information. However, open-ended questions allow employees to add qualitative insights about their experience receiving stipends.

Create a flexible stipend and perks program with Benepass

1. Choose the perks and stipends you want to make available (such as wellness, food, remote working, professional development, or a lifestyle spending account encompassing multiple stipend categories.)

2. We will code your unique Benepass policy template.

3. Connect to your payroll system for auto-enrollment.

4. Invite your employees to join your program.

There are numerous ways to distribute your stipends and employee perks using Benepass, all with flexibility at the heart of your program. It's easy to get started:

Ready to support your employees with an innovative benefits culture? Book a Benepass demo today or contact sales@getbenepass.com with any questions.

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A Guide to Stipends & Employee Perks (Updated for 2023) | Benepass

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Stipends and employee perks form part of a company's benefits package. Employers offer a stipend to cover living expenses and employee perks, such as travel allowances, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, or remote working. A stipend is fixed or regular pay provided to employees as a form of allowance or financial aid.

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How Are Talent Acquisition Teams Adapting to Technology and AI? - Coit Group

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7/24/23: Coit Group - How Are Talent Acquisition Teams Adapting to Technology & AI

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7/24/23: Coit Group - How Are Talent Acquisition Teams Adapting to Technology & AI

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Recruiters and TA leaders are using artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize the way they approach talent acquisition. As organizations strive to stay ahead of the technological curve, it is essential to understand how these advancements will help attract and retain top talent. We gathered insights from talent acquisition leaders who are successfully integrating technology and AI into their recruitment strategies. While each approach may differ, there are common themes that highlight the importance of embracing automation, data-driven decision-making, and fostering a culture of curiosity and adaptability.

See how they responded to "How has your organization adapted to the increasing role of technology and AI in the talent acquisition process?"

Joel Valencia | Chief Human Resources Officer at OKX

1. Embrace Automation: Many repetitive tasks in recruitment, like resume screening and scheduling interviews, can be automated using AI. This allows recruiters to focus more on high-level tasks.

2. Learn New Tools: Recruiters and HR professionals should become comfortable with new software and technologies. This could include AI-driven analytics, chatbots for candidate engagement, and video interviewing platforms.

3. Data-Driven Decision Making: AI can provide valuable insights from large data sets, helping organizations make more informed hiring decisions. It can identify trends and patterns in hiring, help reduce unconscious bias, and predict candidate success.

Elizabeth Boyd- Fractional Director of Talent Development & Learning at TalentLab.Live

Success in tech relies heavily on upskilling and adapting to today's tools to drive impact & solve problems. We measure our potential tech talent's ability to leverage AI tools as we engage in the recruitment process. One of the most impressive skills we look for today is the potential talent to create a portfolio using today's tech to develop products or solutions that "wow" customers. We don't ask our candidates to solve our business problems, but we do ask them to show us how they solve problems by using the modern tools available and be able to take us through their process.

Stephen Muscat | Vice President Global Talent Acquisition at Altus Group

To stay ahead of the technological curve, we engage in strategic planning for upgrades. Research indicates that organizations that actively plan for and adopt new technologies in talent acquisition outperform their competitors in terms of candidate quality and overall recruitment outcomes. We allocate dedicated financial resources and devote time for demo and implementation, allowing us to integrate cutting-edge technologies seamlessly into our recruitment process.

In the fast-paced landscape of talent acquisition technology, curiosity is a vital trait. Research highlights the importance of fostering a culture of technological curiosity among all members of the talent acquisition team.

David VanGeystel | Founder, Head of Coaching & Talent at RevLdr.com

As the professional landscape evolves, so should our approach to talent acquisition and retention. We have integrated AI into our strategies, but it is important to note that it isn't about replacing the human element. Instead, it's about amplifying it. AI supports us in the preliminary stages of sifting through data, but it is our team that brings the indispensable human perspective to the decision-making process.

A key driver for employees deciding to stay with an organization, from my experience, is a deep sense of alignment with the organization's purpose - the sense of being a part of something greater than oneself. AI helps us identify potential candidates who might share this alignment, but it's the work culture we've built around empathy, respect, and collaboration that truly instills this sense of purpose in each member of our team.

At the heart of our philosophy is the concept of psychological safety. We've realized that it's not just about hiring the right talent, but it's about making them feel secure, appreciated, and confident in voicing their opinions. We've seen that when employees feel safe and valued, they become not just contributors, but also ambassadors of the organization's culture.

Embracing change, meeting employees where there are, and bringing them along is a key element to enabling talent to grow with the innovation companies deploy.

Koddi Dunn- CEO of Pinkrose Marketing Inc

Many teams that I work with are encouraged by me to embrace the advantages of technology. From in-depth sourcing, to pre-screening, verification, and beyond - technology can be a tool that can increase productivity and ROI-focused results.

Jennifer Bilcze- Founder & CEO Tidewater Consultants- JB LLC

I'm always very focused on the experiential importance of talent acquisition - first and foremost. This experience focus keeps in mind candidates, recruiters, hiring managers and the interview team. To ensure effectiveness, efficiency and the most engaging experience for all of those involved in the hiring process, it's no longer an option to stay stagnant on your tech stack & use of technology advances such as AI. It's a core responsibility for TA leaders to keep up with the changing workforce landscape, such as new generational behaviors as an example.

To ensure adaptation, I believe that talent acquisition leaders should be held accountable to certain performance standards, KPIs or goals related to keeping up with technology advances to enhance experience. Organizations also have a responsibility to invest in opportunities for TA leaders to stay informed through sending them to tech-focused conferences as an example. Having documented expectations for TA leaders and investing in ways to support their success is what sets the foundation for the organization's ability to utilize technology advances for the benefit of attracting and hiring top talent.

Share Your Favorite Quote

Proactively Embrace The Change

The transformative potential of technology and AI in talent acquisition cannot be understated. The leaders we talk to understand this and are making intentional choices to find and use it to amplify human efforts rather than replace them. By embracing automation, data-driven decision-making, and a culture of curiosity, organizations can harness the power of technology to enhance the recruitment process and drive impactful results. Leveraging AI tools allows for greater efficiency, enables data-backed insights, and helps identify candidates who align with an organization's purpose and values.

Don't forget that technology alone is not the answer. It is the combination of technology and a strong organizational culture that empowers talent to thrive and become ambassadors of the company's values.

At Coit Group, we understand the challenges and opportunities presented by technology and AI in talent acquisition. Our team uses the breadth of cutting-edge technology to help organizations meet their talent acquisition needs. By partnering with Coit Group, you don't have to spend as much time keeping up with technological advances. We'll do it for you and show you how it works. If you are looking to optimize your talent acquisition strategies or leverage AI tools effectively, we invite you to engage with us and explore how we can support your organization's success in the ever-evolving world of talent acquisition.

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How Are Talent Acquisition Teams Adapting to Technology and AI? - Coit Group

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Recruiters and TA leaders are using artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize the way they approach talent acquisition. As organizations strive to stay ahead of the technological curve, it is essential to understand how these advancements will help attract and retain top talent.

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Performance Management Software Success Stories - HCM Technology Report

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8/23/23 HCM Technology Report: Performance Management Software Success Stories

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8/23/23 HCM Technology Report: Performance Management Software Success Stories

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Performance Management Software Success Stories - HCM Technology Report

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From centralizing the process to minimizing bias in evaluations, discover the benefits of performance management software in organizations.

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9/29/23 Disrupt Magazine: 15 Employee Engagement Initiatives that Worked

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9/29/23 Disrupt Magazine: 15 Employee Engagement Initiatives that Worked

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To help you engage and retain top talent in your company, we sought advice from fifteen founders, CEOs, and other leaders. From implementing social activities to running growth leadership programs, these experts share their successful initiatives and tips for you to follow.

Implement Social Activities

Invest in Employee Learning and Development

Create Personalized Coaching Roadmaps

Provide Bonus Incentives from a Profit-Sharing Pool

Conduct Regular Surveys

Include Continuous Education

Set a Progression Pathway with Escalating Benefits

Offer Flexible Work Schedules

Incentivize Remote Staff through "Intrapreneurship"

Prioritize People and Wellbeing Policies

Leverage Team Member Strengths

Hold a Mentorship Accelerator Program

Foster Open Communication and Team Growth

Align Personal Goals with Company Objectives

Run Growth Leadership Programs

Implement Social Activities

Incorporating social activities has been a key factor in engaging and retaining top talent in my company. These gatherings allowed our employees to form genuine connections, fostering a more cohesive and positive workplace.

When team members enjoy spending time together, they're less inclined to seek opportunities elsewhere. We host various activities, from team-building challenges to casual get-togethers, and encourage employees to lead in planning them. This has empowered our team to shape our work culture, enhancing their sense of belonging and commitment.

To achieve similar success, assess your team's interests, encourage participation in event planning, and remain open to diverse activities. A well-rounded social calendar can significantly boost employee satisfaction and retention.

Invest in Employee Learning and Development

According to a CNBC report, 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it simply invested in helping them learn. Most organizations offer growth and development opportunities to their people, but their workload and schedules make it difficult to attend and engage with learning.

In 2021, our organization created an "Investment Time" policy for our people to dedicate 10% of their time to their professional growth and development. We are intentional about our development programming and ensure we listen to our people when creating or curating programs. This allows us to create journeys that help our people solve real problems, grow the professional skills they are interested in, and bring their best selves to the business each day.

This initiative has elevated organizational engagement and job satisfaction across four generations of workers by an average of 27%. This policy has also increased opt-in attendance to our learning experiences by 120% (H1 2022 to H1 2023).

Create Personalized Coaching Roadmaps

At our company, one of the most impactful initiatives we have for talent engagement and retention is a personalized coaching roadmap. Recognizing that every individual has a unique journey to success, we tailor these roadmaps to align with their goals and aspirations.

Each week, we engage in dedicated coaching sessions where we navigate challenges, brainstorm solutions, and track progress. Given that we're a coaching firm with a rich repository of growth tools, each tool we employ in these sessions has been tried and tested by thousands of leaders.

The tip for other companies looking to achieve similar success is to truly invest in the individual growth of your employees. Go beyond generic training programs; instead, offer personalized guidance that aligns with their personal and professional goals. When your top talent feels understood, supported, and equipped with the right tools, retention becomes a natural outcome.

Provide Bonus Incentives from Profit-Sharing Pool

Access to our profit-sharing pool. Top talent is awarded with a bonus from a profit-sharing pool, which management sets aside. This allows the staff to understand an important point: higher achievements come with a larger bonus from the pool. Success is therefore incentivized, with top talent taking a significant portion from the pool.

Conduct Regular Surveys

Naturally, even the most skilled individuals can question their career paths over time. It's crucial to spot that moment when an employee starts feeling disengaged.

Every six months, we conduct surveys to check employees' satisfaction and level of engagement with their roles. As part of our corporate culture, we encourage feedback on values, management style, inclusion, diversity, and leadership. The survey helps us derive insights into how talents align with corporate goals and whether they feel comfortable and have a sense of belonging in the workplace. Such feedback also reveals weaknesses that impact employee engagement.

By identifying the hot spots for improvement, we can then take action to retain top talents by suggesting solutions to their concerns, clarifying their role in the company, and offering new opportunities. This may range from training programs and role shifts to additional vacation days, ensuring that our top talents know they've been heard and valued.

Include Continuous Education

One effective initiative for a beauty salon is to invest in continuous education and training programs for your staff. The beauty industry is ever-evolving, with new trends, techniques, and products constantly emerging. By providing opportunities for your employees to enhance their skills and stay updated, you not only improve the quality of services but also create a motivating and rewarding environment.

By investing in continuous education and training programs tailored to your team's needs and encouraging their creativity, you can engage and retain top talent in your beauty salon. Not only will this improve the quality of services offered to clients, but it will also create a culture of growth and development that attracts and keeps skilled professionals in your salon.

Set a Progression Pathway with Escalating Benefits

To retain our top talent, we created a unique progression pathway, offering escalating benefits for sustained performance. These include salary increases, extra holiday time, car allowances, home cleaning services, paid "life moments," and a wellbeing allowance for personal perks, even a gym membership or a dog walker.

It's an incentive model that rewards consistent work and personal development, helping us to engage and retain our best performers. It also helps us keep top sellers focused on what they do best and not managing if that is not their strength. Remember, recognizing talent contributes not only to individual satisfaction, but also to organizational success.

Offer Flexible Work Schedules

To foster employee engagement and retention of highly skilled individuals, we introduced flexible work schedules as an initiative in our company. This allowed our employees to maintain their work-life balance while still meeting the requirements of their job duties.

We also encouraged regular breaks throughout the day, which improved morale and kept them productive. A valuable suggestion for other companies aspiring to achieve comparable success is to foster an environment of open communication between management and employees, encouraging discussions about their unique needs and requirements.

This helps ensure that everyone's needs are met, which in turn leads to a more engaged and satisfied workforce. Additionally, it's important to be flexible with scheduling, as this can help accommodate different lifestyles and commitments outside of work.

Incentivize Remote Staff through "Intrapreneurship"

At Financer, our team of 70 remote staff members is all incentivized through profit share. All agents have an hourly base rate, which can easily be multiplied through their own efforts. Hard-and clever-work is rewarded.

We also embrace the "intrapreneurship" model and hire talent that could easily, and will one day, become CEOs. We want to encourage thinking outside the box and bringing their ideas to the table, where we nurture and back the ones that are aligned with the company's vision.

Prioritize People and Wellbeing Policies

At SALT, we continually and actively invest in the "people" side of the business, through both our People and Culture Lead, and by responding to colleague feedback to develop our Colleague Health & Wellbeing policies.

These policies include industry-leading maternity and paternity leave, investment in a Mental Health First Aider, and a budget for colleagues to advocate and participate in causes in which they are personally invested. This investment in people means it's not about token efforts, like free pizza on Fridays, but about tangible and meaningful support as a given.

Leverage Team Member Strengths

Celebrating and leveraging the strengths of each team member is vital to engaging top talent and facilitating effective teams. Years ago, our leadership team invested in a CliftonStrengths coach to help us identify our strengths and then apply them both individually and company-wide. The results were transformative.

We learned that people were doing tasks that were draining and cumbersome for them. Reassigning tasks to match individual strengths not only increased productivity but also job satisfaction.

Now, as a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, similar jumps in productivity, team unity, and job satisfaction have been observed in clients. Regardless of the vehicle you use, the key is identifying and then aligning strengths to tasks and responsibilities so your people can do their best work.

Hold a Mentorship Accelerator Program

"Mentorship Accelerator" is a program we implemented, dedicated to the engagement and retention of our top-tier talent. The core objective of this program is to facilitate the seamless transfer of knowledge within our organization, while concurrently fostering robust mentor-mentee relationships.

The Mentorship Accelerator meticulously pairs seasoned employees with their newer counterparts, creating a meticulously organized platform for the enhancement of skills and the provision of guidance. Each mentor-mentee pairing is thoughtfully orchestrated, factoring in the mentor's expertise, the mentee's career aspirations, and shared interests. We have observed that this initiative not only expedites the professional growth of our newer staff but also fortifies the camaraderie among colleagues.

Foster Open Communication and Team Growth

Creating a culture of open communication is a priority, as is encouraging new employees to connect with the rest of the team to foster a collaborative environment. Investment in the team's growth is also a key focus, as it is believed that investing in employees' professional development is crucial for their success and the company's growth.

Work-life balance is prioritized, and flexible work arrangements help employees balance their personal and professional lives. These initiatives have proven successful in attracting and retaining top talent, and in creating a positive work environment that supports employee growth and success.

Align Personal Goals with Company Objectives

We realized early on that for our top talent to stay engaged; they needed to feel a deep connection to our vision. So, we started "Visionary Workshops." Here, employees would outline their personal and professional goals, and together, we'd align them with the company's objectives.

It transformed our work culture. Integrate personal aspirations with company goals. When individuals see the convergence of their growth with the company's success, retention becomes organic.

Run Growth Leadership Programs (GLPs)

At the beginning of this year, feedback from our top talent was that they wanted to feel more involved and to share their knowledge. We put together a GLP, where bi-weekly sessions are held to guide identified future leaders within the organization. This has allowed our top talent to feel more ingrained and build burgeoning relationships.

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15 Employee Engagement Initiatives that Worked

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15 Employee Engagement Initiatives that Worked To help you engage and retain top talent in your company, we sought advice from fifteen founders, CEOs, and other leaders. From implementing social activities to running growth leadership programs, these experts share their successful initiatives and tips for you to follow.

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3/27/24: HRManager.io | What Are Examples of Sucessful Employee Development Programs?

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3/27/24: HRManager.io | What Are Examples of Sucessful Employee Development Programs?

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What Are Examples of Successful Employee Development Programs?

Diving into the realm of employee growth, we've gathered insights from seasoned HR professionals to showcase successful development programs they've implemented. Highlighting strategies from enhancing resumes through project-based learning to launching personalized growth roadmaps, here are four compelling examples shared by HR Managers and Recruitment Team Leads.

Enhance Resumes with Project-Based Learning

CLEAR: Fostering Trust and Collaboration

Cross-Training for Flexible Workforce Development

Talent Rocket: Personalized Growth Roadmaps

In this example, my employee development program was targeted toward resume building for my student employees. The end goal was for student employees to have a measurable increase reflected in their resumes, transferable skills, and networks as a result of the work they did in our office. I wanted them to leave our office with more skills and connections than they had come with. To accomplish this, we provided our students with project-based learning opportunities, Clifton Strengths Assessments, skill-building trainings, mentorship, and evaluations throughout their projects. We also provided reflection activities and exit interviews to recognize and measure success once employment was complete. The result is that the majority of our students have drawn on the skills they gained to launch successfully into their chosen careers or fields of study.

The most successful program I've run is a quarterly, cohort-based program for all employees. I have a version for People Leaders and one for ICs. It's called CLEAR: Curiosity, Active Listening, Managing Emotions, Yes, And, Recognition. This sets people up for success as great leaders and great colleagues. It's built around competencies and skills that people need to develop to foster a culture of trust, effective communication, collaboration, and innovation.

This program has positively affected engagement and productivity in the organization, elevating both by 13% and 28%, respectively, for the teams that have completed it. It's fun, social, and rooted in play to make concepts memorable-and easily activated-for the learners.

Based on my experience, one successful employee development program we launched focused on cross-training within departments. We paired employees with mentors in different areas of our operation to broaden their skills and understanding of the company.

This program included structured workshops, one-on-one mentorship sessions, and practical projects tailored to individual growth goals. The outcome was a more flexible, engaged workforce with a deeper bench of skills and improved collaboration across teams. It was rewarding to see employees gain confidence and take on new challenges, reinforcing the value of investing in our people.

At EchoGlobal, we've engineered a groundbreaking 'Talent Rocket' initiative to catalyze our team's boundless potential. Early on, mired in generic training modules, I witnessed engagement plummet. Now, powered by hyper-personalized growth roadmaps, our program ignites passion and performance.

It starts with a 'Launchpad Assessment' where employees chart their unique trajectories, aligning superpowers with aspirations. Managers morph into mission control, co-piloting individualized flight plans spanning stretch projects to exclusive leadership workshops.

The magic happens through our 'Booster Sessions'-quarterly check-ins propelling progress via real-time guidance and course corrections. It's all about iterative advancement, not one-size-fits-all programs.

Since embarking on this stellar journey, we've witnessed engagement soar to stratospheric heights while attrition has plummeted. Our workforce brims with empowered explorers, fearlessly navigating uncharted territories of innovation.

The key to success? Customization, communication, and continuous acceleration. By crafting bespoke pathways fueled by relentless support, we've transformed development from a mundane mandate into a launchpad for limitless growth. The sky's no longer the limit-it's just the beginning.

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What Are Examples of Successful Employee Development Programs? - HR Manager

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New Q&A article featuring expert insights on HR Manager: What Are Examples of Successful Employee Development Programs?

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4/30/24 HR.com: How to Source Candidates in Competitive Markets

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4/30/24 HR.com: How to Source Candidates in Competitive Markets

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Highlights:

Passive recruitment is an incredible way of finding candidates that you wouldn't usually find via traditional methods.

Having colleagues help vet candidates helps us stand out as an employer of choice in a competitive job market.

Email campaigns have been an effective strategy for sourcing and attracting top talent.

In the fierce arena of talent acquisition, we've gathered insights from HR professionals and recruiting experts on unique strategies to attract the best candidates. From offering flexible working options to leveraging LinkedIn for proactive sourcing, discover the seven cutting-edge tactics these leaders are using to make their organizations stand out.

Offer Flexible Working Options

Present Career Development Program

Utilize Passive Recruitment Tactics

Leverage Colleague Referrals

Expand Candidate Pool Strategically

Ensure Transparency in Hiring

Engage with Email Campaigns

Offer Flexible Working Options

In today's fiercely competitive job market, one standout strategy that we have adopted to attract top talent is offering flexible modes of working. We recognize the importance of accommodating our candidates' diverse needs and preferences, which is why we provide options such as remote work and flexible hours. This not only demonstrates our commitment to valuing our employees but also serves as a powerful magnet for attracting a wider pool of talent, including highly skilled individuals who prioritize work-life balance.

One notable impact of this approach is our ability to attract more female employees, particularly new mothers looking to reintegrate into their professional careers. This strategic initiative has not only helped us build a strong employer brand but has also contributed significantly to fostering a culture of respect, value, and mutual support within our organization.

Present Career Development Program

To our final-round candidates, we share our Career Development program. Most 'top talent' wants to know how and when organizations invest in their career growth. We like to present a realistic picture to our candidates to let them know that we want to give them the space and time to acclimate to their new role and how we will support them along the way (from Day One to Month 9 as a 'new hire').

This has clarified expectations and created transparency in onboarding. This straightforward program has positively impacted 'Year One Retention' by decreasing attrition by 10% in the last two quarters.

Utilize Passive Recruitment Tactics

Passive recruitment is an incredible way of finding candidates that you wouldn't usually find via traditional methods. It's certainly not the quickest approach, but it is one of the best to a) showcase your expertise and value as a company, and b) highlight benefits without directly having to outreach to candidates (as they often come to you as a result of your positive output online).

Leverage Colleague Referrals

Having colleagues help vet candidates helps us stand out as an employer of choice in a competitive job market. They share their own experiences and, as part of our Referral Program, have the opportunity to earn incentives, so it's a win-win! #AlwaysABetterSolution

Expand Candidate Pool Strategically

I believe that expanding the pool of candidates by taking references would help a bit. Also, negotiations on the rate matter, as one should be smart enough to understand the circumstances and persuade the candidate to agree on the quoted rates.

Additionally, understanding the requirement will aid in targeting the right candidates. As the pipeline of candidates is narrow, looking for genuine candidates is tough, but understanding the needs of both might land us on a better page.

Ensure Transparency in Hiring

At Momentum Metropolitan Services, transparency is the foundation of our approach to candidate engagement, and by fostering open and honest communication with our candidates, we pave the way for mutual understanding and success.

As part of our hiring process, we ensure that candidates have access to all the information they need to make informed decisions about their careers. Whether it's details about our company culture, the dynamics of the team, the details of the role they're applying for, or the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, we leave no stone unturned in providing clarity and insight.

By empowering candidates with this information, we enable them to align their professional aspirations and personal goals with our organizational strategy and help us in promoting our values in them.

Engage with Email Campaigns

Email campaigns have been an effective strategy for sourcing and attracting top talent. Email campaigns offer a direct and personalized approach to engaging with potential candidates, allowing us to showcase our company culture, values, and career opportunities. They also allow us to craft personalized messages tailored to specific skill sets, experiences, and interests. This personalized approach demonstrates our genuine interest in candidates and helps us establish meaningful connections right from the start.

By crafting targeted messages and leveraging segmentation, we ensure that our communications resonate with the right candidates at the right time, ultimately strengthening our employer brand and positioning us as an employer of choice. Additionally, email campaigns provide valuable data and insights that enable us to refine our recruiting strategies, such as open rates, click rates, and apply clicks, ensuring that we stay ahead of the curve in attracting top talent and positioning us as an employer of choice.

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How To Source Candidates In Competitive Markets

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From offering flexible working options to leveraging LinkedIn for proactive sourcing, here are seven effective tactics HR leaders use to make their organizations stand out.

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6/5/24: Fast Company | Do Green Initiatives Impact Employee Satisfaction

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6/5/24: Fast Company | Do Green Initiatives Impact Employee Satisfaction

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Embracing sustainability beyond recycling bins and bike racks might be the secret weapon to a happier, more fulfilled workforce. Studies suggest that going green goes beyond the environment, positively impacting employee satisfaction in surprising ways.

As sustainability is key, we've gathered insights from CEOs, directors, and other leaders to explore how their green initiatives have shaped employee satisfaction and recruitment efforts. From starting small with easy green adjustments to achieving a humane certification that appeals to ethical talent, read on to explore how a company's commitment to eco-consciousness can create a thriving workplace.

Implementing easy green adjustments

We've been undertaking what I refer to as "easy green adjustments" over the past few years. These include activities that only require a small adjustment of our day-to-day operations, but that can add up to significant resource-use reduction (as well as cost savings, in many cases, which is an added bonus).

Some of the specific adjustments we've made include:

Switching to a "digital-first" approach to sharing information and filing reports, only printing those items that are absolutely necessary to have in a hard copy (such as contracts, for example)

Ensuring that equipment that isn't in active use is powered down, and unplugged if it's something that only gets used occasionally

Ensuring that office lights are turned off when there is no one in a room or building

Paying for monthly public transportation passes for employees to encourage them to use these options instead of driving

Allowing for hybrid work when employees don't specifically need to be in the office reduces the carbon impact of commuting as well as resource use within the office

The employee response to these initiatives has been overwhelmingly positive. Team members aren't just fully on board, but have actually been the ones who suggested many of these policies, and have suggested others that we're considering implementing as well. It helps that many of these initiatives also make employees' lives easier, give them more flexibility, or save them money, too.

I also believe that making these efforts reflects well on our company from a recruitment standpoint. I don't have any data that I can present on this point, but I do have anecdotal evidence of hearing straight from some job candidates that they appreciate the ways we as a company are prioritizing the environment.

There is a growing interest in sustainability and green initiatives in the broader population, and this is where I see the most value in these initiatives from a recruitment standpoint. People who value sustainability will be more likely to apply for a company that shares that value, and you can show that's the case by implementing green initiatives.

Plant trees along with other conservation

We work with a sustainability company to plant seven trees per employee per month, along with other conservation initiatives. We receive monthly reports mid-month showing projects funded, CO2 avoided, and trees planted.

It's one of the highlights of our culture and aligns well with our values of achievement and benevolence. Since we launched this initiative in August 2022, our recruitment pipeline has grown by 84% year-over-year (YOY), our engagement results have increased by 18% YOY, and our client list has also grown by over 40% YOY.

This initiative has had a profound impact on our team engagement and morale. Our employees take immense pride in knowing their work helps foster sustainable living. This has increased job satisfaction and contributed to a lower turnover rate, as employees feel aligned with Daisy's values of innovation and responsibility.

From a recruitment perspective, our clear commitment to sustainability has been a strong pull factor. Prospects often highlight their enthusiasm about joining a company that not only embraces cutting-edge technology but also prioritizes environmental consciousness. We've seen a 25% increase in applications since we started emphasizing our green initiatives in job postings and interviews. This not only broadens our talent pool but also attracts candidates who are passionate about making a positive impact on the planet, enhancing our team quality and innovation capability.

Integrate an eco-achievement program

We've recently launched the Eco-Achievement Program in the iScanner app. Every document that users scan instead of printing helps save trees, and our app shows how much users are contributing to forest conservation.

Implementing our Eco-Achievement Program has had a profoundly positive impact on our team dynamics and overall motivation. Every member knows that their daily efforts help conserve our environment. It's truly inspiring to see how even small actions can add up to significant environmental benefits.

By integrating our commitment to the environment directly into our work, we've created a more purposeful and engaging workspace.

Transition to a digital workflow

At eLearning Industry Inc., our commitment to sustainability led us to implement a significant green initiative: the transition to a completely digital workflow. This move not only reduced our carbon footprint by cutting down on paper use but also resonated deeply with our team and prospective employees who value environmental responsibility.

The shift to digital operations was initially a challenge but has since proven to be a major factor in enhancing employee satisfaction. Our team appreciates the company's dedication to sustainability, and this has fostered a sense of pride and loyalty among existing staff.

When we first launched it, I'll admit some employees grumbled about the extra sorting required. But it quickly became part of our office culture. And I've noticed it's a huge draw for job candidates who care about sustainability. In fact, over 75% of new hires mention our composting program as one reason they chose us over another offer. Beyond the environmental benefits, it boosts morale to see your workplace making tangible efforts to reduce waste.

My advice to any leader looking to go green? Start small with initiatives that engage your people. The returns in employee satisfaction are well worth the effort.

Try a remote-first model

As a leader in the sustainable energy space, we've embraced a green initiative that aligns with our commitment to reducing environmental impact by working remotely. Transitioning to a fully remote work model, we've significantly reduced our carbon footprint associated with commuting and office energy consumption.

Our remote work policy eliminates the need for daily travel, thereby reducing emissions and congestion on the roads. By forgoing a traditional office space, we minimize energy consumption related to heating, cooling, and powering office buildings. This initiative not only supports our sustainability goals but also enhances employee satisfaction, offering flexibility and promoting a healthy work-life balance.

Going remote has helped position us as a forward-thinking and environmentally conscious employer, appealing to top talent who share our values.

Transition to an EV Fleet

Sustainability has had a significant impact on how we operate at Stallion Express. We recently launched a green initiative, switching 30% of our delivery fleet to EVs. Not only does this align with our carbon reduction goals, but it also resonates strongly with our team and future employees.

From an operational point of view, the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) has resulted in a reduction of approximately 25% in our carbon footprint per year. However, the impact goes beyond the environmental benefits, as it has improved our corporate culture and employee well-being.

Our employees are proud to be part of a company that places environmental responsibility at the heart of everything we do. According to an internal survey, 80% of employees felt more satisfied with their job after implementing this initiative.

Sustainability is also at the core of our recruitment strategy. We've seen a 15% spike in applications, especially from Gen Z and millennials who prioritize green credentials in their job search.

These results highlight the importance of aligning business operations with wider societal values. For eight years, this concept has been at the core of my approach to logistics and customer experience.

Our team dedicated over five years to fully certifying all 25 California dairies that supply our goat milk. This effort highlights Sammy's Milk's commitment to animal care and our reputation for high-quality products.

This initiative has been fundamental in attracting and retaining top talent in our industry. It has helped us hire and keep people who align with our business objectives and share our mission and vision. Our employees have shown increased satisfaction and commitment to delivering high-quality products that adhere to environmentally friendly and humane practices.

Recognize your brand's excellence by applying to this year's Brands That Matter Awards before the final deadline, June 7.

Sign up for Brands That Matter notifications here.

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Do green initiatives impact employee satisfaction?

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Insights from leaders to explore how their green initiatives have shaped employee satisfaction and recruitment efforts.

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7/12/24: EmployeeRelations.io | How Do You Conduct Effective Employee Performance Reviews?

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7/12/24: EmployeeRelations.io | How Do You Conduct Effective Employee Performance Reviews?

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How Do You Conduct Effective Employee Performance Reviews?

Gleaning insights from seasoned professionals, we sought advice on mastering employee performance reviews. From training for self-advocacy and bias minimization to providing year-round feedback and specifics, here are the top five strategies shared by Human Resources Managers and Career Services Coaches.

Train for Self-Advocacy and Bias Minimization

Implement Interactive Performance Agreements

Communicate Performance Continuously

Conduct Reviews with Empathy

Provide Year-Round Feedback and Specifics

Training both individual contributors and people leaders on the process is essential. Most individuals need help advocating for themselves and setting themselves at a realistic level. Many people leaders need help overcoming biases and using objective and specific data points to assess and articulate performance feedback. Giving both populations development in these areas (self-review, peer review, manager review, and conversations) throughout the performance cycle will help minimize challenges and issues.

We use a more interactive process we call Performance Agreements. It focuses on personal and professional development and ties back to our mission, vision, values, guiding principles, core competencies, and job description. Goals are created by the employee in cooperation with their supervisor. Some of it may be performance-related things regarding how they do their job, but it may also include stretch goals and new things they want to achieve or learn. We have found it really helps our employees see how their day-to-day work ties to our organization's mission and how they are making an impact.

Performance reviews should not be a once- or twice-a-year event. If you are managing well and effectively communicating performance to subordinates, there should never be a question as to how an employee is performing. Performance reviews are an ongoing process. In addition, there should not be a question in a subordinate's mind about your expectations and how they are measuring up against them. If a subordinate is surprised by their mid-year or year-end review, you have not done your job.

Conduct Reviews with Empathy

The biggest piece of advice I would give is to look past the data and remember you're talking to a real person. So easily, performance reviews turn into a simple and unemotional statistical analysis of what is deemed a "good" performance. Be sure not to do that and have an empathetic review of not only the data but also the person you're reviewing. No matter what the data outcome shows, you need to be a proper leader and conduct the review with the care and respect it deserves. Employee reviews should not be a stressful situation for you or your employees, and it's up to you as a quality leader to ensure this during the process.

Performance reviews are often viewed as scary and uncomfortable. As a People Manager, the way to combat this is to provide feedback and indicators throughout the entire year to your direct reports so nothing is new information or a surprise at the time of the review. In my experience, it's best to frame the review as a conversation or informal discussion, and provide tangible examples of what the person could improve on, as well as specific feedback on what the person did well. With that said, this should be separated into specific topics and questions the employee receives in advance to avoid the 'compliment sandwich.' The best result of an effective employee performance review consists of sharing detailed ways a person can improve on XYZ (aligned with career goals) and what steps to take to exceed the KPIs, as well as sharing what strengths the individual possesses and should continue to demonstrate to be effective in their role. Essentially, providing specific examples, evidence, and insightfulness to the person directly (throughout the year) and framing as a conversation makes them feel seen, heard, valued, and more likely to walk away from the experience with a positive perspective.

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How Do You Conduct Effective Employee Performance Reviews? - Employee Relations

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New Q&A article featuring expert insights on Employee Relations: How Do You Conduct Effective Employee Performance Reviews?

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HR Vendor News | 3/10/25 | Building Excitement: Onboarding Practices for New Hires

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HR Vendor News | 3/10/25 | Building Excitement: Onboarding Practices for New Hires

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Building Excitement: Onboarding Practices for New Hires - HR Vendor News

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Building Excitement: Onboarding Practices for New Hires Discover the secrets behind successful onboarding practices that keep new hires engaged from day one. Gain invaluable insights from industry experts on creating an immersive and welcoming experience for newcomers. Learn how to build trust, foster community, and show employees you care through personalized and meaningful initiatives. Immersive…

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Building Excitement: Onboarding Practices for New Hires

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5/14/25: HR for Humans at Work | Building a People-First Culture: Strategies for Employee Well-Being and Retention

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5/14/25: HR for Humans at Work | Building a People-First Culture: Strategies for Employee Well-Being and Retention

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On her last day at work, Emma left a handwritten note on her manager's desk: "I didn't quit because of the workload - I quit because I felt invisible."

Emma's experience isn't unique. A 2024 Gallup report found that only 31% of U.S. employees were engaged at work, marking a 10-year low in employee engagement. Many cited a lack of recognition and support as key reasons for their dissatisfaction. This has led more organisations to prioritise building a people-first culture - but what does that really mean, and does it genuinely improve employee well-being and retention?

Let's explore the complexities of creating a workplace where people feel valued, supported, and motivated to stay.

Equip Managers to Be Compassionate Coaches

Our workplace culture is not defined by posters on a wall; it's embodied by the people walking down the hall. However, there is tension in these hallways as leaders find themselves unprepared for the next generation of employees who bring their whole selves to work.

While previous generations were taught to leave their personal issues at the door, today's new workforce brings unprecedented conversations to the workplace about personal and mental health challenges. This is the new reality at work, as disruptive to operations as it may feel. HR leaders need to equip managers to be compassionate coaches who listen, empathize, and provide appropriate flexibility while still holding teams accountable. Training is an excellent place to start.

We understand that leaders need employees who can get the job done and who stay to deliver results. However, it's crucial to remember that our workforce has evolved. The cost of continually replacing younger employees far exceeds the investment required to engage and retain them effectively. Care about what your employees care about, and they will, in turn, care about what you care about.

Alayna Thomas, MS, PHR, Retention Strategist, Magnet Culture

Foster Psychological Safety Within Teams

In today's competitive talent market, HR leaders must embed well-being into workplace culture to drive retention and performance. One proven strategy is fostering psychological safety within teams, ensuring employees feel safe to share ideas, voice concerns, and take risks without fear of retribution. Organizations that cultivate this environment see higher engagement, lower stress, and stronger long-term commitment from employees.

At a global tech firm, mid-management attrition was rising due to burnout and disengagement. By implementing leader-led open forums, peer coaching, and decision-making transparency, the company saw a 21% increase in employee satisfaction and a 30% drop in voluntary turnover, saving $5.2 million annually in rehiring costs. This approach not only reduced stress but also strengthened collaboration and innovation, demonstrating the direct link between psychological safety and business success.

A key factor in making this strategy effective is leadership. When managers model openness and actively encourage diverse perspectives, they create an environment where employees feel valued and supported. Structural flexibility also plays a role, as adaptable work arrangements and career development pathways help employees balance professional and personal commitments. Additionally, integrating well-being metrics into performance reviews shifts the focus from pure output to a more holistic evaluation of engagement and sustainability.

By embedding these practices, HR leaders create workplaces where employees thrive, leading to stronger retention, improved performance, and sustained organizational growth. A culture that prioritizes psychological safety is not just a benefit-it is a competitive advantage.

James Rose, Executive Leadership & Organizational Psychology Consultant, Cognitive Direction

Establish Management and Employee Committees

Creating a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being and retention requires more than just offering great benefits-it demands active involvement from both leadership and employees. One of the most effective strategies HR leaders can implement is establishing management and employee committees dedicated to shaping and improving workplace well-being initiatives.

Why Committees Work:

When leadership and employees collaborate, policies and programs become more relevant, effective, and embraced across the organization. Rather than HR making unilateral decisions about benefits, work-life balance, and engagement strategies, a well-structured committee creates a space for open dialogue, feedback, and innovation.

How to Structure a Well-Being & Retention Committee:

1. Gain Leadership Buy-In - Senior executives and department heads need to be involved to ensure initiatives align with business goals and have the necessary resources to succeed. Their support also signals that employee well-being is a business priority, not just an HR initiative.

2. Include a Diverse Employee Group - A mix of employees from different departments, levels, and demographics will ensure varied perspectives and help identify real workplace challenges. Employees who feel heard are more likely to engage with and champion new programs.

3. Meet Regularly with a Clear Agenda - Committees should meet monthly or quarterly to review benefits, assess engagement, and propose new initiatives. A structured agenda keeps meetings productive, and rotating responsibilities among members keeps participation active.

4. Use Employee Feedback to Drive Change - Surveys, focus groups, and informal conversations should guide committee discussions. Whether it's adjusting health plan offerings, enhancing mental health support, or refining remote work policies, employee input should shape company decisions.

5. Take Action and Communicate Results - Employees need to see that their feedback leads to tangible improvements. Report back on changes implemented, measure their impact, and adjust as needed to maintain momentum.

The Bottom Line:

A management and employee well-being committee creates a collaborative culture where employees feel valued, leadership remains engaged, and retention improves naturally. By making well-being a shared responsibility, HR leaders can ensure that efforts are not only effective but also sustainable.

Louis Bernardi, Founder | "The Benefits Whisperer", BritePath

Implement a Voice and Choice Approach

One proven strategy HR leaders can use to build a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being and retention is implementing a "Voice & Choice" approach-ensuring employees feel heard, valued, and have some autonomy in their work.

3 Tips for "Voice & Choice" to Work:

1. Provide regular two-way feedback.

Move beyond annual engagement surveys. Implement frequent pulse checks, stay interviews, and open forums where employees can voice concerns and ideas. Most importantly-act on the feedback!

2. Provide flexible work and autonomy when you can.

Employees who have some control over how, when, and/or where they work report higher well-being and engagement. Instead of micromanaging hours, offer flexible schedules, hybrid options, and outcome-based performance measures.

3. Ensure that managers are accountable and trained for employee well-being.

Train leaders to recognize burnout and proactively support work-life balance. Managers who check in on workload, stress levels, and growth opportunities create a culture where employees feel supported, not overworked.

When employees feel heard and empowered, engagement and retention increase-because people want to stay where they feel respected, trusted, and valued!

Please let me know if I can expand or provide additional information. Thanks,

Etty Burk

Etty Burk, Ph.D., President and Founder, Leading With Difference

Practice Honesty and Transparency

I hesitate to label this a "strategy," but being honest with people is crucial. Human Resources is often not perceived as an ally by the average employee in an organization. Perhaps through no fault of their own, most people can cite at least one significant challenge they've had with HR.

People are perceptive; they recognize when they're being excluded, gaslighted, ignored, or deceived. HR leaders who operate with good intentions and honesty can help employees navigate everyday work challenges. When individuals feel they are being treated as adults, trusted, heard, seen, and valued as individuals, they can work through typical challenges and persevere (even during difficult times).

People also understand that HR leaders sometimes need to maintain confidentiality. Therefore, when HR states they cannot share information or need time before disclosing details, assuring they will follow up (and then actually doing so), it is understood and much easier to accept than being avoided or outright lied to.

Regardless of generational differences, people desire someone who is honest and candid with them in a respectful and mature manner. HR leaders who practice this approach can significantly help employees navigate work challenges with peace of mind and motivation to continue delivering strong results for their colleagues, team, and company.

Elizabeth Boyd, Director of Learning, Leadership Development, & Onboarding, TalentLab.Live

Embed Purposeful Connection into Company Rhythm

One strategy that genuinely moves the needle? Embed purposeful connection into your company rhythm-not just once a year, but continuously.

At Zing Events, we work with organizations who think beyond ping-pong tables and pizza Fridays. They schedule regular team-building experiences with clear intent: to boost trust, not just team selfies. One of our clients runs "Escape the Box" quarterly-not for a jolly, but to actively strengthen problem-solving, resilience, and communication.

It's had real results. Their engagement scores jumped 18%, and voluntary turnover dropped by a third. When people feel connected, they stay. When they collaborate with meaning, they thrive.

HR leaders often think well-being lives in HR policies. But it also lives in culture-and culture is built through shared experiences. Create opportunities for people to feel seen, supported, and part of something bigger. That's not fluff-it's strategy.

Charles Berry, Co Founder, Zing Events

Implement a Feedback and Recognition Program

One effective method HR leaders can employ to create a workplace culture that values employee well-being and retention is by implementing a robust employee feedback and recognition program.

Fostering open communication through regular check-ins, pulse surveys, and anonymous feedback mechanisms makes employees feel heard and valued. Acknowledging their contributions through peer-to-peer recognition, rewards, or career development opportunities creates a sense of belonging and motivation.

When workers realize that their contributions make a difference-whether in policies at work, benefits, or in the team itself-they are more likely to remain committed and motivated to the company. Not only does this improve retention, but it also builds a healthier, more positive workplace.

Brayn Wills, HR Manager, ProProfs Training Maker

Create a Strong Incentive Plan

HR leaders who wish to retain star performers must do more than offer minimal benefits and focus on true appreciation. A strong incentive plan gets workers fired up, deepens their dedication, and boosts engagement. When workers feel appreciated, they stay longer and work at a higher level.

The greatest incentives are more than just cash. Customized rewards-like additional paid time off, unique experiences, or professional growth opportunities-leave lasting impressions. Some companies offer paid sabbaticals following milestone anniversaries, while others give rewards based on experiences such as travel or skill acquisition programs. Google gives employees time to work on individual projects, allowing for creativity and job satisfaction. HubSpot provides a four-week paid sabbatical after five years, promoting long-term loyalty.

Intermittent recognition fails. Incentives need to be structured, consistent, and associated with transparent success criteria. Employees who receive regular, significant recognition are significantly more likely to remain and be committed. The appropriate program doesn't only enhance retention-it reshapes workplace culture. If your incentives aren't driving impact, rethink how you're recognizing performance.

Ben Wieder, CEO, Level 6 Incentives

Maintain Personal and Consistent Communication

One thing that has worked well for us is keeping communication personal and consistent. We don't rely on formal HR surveys; instead, we have real conversations regularly. I make it a point to check in with team leads and individual team members, not just when something goes wrong, but also when things are running smoothly. Over the years, I've seen how small issues-such as unclear expectations or lack of recognition-can quietly build up if no one asks. These one-on-one check-ins help us stay ahead of that. It's not about ticking a box; it's about creating a space where people actually feel safe speaking up.

We also don't throw around the word "flexibility" unless we mean it. If someone needs to shift their hours or take time off mid-week, we make it work. That kind of practical, day-to-day flexibility matters more than offering some generic wellness benefit no one uses. When you're a smaller team, you don't need grand programs-you just need to pay attention and be human. That's what keeps people engaged.

Ann Kuss, CEO, Outstaff Your Team

Make Well-Being a Shared Responsibility

One strategy that has worked well for us is making well-being a shared responsibility, not just something HR drives, but something our managers actively own. We train team leaders to check in during one-on-one meetings with more intention. Instead of only asking about deliverables, they'll ask questions like, "What's been draining you lately?" or "What's one thing that would make next week easier?"

At first, it felt unfamiliar to some managers. But once we made it part of their actual role-not a bonus or soft skill-it started to shift the culture. People felt more seen, and when someone's close to burnout, we usually catch it early.

It's not a flashy strategy. But it's consistent, and it works. And it's helped us keep people engaged, supported, and more likely to stay long-term.

Vikrant Bhalodia, Head of Marketing & People Ops, WeblineIndia

Create a Culture of Open Feedback

One proven strategy that has consistently shown success is creating a culture of open feedback and recognition. At Nerdigital.com, we recognized early on that employees desire more than just a paycheck-they want to feel heard, valued, and supported in their growth.

One way we implement this is by conducting structured but informal check-ins, rather than relying solely on annual performance reviews. Every month, managers have one-on-one meetings with their team members to discuss more than just work progress-they talk about personal goals, roadblocks, and well-being. When employees feel comfortable discussing challenges before they escalate, retention naturally improves.

We also prioritize real-time recognition. Instead of waiting for formal award programs, we use simple tools like a dedicated Slack channel where team members can give each other shoutouts for great work. A little public appreciation goes a long way in making people feel that their contributions matter.

The key lesson? Employee well-being isn't just about perks or benefits-it's about fostering an environment where people feel psychologically safe, supported, and valued. When you create a culture where feedback flows both ways and employees know their efforts are recognized, retention becomes a natural byproduct.

Max Shak, Founder/CEO, nerDigital

Develop Personalized Career Development Plans

I strongly believe that personalized career development plans are one of the most effective strategies HR leaders can use to build a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being and retention. Employees who see a clear growth path within a company feel more valued, engaged, and less likely to leave.

One way to implement this is by conducting quarterly career check-ins rather than limiting growth discussions to annual performance reviews. For example, a company I worked with introduced tailored learning paths based on employee strengths and career aspirations, offering mentorship programs and access to skill-building courses. As a result, engagement scores improved, and retention rates increased by over 25% in a year.

By showing employees that their growth matters, companies foster a culture where people feel supported and motivated to stay long-term.

Pallavi Pareek, Founder & CEO, Ungender

Implement a Generous Paid Time Off Policy

To build a culture that promotes employee well-being and retention, HR leaders should implement a generous paid time off policy. The policy should encourage employees to take needed time to rest and recharge. Leaders in the organization should model desired behavior by taking ample time off work. By offering employees a significant amount of paid time off and actively promoting its use, HR and company leaders will create a culture of work-life balance. Employees will take the time they need to prevent burnout, and they will stay with the organization long-term.

Susan Snipes, Head of People, Remote People

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