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Education

Work From Home: A Bane Or A Bliss?

Working from home is the new norm for many organizations. It has changed how the world was previously working.

From large to medium to small organizations, many companies are offering their employees the facility of working from anywhere. According to a report by Prof. Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University in his study at Ctrip found that for WFH employees productivity increased by 13.5% apart from savings in terms of travel costs and workspace costs.

In fact, according to a report by MoveInSync published in Economic Times, ‘An average Indian spends 2 hours on the road which constitutes 7% of their day.’ Indians spend more time in daily office commuting than any other country in the world. The ‘Travel Time Report Q1 2019 vs Q1 2018’ report is based on the data collated from the rides on the MoveInSync platform across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR.

However, many employees also experience high levels of stress and work as working from home has diminished the line between working hours and personal space. Women especially are bearing the brunt of work-from-home as they are struggling to strike a perfect balance between work and home. Many employees also feel isolated and disconnected from their work. They withdraw from the team dynamic and suffer from stress and anxiety. That’s why it is vital to maintain contact with your co-workers and to cultivate a sense of belonging.

Employees feel that they have to be available 24/7 for work and feel mentally spent at the end of the day. There are issues concerning the lack of factors like recognition at work, absence of people who care and share, evaluation of progress, decreased employee engagement, and in turn, employee performance.

So what can you do to make your work-from-home more productive?

Here are 5 steps you can take to make your work-from-home experience productive:

1. Set Boundaries

Make sure any roommates, family members, and dogs (well, maybe not dogs) respect your space during work hours. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you’re home. If you share space with another work-from-home adult, you may have to lay ground rules about meeting times, shared desks and chairs, and quiet times.

2. Take Breaks

At the workplace, we tend to take frequent breaks and have people around us. We can communicate with our teammates, and get to interact with people. But when we are at home we feel guilty about taking breaks. So, don’t let the feeling of guilt take you over. However, rather than just opening YouTube and watching some random videos, go out for a walk, enjoy the fresh air, or spend some time with family members.

3. Prepare Meals the Night Before

Preparing your food a night before ensures that you can use your meal times to eat and that you aren’t performing non-work tasks that spend energy better used at your desk.

4. Join a remote-friendly company

If your work can be done remotely, but your current boss or organization doesn’t allow you to work from home, you might need to get a new job. When looking for a work-from-home job, you can use the same methods you used in finding your regular office job. This includes channels like job sites, local job ads, and social media platforms.

5. Start Your Own Business

Another way to enjoy remote working is to start your own business. If you have a business idea you can work on it with the help of a business mentor and turn it into a successful venture. There are many businesses like candle making, tiffin service, and online businesses that you can start with minimum or zero investment.

Working from home is a boon for many. But it is also a fact that for many it is a cause of anxiety and stress. However, we have shared a few amazing tips that can help you use work-from-home to increase productivity.

The idea of managing a business is easier said than done and we completely agree with you. This is why to help you move forward with your business goals, we at Bada Business offer an exclusive Business Coaching Program that comes with Foundation courses, specialized courses, and value-added courses. To know more about our courses, visit: www.badabusiness.com

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HR & People Management

4 Employee Engaging Factors to Retain Top Performers in a Company

Employee Retention! While hiring the right talent in the organization helps it to grow, retaining the same talent helps a company to attain its goals. As millennial have become a major part of the workforce, employee retention has become paramount for most of the organization.

According to a survey report published in Forbes, “60% of millennials were open to a new job, while 21% had switched jobs within the prior year”.

“Approximately 50% of the organizations admit to encountering difficulty in retaining employees, and 70% have trouble replacing the former employees who leave” according to the survey.

Today, top performers are just a LinkedIn message away from finding a new job in a rival company. Employee turnover is costly and leaves a negative impact on the organization.

If your company is also struggling with the retention of employees, here are 3 essential employee retention factors that you might be ignoring:

  1. Work Schedule Flexibility

The old clock-in, clock-out is the concept of the past. With the recent pandemic situation, the companies have realized that an equal amount of work can be done remotely as well. Employees today value flexibility and the employers must prepare themselves for a new workforce`s sense of individualism.

  1. Health & Wellness Benefits

Not only free coffee and food, today, but employees also give more preference to workplace wellness. More than 60% of waking hours are spent at the workplace. So, the workplace has a huge impact in shaping employee lifestyle, overall health, and eating habits.

Hence, a gym membership reimbursement or a health spending account simply shows that employers care about their employees` health and well being

  1. Appreciation & Recognition

When milestones or targets are achieved, are your employees rewarded or recognized for their contribution? Rewarding an employee for his immense contribution throughout the year will make them feel appreciated.

However, most of the managers forget to often do that. The reason behind it is not only ignorance but also the poor employee management system. So, it leads to an environment where the top performer doesn`t feel like going the extra mile.

  1. Employee Engagement

Most of the HR personnel feel that employee engagement means organizing an event filled with fun activities on weekends. Though that too is a good idea, it doesn’t help in the long run. Assigning your workforce with creative assignments or projects is what promotes employee engagement.

Giving monotonous projects or work that lacks creativity is the best way to have a top-performing employee looking for an exit.

With the surge in demand for highly-skilled employees, hiring managers need to be realistic about working smarter and harder to retain their valued employees. The grass is always greener on the other side, especially when employees are getting more flexibility, money, or interesting projects.

Want to know how you can enable your HR department with deep knowledge and insights that will help you retain your prized employees? Take our Problem Solving Courses. Click here to know more: https://www.badabusiness.com/psc?ref_code=ArticlesLeads

Categories
HR & People Management

Employee Performance Evaluation: What is it & Why it is necessary for an Organisation?

As 2020 winds down, employees all across the world are gearing up for their annual performance reviews. The past year has been like no other in human history.

Covid-19 has made certain targets unattainable while presenting a lot of challenges for both employers and employees. This has also forced employers and employees alike to adopt creative ways to stay relevant and productive. As a result, 2020`s performance review must also put the past year into consideration while reviewing employee`s performance.

Why employee performance management is necessary?

Performance management, if applied constructively can establish a channel of continuous communication between employers and employees. The main goal of effective performance management is to increase the overall employee productivity and efficiency to attain organizational goals.

With some simple tweaks in the process and mutual honesty, employee performance evaluation can become a valuable tool for managers and team members, equally. Here is how you too can adapt and improve employee performance:

  1. Set Performance Standards

Setting out clear performance standards for employees in a specific role can provide a clear understanding to employees about their roles and responsibilities. The same standards should apply to every employee who holds the same position.

Always ensure that all the performance standards should be achievable and they should match with the person`s job description.

  1. Set Specific Goals

Unlike performance standards, specific goals should be set for each employee by keeping their capabilities into consideration. Goals are specific to the strengths & weaknesses of the individual employee. They can further help them to enhance their skills or can encourage learning new ones.

  1. Focus on Employee Potential

While evaluating an employee`s performance, always focus on the future and the potential that an employee holds. Avoid criticism of past mistakes as the lessons learned from them are invaluable.

  1. Avoid Comparing Employees

The purpose of an employee evaluation is to provide feedback to every staff member against their Key Performance Indexes (KPIs). Comparing one employee with another will not only lead to unhealthy competition, but it can also lead to employee dissatisfaction.

Creating a productive environment for employees is essential for the development of an organization. Always ensure that an employee evaluation is a two-way street in which both the evaluator and the employee can exchange their perspective.

However, feeling a bit overwhelmed with employee performance management is common. Get adequate knowledge related to Human Resource Management that will help you increase employee engagement, efficiency, and productivity as well. To know more about our HR Problem Solving Course, click here: https://www.badabusiness.com/psc?ref_code=ArticlesLeads