Maintain Strong Employer-Employee Relationship

Humans are ultimately companies’ assets in achieving results and success. It is one key factor that it is important to maintain a strong employer-employee relationship and such strong relationship will not bring about too many conflicts in the workplace. This will also help to keep employees focus, more efficient and more committed to work. Put some thoughts into your position and analyse if it is the same for your company too.

Keep the Motivation Going

Observe your employees carefully. What are ways they are doing to keep themselves motivated at work? I’m sure it is not just the monetary aspect that kept them coming to work. Every individual is motivated in different ways and if you understand what the motivation factor are, then it will help you manage a strong relationship with them. An example will be praising and encouraging your employees who have done well in the last quarter of the business year and let them know that you appreciate their performances and hard work.

Ensure Open Communication

Create that effective network for employees to be engaged is one way that allow them to ‘rant’ and share what they felt could have been better for the Company and them. Constantly remind them that you are to listen to them. This also allows you to resolve issues quickly and not snowball the situations and it does show employees that the Company are taking each feedback and issue seriously.

Employee Commitment

In today’s context, cost of a new employee is getting costly – from hiring and training. Keeping a committed and loyal workforce will not only help you in cutting down hiring cost and it will reflect well with your clients and other related business partners that they do not have to liaise with a ‘newbie’ and they may not be as well-trained.

Conflict Reduction

Keep the focus on the right track. Create that conducive environment which allows employees to focus on the tasks and assignments that have been assigned. With reduced conflicts in the company will also allow the people and environment be friendlier. It’s an instinct that you can feel it when you enter the workplace. That instinct can never go wrong. While employees focus on business- or work-related tasks and assignments, it’d also mean that they will be more willing to help one another when escalations from arise.

Are you transparent enough?

Transparency is the trend these days. Every healthy workplace culture will have a good level of transparency between bosses and colleagues, but how can it be maintained through the constantly changing working environment? Transparency usually encourages open feedback and exchanges between different levels of managements and employees, and allows one to have a clear look at how the company works at a whole.

Depending on how it is handled, it can be both beneficial and encouraging to not just consumers and/or customers, but also the people in the company. Here is a quick checklist for colleagues to see if basic transparency is practiced in the workplace:

TREAT EACH OTHER LIKE ADULTS

If any problem arises, do the management and/or colleagues involved get each other looped into the matter like adults? The old corporate hierarchy will see the problem being solved behind closed doors, with a few discrete decisions handled by upper management, but that system is flawed and therefore outdated now. Transparency will encourage all the involved parties to take an active stand in the problem and talk it out face-to-face, ensuring that no one is misunderstood or unheard when trying to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion.

SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER TO NOT SAY IT OUT!

If there are some sensitive information that will be harmful once it reaches a larger pool of audience, then consider keeping it to a few chosen individuals. Although transparency encourages the same level of knowledge to reach all to be considered transparent, there are times where knowing all is not in the best interest for the company. After all, transparency also includes the public. When it comes to delivering information, consider if it is good or bad before becoming a messenger with no backups left in his pockets at the end of the day.

TAKE TIME TO EXPLAIN AND BE PREPARED FOR IT!

In the workplace, people will have questions about the decisions being made, so transparency will allow a forum for others to question why things work a certain way (or not). Be prepared to explain to others the processes behind such choices. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to explanations, so even if it is information regarding a bad or unwise decision, or bad news, deliver it with honesty and clarity for the rest of the company to learn and appreciate the direct exchange.

The right time to hire.

The government in Singapore is always encouraging young entrepreneurs to establish a business on their own. With more of such entrepreneurs around, the chances of establishing a successful company is higher and this would also mean a reduction in unemployment rates.

It is all good for the society, but it is a stressful situation for the entrepreneurs themselves.  It is always a stressful situation and as entrepreneurs, we have to make calculated risk and proceed with caution. We are not just looking at fixed cost, such as salary and benefits – but many sources of overhead as well such as training and development costs. This is based on the assumption that the employee is performing as the figures will only get worse if the employee is not performing – where all the training and development cost dedicated to the employee not just become a sunk cost, but businesses have to think of severance pay (and sometimes litigation), but also the time and effort dedicated to finding a replacement. Time always means money.

What is the required skillset?

What is the position you need to fill, depends on the skillset of the founders, as well as the industry of the new business. These are the questions you have to ask yourself:

• Are you lacking in a skillset
• Is the lack of skillset preventing the business from going further
• Must the skillset be hired or should it just be outsourced

With all these information, you have to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each. Services that are outsourced do not need to be managed – in comparison to bringing an employee onboard. Apart from the main difference in the budget, services that are outsourced are guaranteed results, whereas the results of the employee you bring in might vary. You will also think about the knowledge set whereby do the market have sufficient knowledge of the product or industry you are dealing in, and how confidential is your knowledge? The more confidential it is, the more you will want to do it by yourself. If the vendors have more expertise, knowledge and experience, you should consider outsourcing the service to them. Of course, at this time, you should also be thinking the frequency whereby this service is required. One such consideration would be the number of times you have to rebrand your company’s logo and website.

Who is the right candidate to bring onboard?

If you have decided to hire, the next step would be to think of who should you hire. These are some of the following questions you can think of

• Have the incumbent worked in smaller companies before?
• How aligned are the goals to the company with the incumbent?
• Is the candidate an individual contribution, or someone who requires hand-holding

Based on our experiences, companies prefer credentials – be it experience, or educational qualifications. However, companies should always be evaluating on the staying power of such candidates as well as on whether the incumbent will be a good fit with the company’s culture. Employees who have been used to working in big companies could have been used to a structured environment, with dedicated routine tasks whereas in a small organization setting – incumbents could likely be told to assist in practically anything and everything.

However, we have come across candidates who prefer a less bureaucratic environment because it would also mean less politics. With lesser competition, it could mean room for career progression.  We are also surprised when some candidates share that they would like to take up on the role because they are able to learn more.

Conclusion

Ultimately – You have to do your own self-assessment of the candidate. One of the ways you could use your assessment is by getting your existing employees who are well versed with your culture to recommend someone else into the company. Those who are doing the recommendation will be assessing the suitability of the new entrant as well. Or you could widen your pool of potential candidates with us, and we could do the assessment for you – with a fee of course.

Of course, we would prefer the latter.

Discriminatory Job Advertisements

In Singapore, there is an organization to ensure that no companies use discriminatory wordings in their job advertisements. If you are in the Human Resource Industry long enough, you will commonly know them as TAFEP – or Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment.

Basically, TAFEP ensures companies uses fair practices during hiring or while at work. There have been a number of companies who have been given demerit points, fined, or asked to attend compulsory courses by TAFEP to ensure that discriminatory practices do not happen again.

But do you know that apart from the benefit of ensuring fair practices - there is another benefit?

Increased Applicants

Studies have shown that job advertisements which do not seem to steer towards a preference for a gender type are able to attract more applicants. With a wider pool of applicants, you can have more choices about who is going to be the good fit with the company.

Recruitment website ZipRecruiter found that job listing with gender-neutral wording gets 42% more responses than listing with gendered wordings. In this case, gendered wordings could also imply words that people associate with masculinity or feminism. 

Increased Employer Branding and Increased Employee Retention

Imagine if you are in a company, whom you are aware are hiring based on discriminatory practices – would you not think that they might promote based on discriminatory practices as well instead of meritocracy?

If they are going to promote based on discriminatory practices, current employees would be concerned. If gender, race and age are going to be a consideration factor for the time when you would get the promotion, then we would not suggest waiting too long.

How to Brainstorm Efficiently

When it comes to brainstorming, there are a lot of ways one can tackle the overwhelming amount of content that needs to be translated to paper. From keywords to pie charts, the meat of the meeting usually lies in how effective the brainstorming portion turns out to be. Here are some of the methods that can ensure an efficient brainstorming session.

Summarize The Problem In 7 Words

The first step to ensure that the brainstorming group is in the right direction is to identify the crux of the problem. What is the problem that needs to be solved at the end? Once the problem is identified, attempt to formulate it in seven words to create a purpose statement that can keep everyone on track. Seven words give the statement good allowance for keywords to stay and clears up any contradictory intentions.

For example, a restaurant needs more ideas on how to improve its customer retention system. This can be affected by its menu items, service crew, location, prices, and promotions. In order to brainstorm about a solution, pick one aspect and trim it to its most dominant factor. Say the final problem statement is, “High prices make the restaurant seem exclusive”, then the ideas will concentrate around the factors that account for such high prices, and subsequently solve the ambiance issue. 

Come Up With Ideas Alone First

When a group of people come together and everyone is trying to speak over the other, most of the ideas get lost or people concentrate on a singular point collectively. Instead of getting everyone to chip in, consider giving at least 15 minutes for each member to deliberate about how they will tackle the problem alone. This way will allow everyone to work on the same problem with their own set of objectives and creativity.

Brainstorming loves a myriad of ideas. Once all the ideas are presented, identify the advantages and/or disadvantages of certain points that are interesting, and continue working from there.

Remember To Take Action After

Most of the times when brainstorming fails, it is because after the session, no action is taken with regards to what was discussed. It is understandable that the generated content is usually heavy and varied after an intensive session, but leaving the discussion to quietly fade into oblivion is not the solution here. If no concrete action is taken after the session, then the efficiency of brainstorming will never be tested.

Consider employing someone to take the minutes of the meeting. Afterwards, craft feasible action plans to enforce the solutions, and keep track of its progress. Have specific teams monitoring the results. If something works or does not work, bring it up during the next session. There is a reason why these points were brought up in the first place, so immediately incorporate it back into work and prove that it can add value to the company as a whole.

3 Easy Workplace Remedies

Presenteeism is a common condition that plague today’s workforce.

The feeling of being irreplaceable at work, and the subsequent guilt that follows, are some of the factors that force employees to appear even when they are on MC. When sick employees insist on being physically present, they turn the office into an active workplace epidemic for everyone else. One sneeze can trigger the whole department into blowing their noses, and one mistaken cup can pass around a viral bug that could last for weeks.

Personal reasons aside, there are times where it is not as easy as simply requesting for medical leave. There might be a crucial presentation, a last minute proposal, or even a meeting with a big client. When it comes to responsibilities that rely solely on the affected individual, he/she must adapt to today’s working expectations. While the best solution will ultimately lie in having proper medication and rest, adjustments will always have to be made.

In order to counter last minute illnesses or defer said symptoms for a couple of hours (until the meeting is over), here are some easy and effective workplace remedies.

Mix Coca-Cola With Salt

The fastest bug going around today belongs to the flu family, and under it comes a myriad of symptoms: sudden itchy throat, stomach blockage, and phlegm production. These can seriously hinder work productivity, especially if talking plays a big part.

One quick and cheap hack is to get a can of Coca-Cola and mix it with salt. If there is a McDonalds nearby, purchase a cup of Coca-Cola and make use of their free salt packets. Attempt to finish as much of this sweet & salty concoction as possible.

Coca-Cola works particularly well for bacterial-causing issues because of the soft drink’s acidity. The mixture of both carbonic and phosphoric acid allows it to have medicinal properties. It started out as a patent medicine back in the late 19th century.

2 Pills A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Move aside, Panadol. Other than the usual OTC pills that treat everyday maladies, consider purchasing active charcoal tablets and Vitamin C pills — the orange ones that dissolve in water. The first is proven to be highly effective when combating situations of food poisoning or stomach bugs. Charcoal is able to absorb the toxic components, and temporarily stop the pain and runs. The only downside is that it needs to be taken frequency in relatively high amounts for it to work, around 500mg (2 to 3 tablets) every hour for adults.

As for Vitamin C pills, they act as a prevention measure for the rest of the company when someone gets sick. The moment a sneeze cuts through the air, consider these pills to ensure that the daily vitamin intake is sufficient enough to boost a healthier immune system. As the adage goes, prevention is always better than cure.

Go Into The Darkness

Have a headache? A quick solution to migraine relief is to find a dark corner and stay still in the darkness for awhile. Try to shut out as many of the light sources contributing to the environment and let the darkness soothe the headache away. If this is physically impossible, eye masks are also a quick cheat for one to experience total darkness in the office.

While it may sound a little unorthodox, light plays a big part in triggering or contributing to migraines. Brightness can be especially painful when the body becomes sensitive, and there is nothing worse for a headache than a direct glare of sunlight. This is also a healthier alternative to migraine medicine!

Culture – It is an increasing importance for attraction and retention

Research has been done and has been found that there is usually a positive correlation (It basically means, both have to increase at the same time) between company’s profit as well as worker’s satisfaction. What affects worker’s satisfaction and retention is the company’s culture.

It helps in attraction of good candidates

You will probably understand when a good candidate has your offer, as well as another company’s offer. Both offer packages are similar, with little discrepancies – a common situation for quality candidates. What is the distinguishing factor is your company’s culture, and how well it is being represented and communicated to your stakeholders.

This is even more important if your salary package is not market competitive. Your culture could be the deciding factor why quality candidates might reject the higher salary package over yours.

It helps in ensuring a good fit between the company and the potential new entrant

Regardless of how long your interview is, it is not long enough to define your culture or how you can alter the judgement from your interviewees. Candidate already has formed a perception about what this company is, it’s reputation and the culture and purpose of this company.

The preconceived information is attained from news articles, word of mouth and social media – and they are likely information disseminated by your very own employees who could be currently employed, and fully involved in the daily activities.

Hence, it is important to not only communicate your culture but to continuously reinforce your culture

Leaders actions and decisions reinforce the culture of the company. It influences the way people act and communicate with each other. Your existing employees will reinforce the company’s culture to the group of new entrants.

Ultimately, the culture that your company have assist in the employer branding - which makes you unique compared to your competitors. Your culture is then defined by your goals and objectives that your company have, or that leaders emphasize on their employees. 

Allow Employees to Take Naps during Work

Allow Employees to Take Naps during Work

In the recent years, afternoon naps are no longer strange and link to laziness. Some companies start to understand and see that sleeping in on the job to allow employees recharge energy for the rest of the day. Your bosses will never want to do the team or any one starts going into food coma after lunch hours. As much as there are some companies which have accepted such way to recharge, there are a number of companies who may find it unacceptable but it does aid in promoting a healthy environment for employees to work in. The best nap time is approximately 15 to 30 minutes, which helps in increasing alertness and memory.

Successful Power Nap

Effective and successful power nap will help if the environment can let you fall asleep fast to have a comfortable rest. Since there is a limit time for such naps, always keep any electronics or communication devices out of reach. With the periodic vibrations and light alerts from the phone will make it even harder to sleep well. Your sense of hearing will naturally send signals to your brain to do something – check out the phone in case if there is any urgent matter – you will never get to rest properly.

Body works best when you get to keep it in routine. Regulate your nap routine and your body will tell your brain to take a break naturally. For example, you may want to try sticking your nap to the same time and place. Your body clock will instinctively send a signal to you.

Safe and Designated Place

Companies can always build a dedicated corner especially for employees to take their naps. Dedicate certain time of the day for rest and encourage employees to switch off their computers to avoid interruption. Keep such session as comfortable as possible – you may even want to consider employees bring in their own pillows and with a dedicated corner will mean that you can design the space conducive to go into relaxation mode, such as the temperature of the room, the colors of the walls and the furniture.

Try it today!