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Author
Ankita Chauhan
Product Manager
BluElement Technologies Pvt. Ltd
The post What makes Web Security so Important? appeared first on BluElement.
]]>The post A conversation about current Onboarding and Hiring Processes appeared first on BluElement.
]]>The HR segment of companies is one of the most affected by the rise in the pandemic. It is a tedious task for HR professionals to interact with candidates while making sure the employees are engaged and content with their jobs as well. This proves difficult especially since all the employees are not under a single roof.
Currently, with the rise in the rate of hiring in the industry, candidates have quite a few offers to choose from, thereby increasing the rate of drop-offs and reducing the rate of retention. This is one of the reasons we also wanted to have a better understanding of the changes that can be brought to the process of onboarding.
To understand the current trends, hurdles, and tips to tackle this situation, we decided to discuss this with Srikanth Vachaspati. He has been in the HR domain for over 20 years in renowned organizations like Infosys, HP, IBM, etc., and is currently associated with Siemens Technology India as a General Manager and Head HR. With this vast experience in the HR world, he seemed like the ideal person to throw more light on the challenges faced, the changes in the near future, and more. From onboarding to drop-off rates, to candidate engagement and retention, we had an informative discussion with Mr. Srikanth that didn’t just help us understand the scenario better but aided in preparing us for the changes to come.
Read on to know the questions we had for Mr. Srikanth and his input on the same.
Q 1 – So, let’s begin with a little peek into the onboarding process. How has it impacted the Work from the Home scenario? Has the onboarding process changed? If so, how is it now?
The onboarding process for the Work from Home employees is mostly done online currently. This is often a tad difficult due to internet issues and more on the employee’s end. Recruiters still try and work around this to ensure all procedures and introductions are completed online. The positive effects of face-to-face interaction are definitely lacking with the Work from the Home scenario.
Q 2 – We had cases where candidates have declined offers because they need to join virtually. In this case, they are often in a dilemma if they will be able to adjust to this new culture. With the current pandemic, has the drop-off rate increased?
Currently, in India, there are two types of drop-off. One is the offer rejected and the other is no show. Offer reduction is around 30% in the industry today which used to be about 5%-8%. Due to an increase in hiring, one candidate can have more than 3-4 offers. So, it is understandable that 4 out of 5 companies would experience no show or rejection of offers. This is a tremendous hike in the no-show and rejection rate.
Q 3 – Is the company coming up with any type of mitigation to avoid such hurdles or is it okay?
A- It is not okay but I don’t think the companies are coming up with efforts to mitigate. What they are choosing to do instead is, if they need to hire 500 people, then they add a buffer of 20% and hire 600 people. This way even if there are outs or rejections, they have the number of people they need.
Q 4 – Has the engagement activity for those joining virtually changed?
A- I don’t think it has gone through any major change. Normally, depending on the nature of the industry we assign a ‘buddy’ to them. This person would be helping them in the engagement and networking processes. I think we continue this system even if it is remote. This is commonly followed by companies but other than this, I don’t think we are doing anything additional when it comes to overall engagement with employees. We generally set up regular calls with no agenda to essentially connect with people.
We have also organized more hackathons. Where we have also digitized the entire training portfolio. This has also helped us in training a huge number of people with ease.
Besides that, we have added another aspect recently. We make sure to have conversations once a fortnight, with somebody who had COVID.
We call this COVID survivors story. Here, we interview the person to understand what happened, what the doctors had said, and the like. We have also lost employees to COVID and we ensure we set up sessions with the mental wellness partner to talk and cope with the same.
Q 5 – Has the pandemic changed performance management?
Obviously, due to the pandemic, there has been a change in the course of action for a lot of people and companies have tried to alter their ways to match the changing ways. As a salesperson, the targets have to be relooked as well as altered depending on scenarios.
So, there have definitely been changes in calibrating the codebase due to COVID. This is the first thing that most organizations are focusing on. The second thing that most companies are focusing on is frequent check-ins with their employees. This is to make sure there is a connection in terms of the recalibrating.
The third change is that of performance management. To help employees better, companies can tackle this by firstly looking at the hard factor, which is the goal, and secondly, following up with the ways the employees can achieve their target.
One integral change is the removal of rating systems. Especially with remote working, the rating has become quite difficult. Keeping this in mind, people have removed rating systems and come up with check-ins.
These are ways performance management has changed with the scenario of Work from Home and the pandemic.
Q 6 – One of the common complaints among employees is that there is too much micromanagement after work from home. Is it true?
During the initial days of Work from Home, the lockdown was pretty strict and people had no opportunity other than stay indoors and work and companies did not face any issues. But the changes were also drastic due to Work from Home. Firstly, the number of meetings increased. Once the managers and team formed an understanding of how to execute certain tasks and meet targets, we have reduced the number of meetings as well. But there are instances where managers feel that team-mates are unavailable at times and team-mates feel their managers are micromanaging. This is an issue that is raised on both ends.
Q 7 – Has this changed the way employees’ performance is reviewed and has the reward system changed?
The number of rewards employees receive has increased. Initially, people did not have so many rewards to look up to but that has increased a lot. We still provide monetary rewards to the employees along with adopting other digital modes of rewards like e-vouchers.
A lot of the awards initially were experiential awards. Since with the current scenario of pandemics, employees wouldn’t be able to go out. Hence, we chose to give our rewards in the form of cash or something equivalent to the cash amount.
Q 8 – There is a lot of resistance to virtual engagement activities? Is it true? What can be done to engage employees virtually?
Virtual activities began more like a ritual and seemed very forced and not as a means to engage employees. To make this more engaging for employees, activities must be designed in a way that is beneficial to the employees. We had once organized a virtual stand-up comedy session and the audience was not able to connect with it whereas a session on financial planning had a better impact and employees could relate to it better. Virtual activities have to be something employees relate to and find beneficial.
With the rise in Hybrid workspaces, the importance of employee engagement is becoming more important with each passing day. Keeping this in mind, Bluelement Technologies gave rise to EngageLoop. The platform has impacted and created relevant engagement steps and options to ensure Employee Engagement despite the Work from Home scenario.=
We hope to know the views of an expert in the domain helps better understand the right steps to take.
The HR domain, as we know it, is forever evolving and developing. This domain has seen drastic changes especially in the last one to one and a half years with the scenario of Work from Home. Now, as we add Hybrid workspaces to the mix as well, the changes are quite a lot. For example, entire teams do not work under one roof, some are currently working from home while others are from the office. This often causes a hurdle in the communication aspect and more.
The HR segment of companies is one of the most affected by the rise in the pandemic. It is a tedious task for HR professionals to interact with candidates while making sure the employees are engaged and content with their jobs as well. This proves difficult especially since all the employees are not under a single roof.
Currently, with the rise in the rate of hiring in the industry, candidates have quite a few offers to choose from, thereby increasing the rate of drop-offs and reducing the rate of retention. This is one of the reasons we also wanted to have a better understanding of the changes that can be brought to the process of onboarding.
To understand the current trends, hurdles, and tips to tackle this situation, we decided to discuss this with Srikanth Vachaspati. He has been in the HR domain for over 20 years in renowned organizations like Infosys, HP, IBM, etc., and is currently associated with Siemens Technology India as a General Manager and Head HR. With this vast experience in the HR world, he seemed like the ideal person to throw more light on the challenges faced, the changes in the near future, and more. From onboarding to drop-off rates, to candidate engagement and retention, we had an informative discussion with Mr. Srikanth that didn’t just help us understand the scenario better but aided in preparing us for the changes to come.
Read on to know the questions we had for Mr. Srikanth and his input on the same.
Q 1 – So, let’s begin with a little peek into the onboarding process. How has it impacted the Work from the Home scenario? Has the onboarding process changed? If so, how is it now?
The onboarding process for the Work from Home employees is mostly done online currently. This is often a tad difficult due to internet issues and more on the employee’s end. Recruiters still try and work around this to ensure all procedures and introductions are completed online. The positive effects of face-to-face interaction are definitely lacking with the Work from the Home scenario.
Q 2 – We had cases where candidates have declined offers because they need to join virtually. In this case, they are often in a dilemma if they will be able to adjust to this new culture. With the current pandemic, has the drop-off rate increased?
Currently, in India, there are two types of drop-off. One is the offer rejected and the other is no show. Offer reduction is around 30% in the industry today which used to be about 5%-8%. Due to an increase in hiring, one candidate can have more than 3-4 offers. So, it is understandable that 4 out of 5 companies would experience no show or rejection of offers. This is a tremendous hike in the no-show and rejection rate.
Q 3 – Is the company coming up with any type of mitigation to avoid such hurdles or is it okay?
A- It is not okay but I don’t think the companies are coming up with efforts to mitigate. What they are choosing to do instead is, if they need to hire 500 people, then they add a buffer of 20% and hire 600 people. This way even if there are outs or rejections, they have the number of people they need.
Q 4 – Has the engagement activity for those joining virtually changed?
A- I don’t think it has gone through any major change. Normally, depending on the nature of the industry we assign a ‘buddy’ to them. This person would be helping them in the engagement and networking processes. I think we continue this system even if it is remote. This is commonly followed by companies but other than this, I don’t think we are doing anything additional when it comes to overall engagement with employees. We generally set up regular calls with no agenda to essentially connect with people.
We have also organized more hackathons. Where we have also digitized the entire training portfolio. This has also helped us in training a huge number of people with ease.
Besides that, we have added another aspect recently. We make sure to have conversations once a fortnight, with somebody who had COVID.
We call this COVID survivors story. Here, we interview the person to understand what happened, what the doctors had said, and the like. We have also lost employees to COVID and we ensure we set up sessions with the mental wellness partner to talk and cope with the same.
Q 5 – Has the pandemic changed performance management?
Obviously, due to the pandemic, there has been a change in the course of action for a lot of people and companies have tried to alter their ways to match the changing ways. As a salesperson, the targets have to be relooked as well as altered depending on scenarios.
So, there have definitely been changes in calibrating the codebase due to COVID. This is the first thing that most organizations are focusing on. The second thing that most companies are focusing on is frequent check-ins with their employees. This is to make sure there is a connection in terms of the recalibrating.
The third change is that of performance management. To help employees better, companies can tackle this by firstly looking at the hard factor, which is the goal, and secondly, following up with the ways the employees can achieve their target.
One integral change is the removal of rating systems. Especially with remote working, the rating has become quite difficult. Keeping this in mind, people have removed rating systems and come up with check-ins.
These are ways performance management has changed with the scenario of Work from Home and the pandemic.
Q 6 – One of the common complaints among employees is that there is too much micromanagement after work from home. Is it true?
During the initial days of Work from Home, the lockdown was pretty strict and people had no opportunity other than stay indoors and work and companies did not face any issues. But the changes were also drastic due to Work from Home. Firstly, the number of meetings increased. Once the managers and team formed an understanding of how to execute certain tasks and meet targets, we have reduced the number of meetings as well. But there are instances where managers feel that team-mates are unavailable at times and team-mates feel their managers are micromanaging. This is an issue that is raised on both ends.
Q 7 – Has this changed the way employees’ performance is reviewed and has the reward system changed?
The number of rewards employees receive has increased. Initially, people did not have so many rewards to look up to but that has increased a lot. We still provide monetary rewards to the employees along with adopting other digital modes of rewards like e-vouchers.
A lot of the awards initially were experiential awards. Since with the current scenario of pandemics, employees wouldn’t be able to go out. Hence, we chose to give our rewards in the form of cash or something equivalent to the cash amount.
Q 8 – There is a lot of resistance to virtual engagement activities? Is it true? What can be done to engage employees virtually?
Virtual activities began more like a ritual and seemed very forced and not as a means to engage employees. To make this more engaging for employees, activities must be designed in a way that is beneficial to the employees. We had once organized a virtual stand-up comedy session and the audience was not able to connect with it whereas a session on financial planning had a better impact and employees could relate to it better. Virtual activities have to be something employees relate to and find beneficial.
With the rise in Hybrid workspaces, the importance of employee engagement is becoming more important with each passing day. Keeping this in mind, Bluelement Technologies gave rise to EngageLoop. The platform has impacted and created relevant engagement steps and options to ensure Employee Engagement despite the Work from the Home scenario.
We hope to know the views of an expert in the domain helps better understand the right steps to take.
The post A conversation about current Onboarding and Hiring Processes appeared first on BluElement.
]]>The post 7 Actionable Ways to Retain your Best Talent appeared first on BluElement.
]]>Building a strong organizational culture plays a significant role in accelerating growth, but only if the best talent of the company is engaged and motivated. Human Resource teams in every organization are working towards implementing innovative methods to engage employees and retain their best talent. The cost of talent acquisition, onboarding, and training a new hire is much higher compared to the amount spent on retaining the employees, making it an efficient and practical choice for any organization.
However, it is challenging to retain talent given the high demand for skilled personnel in the job market today. Here are some actionable ways that organizations can adopt to improve Employee Retention:
Enhance Employee Benefits
A competitive package is beneficial when attracting new talent, but other than monetary and non-monetary benefits have proven to increase employee satisfaction and can help retain employees. When choosing a benefits program, do keep in mind – A customized benefits package works better than a standard benefits program. This can include experiential rewards, upskilling options and more.
Offer Flexibility in Work Schedule
With the advancement in technology and the new norm of WFH. Employees expect a lot more flexibility when it comes to working schedules. Here’s how you can make it enjoyable. Firstly, let your employees have a flexible work schedule with WFH or Hybrid work options. This way, the employees are more productive and satisfied with their work. It also helps avoid any conflict between work and personal responsibilities. Be aware of the ambiguity the flexibility in work schedule can cause, making it essential to define the policy and guidelines beforehand.
Recognize Hard Work and Achievements
It is crucial to recognize employees for the hard work and a job well done. It is an integral part of ensuring continuous employee engagement. Many studies show that employees have expressed their employers’ concerns about not recognizing their achievements. Have a clear Rewards and Recognition program which can easily be implemented through the use of available SAAS platforms in the market and ensure the program is customized and is focused towards the overall company goals.
This is one integral aspect EngageLoop, a Rewards & Recognition platform has incorporated, impacting the motivation of employees. Recognizing and appreciating employees’ hard work is proven to improve their performance at the workplace. When your best employees don’t receive recognition for their hard work, they are more likely to quit the organization.
Prioritize Employees’ Professional & Personal development
The best talent in your organization is excellent at what they do, but they always strive to get better, learn new things and take up new challenges. Try to build a system or environment where they can collaborate with current leaders in your organization to upgrade themselves personally and professionally.
This step of encouraging the professional and personal development of employees helps you strengthen the bond between the employees and the organization. Instead of hiring new employees, train and recognize the talent within the organization.
Communicate with your Employees
Create a channel where they can be vocal about their concerns and a safe space to receive or provide feedback, making it easier to recognize or offer constructive criticism in real-time.
It is often difficult for employees to communicate with the higher management, which creates a barrier and frustration among employees. Communication channels like – one-on-one, 360-degree feedback, Employee Engagement Surveys create platforms where employees are heard and their suggestions and feedback are taken into consideration, therefore increasing retention.
Promote within the Organisation
Turning a blind eye towards the best talent within the organization and hiring outside talent for a management-level promotion can be disheartening for the existing employees. An organization’s best employees are likely to remain in the organization if they are provided a path to growth in the organization.
It must be easier for them to transition into a higher level with an internal training program that will help them advance in their role. If employees think their growth is limited, they are more likely to quit within a short period of time and look for opportunities outside
Collaboration is the Key
Collaboration is critical to employee retention. When employees work as a team, they tend to be more productive and energetic. Building teams help make better social relationships and helps interact with leaders and co-workers. This way, everybody’s ideas are valued and put into action.
EngageLoop is one such innovative Employee Engagement Platform built to recognise and appreciate employees in an organisation. EngageLoop is a points-based Rewards and Recognition platform created to enhance Employee engagement. This platform allows organisations to send certificates, badges, send wishes and system awards and encourage peer to peer recognition with ease. In addition to that, The points given to employees are redeemable on a curated online store where employees can choose from a wide range of experiential, virtual services and vouchers related to upskilling and Wellness, and more.
Are you taking the necessary steps to retain your talent? Try these out and let us know!
Reach out to us to know more about EngageLoop!
The post 7 Actionable Ways to Retain your Best Talent appeared first on BluElement.
]]>The post 6 Ways to Enhance the Candidate Onboarding Process using Automation appeared first on BluElement.
]]>Automation is simplifying tasks across industries, and the recruitment industry is not left behind. Every recruitment team performs a critical role, considering the added challenge of uncertainty in hiring trends. When hiring surges occur, the number of open positions quickly piles up. The pressure to fill those positions with the best talent increases exponentially. With large numbers of applications coming in daily, it takes massive effort to track every part of the hiring process. This is where it becomes integral to include automation techniques into the hiring and candidate onboarding process. Automation, along with aiding recruiters hire efficiently, saves time and resources as well.
Automation and AI-powered candidate onboarding tools help increase operational efficiency in sourcing, scheduling, onboarding, screening, engaging and more. This speeds up hiring efficiency and keeps the candidate engaged throughout the process, decreasing the chances of candidate ghosting, which is every recruiter’s nightmare post offer.
Also read: 12 Remote Employee Onboarding Process
2. Automated Candidate Search
5. Timely Prediction & Analysis
Data-driven analysis keeping in mind various parameters aids candidates in assessing candidates and creating quantitative risk scores. With this analysis, recruiters can have fair warning about at-risk candidates along with the time to build a timely contingency plan which plays a significant role in reducing overall post-offer dropouts.
Hireloop provides insights into each candidate’s interest and engagement level. This information helps recruiters divide candidates into groups and targets them with outreach campaigns based on real-time engagement data.
6. Track Productivity Weekly/Monthly/Yearly
Automation helps reduce recruiters’ workload, allowing them to focus on critical tasks. Automation also helps track and analyze hiring performance to understand recruitment outcomes with feedback forms, post joining and post drop-out surveys. This helps improvise the overall recruitment process in the long run.
Let HireLoop help you.
Candidate Engagement & Experience is prioritizing the hiring processes in organizations, as it reduces dropouts and creates a better candidate onboarding experience with dropout risk analysis and prediction with the help of the right technology and tools.
HireLoop is a Candidate Engagement platform using unique and innovative ways to attain the goal of building a bridge between the candidate and the organization. HireLoop is here to help you enhance and alter your Candidate Engagement with, thereby, impacting the overall branding of your organization, elevating your talent pool, yielding a better ROI and more.
We are just a call away and are always ready to help you!
The post 6 Ways to Enhance the Candidate Onboarding Process using Automation appeared first on BluElement.
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