Organizations have begun to recognize the significance of employee development program. Millennials invariably prefer working for companies which prioritize professional development along with that of the company.

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A continuous learning process is very important to yield maximum results of productivity from each employee. Studies have shown that improving educational quality of the workforce is far more effective than enhancing equipment quality when it comes to achieving better results in production and efficiency.

Here are the seven essential steps of an effective employee development program.

7 stages of an effective employee development process infographic

Also read : How to Encourage and Inspire Employee Motivation

1. Evaluate the employees by creating an outline of a successful employee. Use the traits of this model to assess employee performance metrics.

2. Acknowledge the strong points and achievements of the employees. It would make sense to tailor the learning programs according individual strengths.

3. Challenges help each of us to push our limits and come up with innovative ideas and strategies to deliver efficient results. Encourage your team to try out new things and deploy some agility in the tasks at hand.

4. Now while you expect innovations and novel strategies, it will obviously go through a stage of trial and error. Be ready for mistakes and failures and do not fret it. Incredible innovation comes hand in hand with experimentation and risk taking. Also, while you push your people to enhance their knowledge, make sure to assist them with the resources and the guidance to carry out the learning process.

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5. Once the process is up and rolling, occasionally review the set up. This will help in refinement of goals and objectives set for each undertaking.

6. The next stage involves creating an official learning cycle for the employees. The learning program involves performance enhancement and professional development to be included as a measure of employee’s performance.

7. The final stage involves creating an employee development program which is an integral part of the organization’s culture and objectives. As a result of which, the workforce development will not just be done for the sake of it, but will be a beneficial venture for both the employee and the company.

When your work is not only about sales, employee performance assessment seems pretty complicated.

But if you successfully assess the performance capacity of your employees, it turns into great advantages for your organization as well as the employees.

This article contains some of the most effective ways of assessing employee performance in your organization.wifi attendance

1. Ability to execute

Work execution is probably the most important factor you can use to assess employee performance.

Execution of work is about picking a task and tackling all odds to deliver it on-time.

An employee who concentrates on effective execution makes lesser mistakes.

He or she understands the value of prioritization to fulfill all the responsibilities in your organization.

These are the people, seniors usually rely upon for urgent tasks.

These kinds of employees make a top-notch team in your company. So, you can decide to include the ability to execute work in your employee assessment process.

2. Work quality review

Quality of work is a little different than execution capacity.

Here you focus on a number of factors such the use of best practices, availability for clients, colleagues and customers, stability and consistency of work quality, and ability to adjust as per the situational requirements.

An employee should understand the company policies thoroughly and follow it with discipline.

At the same time, he or she should fulfill roles in your organization with consistent performance.

Quality work is also about adopting the changing production or platform scenarios of your organization.

In fact, a reliable employee assists in adopting new positive changes in the company without compromising the quality of work.

To assess the work quality, you can include employee reports from the team leaders, managers, client feedbacks, customer review, and the HR department as well.

Combine all the reports together and you will know how qualitative your employee has been during a particular period of time.

Also read : Why Employee Engagement Matters?

3. Successful utilization of creativity

Creativity is about taking calculated risks and thinking beyond general ideas without compromising the reputation, productivity or services of an organization.

Harnessing creativity takes a long time, so appreciating creative employees is extremely important.

The world of business has evolved enough to have basic answers to all questions.

Marketing, management, promotion, production, sales, and every other department in your organization run on foundational ideas of a business.

But every now and then, creative employees look beyond those basic assumptions and provide creative ideas and methods to win better results.

Recognize all those employees who seem to have better creative approach than others.

Assess your employee creativity with respect to risk factors and obtained results.

This way, you can find truly beneficial employees who perform extremely well.

4. Graph of improvement

You can’t expect every employee to perform as an ideal employee.

Every individual has his or her own capacities and weaknesses at the same time. Which is why this method of employee assessment seems logical to most employers.

Graph of improvement is how you look at the performance improvement in your employee.

So, it is a comparison of performance from the past with the present. You can choose a monthly, quarterly or yearly time period to assess the improvement graph.

Remember, you are not looking for perfect employees here.

There can be a gap between what you expect and what an employee is currently delivering.

But if an employee has shown consistent growth in his or her performance, you have nothing to worry about.

The increasing graph of improvement shows the determination and passion for learning in a person.

Some people take time to understand a workspace.

But when they do, their performance reaches a new peak every day. And that’s what you assess in this method.

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5. Reviews from customers and colleagues

In this method, you divide your employees into two sections.

One section contains all the employees who deal with your customers.

And the other section includes all the employees who work internally.

You can also make an interaction of both sections, which can include employees who interact with customers as well as internal colleagues.

Using the divided sections of employees, you can start evaluating the reviews each employee receives from his or her peers as well as customers.

For many business models, customer feedbacks matter the most. An employee who is a favorite of customers will surely make more sales in future.

At the same time, an employee who indulges in teamwork is more likely to perform in groups.

That is why you need feedback from customers and colleagues to understand the future of an employee in your company.

6. Contribution to revenue

Each employee offers a direct or indirect impact on the monthly revenue of your business.

Direct revenue comes from sales employees, while indirect revenue is provided by employees working in customer service, marketing, product development, manufacturing, and other departments.

Both types of contributions are important to your company.

Without a quality product, employees in the sales team can’t make sales.

Similarly, the employees in marketing team impact company revenues with their consistent efforts.

You can divide your assessment from department to department and see which employees are contributing the most in each department.

Then, make a list of gradually decreasing performance with respect to revenues.

This will give you a sorted list of employees in every department who are helping your company with revenue generation.

Also read : 4 Ways to Monitor Employees Internet Usage

7. Response to feedbacks

No business leader wants to listen to excuses or unnecessary justifications for incorrect work.

An employee’s ability to really listen and understand the feedback makes him or her valuable for your organization.

You should definitely consider assessing the approach to feedback given to your employees.

Every employee can make mistakes every now and then. But a reliable one listens to the feedback and critically thinks about it.

Many employees either try to justify their wrong approach, or they blindly listen to the feedback without making any change in their work approach.

Both kinds are bad for your organization.

You need employees who listen to what you say and also ask questions to understand what changes you desire from them.

8. Leadership quality while performing tasks

You can assess leadership quality in your interns as well.

Sure, they are not handling any teams, but they do work on the assigned tasks.

Leaders understand their boundaries, but they also own everything that is within their boundary.

So, if you offer a task to such an employee, he or she would find all possible ways to complete that task.

The leaders also come up with solutions and unique ways to complete a task. They usually tend to point out better ways of doing something.

All these qualities are extremely important if you have a small organization or just started your business.

You need every employee to work as a leader in his or her own zone and coordinate with other employees at the same time.

Such employees perform to cross hurdles and overcome challenges. This way, your organization can grow faster.

9. Quality to on-time delivery ratio

You want your employees to deliver quality work on-time. So, why not assess that to understand performance?!

In every team, you can define performance of each member with respect to their quality to on-time delivery ratio.

Employees with most on-time deliveries and high-quality will be the best performers in your organization.

The process is simple and easy to assess. However, you will require a list of parameters to judge the work quality. This list will differ with respect to the team you are evaluating.

For each employee, you will need the rate of work completion. Then, you will require the quality provided by them.

In some cases, you will find that delivery of work was on-time, but the mistakes and errors actually created more problems.

On the other hand, some employees will show high-quality work, but a longer than promised delivery time.

With this assessment, you can offer better feedback to your employees and point their weaknesses and appreciate their strengths at the same time.

As a result, employees become aware of what you require from them.

10. On-budget performance

Many of your employees directly impact the budget of projects attained by your organization.

The quality performance of such employees decides the revenue, client satisfaction, and reputation.

Hence, you need to specially assess such employees for their ability to stay within the given budget when conducting a project.

Now, you have 10 amazing methods of assessing employee performance in your organization.

All these methods cover different aspects of understanding employee performance abilities.

You just need to pick a few best-suited methods from this list and use it to conduct a comprehensive employee performance assessment in your organization.

So, sit with your stakeholders and top managers to decide all the methods suitable for the assessment of employees working in your company.

Hopefully, you will receive satisfactory results.

In the ever-changing business climate, the success of your business depends on how easily you adjust and adapt to those changes. But those adjustments become difficult if your employees resist policies during the implementation.

Such resistance can turn into huge financial and reputation costs many times.

Companies constantly look for new ways to become more efficient, productive and profitable.

This search leads to new policies. But the real success lies in successfully implementing those policies at workplace.

This guide is all about improving policy implementation on an ongoing basis in your company.

So, here is what you need to do:

Must Read:

5 Different Ways A WiFi Attendance App Helps The HR Manager

1. Develop policies after a thorough consultation

To diminish any chances of resistance in the first place, you can involve all stakeholders and employees in policy development.

The process of policy development is for the benefit of the whole company. This is why you should involve all relevant individuals during this process including your company stakeholders, contractors, employees, safety and health representatives.

They all have their own point of views regarding your policies. It is your responsibility to listen to all those points.

Listening to the point of views of all stakeholders and employees, you will find a balanced approach to build a policy.

At the same time, you can highlight the importance of a policy, which are not visible to certain stakeholders.

While you look at a broad impact of a policy, an employee or a team leader might have a narrow point of view. Consultation allows you to improve the understanding of the employees and remove the chances of resistance.

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2. Customize policies for your business and workplace

The problem with policy makers is that they become too generic. Simply picking industry standard policies and forcing them in the company doesn’t help the business.

At the same time, a generic policy makes it difficult for policy makers to advocate the benefits during the implementation process. Lack of usability of a policy increases the force of employee resistance, which ruins implementation.

Of course, you can pick the idea of a policy from other sources in your industry. But it is critically important to customize those policies with respect to your workplace environment.

This will make implementation convenient.

3. Include clear obligations and actionable steps in your policy

No matter how big a change a policy will bring, make sure you document it in a simple-to-understand language. Plain language is important, in which, you have to describe clear obligations and actionable steps.

The policy should be like a list of actions for concerned people in your company. This will ensure that every employee understands what he or she needs to do to adopt the new policy.

Easy explanations don’t put pressure on employees.

You make policies easy to adapt and your employees resist less and try to accept the obligations. It is all about how you represent information.

If a policy looks like a huge document of oppressive changes, employees are more likely to resist. But if you choose a lighter tone and clarify each action, the implementation of policies becomes way easier.

4. Think about the implementation challenges in advance

There is no point in building a policy if you have no ground level preparation. Many business leaders feel happy just because they build a policy. But they forget about the ground level implementation and potential challenges.

Being realistic with your policy making approach is critically important.

You can’t waste your time building a policy, which is not possible for your business. Hence, an assessment of implementation challenges becomes a necessity.

This assessment should include resources, time and personnel required for policy implementation.

What if you have no time to implement?! Or, what about the lack of resources in your company. All these factors are important if you don’t want to waste your time and resources.

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5. Publicize before implementing

A sudden implementation of a policy seems more like a hit in the face. And just like a sudden hit, it triggers a sense of hitting back, which leads to resistance.

So, can you do anything about it?!

Yes, you can publicize your policy and allow employees to understand what it is all about. If possible, create one single manual including a simple language and clear explanation of obligations.

Then, make sure that every employee and stakeholder is able to get a copy of the manual.

This approach will work as a promotion and allow concerned employees to clarify their confusions.

6. Give your training assistance to employees for new policies

It is your responsibility to inform, instruct supervise and train your company employees for the presented policy.

Existing and new employees and other stakeholders should get trained accordingly. So, you have to work in designing a training approach if the policy implementation requires one.

At the same time, it would be wise to keep discussing the benefits of the guidelines with your staff. This will remind employees why those policies exist in the first place.

Make sure you get a signed agreement from your contractors, employees and other stakeholders for the policy. Also, keep reports of training sessions along with the attendance records and content used in the training. This way, you can fight future resistance from an employee with evidence.

7. Become strict and consistent with policy implementation

You need to appoint managers and supervisors who will monitor and ensure complete compliance. Appointing supervisors will ensure consistency in the implementation process.

Make sure that every failure to comply with the policy is addressed immediately. Every employee should become aware of the consequences of deliberately breaching the terms. This will make them serious about the policy.

At the same time, your managers and supervisors should strictly follow the policies too. They have to lead by setting a strong example. In case, a manager fails to follow the policy, there should be a list of disciplinary actions.

The extent of consequence should be decided by the intent behind breaching the policy. This will require some critical thinking from time to time.

8. Develop a policy review cycle

Just like any other rule or law, policies also become outdated from time to time. New changes bring new scenarios, which can reduce the impact of a policy. Hence, your policy implementation approach should contain a review cycle.

For example, if your business starts a new product line, or purchases a new equipment, it might require a change in the policy. Similarly, there can be a hundred other scenarios when your policies will require auditing and modifications.

But you can’t conduct a policy review after every new thing happening in your business. Which is why a review cycle is important. A review cycle is a set time period after which your company policies are reviewed and passed again.

This review cycle offers a chance to remove outdated policies or modify them according to the current company scenarios.

When you make changes in the policy, ensure that every concerned employee and stakeholders become familiar with the changes.

9. Enforce and support after policy implementation

When you successfully implement a policy, it presents two more responsibilities.

You have to support employees who follow and accept the policies.

At the same time, you need to enforce policies to employees who present resistance.

The process of enforcement and support are all about choosing a simple system and rewarding employees.

Also, address organizational and individual benefits to allow all employees to understand and accept the implemented policy.

Benefits of organized implementation process

If you follow the given approach to policy implementation, it will improve the chances of achieving goals you have in mind.

Mostly, you will successfully attain a positive response from your employees and stakeholders during the policy implementation.

More people will accept and comply, which will reduce the chances of implementation failure.

Your support and help will motivate existing employees, which will bring new talents to your company due to word-of-mouth. Your employees will recommend your company as a workplace for others. You will receive talented candidates for new positions.

All in all, policy implementation is more critical than policy-making. You have to have a realistic approach to ensure the success of policies in your business.

Focus on the resources, ultimate benefits and the approach you choose to represent your policies to your employees. Combine critical thinking, technical knowledge, and consistent support. That’s how you can improve policy implementation in your workspace.

Hopefully, this guide will help you at every step of policy-making and implementation in your company.

Every organization sets some major goals for a coming year or a longer period.

But goals are nothing without a pathway to reach them.

Deciding that path is called organizational planning.

This planning can focus on one department or it can cover an overall organization-wide strategy. Most companies create both kinds of organizational plans to manage business smoothly.

With strategies and planning, an organization can direct resources, energy and time in the correct direction to win relevant results. Every person in the company becomes aware of how to work and what to do, so that, the whole organization can reaches pre-decided goals.

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In an overview, here is what an organizational planning does for you:

  • Offers a clear purpose to your organization.
  • Operational requirements become visible, which helps in human resourcing.
  • Allows a department-wide assessment of opportunities.
  • New ideas and innovative thinking come up.
  • Every staff member knows what you want from them.
  • A planned business approach helps in attaining a competitive edge.
  • All the financial resources are used in a prioritized manner.
  • Organization’s leaders become aware of the initially required actions.

Let’s discuss organizational planning in a detailed manner.

A purpose for the existence of an organization

A purpose is a foundational mission of an organization.

No business can survive in the long run without having a clear mission.

Organizational planning begins with the definition of mission for the business.

The purpose is not a goal. A company can have plenty of goals, but they all lead to one collective purpose.

Goals in an organization change from time to time, but the purpose of existence stays the same.

You can look at it as the one giant plan that helps in the foundation of a business. It is the first idea in the mind of a business leader that triggers the establishment of an organization. This giant plan then gets distilled and synthesized in smaller versions of missions and visions.

The purpose has to be broad and specific at the same time. The whole management level should understand the purpose.

At the same time, your employees should be able to understand the purpose and apply it to the ground level of working.

Measurable goals to define a better position

Organizational planning is expressed in the form of measurable goals. A company needs to know specific answers to what is required, where to go, how to use resources and how to manage it all. Hence, every goal should provide the opportunity to measure the results.

When planning, organizational leaders ensure the specific nature of a goal.

So, instead of saying-

“We need to grow our business in the next 5 years.”

The business leaders say-

“We need to obtain 40 percent increase in sales in the next 5 years.”

This way, the sales department knows a measurable parameter of success in the next 5 years. So, all other departments in the company can empower the sales department to reach that goal.

An organization can similarly plan goals for other departments, products, services or the whole brand.

Evaluating established goals and ongoing progress

There’s a big reason why organizational planning is called an ongoing process.

Every objective or goal defined at a time depends on the best-known information available in front of the business leaders.

An organization can surely utilize available data for future predictions. But those predictions require realistic assessments from time to time. That’s why organizational planning is important for a business.

An effective planning or strategy involves the assessment process of progress and goals. For example, a company can decide to gain 40 percent of sales growth in the coming 5 years.

But what if in first 3 years, competitors attain 30 percent sales growth. In that situation, it would be wise to rethink goals and modify for better results.

It is simple. Time clarifies the results, which helps in making better decisions. Goals are definitely important to begin the progress in the first place.

But, at the same time, organizational goals require valuable changes according to the latest knowledge. Which is why organizational planning becomes an important and ongoing process for your business.

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Making decisions and strategies

Going deeper than purpose and goals, your employees need actionable work strategies. As it is important to make daily organizational functions directed to a large goal, organizational planning becomes important again.

Business leaders make decisions and decide strategies for employees in different departments. Those decisions and strategies create a responsible sense of working in the company, which leads to faster goal attainments.

Each small activity conducted on a daily basis, then, leads to larger goals and purpose attainment.

Prioritized and efficient application of resources

An organization goes through different stages of business. The availability of resources depends on the stage of an organization.

For example, a small startup usually faces a limitation of resources as compared to a well-established organization.

Resources include everything that is available for expense in a company. This includes financial resources, human resources, and business-specific resources.

Organizational planning allows leaders to identify the extent of resources available. Leaders can define how comfortable or limited the business is in terms of resources. This awareness leads to a sense of prioritization.

With planning, your business can prioritize goals and strategies with respect to the available resources. This way, your business can maximize productivity with an efficient utilization of resources.

Planning for risks and unpredictability

What if a financial crisis strikes the company?!

What if there is a sudden downfall in the market?!

There are various what-if conditions associated with all kinds of businesses. Every organization faces the risks of uncertain conditions.

Though these risks are unforeseen, your organization needs contingency planning to act as quickly as possible. Planning allows leaders to stay calm and make immediate decisions without panicking.

When there is a sudden issue in business, leaders need to fight the problem while maintaining the reputation and functions of the business.

Pre-planned approach for risks helps in applying effective strategies, so your business can tackle the changing scenarios and save the business from negative impacts.

Establishing and encouraging team spirit

With organizational planning, your employees can come together as a team and attain cooperation. An effective communication of plans and strategies allows your staff to start following the same responsibilities.

They all utilize their skills and provide assistance to help the organization collectively.

Whenever a task is assigned to a department, every member already understands what they need to do and how they can help each other.

Planning diminishes the chances of conflicts of interests. From top management to employees, everyone puts efforts to reach pre-decided targets.

Team building is key to establishing and running a successful business. No matter what you do, planning is irreplaceable from team building.

The basic idea of a team is a group of people that follow one collective goal. And that’s what organizational planning does for your employees.

Understanding and beating competition

Along with internal benefits, organizational planning also helps with competitive advantages. Sitting together, business leaders can look deeply into the weaknesses and strengths of competitors.

All major competitors are assessed. This assessment teaches a lot as their strength shows the vulnerability in your business. At the same time, your business becomes aware of in-house strengths, which can help beat the competition.

Competitor understanding also assists in finding many emerging opportunities in the market. Your business can attain new customer groups, find new markets to win and gain innovative ideas to grow steadily.

Tips on successful organizational planning

There is no set formula of organizational planning that can work for all kinds of business structure. Every business consists of different kinds of products, constraints, opportunities, and goals.

So, the actual planning differs from organization to organization. However, every business can follow a certain method of planning to attain goals and grow steadily.

Here are a few tips on building a successful organizational plan:

  • Assess your organizational weaknesses and strengths as compared to your major competitors. Relative understanding of weaknesses and strengths provide a realistic approach to planning.
  • Go through the legal weaknesses and strengths of your organization. Find all the possible options to legally tackle the disadvantages and turn them into advantages for your business.
  • Assess the weaknesses and strengths of each department in your business. Find the co-dependencies of departments and plan to resolve weaknesses.
  • Predict a growth pattern you want in a long run. Also, align this long-term plan with short-term growth strategies.
  • Understand current relationships in the market and plan to maintain existing relationships and building new ones.
  • Define an ideal number of employees in every department and compare with the current availability of human resources.
  • Develop a structural approach to work for a higher level of productivity and employee satisfaction.

All in all, your organization requires at every step to follow the right path to growth. Organizational planning offers a path and also tells how to walk that path efficiently.

Keeping that in mind, hopefully, now you are ready to take initial planning steps for your business.

Employee retention is one of the key concerns for HR in every company. While some percentage of attrition is unavoidable and even healthy, nobody wants to lose high performers. After all it can cost upto 200% of annual salary to replace a high skilled employee.

Average attrition rates differ from industry to industry. Government organizations typically have low attrition rate whereas industries like staffing and hospitality can have attrition as high as 300%. Attrition also changes along the hierarchy. Positions at lower end typically have higher attrition than mid and top-level management positions.

Here are some ideas to consider if you want to keep attrition at your company under control.

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  1. Frequent Appraisals

According to Glassdoor, 35% of employees surveyed said they would look for a job if they did not receive a raise within the next year.

We all know that the months post appraisal, are when employees are most likely to leave. If they think that appraisals do not match their expectation they had, they will start looking for jobs in the market. For this reason it is important that managers and HR manage expectations throughout the year and not just during appraisal month.

Hold regular performance discussions so that there are no unwanted surprises at the end of appraisal cycle. Quantify as many KRA as possible.  Employees are less likely to be disappointed when their numbers have been discussed with them regularly.

If your company policy permits, its also a good idea to have appraisals semi-annually or quarterly. This keeps employees motivated and they are less likely to leave.

  1. Team Building Activities

People are less likely to leave if they are having fun at work and feel attached to their co-workers. Everyone loves to work with in a close knit team and would not want to give up friendships they have built in office.

Outbound trips, employee engagement activities and corporate events are good ways to forge friendships at workplace. Games, dance events and competitions infuse fun in your culture and improve employee engagement.

  1. Stock Options

This is a good way to retain employees if your company is in start-up or growth phase. ESOP or employee stock options give employees a sense of ownership and belongingness. They are the engines driving your growth so it is also a just compensation for small and mid-size businesses that cannot afford big paychecks.

Stock option of company with growth potential will retain employees. They are more likely to stick around till the company has made it big and their stock is worth a significant amount.

  1. Work Environment

Company culture is another factor that affects retention.  Although most people think of Google offices when it comes to good culture not every company can allow pets and bean bags at office.

The idea here is not to copy the cultures of other companies but to have a strong culture of your own. By strong we mean that the environment is positive and your core values are clearly reflected in everything that you do.

Some values that contribute to positivity at workplace are transparency, safety of workers, credibility and integrity. There is no ‘culture formula’ that fits all companies but one should avoid culture that lead to office politics, inefficiency, jealousy, harassment.

A toxic environment is the quickest way to send away your best employees.

  1. Referral System

Referral system is a great way to encourage employee bonding and maintain your company culture. Because your employees know the culture of the company they are likely to invite only those friends who fit within your organizational culture. What’s more is, the person hired is more likely to stay because he is now working with his friend.

  1. Job Role Change

Another reason why people quit their job is monotony. Doing the same job for years together, can get boring and uninspiring. People tend to think of career or role change in such a scenario.

What if you could give them this opportunity within the organization? Start an internal job postings portal for employees looking for a change. Not only will you stop employee attrition but you will also fill another position without having to spend on recruitment, training and orientation.

Some companies also have a policy of job rotation every few years. This keeps the work fresh for employees and brings in new ideas into each department.

  1. Learning & Development

According to Udemy, 46% of employees said that learning & development is the most important benefit when deciding where to work. People want to get better and learn more skills in order to advance their career. In-fact self-actualization is the highest of needs in Maslow’s pyramid of human needs.  So once you have taken care of financial and belonging needs of your workforce this is the next obvious step.

Employees are more likely to stick around if your company takes care of learning and development by regularly investing in people. This lets the employees know that you care for them and are committed to keeping skilled people in the organization.

  1. Managerial Training

Nearly half of employees said they’ve quit a job because of a bad manager, 56% think managers are promoted prematurely and 60% think managers need managerial training (Udemy).

Managers are the face of the company for your employees. They are the ones who interact with them day to day and have to get the work done. Incompetent managers increase stress for everyone and struggle at motivating their team.

Incompatibility with managers is one of the common reasons for employees to leave their job. Every team member requires a different kind of approach by managers and you must invest in training your manager if exiting employees are citing their reporting manager as a reason for resignation.

  1. Flexible Work Options

Expectations about work-life balance are changing as younger generation enters the workforce. 86% of employees between the ages 18-34 said they’d sooner sign a contract with remote work options.

There are plenty of freelancing opportunities and digital business options now available. People do not see the need to go to an office for a strict 9 to 5 job. Incidentally, this is profitable even for companies as it cuts office premise cost and conveyance time.

You must work on flexible work options if you are to remain competitive in market today. Work from home, flexible working hours and remote working are soon going to be a norm in many industries.

  1. Feedback Loops

Nobody wants to leave their well paying job if there was a way to work around problems of a job. Many companies don’t have any feedback mechanism and loose employees because they have no way to resolve their issue.

By collecting regular feedback on employee engagement you can avoid the employee drain that is coming in the future. Give you employees a change to voice their concerns so that they do not have to take the extreme step of quitting their job.

Establishment of employee redressal cell, anonymous feedback, harassment cells helps to solve problems early and retain your best performers

Conclusion

Employee retention is getting increasingly difficult in today’s competitive market. Employee retention and engagement is an important department within HR for this very reason. Based on your industry, size of company and workplace culture, you may pick up the most suitable ideas from the mentioned.

Employee engagement is driven by instincts of care and passion. It is important to mould your employees to believe in a cause that you are striving for.

When they develop a sense of responsibility towards the cause it organically fosters willful projection of efforts in the direction that truly matters. A complete process of engagement does demand acknowledgement of small achievements.

Here are a few statistics to help understand the ultimate significance of Employee engagement.

Why-Employee-Engagement-Matters

We all use WiFi at home and offices but very few of us know what to do when we run into problems with WiFi. Did you know there are softwares available to help you optimise wifi network using wifi analyzer apps. You don’t need to call a technician to set a basic problem right.

WiFi Analyzer is one such app that gives you information on wireless signals. There are many more apps on the market that do the job but WiFi analyzer is the most popular app that is freely available on android.

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WiFi Analyzer helps you analyze many parameter of your WiFi signal like:

  • Signal strength
  • Channel used
  • Security settings
  • Bandwidth usage

You can see all these details and optimize your WIFI for free in Wifi Analyzer or other apps available.

Here is what you should check in your WiFi and what you should do if you detect a problem.

1. Channel Selection

Wifi routers use 2.5 GHZ or 5 GHz of the radio frequency to transmit data. What many people do not know is that these frequencies have 11 to 15 multiple channels within them.

Think of them as multiple lanes on an expressway. If the default settings of router are not changed then all the routers end up using the same lane, creating unnecessary congestion.

Using WiFi analyzer you can easily see which channels you and your neighbouring WiFi routers are using. The android app WiFi analyzer also gives ratings for each channel and recommended channels for your router. If you find that your router is on a crowded channel with poor rating, it’s time to change it.

You can change the channel of your router by logging into your wireless router’s administration interface from your browser. Simply select the channel number under the wireless settings.

attendance app

2. Signal Strength

 Wifi Analyzer also gives you a signal strength of WiFi at different locations. Using this you can get an idea of coverage in your home / building. Some apps, like Netspot, also give you a heat-map of area so you can see signal weakness.

If you find low signal strength in most part of your premise you can change your access point. Remember the signal coverage is sphere shaped, so avoid placing your routers at extreme ends of your house.

Place it centrally, high and avoid placing next to thick concrete walls, large objects or other electronic devices. Devices like security cameras and baby monitors can cause interference with your WiFi signal.

3. Wireless Security

WiFi Analyzer will also show more details about visible access points. One of the important information is the wireless security setting of your router.

Look for WPA2 , WPA or WEP under your network. These are the security protocols that your router has. WPA2 is the latest one and is recommended for security of your transmitted data. It uses advanced encryption standards to ensure your network is protected.

If your Wifi is on WEP or WPA, your network is at risk and you need to change it to WPA2. This can again be done from the wireless router administration login. You can find this option in security or advance  security option.

Conclusion

Wifi Analyzer is a useful tool to evaluate your Wifi signal and fix issues related to signal interference, signal coverage or signal speed. Using this free tool you can ensure that you are making the best use of bandwidth and  protecting your network.

             

 

 

All those who travel frequently might need a WiFi connectivity to quickly check their inbox or make an online payment while roaming.

To meet all such needs, Android and iOS users can simply download some awesome WiFi apps on their smartphones for free.

All you need to do is to visit the Google Play Store or the iTunes and download them. You then will have an on-the-go free WiFi connectivity. Here is a list of such free WiFi apps for your ready reference and action.

1. Free WiFi

True to its name, Free WiFi is a simple yet effective free WiFi app. Just download this app onto your Android phone for you to get connected to the internet in any place and at any time.

In addition to saving your mobile data, this app allows you to connect to the public Wi-Fi without any hassles.

2. Wibrate

The Wibrate app which comes with an easy-to-use interface is compatible with both iPhones and Android phones. This is another free WiFi app. All you need to do is to go to iTunes and download this app for you to access the internet for free.

With this free WiFi app by your side, you can enjoy internet connectivity at different public places like cinemas, cafes, salons and libraries in your city.

3. AutoWiFi Lite

A convenient and free app for iPhones! This app stores all the data pertaining to the username and password, and once it locates a WiFi hotspot, it will automatically get connected to the nearest WiFi network, immediately.

This app does not call for launching the web browser every time you access a WiFi network that is in your vicinity.

4. Osmino WiFi

Osmino comes with a special WiFi manager that logs public WiFi hotspots along with their passwords so that private networks can use them. Tagged as a globally renowned free WiFi app, you don’t need to activate complex settings.

Once you run the app, it will automatically search for WiFi passwords for you to get connected to the nearest hotspot, through the use of its WiFi hotspot map.

5. Instabridge

Living by its tag name which reads “Free Internet for Everyone’, Instabridge is a promising name in the sphere of free WiFi apps compatible with Android phones. Once you download this app from the Google Play Store you will be able to access the nearest WiFi hotspots, all for free.

Without any data usage limit, this app provides useful data points about the speed and reputation of some favorite hotspots that you can connect to. You can also access offline maps to locate hotspots when you are roaming.

Also Read : 15 Ways to Get Free WiFi Anywhere Around You

6. Free WiFi Finder for iPhone

Tagged as an awesome app that provides an in-built list of local hotspots that can be accessed by any iPhone user, the Free Wi-Fi Finder is a cut above the rest. This app uses the GPS location of your iPhone and combines it with network triangulation features to help you identify free WiFi access points. This can be the best app for people who are constantly on the move.

7. WiFi You

WiFi You is another top pick amongst Android phone users who are looking to connect to free WiFi. Not requiring a password, this app which is listed on the Google Play Store comes with a host of additional features including a network scanner.

This app also suggests you to connect to the best WiFi. Allowing you to analyze the data you saved, this app just needs a single click before you can connect to any target network.

8. WiFiTrak For iPhone

All the Apple phone users looking to connect to free WiFi hotspots in your vicinity can also rely on the WifiTrak app which displays a list of WiFi networks. The best part of this app is that it segregates the most frequently used networks with the ones that are limitedly patronized.

Additionally, you may also set your minimum browsing strength while adjusting your scan time. After finding a suitable network, this app starts running, providing you with mail notifications or any other application that needs your attention.

9. WiFi Master Key

The WiFi Master Key is another free WiFi app that is compatible with both Android and iPhones. All the Android phone users can effortlessly download the WiFi Mater Key Free WiFi app from the Google Play Store to enjoy uninterrupted internet access, anywhere, anytime.

iPhone users can download this app from iTunes so as to enjoy secured and quick WiFi connectivity across the globe. In addition to helping you identify free WiFi hotspots, it also connects to a network with utmost ease and swiftness.

10. Swift WiFi

A yet another awesome free Wi-Fi app that can be installed on your Android phones comes with the Swift WiFi name. The fast connectivity provided by the app justifies the name.

A striking feature of this app is that it allows you to save your battery power by permitting you to turn on/off the WiFi depending on your browsing requirements.

 Closing Thoughts

The above-described 10 free WiFi apps which are compatible with Android and iOS devices enable you to stay connected with the World Wide Web at all times.

Not allowing you to spend a penny on your mobile data, these free WiFi apps truly are a boon to all those people who are frequently away from their home WiFi networks.

Enabling you to effortlessly connect to available WiFi hotspots, these apps do the perfect job of allowing you to access mails or to make any online payment while on the move.

A team manager in a software firm leads a team of software developers, involving himself/herself in the functions of hiring, training and managing staff in addition to overseeing project budgets.

He/she is also responsible to prepare progress reports informing the top management about the software project that is assigned to him/her. Since a team manager has to effectively handle and lead a team of software developers, he/she would be in the need of implements to ease the job.

This blog enlists 10 tools that assist a team manager to perform his duties with maximum efficiency. For your convenience, this blog has been divided into three sections, which are the prime responsibilities of a Team Manager.

wifi attendance

Tools That Support Team Managers with Their Day-To-Day Tasks and Projects

1. WiFi Attendance

This tool helps managers have a comprehensive knowledge about the details of every team member. The platform integrates crucial data points like attendance, leaves, task management, and live chat at one place.

It is must have not just for the manager but even the HR Executive to keep themselves updated about the performance quotient of all the employees.

2. Asana

Asana is an awesome tool which can be take on the tag of a ‘to-do list’. This tool assists team managers with organizing, managing and planning activities linked to the project that the team is working on.

Team managers can rely on this tool to ensure that every member is on track to achieve the objectives of the team. Asana allows managers to assign tasks to other team mates, in addition to closely monitoring the project deadlines.

3. ProofHub

This is a platform that permits a perfect coordination between teams and their communications. This tool assists team managers to cut down the delivery time of the project while allowing them to organize files and closely monitor projects.

All those team managers looking to build accountable teams can rely on this tool so as to eventually enjoy a higher degree of work satisfaction. A striking feature of this tool is that it comes with an in-built online proofing tool that reviews and approves the files of team members.

4. Wimi

Wimi helps team managers better organize teams and tasks. In addition to paving the way for efficient communication between team members, this tool provides all the pertinent information under a single roof.

This tool helps managers to share calendars and files between teammates. This is achieved by creating what are called as ‘Unified Workspaces’. Team managers like you can also avail the features of the Wimi Drive, a file syncing software based on Cloud technology.

Tools That Help Team Managers Communicate With Their Teams

You will agree with the fact that communication is the key to an effective and collaborative team. Team members need to constantly communicate with each other either through text messages or video conferencing tools apart from partaking in one-to-one team meetings.

To ensure a free flow of communication within a team, a team manager can rely on some of these below-described tools.

5. GoToMeeting

True to its tagline which reads ‘Online Meetings Made Easy’ the GoToMeeting tool is a boon to team managers to conduct video conferencing meetings. This tool allows team managers to schedule meetings and to share screens with team members.

6. Slack

Another user-friendly tool that comes handy to team managers is Slack. Through this tool, managers can create Slack communities of members working on a particular project.

attendance app

Once these user communities are created, Slack permits managers to communicate with the teammates through group or direct messages. It makes room for swift and private conversations between the manager and team members.

7. Flowdock

Flowdock is another chatting platform that allows managers to engage in private or group chats with team members. This tool comes with an add-on called the Team Inbox which collates all the notifications from other communication channels like Asana and Twitter.

Collaborating Tools for a Team Manager

8. Quip

It is all about making things happen in an organization with fewer exchanges of emails and meetings. It is in this context that Quip which comes with a checklist comes across as a new collaborating tool.

This tool which is extremely handy for team managers helps teams to import different file types while making real-time changes to them.

9. CodingTeam

Tagged as an innovative and free tool, CodingTeam is another promising option for a team manager to bring about a synergy of efforts between different team mates. Through this tool, team managers can oversee collective coding activities of various team members.

10. Google Docs

Google Docs is not new to you. This is another collaborative tool that has Docs and Google Sheets that can be edited by various team members simultaneously.

You can also save all the changes that are made by your team members on a particular Google Sheet that is shared with your entire team.

11. Igloo

Last on the list of tools that aid a team manager deliver his/her responsibilities with due diligence is Igloo. Tagged as a company intranet, Igloo enables team members to communicate with each other to attain the common team objective.

It can also serve the purpose of a platform that permits team mates to share and implement the ideas of other team mates.

Conclusion

Given the multiple options that team managers have at their disposal in delivering their responsibilities, it pays to pick and choose a comprehensive tool. A tool that not only offers multiple features but also comes across as an easy-to-use alternative can be a perfect bet.

A word of caution is to look closely into the privacy options of these tools as IT firms usually work on projects that revolve around sensitive and confidential information. A tip here would be pick cloud-based tools that allow team managers to see the activity regarding recent edits and updates to a file or code.

Not to mistake LiFi for WiFi, LiFi is a new-age wireless technology which facilitates the transmission of high-speed data. LiFi which is the abbreviation for Light Fidelity uses the delicate fluctuations that emerge in an LED light.

Data is transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver through these fluctuations. And the result is a 100 times faster speed of data measuring 224 gigabits per second of rate of transmission when compared to the conventional WiFi connectivity.

To understand this technology a step further, you need to learn about the two main components that make up the LiFi system.

  • A Transmitter – This is a highly illuminating LED light
  • A Receiver – This is primarily a photo-diode which is installed into a receiver. This diode helps to convert light into digital data.

The Process of LiFi Transmission

As mentioned earlier, the LiFi technology capitalizes the minutest fluctuations in LED lights to transmit data from the transmitter to the receiver. In order to encode the data, the LED light is turned on and off repeatedly causing fluctuations.

In turn, these fluctuations lead to the formation of binary codes that are received by the receiver to eventually decode the data back into a digital output.

Given that the LiFi technology is empowered to transmit data up to 100 Mbps, it becomes a breeze to download a high definition 1080p video in a matter of seconds.

The Novelty of LiFi Technology

Achieving high data transmission speeds from LED bulbs which are commonly used in homes and offices makes the LiFi technology stand out from the rest.

With all the residential and commercial establishments fitted with LED bulbs, LiFi can be made available to virtually any facility, setting the stage for wider coverage options when compared to WiFi.

With so much in favor of this modern technology, we definitely need to know the applications of LiFi.

Applications of LiFi

Given the fact that LiFi technology depends on the round-the-clock supply of light energy, the following are its potential applications.

1. Augmented Reality

Imagine you step into a museum or an art gallery which has plenty of exhibits illuminated with specific LED Lights.

In addition to simply admiring the exhibits, LiFi permits you to effortlessly download pertinent information of these exhibits through your camera or your smart phone. You are not only entertained but also informed about the artifacts in the museum.

2. Resistance to EMI Sensitive Environments

You might have heard and even adhered to the flight instructions to keep your mobile on airplane mode during flying. This is to prevent the electromagnetic interference (EMI) between your electronic devices and the radio equipment in the cockpit.

However, with LiFi by your side, every passenger can enjoy high data rate connectivity on-board the flight. Offering a resistance to EMI, this technology will also pave the way for lighter aircrafts by bringing down the weight that is added by transmission cables.

3. Traffic Signals

The most common application of LiFi is linked to traffic lights. Through LiFi, drivers can get up-to-date information about weather and traffic while they are waiting for the red light to turn green at a traffic signal.

4. Local Advertising

Marketers should thank LiFi technology for permitting them to provide advertising information about the goods on the shelves that are examined by the customers.

Not only that, they can also show up special coupons and offers that are linked to certain products, along with the display of advertising videos and catalogue data. For this, marketers need to invest in a shop that employs a LiFi broadcast channel to display lighting.

This can be a major shopping breakthrough, enabling retail businesses to come up with a blend of high street and online shopping experience to customers.

5. The Armed Forces

While WiFi offers a wider range of data transmission, LiFi operates in a smaller range. Since light cannot penetrate through walls, you can use LiFi technology in military tents, insulating them from hackers.

You can set up a LiFi enabled military tent at a remote location without the need for complicated wiring equipment.

6. Security

Conference and meeting halls are haven to many strategic discussions that involve the exchange of confidential business information.

Members who are called for such official meetings can easily access the fast speed LiFi points which emerge out of glowing LED bulbs.

Given that light cannot pass through walls, any official meeting can be conducted in a secured environment which plugs the data leaks that can happen through open windows.

7. Underwater Communication

Capitalizing on the fact that light waves can penetrate into deep waters, underwater divers can make the most of the LiFi technology. The visible light can help divers communicate with each other and with the underwater vehicles.

8. Prohibited Zones

Another revolutionary application of LiFi is related to communicating in explosive environments. Since cellphones are not permitted in high-risk environments, you can alternatively rely on the LiFi technology. Through this science, you will be able to communicate at these locations through data encryption.

9. Intelligent Vehicular Systems

Currently you might be seeing a lot of LED versions of car headlights and tail lamps. When LiFi is applied to transportation systems, it will pave the way for the development of anti-collision systems.

You will also be able to come up with systems that will permit the exchange of real-time information about traffic. Drivers can easily download information from the network and use this traffic-centric information to get on to an optimal route that will save a great deal of time and money.

10. Hospitals

Hospitals deal with sensitive information in addition to facing the issues linked to data security and EMI sensitivity. Since smartphones interfere with radio frequencies which are needed by sophisticated medical equipment, there should be an alternative means of communication.

This is where LiFi technology can step in to enable better patient monitoring in addition to sounding emergency alarms which can be linked to nursing stations.

Conclusion 

These are the 10 different ways in which the LiFi technology is already simplifying the lives of the common man. The usage of LED bulbs can also be seen as a step towards a brighter, cleaner and greener future along with the added ability of high-speed wireless data transmission.

Given the umpteen benefits offered by this technology, these applications are here to stay.