Workforce Management Archives

Employee Onboarding…or Onboring?

No one likes to be bored. But what makes people bored in the first place? If you ask my 5-year old son, he’d probably tell you “doing something I don’t want to do”. And that’s a pretty good start. To that, I would add the feeling of “my time is valuable, and this (whatever it is) is less valuable than my time.”

Providing Value

With the above definition of boring, we could say that boring onboarding is a low-value experience–that is, low-value from the employee’s perspective. This should not be mixed up with questions of compensation. Truly great employees are not motivated by salary alone; there needs to be value beyond dollars. So how can you determine if your organization provides a high-value experience though the employee onboarding process?

To help answer this question, it may be helpful to consider what a new employee may likely need or value. This will undoubtedly vary from employee to employee, but an onboarding process that is marked by the following qualities will provide value to almost everyone.

Clarity

No one likes to be confused. Confusion leads to doubt, and doubt can decrease confidence and increase anxiety for a new employee. Employers who provide clarity around initial duties and company policies will empower new employees to become productive more quickly.

The most obvious place to start is with policies. While not all employers have–or need–elaborate policy manuals or employee handbooks, it’s important that new employees can easily access documentation on items such as payroll, PTO requests, appropriate workplace conduct, and available benefits. Ideally, an employer will initially present and discuss these items face-to-face.

Clarity is also important when assigning initial duties to a new employee. Often, a manager may assume that new employees know more than they really do. When a manager unintentionally omits important details related to an assignment, the new employee may feel as if they are in a “sink or swim” environment–which, when unintended, can easily torpedo the employee onboarding experience.

Timeliness

Waiting on something is one the most boring things to do. But timeliness is not just the elimination of waiting, it’s providing the right resources and services at the right time.

For example, on the first day of employment, an employer could provide a new employee with a stack of new hire forms and a schedule of work assignments for the first three week, and this would eliminate a lot of waiting, but it could also overwhelm the employee. A more effective approach would be to provide these items as employees need them so that they have time to absorb and understand the information at a comfortable pace.

Yes, an employer should have resources prepared ahead of time so that new employees are not waiting. But employers shouldn’t dump a truckload of information and assignments on a new employee all at once.

Challenging

A high-value employee onboarding process should deliver an enjoyable experience, but this should not be mistaken for an easy experience. Great employees are constantly looking for ways to improve. They are motivated to achieve and add value to your organization. Giving new employees easy work doesn’t put their talents to use and can be just as demoralizing as giving them too much work.

By developing a plan for a new employee’s first few weeks, an employer has the opportunity to provide a good mix of fun, easy, and challenging assignments. This mix will ensure that the employee gains experience and confidence as they assimilate to a new job and organization.

Fun

Most of the time when we think of a fun onboarding process, we think about an employee’s first day and some type of “meet and greet” event. Maybe this also includes company swag. That’s all worthwhile and exciting, but if the fun screeches to a halt after the first few days, then the glow can quickly wear off for a new employee.

Fun doesn’t have to be special. It doesn’t have to cost money. And it doesn’t have to waste time. But a fun onboarding process does require a fun company culture; without it, an employer is simply creating unrealistic expectations that lead to poor employee retention. Which leads me to our final quality…

Delivering (on) Expectations

Although important, first impressions are easier to make than they are to maintain. And the quickest way for an employer to ruin a good first impression…is to follow it up with a boring onboarding experience.

After the initial recruiting and hiring efforts, employee onboarding seeks to meet an employee’s initial expectations. Everything from an employer’s job description, career site, hiring process, and interview will have made an impression and created expectations. Employee onboarding is where this is all put to the test.

However, it shouldn’t be a surprise that some employees will perceive a discrepancy between what they expected and what they experience. This is natural, and it is why onboarding must also continue the work of creating expectations. This dual objective–of both meeting and creating expectations–is one of the reasons why the employee onboarding process is so crucial to the larger idea of company culture.

Onboring

Despite the excitement surrounding a new employee’s first day on the job, boredom can quickly set in during the first weeks of employment. It is during this time that your new employees will determine what working at your company is “really like.” When employers develop an employee onboarding process that delivers high-value to new employees, those employees are more likely to stay longterm and quickly impact the organization.

ExactHire develops employee onboarding software that provides employers with a paperless employee onboarding process, while also ensuring that new employees and existing staff can efficiently collaborate on onboarding activities.

How to Automate Workflow Within Employee Onboarding Software [VIDEO]

in Workforce Management/by Harlan Schafir

While web-based solutions that can automate new hire employment forms and documents do exist, very few solutions also empower employers to customize their onboarding software platform to automate all the new hire and existing employee tasks associated with a robust employee onboarding process. The ability to automate workflow is one of the core strengths of the OnboardCentric employee onboarding solution. Two features that are key factors in the ability to accommodate unique client workflows are FlexFields and Roles.

FlexFields at work

FlexFields, as the name implies, are flexible, multiple-choice data fields that store unique information about each employee within an organization. These fields are customized on a per client basis. Examples of different FlexFields might include individual employee attributes such as

division,
department,
exemption status or pay type, and
employee level.

The values selected for FlexFields on an employee record drive two primary outcomes within OnboardCentric:

tasks assigned to the new hire, and
follow up tasks assigned to an internal staff member.

New hire tasks

Let’s talk about new hire tasks. We’ll group them into two categories:

tasks assigned to every new hire, and
tasks assigned only to certain new hires.

Tasks assigned to every new hire tend to include the completion of required federal forms such as the I-9 and W4, state tax forms, and policies and procedures specific to a given organization. Please note that FlexFields do not impact those forms or documents assigned to all employees.

However, FlexFields are involved for tasks related to forms and documents that only a subset of employees are required to complete. In fact, the criteria that define this subset of employees are determined by the values of one or more FlexFields.

For example, if new hires in the Compliance Division should be assigned items that other new hires outside the Compliance Division should not be assigned, then “Division” would be setup as a FlexField. Likewise, if new hires at the Executive Level are assigned items that hires at other levels aren’t assigned, then “Employee Level” would be setup as a FlexField. To determine the FlexFields necessary for your business, create a list of all the attributes that differentiate one group’s employee onboarding tasks from another group’s tasks.

Once your FlexFields are created, they’ll be visible as drop-down boxes for each new employee you add to OnboardCentric.

Using the previous examples, there would be a FlexField for “Division” that might have values of “Compliance”, “Information Technology”, “Manufacturing”, and “Marketing.” If “Compliance” is selected, that new hire will be assigned extra tasks that new hires in the other divisions will not. Similarly, there would be a FlexField entitled “Employee Level” that might have values of “Associate”, “Executive”, “Manager”, and “Staff.” If “Executive” is selected, that new hire will have additional tasks that new hires with other values for that field will not.

Roles for existing employees

Next, let’s talk about how Roles work within OnboardCentric.

Think of Roles as the acting parts your existing staff members play in the onboarding process. You may have as few or as many Roles as necessary to handle any follow up actions that must be completed by your staff. These follow ups will always be triggered by a task completed by a new hire.

For instance, once a new hire completes his portion of the I-9 form, that will trigger a follow up for someone within your organization to verify/approve that I-9 form on behalf of the organization. Typically this Role is referred to as an “I-9 Approver.”

Other common examples of Roles include “Countersigner”, “Equipment Provisioner”, or “License Certifier.” In each of these examples, the Role name used may be anything that makes sense within your organization. Instead of “Equipment Provisioner,” you may choose to call that Role “Supply Orderer.” The key point to understand is that the Role refers only to what type of follow up actions you’ll want that person to perform within the OnboardCentric platform.

Accommodating people with similar tasks

The intersection of FlexFields and Roles occurs in situations where you have more than one staff member performing a given type of Role. For example, let’s assume that you have four different staff members who each have the Role of I-9 Approver.

In this scenario, the FlexField values you assign to a given new hire will then be used to determine which of the four I-9 Approvers will be assigned that follow up task once the new hire completes his portion of the I-9.

FlexFields and Roles allow OnboardCentric to accommodate almost any type of workflow necessary for the unique needs of your organization’s onboarding process. We encourage you to take advantage of these capabilities so that you may maximize your onboarding efficiency.

Get started on the path to better onboarding.

Contact ExactHire to learn more about OnboardCentric employee onboarding software.

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Get The Most Out Of A Conference: Part 2

in Workforce Management/by Tom Branson

To get the most out of a conference, you need to have objectives, a plan to meet those objectives, and a system for processing and organizing the information you receive. These items should all be completed before you go to the conference.

All your planning and upfront work provides a foundation for success, but like anything else you need to execute. The following strategies will help you get the most out of a conference once you’ve arrived.

Arrive Early and Get Oriented

Arrive early. This sounds pretty obvious, but I’m not talking about arriving 5 minutes early…or even 15 minutes. Take a look at the conference agenda and look for the time when doors open. Sometimes this is not listed, so you might need to call. At a minimum, try to arrive 45 minutes early.

If registration is open, go ahead and check in. You might be able to do this before the official registration time too. Does this annoy the conference staff? Maybe. But that’s OK.

Once you have all registration items, walk around the conference space and identify the rooms and spaces that you will be visiting. For larger conferences, this will help you save time and worry later in the day. For smaller conferences…it’s another opportunity to possibly annoy the staff as they hurry to complete last minute setup. But that’s OK.

After you’ve gained your bearings, find a nice out of the way spot to look through your bag o’ swag. In part one of this series, I offered some tips on how to deal with that bag and that swag. But if you want the long and short of it now: get rid of what you don’t need and identify any freebies or coupons that are time-sensitive.

So now that you’ve arrived early, checked in, oriented yourself to the conference space, plucked out your happy hour tickets, and stashed your questionable phone charging accessory, you should start to see people trickling in. But more importantly…you should start to see the appetizer buffets filling up!

Take this time to once again annoy the conference staff. You can start by building a plate of fruit that ruins the caterer’s set presentation. But that’s OK. Spend this time munching, and then you’ll be free to do some hands-free, hunger-free networking as more attendees start rolling in.

With your hunger satiated, you are now ready to enjoy the conference. At this point you have some options based on your particular situation. You may want to use this time to network with other attendees, grab a front row seat for the keynote presentation, or coincidentally bump into a presenter who you really wanted to meet. Regardless of what you decide to do, you will have the time and space (in your mind) to do it.

Finally, make sure you give yourself enough time to take a good seat for the first session. Plan to be in your seat around 10 minutes before the scheduled start time for the session. Use that time to take a quick look at your objectives for the session and the day.

Listen for Key Ideas and Avoid Lengthy Notes

Conferences pack in a lot of sessions. Sessions pack in a lot of ideas. Ideas pack in a lot of information.

It’s important that you don’t try to unpack all of that.

It’s tempting to take as many notes as possible, vigorously transcribing presenters’ words and copying their slides. This approach is flawed, however, because your focus is solely on taking notes. Consider…

You may spend 5 minutes, head down, copying an idea verbatim…but what if that idea is not a good fit for your organization? You’ve wasted time and energy.
What if your notes describe ideas that your organization already implements, or has determined not to implement? You’ve received no value from your effort.

Your focus should be on connecting new ideas with your organization. For this, you need space in your mind to think about the ideas being presented, and to consider whether they could bring value to your organization. The notes you do take should be brief and powerful–just the key ideas that make you think “aha!”

By taking this approach, you allow yourself the opportunity to think about the specifics of how an idea can be implemented at your organization. Through this thought process, you may even generate “spin-off” ideas–ideas of your own that are inspired by your presenter.

You may fear that if you fail to take detailed notes, then you will lose vital information needed to sell or implement the idea. It’s true that you could miss a few important details, but most presenters are more than happy to provide you with notes or additional information upon request.

And what better way to network with a presenter than to follow up with “Hi Nancy, I really enjoyed your presentation on employee engagement, specifically your idea on using technology to streamline the onboarding process. Could you provide me with a little more information on your considerations for purchasing HR technology?

Network Responsibly and Take Breaks

Speaking of networking…conferences are great places to network. A bunch of like-minded, like-employed, like-motivated people all gathered in one place is a powerful thing. But let’s face it, even grown adults have a limit to their attention spans…enter networking.

Networking–both formal and informal–is the oil that keeps conferences moving. It can also be the silver lining in an otherwise dry presentation on HR analytics. But too much networking can easily distract you and wear you out, leaving you exhausted and unable to focus on presentations. Try the following tips for responsible networking.

5 Tips For Networking Responsibly At Your Next Conference

Set limits. It’s not overkill to actually schedule your networking time. In fact, scheduling time to network will reinforce your sense of purpose in networking and ensure that you don’t miss out on other important activities.

Have business cards ready, but use discretion. Have a good conversation, and if it makes sense, exchange business cards at the end of it. Don’t lead with the card…that’s presumptuous and can make a bad impression.

Sales is a next level conversation. I know…I know… if you’re a salesperson you gotta strike while the iron is hot…make hay while there’s sun…and kill two birds with one stone. Sales are tough, but so are first impressions. Follow the same approach as with business cards. If a sales conversation makes sense, offer that at the end of the initial conversation.

Be yourself. Unless you moonlight as an actor or actress, trying to be someone else is exhausting. Conferences can be stressful enough on their own, you don’t need to add to that by morphing into Don Draper. So be professional, kind, and considerate…and hopefully that’s pretty close to being yourself.

Take breaks. Remember that part about scheduling your networking time? You should do the same for breaks. A break could be a walk to a nearby park or attraction. It could be exercise, like going on a run or visiting the hotel fitness facility. You might just need to go veg in your hotel room. Whatever you decide on, make sure you use some of your free time to get away from handshakes, elevator speeches, and happy hours. You’ll bring more energy to everything else.

Putting It All Together

In this short series on how to get the most out of your upcoming conference, we touched on several ideas. You’ll find that they all derive from two principles: have a plan and manage your energy. Most bad experiences can be avoided with proper planning and high energy. Follow your plan, and when things don’t go according to plan, overcome it with high energy.

ExactHire has had the honor to present at conferences in the past, and you can always find us with a vendor booth at the annual HR Indiana Conference. Whether presenting, blogging, authoring ebooks and guides, we strive to help human resources professionals improve their organizations.

Indiana Is First to Bar Local ‘Ban the Box’ Ordinances

in Workforce Management/by Nancy Meyer, SHRM-CP

On April 27, 2017, Governor Eric Holcomb signed Senate Bill 312 (now PL 210-2017) into Indiana law, which will become effective July 1, 2017. This legislation aims to assist employers who hire within Indiana to have more consistency in the hiring process. Currently, employers must adapt to city, county, municipal and township ordinances that vary in timing as to when or if conviction related questions can be asked to applicants in the hiring process. This legislation ultimately prevents local governments from passing differing versions of Ban the Box legislation throughout the state. As usual, employers must continue to adhere to state and federal employment laws in their hiring processes.

Employers who hire in Indiana still need to include expungement language when asking about convictions within an employment application to adhere to existing HEA 1482 legislation. As discussed in this SHRM article, unlike local Ban the Box laws, a state legislature can provide employer immunity or protection if the employer hires an ex-offender and the person commits another crime. According to The National Law Review, SB 312 states that criminal history information regarding an employee or former employee may not be introduced as evidence against an employer in a civil lawsuit based on the conduct of the employee or former employee if the criminal history information does not bear a direct relationship to the facts underlying the civil action, or if the conviction has been sealed, expunged, reversed, vacated, or pardoned, or if the criminal history information relates to an arrest or charge that did not result in a conviction. With this in mind, the expungement language on the employment application potentially provides an additional layer of defense for claims against an employer.

State employment hiring practices in Indiana, however, will be changing. Governor Holcomb issued an executive order for state employment that would ban the box regarding convictions until the applicant proceeded to the interview phase of the hiring process. This too, becomes effective July 1, 2017.

ExactHire does not provide legal counsel so if you have questions as to how SB 312 affects your hiring practices in Indiana, please consult your company’s legal team. If you have any questions or changes regarding your HireCentric ATS employment application, please contact the Support Team at support@exacthire.com.

7 Tips for Embracing the 80/20 Rule With Employee Talent

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

I’m sure you’ve heard of the 80/20 Rule before, but have you ever thought seriously about its impact on your talent management initiatives? Whether you like it or not, the Pareto Principle (another name for the rule) is likely at work within your workforce. Therefore, as few as 20 percent of your employees are driving about 80 percent of your productivity and success. Want to increase that 20% and find all-star job candidates? Check out our Free ATS Guide to see how an ATS can prevent bad hires.

I started thinking about this principle after attending a very engaging program from my local SHRM chapter, IndySHRM, this week. The topic, “Total Rewards for a High Performing Culture” was jointly presented by Susan Rider and Karl Ahlrichs of Gregory & Appel Insurance here in Indianapolis. I enjoyed their presentation, and one of their slides discussed using a normal distribution (aka “Bell curve”) to segment the productivity of your workforce. This isn’t a new concept and has historically aligned with forced ranking performance management systems that assigned numerical ratings to employees grouped into three basic buckets–below average, average, and above average.

Taming the Long Tail of Performance

I support the idea that above average producers produce more per person than your large bucket of average producers, but it wasn’t until I came across this Josh Bersin article in Forbes that I thought about the “Power Law” distribution (aka “long tail”) as more accurately representative of the spectrum of employee productivity. And in my opinion, it is easier to support this because it optimistically suggests that everyone can move to being a “hyper performer” if they are in the right role. It doesn’t force the organization to have a set number of below average “1” ratings (on a scale of one to five for example). And, unlike a Bell curve, there aren’t an equivalent number of people above and below the mean.

One of the hottest trends in human resources over the past few years is to rethink the performance management process and abandon the forced ranking systems of old. The good news is that the long tail distribution model supports that move and won’t disillusion people who have great potential by forcing them into the lackluster “average performer” bucket because there can only be a certain number of “above average” performers.

The bad news, however, is that your true top performers…your “hyper performers” as Bersin calls them…may impact your organization’s success to an even greater extent than you thought before.

You Must Treat Hyper Performers Differently

Does the header of this section make you feel uncomfortable? As an individual charged with human resources, talent management and/or business operations in your organization, you understand the necessity to value, engage and respect all employees…both from a legal and company culture-enriching standpoint. However, equality and equity don’t mean the same thing.

If you challenge, recognize and reward all of your employees equally, then your best ones (the left side “head” of the power distribution) will leave and your below average ones (the right side “long tail”) will stay. Then what happens to your productivity?

So how do you disproportionately engage your hyper performers and your high potentials (i.e. on their way to being hyper)? If you don’t take action, then as Karl Ahlrichs said in the IndySHRM presentation, beware the sounds of smartphone pings in your office. They will be the precursor to your top talent leaving as recruiters engage them on LinkedIn.

Consider the following seven tips for motivating your most critically important high-performing employees. While many of these practices are good ideas to adopt for many groups of employees, their thoughtful application to the hyper performing group will reap the lion’s share of benefits…my estimate is around 80 percent, in fact!

1 – Understand motivators

When looking at your small group of hyper performers, don’t make the mistake of assuming that since they are all uber-productive, that they have the same long-term goals. One person may be purely driven by compensation; whereas, others might live for the flexible working arrangement you offer or the student loan debt assistance benefit you just rolled out.

Make strides to understand what motivates each unique person by using one or more of the following tools:

Have him take the StrengthsFinder assessment to unearth his five most prominent strengths. Then, try to align his opportunities with his strengths to bring him even deeper intrinsic satisfaction with his work.
If you used a behavioral assessment during the hiring process, such as the ProfileXT which shares primary interest categories for the individual, then double check that your employee has the opportunity to create…if one of her interests is being “creative,” for example.
Look back through notes from your employee’s interview or past 1-on-1 discussions to jog your memory on comments he made about what motivates him. Many organizations ask motivation-related questions during the hiring process and so you may already have the data at your fingertips. NOTE: Remember that a person’s motivators can change over time based on their current life experiences…so it doesn’t hurt to just ask, too.

2 – Conduct stay interviews

In lieu of an annual performance review, introduce the “stay interview” with the high performers in your organization. According to The Stay Interview by Richard Finnegan, employees–not supervisors–should set the agenda for these performance development meetings.

While the manager can get the discussion ball rolling using questions like “What are you learning here?” or “Why are you staying here?”, these are just conversation openers. As an employee answers these questions, the manager should ask follow-up questions to probe for additional insight in order to reveal the emotions or challenges at the core of the initial question responses, according to Finnegan.

3 – Communicate with context

My eight-year-old son recently reminded me that his elementary school has been studying Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People this year. The fifth habit is to “seek first to understand, then be understood.” The key to understanding the motivators of your top talent is to be a good listener and probe for additional information instead of just rattling off the next question on your list. In fact, a stay interview is a great time to do this exercise.

While listening is an essential part of communication, once you’ve heard your employees it is important to work with them to mutually discover how their interests may align with the overall objectives of the organization. When areas of synergy are identified, plan opportunities for additional development.

4 – Provide new learning experiences

With the 80/20 Rule in mind, consider the potentially high ROI on additional training for your best performers. These exceptionally productive employees may be hungry to learn new skills or be exposed to additional insights and perspectives; however, before you assume this note their motivations!

For the employees who do express interest, look for opportunities to send them to relevant conferences and courses. Involve them in the succession planning process and identify them as high potential candidates for specific roles. However, don’t tell an employee he is the shoe-in candidate as it can create entitlement and be counterproductive, according to a recent The Joy-Powered Workplace Podcast.

Gauge your hyper performers’ interest in a mentorship program. They may enjoy learning new skills while serving as a mentee to a more senior person in the organization; or, they might be motivated by the chance to help train other newcomers and up-and-comers within the organization. If you don’t yet have a formal mentoring program, perhaps one of your hyper performers would like to take that on as a special project.

5 – Offer stretch assignments

Speaking of special projects, your best performers may be at risk of becoming bored if they aren’t regularly presented with new challenges. Brainstorm with your senior management team, as well as your high performers, about any potential stretch assignments that could create a new efficiency and/or revenue stream for the organization, as well as give your best performers exposure to new skill development opportunities.

These individuals will appreciate the chance to explore new ideas, people and/or areas within the business, and it can be a good chance to feed their need to excel. At a minimum, this type of assignment can give them a chance to reinvent themselves and avoid burnout/boredom that may eventually seep into their daily work routine.

Additionally, being selected for a special stretch assignment is a nice way to award recognition to these exceptional individuals who are trusted to innovate for their employer.

6 – Customize recognition

We’re all hard-wired differently. While an extroverted, competitive salesperson may live for an unanticipated public mention of his name during the monthly staff meeting, an extremely introverted and stability-minded systems analyst would be quietly mortified to experience the same form of recognition.

If you’ve taken strides to understand your employees’ unique motivations, then your next step is to create customized recognition opportunities that will be welcomed by each individual on which they are bestowed. Maybe your systems analyst is a die-hard fan of chai lattes? Great, have your next 1-on-1 meeting at the local coffee house as a treat for her recent accomplishment.

7 – Disproportionately reward your stars

Consider this statement from the Bersin article:

“Just think about paying people based on the value they deliver (balanced by market wages and scarcity of skills) and you’ll probably conclude that too much of your compensation is based on tenure and history.”

Does that statement describe the state of compensation in your organization? If so, then you may have some work to do to keep your stars with your organization long-term. If your hyper performers, the 20 percent of them producing 80 percent of your company’s success, come to realize that length of employment is the most significant factor in improving their pay, then you’ve just crushed their motivation to work for you.

So what’s the answer? Why not recognize the substantial achievements of your most important talent with variable pay opportunities? While your fixed pay grades may limit you on salary increases, there’s room to get creative with one-time bonuses for important goal achievements that move the company forward (and arguably…pay for themselves).

But remember, not everyone is motivated by pay. So consider allowing your hyper performers to choose their own goals and corresponding bonus opportunities. A bonus could very well be a lump sum payment or additional paid time off; or, it might be the ability to enroll in a course (on the company’s dime) in which the employee’s been interested for some time. Involving the employee in the selection of goals and rewards allows her to take on a level of risk that suits her motivations as well as have a stake in her own reward outcomes.

A word of caution: with the privilege of selecting specific goals and rewards comes the responsibility of carefully measuring success and mitigating unintended consequences. Be sure to avoid creating an incentive for these unintended cobra farms (see #7 at this link).

Now that you’re equipped with some ideas for connecting with your best performers with the goal of keeping them productive for your organization, your next step is to reach out to them and better understand what makes them tick. While you hopefully already have a general sense of this for various high potential employees, you might be surprised by what you learn, too. Good luck!

Get The Most Out Of A Conference: Part 1

in Workforce Management/by Tom Branson

It’s conference season! Time to throw off the shackles of your desk environment and go to a place where everybody knows your name (because it’s printed on your lanyard) and they’re always glad you came (because you paid out the nose for it).

Maybe you’ll be attending pre-conference workshops, cocktail hours, dinners, and concerts. Or maybe you’ll have a chance run-in with an industry thought leader. And then there’s the swag, all that awesome, eye-pleasing gear that helps you justify–just a little bit–that hefty registration fee.

And are you staying at the conference hotel? If so, then hold on to your briefcase, because it’s like spring break meets summer camp meets college dorm…for professionals! Woo-hoo! …maybe that’s just my past conference experience.

In any case, a lot of excitement surrounds conferences, and it’s very easy to get caught up in it. But as most veteran conference goers know, it’s important to balance fun and work. Here is the first part in a two-part series on how to ensure that you get the most out of your conference.

Have a Plan

About a week or so before the conference, take a look at the schedule of conference speakers and events. It’s probably part of your welcome email, but also visit the conference website to check for any late changes. With an updated agenda in front of you, it’s now time to decide how you will spend your time at the conference.

First off, it’s a good idea to review the agenda with your supervisor and colleagues. If you’re attending the conference with them, then you can “divide and conquer” the sessions. If you’re going solo, then their input will help you create a schedule that brings value to both you and the organization.

In addition to creating a schedule of sessions, you should have objectives for each session. So if you are attending a session on “How To Enhance Employee Onboarding”, an objective might be: to learn how to improve coordination of onboarding activities among staff. This doesn’t mean that you might not discover other important takeaways, but it focuses your attention on how the content can help your organization today. If a speaker doesn’t address your objective, then it becomes your question for the Q&A or a follow up tweet.

Finally, outside of the sessions, be sure to schedule time for professional networking. This time should also have an objective, like scheduling time to:

Make new connections
Maintain existing connections
Meet current clients or customers

By planning out your time and attaching objectives to it, you can avoid wasting any time and quickly begin to gain real value from the conference.

Have a System

Much like planning your schedule for the conference, having a system in place for gathering and storing information is invaluable. Sure, you could walk into the hall with just your smartphone, grab a swaggy notepad and pen, and survive the day. But you want to get the most out of the conference!

For Notes

Whether you decide to go digital or keep it low tech with a notebook, there is a lot you can do before the conference to make it easy to gather and organize the flood of content you will receive.

Start by creating a page for each session–if you’re taking notes the right way, one page should be enough, but go ahead and use two if you must. For each page, write the title of the presentation, time and date, and speaker’s name. Then write your objectives for the session.

These easy, proactive steps save you time, reduce stress, and help you stay focused on the speaker and your pre-determined objectives. Apps like Evernote, OneNote, and a host of others can also be set up in this way.

For Business Cards

Reports on the death of business cards have been greatly exaggerated. Despite the popularity of LinkedIn and apps for paperless sharing of your contact info, the business card endures. That’s good news for printers and the manufacturers of business card holders, but it’s bad news for people like me who always seem to forget and misplace them.

If you use a portfolio binder, then the solution is easy. Just use the handy little pockets they have. But importantly, make sure you remove any old business cards that you’ve received beforehand. You only want your cards and conference attendee cards. This makes it easier to recall someone you’ve met earlier at the conference.

If you’re storing your cards elsewhere, like your pockets, purse, or manpurse, then the same rule as above applies. But also make sure that you keep your cards separate from the cards you receive, lest you accidentally give someone the wrong card or lose a card in your stack of cards.

After storing cards, you’ll want to review them at the end of the day. At this point you can store them digitally and/or take notes about the contact, like:

When you met them
What you talked about
Any follow up actions you need to take

Once you’re finished with reviewing and organizing your cards, toss the cards that are not useful to you–harsh, I know. Just don’t do this immediately after talking with someone.

For Handouts

Like business cards, there are the handouts that you may have and the handouts that other attendees and vendors will have. Keeping all of these organized and handy is a challenge. Let’s start with materials that you might have.

First off, if you have sales materials and you’re not at a booth, it may be a good idea to keep those in your hotel room. If you meet someone who is interested in learning more about your services or wares, take that person’s card, and then schedule a meetup for that evening where you will bring the sales materials. You could stockpile them in your European carryall and distribute them on-demand, but that’s not a good look, as others will likely avoid talking to you, the travelling salesman.

When you receive materials from someone, it’s likely because you’re at the vendor exhibition or had an unfortunate encounter with the aforementioned travelling salesman. The exhibition usually provides bags, so use that or just repurpose your swag bag from registration. And for the salesman…if you have the cargo space and are legitimately interested in the material, then go ahead and tuck it into your portfolio or bag; otherwise, just politely decline. When you get back to your room: review, purge and organize the materials you’ve received.

The goal with handouts and business cards is to only come back home with items of value. If you take back everything, you just might overlook an important contact or piece of material.

For Swag

I’ve listed this for one reason and one reason only: coupons and freebies. OK, technically that might be two reasons, but anyway…buried beneath the branded notepads, stress balls, water bottles, t-shirts, and iffy phone chargers, there are often some great coupons and vouchers. It’s easy to overlook these little guys and sometimes they are time-sensitive–like a free drink at tonight’s happy hour.

Assuming that you arrive early to the conference (do not do this during a presentation), go through your swag bag and pull out all your coupons, quickly separate time-sensitive ones, and discard the ones you’re not interested in. Put these coupons in a safe place (not with your business cards or back in the swag bag). Enjoy!

A Plan and a System

Attending professional conferences can be exciting and instrumental to the development of your career.
To ensure that you get the most out of a conference, you should start by investing time in the planning of your conference schedule and objectives. Then, be sure to have a system to process all the content that will be thrown at you. With these two items in place, you will arrive at the conference ready to squeeze every last bit of value out of it.

In part two of this series, I will discuss a few strategies for getting the most out of the conference once you’ve arrived.

ExactHire has had the honor to present at conferences in the past, and you can find our vendor booth at conferences like the annual HR Indiana Conference. Whether presenting, blogging, authoring ebooks and guides, we strive to help human resources professionals improve their organizations.

Healthy Working From Home: Part 2

in Workforce Management/by Tom Branson

If you work from home, your friends have likely told you how lucky you are, or how they wish they could work at home too. Their minds immediately go to the benefits of working from home. They overlook the challenges of working remotely.

In the first part of this blog series, I wrote how remote workers can maintain good physical health by making a plan to avoid bad, unhealthy habits. However, in order to stick to any plan, a person needs to be mentally strong and disciplined. And as with your physical health, there are certain bad habits to avoid in order to maintain mental fitness.

Please Note: the following advice does not attempt to resolve, minimize, or otherwise simplify the seriousness and complexity of mental health disorders.

Bad Habits That Affect Your Mental Fitness

You’re Not Sleeping Well

This bad habit could very easily be discussed with physical health because it is foundational to your overall health. However, poor sleep can often be the first domino that falls in a series of bad habits that affect your mental fitness. Not getting enough quality sleep negatively impacts your judgement, mood, and memory. Poor performance in these areas can lead to further negative outcomes–physical health being one of them.

So any discussion of improving your mental fitness while working at home must begin with establishing a prerequisite for good sleep. The National Sleep Foundation quantifies that as 7 to 9 hours per night for most adults. Seems easy enough, but why is this a challenge for remote workers?

The late weeknight has many temptations: television, page-turning books, social media…a few drinks with friends. These are possible temptations for all workers, but there are little justifying thoughts that can pop into the head of a remote worker: “I’m working from home tomorrow. I don’t need to get ready for work. I don’t need to drive to work. I can sleep in a little. I can stay up a bit later.”

Five episodes of Game of Thrones later, you’re finally getting to bed at 1:00 AM. You plan to get 7 hours, but you’ll wake up at 6:45 AM, unable to get back to sleep. So you put the coffee on and start your day.

There’s no getting that sleep back, even with a midday nap. Your day is off to a bad start and you haven’t even started working. This provides the mindset for a host of bad habits to follow–some that are listed below or covered in part one.

Your Solution: Set a bedtime that provides for enough hours of quality sleep. And go to bed on time! To help yourself in this task:

Move to your bedroom at least 30 minutes before you plan to fall asleep.
Use that time to read, meditate, sudoku, crossword puzzle, or talk to a loved one, but NO screens (phones, tablets, TV’s, etc.)
Ensure that you have a completely dark and quiet room–blackout blinds, non-visible alarm clock, and a white noise machine will all help with this.

You’re Not Focusing

It’s hard to focus on a task when you’re tired, but there are other things that can cause you to lose focus as well. Stress–internal stress and external stress–can cause your mind to wander while you’re working anywhere, but at home it can become more prominent.

Internal Stress

When most people hear the word “stress,” they think of internal stress–worry, anxiety, dread. Often times internal stress is the result of outside factors associated with work, interpersonal relationships, or other ongoing responsibilities and commitments. It’s these factors that initiate the stress, but then it continues to exist in your mind.

When working from home, internal stress can often be exacerbated. Work stress is higher when communication with coworkers is weak or inefficient. Interpersonal relationships may be strained if family members fail to respect your home/work boundaries. And then there is the constant temptation to attend to house chores that you’ve been putting off–laundry, vacuuming, lawn care…that DIY project.

External Stress

External stresses are short-lived and immediate, though they may occur frequently. These are almost always a result of the environment and affect one of your five senses. They may also be a factor that contributes to internal stress.

If you’ve ever been dutifully working from home, only to be interrupted by the sound of your neighbor cutting grass, then you’ve been affected by external stress. That interruption might, in turn, remind you of the need to cut your own grass (internal stress), which you can’t do tonight because your child has a soccer game (more internal stress)…suddenly you’ve lost focus!

Your Solution: As best you can, make an effort to control your work environment and structure your schedule. One of the great benefits of working remotely is the ability to enjoy the coziness of your home. However, this should not be confused with working anywhere within your home at anytime. Set boundaries with the following tips:

Print out your work schedule and share it with your family members and overly neighborly neighbors. Let them know that you cannot be distracted when working.
Create a quiet, clean space with a quality desk and chair, free from distractions, to help you maintain focus on your work and keep external stresses at bay.
Lean on the side of over-communicating via email with co-workers. For particularly complex or important discussions that must take place while you are at home, call or use video chat.
Structure your free time wisely. Sometimes working at home makes you feel like you’re always on the clock. It can be difficult to transition from working for your employer to working for yourself, but by using your free time wisely to take care of household chores and personal commitments, you can lower internal stress while working from home.

You’re Not Engaging With Coworkers

Good communication with coworkers is important for productivity and to reduce stress when working from home, but it also serves another purpose when working at an office. Communication helps coworkers engage with one another through the sharing of experiences. This sharing can easily be threatened when a team is working from home.

We all know about the dangers of working from your email, or allowing email to manage your work schedule. Because of this, recipients often prioritize the emails they receive, and senders streamline the emails they send (no one wants to be the annoying emailer). Although these strategies help keep the focus on work, they also reduce the opportunities to share.

When working from home, there is no water cooler or break room for small talk. You really have to go out of your way to engage with coworkers, and it may seem forced or unnatural. The physical space between you and your co-workers may even make you feel that engaging in small talk while “on the clock” is somehow wrong.

Your Solution: Team bonding is difficult for remote workers, especially if they are working from home full-time. To a large degree, a team’s ability to overcome this really depends on their personalities. But organizations can facilitate bonding by creating a structure that provides opportunities for sharing. A few ideas for this include:

Schedule at least one day per week when the entire staff works from the office.
When a physical office is not available, have a weekly department meetup for remote workers at a coffee shop, co-working space, or library. Or have a team member host at their house!
Require staff to share a short, weekly “non-business” update with the team on Mondays. This could be a weekly “How was your weekend?” email chain.
Conduct remote meetings via skype or another video enabled chat service. Seeing each other’s faces may make you feel closer.
Host monthly, low-cost gatherings that are “non-work” such as a happy hour, miniature golf, or bowling.

You’re Not Motivating Yourself

Finally, your mental fitness can really be at risk when you fail to motivate yourself through work. No one wants to work in an office with a manager constantly looking over their shoulder, suffocating them. But the opposite scenario can be equally challenging.

Working from home by yourself can be, at once, both empowering and isolating. This is especially the case when communication or engagement is low or poor. Even for those who are intrinsically motivated, it can take some time to adjust to working remotely. Thankfully, there is no shortage of resources on self-motivation! But first, you have to recognize that your motivation may be lacking.

Your Solution: Take inventory of your current level of motivation.

Do you feel that you are accomplishing something meaningful everyday?
Are you staying “on task” on a consistent basis?
Are you contributing new ideas to the organization?
Do you feel that you have grown as a professional over the last 3 months?

The full answers to these questions can tell you a lot…more than just whether or not you are motivated. But what’s most important to know is that you are in control of these answers.

Answering “yes” to these questions will not always be easy. It requires self-motivation, goal setting, and discipline. And answering “no” to these questions cannot be automatically blamed on your employer. An organization can create a structure for you to succeed, but it’s ultimately up to you to get to “yes”–especially when you’re working from home.

Working From Home | Plan Healthy Habits

Sleep, focus, engaging with coworkers, and self-motivation are four key areas of mental fitness that are vital to maintain when working from home. Building strong, healthy habits in these areas can be challenging, especially for those who are transitioning to remote work.

A good strategy is to structure your workday as if you were, in fact, in the office. Arrive and leave at the same time everyday, and schedule breaks consistently. Do everything you can to simulate an office environment in a designated area of your house, and let your family and friends know your schedule–and its importance. To stay motivated, you can write reminder notes of your goals and post them in your workspace.

As you become accustomed to working at home, you can begin to make small adjustments to your schedule, like working on the patio for an hour or taking a trip to the gym over lunch break. This will make it easier to adjust to changes and allow you to enjoy the full benefits of working from home.

ExactHire provides paperless hiring software that makes it easier for teams to complete their work from anywhere. Our applicant tracking software and employee onboarding software provide HR teams with the tools they need to communicate and manage hiring processes effectively.

Starstruck Behind The Tech Curve

in Workforce Management/by Tom Branson

A professional who seeks to lead in any industry will constantly look for ways to increase productivity and efficiency. The past decade has offered businesses countless ways to improve with the introduction of new technologies. Businesses that invested early (and wisely) in new technology were rewarded with a competitive advantage over those that lagged behind. However, this is very difficult for most businesses to do. The difficulty is twofold:

1. Deciding Which Technologies to Adopt

New technologies seem to hit the market every day. Businesses must wade through the hype surrounding new technology and decide which ones will positively affect the bottom line. The sooner they invest in value-added technology, the more likely they will gain a competitive advantage through its implementation.

2. Choosing the Right Vendor or Product

As more and more businesses adopt a technology, great outcomes–let alone a competitive advantage–are not guaranteed. When demand for a new technology increases, the field of competitors expands. This produces some great vendors…along with some awful ones too.

So how does a business effectively invest in technology, when considering the speed of technological advancement and the volume of hype that accompanies it?

Trends and Hype

Not long ago, trends developed over a relatively long period of time. The X-axis usually ticked in years. And we learned about these trends at annual conferences, quarterly magazines, or books (real books). Those who attended, subscribed, or read up were privy to the latest trends.

Today, with technology advancing at breakneck speed, business are feeling a mix of urgency and uncertainty, perhaps even fear. Tech trends are rising and receding so quickly that it’s difficult to determine which trends to follow–lest you be led astray by a fad. We spot these trends on-demand with internet access, a search engine, and social media. Those who connect, search, and follow are instantly in the know.

All of this creates pressure for businesses to adopt new, trending technologies…if only for the hope that it will lead to the possibility of improved outcomes. To avoid wasting resources on a passing tech trend, ask yourself the following questions:

What are the direct outcomes (benefits) of this technology?
Do the direct outcomes of this technology affect my bottom line?
Does my business need to improve these outcomes?
Am I currently using another technology that can improve these outcomes?

This line of questioning will help you determine whether a new technology is right for your business or simply a trend that is a better fit for others. You may determine that your business does have a need for a new technology. In this case, the difficulty now lies in vetting vendors and products to find the solutions that will produce the desired outcomes.

Starstruck Behind The Tech Curve

For all the passing tech trends, there are those technological advances that businesses must adopt in order to remain competitive and profitable. The longer a business delays in adopting a new technology, the more important it becomes to select the right technology. Selecting the wrong vendor or product will see a business fall farther behind, while a business that invests in the right technology can quickly make up lost ground.

With the stakes so high, deliberate and informed vetting of vendors and products is vital.

Unfortunately, too many businesses are rushed to a purchase decision for fear of being left behind by the latest tech trend. They are easily starstruck by software reviews and customer testimonials. This blinds them to the real factors that drive successful implementation and improved outcomes.

Reviews and Testimonials | Check For Fit

Let’s face it, product and service reviews aren’t what they used to be. Businesses know that consumers will do research online before making a purchase, and so they invite customers who self-identify as “happy” to provide customer testimonials and reviews for their website and social media pages. Even some third-party review sites allow businesses to invite a “happy” segment of current customers, in addition to unsolicited reviews. This can often result in reviews that skew positive.

The lesson for businesses that are shopping for software is to be wary of reviews and testimonials. While negative reviews will obviously be a red flag, positive reviews require a closer look. Specifically, research the people/companies that are providing the reviews:

Is the company in your industry?

A five-star review of hiring software may be enticing, but if all the reviewers are in the restaurant industry it might not translate well for a business in manufacturing. Consider whether the results described in one industry will translate to yours.

Is the company the same size?

Great software is built to address specific needs and challenges. A large company of over 1,000 employees will have different needs than a company of 50 employees. Consider whether the software has more or less functionality than you need.

How does the company use the software?

It’s common for software to come in editions or packages that include different sets of features. Look closely as to which features are being reviewed and which edition includes those features. Consider whether you need those features and if they address your needs.

Which pricing tier or package do they use?

This goes along with the previous point. Just as reviewers may refer to specific features, they may also review the software for a specific pricing tier. You may fall in love with a Cadillac, when you only have a Hyundai budget. Consider whether the software features you need are available in a pricing tier your budget can afford.

What is the company’s relationship to the software vendor?

In some cases, software reviewers or their employers may have a strategic relationship with the businesses they are reviewing. This can lead to reviews that are genuinely positive, but devoid of constructive criticism. Consider whether the reviews are balanced and complete.

By taking a closer look at software reviews–and the customers behind them, you can begin to create a shortlist of software vendors that are more likely to meet your needs. For the most part, software review sites are very helpful in this process. However, it’s important to look critically at the content of the review and not just a vague star rating.

Avoid Hype, Focus on Value and Fit

A business that adopts the right technologies at the right time can successfully increase productivity and efficiency while gaining an advantage over its lagging competitors. While the concept is simple enough, the path to success requires a disciplined focus on a business’s needs and a critical eye for how the available technologies will meet those needs.

ExactHire offers applicant tracking software and employee onboarding software for small and mid-sized businesses. With nearly a decade of serving the needs of our clients, we are committed to continued improvement of our software and exceptional ongoing customer support.

Healthy Working From Home: Part 1

in Workforce Management/by Tom Branson

Working from home can be a fantastic benefit. You avoid stressful commutes. There’s no need to pack a lunch or get all dressed up. For that matter, you really don’t even need to change out of your pajamas. You can just roll out of bed and get to work.

However, the convenience of working at home can also lead to some convenient bad habits. Those bad habits can negatively affect your physical and mental fitness. Fortunately, you can keep bad habits at bay by anticipating them in advance and developing a plan to avoid them.

Working From Home | Bad Habits That Affect Your Physical Fitness

Most of the time poor fitness is due to poor choices. We all have the opportunity each day to make positive or negative choices for our health. While the choices available to some will vary, the following are the ones that I have encountered as I’ve worked remotely at home.

You’re Not Moving

Your home is comfortable. Your bathroom and fridge are nearby. You have a dedicated office space. Everything is at your fingertips. All of this helps you complete your work efficiently at home. However your super work efficiency can also translate into inefficient physical fitness.

I occasionally use a FitBit to track my movement at home. On some days, I log only 700 steps. Those are bad days. My back becomes stiff. My eyes are strained. And I’m exhausted at the end of my day–even though, physically, I’ve done very little.

To address this challenge, I schedule “active breaks” throughout my day that accompany other required movements. Here’s an example:

Bathroom break? Complete ten push-ups as I return to my office.
Just completed a task on my checklist? My reward is 10 “mountain climbers”.
Thirsty? Do some light stretching and arm rolls.

These active breaks–for the most part– are quick and easy. Along with these active breaks, I plan more intense exercise at the beginning and middle of my day.

Breakfast? Walk 15 minutes around the neighborhood.
Lunch? Run 2-3 miles, or spend 45 minutes in the gym.

Scheduling workouts for the morning and mid-day provide you with energy for the few hours that follow and allow you to relax at the end of your day–no pressure to go to a crowded gym after work, you earned some couch time.

You’re Not Clean

As mentioned before, working from home makes it tempting to avoid “getting ready for work”. It’s just you in that house, so who cares whether you shower, change your clothes, brush your teeth, or otherwise attend to your hygiene?

Well, you should care. Good hygiene is important not just for how people see and perceive you, but for how you see and perceive yourself. And although you might not face the results (or embarrassment) of poor hygiene on one particular day at home, those days will add up.

Fortunately, avoiding this bad habit is pretty straightforward. Just get ready for work in the morning as if you are going into the office. This means getting up, showering, dressing, and “leaving the house” at the same time each day. I like to listen to the radio for 15 – 20 minutes before “leaving” and “arriving” at work.

You’re Not Eating Well

This kind of goes along with bad hygiene. When you’re at home, you have a lot of freedom and privacy to structure your time however you like. This is a good thing when used wisely, however it can very easily become a health liability.

For instance, working from home affords you the opportunity to prepare and eat whatever you want. There are no challenges associated with packing, refrigerating or reheating your meals. You can cook up a strong smelling meal and eat at your desk without fearing the ire of your coworkers. However, this freedom may also open the door for some bad habits like:

Skipping Meals: While you might view this as being more productive, becoming overly focused or immersed in your work and forgetting to eat can drain you of energy. You may be working more, but the quality of your work–both the product and your experience–will be poor.

Bad Snacking: Failing to set aside time to eat well, and instead snacking throughout the day, can be dangerous. A bag of tortilla chips can disappear over the course of an afternoon, and man (or woman) cannot live on tortilla chips alone. Healthy snacks between meals are fine, but they shouldn’t substitute for well-balanced meals that power you through the day.

It’s tempting to avoid structured breaks for breakfast and lunch, but by respecting and planning for mealtimes you will bring more energy and focus to your work.

You’re Not Sitting Correctly

That couch looks comfortable. Real comfortable. You could probably lay down on it, place your laptop on your stomach, and…STOP!

Your eyes will be too far from the screen, forcing you to lean forward, which will likely result in a rounded back and hunched shoulders. Or the screen will be too close, scarring your retinas, forcing you to bend your neck, arms, and wrists in a weird way. All of that nonsense is a recipe for pain and discomfort. Not to mention, your laptop will be gasping for air as it burns your stomach. Couches are meant for lounging, not working.

Office furniture has come a long way. Most chairs have several adjustment options and boast “enhanced ergonomic designs.” Although these aren’t cheap, or as comfortable as lounging on that inviting couch, investing in one will save you aches and pains in your back, neck, shoulders, eyes…basically your whole body.

Not only do armchairs, couches, and patio chairs lack the proper support for your work, they put you in the wrong mindset for work. Mixing a recreational space with a workspace introduces the temptation to relax and indulge when you should be focused on your work. So the way you choose to sit (or stand) can affect a lot more than just your comfort; it can negatively influence your entire work experience.

Working From Home | Plan Healthy Habits

Exercise, hygiene, diet, and posture are four key areas of physical health that you must maintain when working at home. Unfortunately, the comforts that are inherent in your home can make it tempting to neglect your physical health. In this sense, some of the benefits that come with working at home can actually be liabilities.

To resist the temptations that lead to bad habits and poor health, it helps to set goals for health and work, and then structure your workday accordingly. This can be done using an app such as “Balanced”–which has tons of capabilities–or simply use your current calendar program to schedule your health activities. Regardless of how you approach your planning, it’s important to document and track it as you begin. Bad habits are hard to break, and good habits take time and accountability to develop.

ExactHire provides paperless hiring software that makes it easier for teams to complete their work from anywhere. Our applicant tracking software and employee onboarding software provide HR teams with the tools they need to communicate and manage hiring processes effectively.