Working remotely has its perks. With groceries at home and no daily commute, you can save some serious cash. Plus, you can attend meetings in your sweatpants. What’s not to like? Well, a few things. For starters, your at-home setup may not be equipped with some of the many in-office supplies, accessories, and attributes that create a productive working environment. While your home can’t be turned into an exact replica of the office, you can make it a positive working environment with a few simple tips and tricks. For instance, investing in a pair of quality wireless headphones can block out external noise and help you focus. Speaking of wireless tech, a wireless keyboard and mouse (and propping your computer on a stand), can make for a much more ergonomic workspace than using a laptop alone.
Check out the graphic below to learn about the best office accessories for productive and comfortable remote working.
Managing Your Chronic Disease and Your Job
The Centers for Disease Control define chronic diseases as those that limit the activities of daily living or require ongoing medical attention, and last at least a year or more. When defined that way, it’s not surprising that six in 10 American adults have at least one chronic condition, and four out of 10 live with two or more. These chronic conditions affect the productivity of people at work; according to the CDC, the lost productivity resulting from the seven most prevalent conditions equals a staggering 3.7 trillion dollars.
Employers can help employees with chronic diseases in a number of ways, such as by promoting healthy activities at work. These activities may include health assessments and screenings; newsletters and other educational information about healthy lifestyles; reduced-rate gym memberships or an on-site gym; smoking cessation programs; standing desks; healthy snacks in break rooms and vending machines; and healthy, catered meals to employees.
If you are an employee with a chronic health condition, recognize that your symptoms may affect you at work. Determine how you can address them, whether that means taking more frequent breaks, working from home some of the time or managing your symptoms. Taking care of your overall health is essential. Consider whether you want to disclose your condition to your supervisor; while this step is not required, it may be beneficial. The accompanying resource details more about this.
The Huge Cost of Bad Hires — And How to Stop It
There’s one word that makes C-level executives, human resources departments, operations personnel, sales teams and financial staffs shake with fear:
Turnover.
When a new hire doesn’t work out, stress ripples throughout the organization. When it happens more than once or repeatedly, the effects quickly become a tidal wave of profit loss, decreased employee engagement and revenue growth. Turnover affects almost every aspect of a business. And yet these tangible costs, substantial as they may be, really only represent the tip of the iceberg. Hiring mishaps can hurt morale, productivity, brand image and customer relationships. If your company acquires the reputation of having heavy turnover, it will be challenging to attract good applicants, hurting your future.
The infographic below, What Are Bad Hires Really Costing Your Business?, provides a high-level overview of the costs of bad hires, why it happens and how to fix it. The infographic serves as an excellent reminder and useful in-house training tool. Read on to learn more.
Employee Training and Development During Social Distancing: Is this the New Normal?
COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it. Businesses from all sizes and walks of life are massively switching to working from home. This move has redefined the everyday life of countless people around the world. Even though the virus is contained in certain parts of the world, COVID-19 is not completely eradicated. As a result, social distancing and remote work are expected to continue being utilized by corporations worldwide in the short-term future.
Remote work presents a lot of tough challenges to employers — from technological solutions and corporate security on one hand to staff training and development on the other. Even though your employees are not present at the office, they still need to be adequately coached and trained in order to be happy and productive. If you are one of the many professionals who are struggling to implement effective training and development procedures for their remote team, this article is for you.
As a leader, you know that investing in your staff is one of the best ways to improve performance, results, and employee retention. In the following paragraphs, we will give you some practical advice on how to conduct highly effective training and development sessions while you and your team are safely working from home.
Embrace Virtual Training and Development
Modern technologies allow people to efficiently work together and stay aligned even when physically separate. They are also a powerful tool that managers and trainers can utilize in order to train their remote teams and ensure that all work processes continue in a normal and productive way. No matter the size or industry of your business, you can make use of software and hardware solutions that make long-distance communication and interaction possible.
Virtual training comes with a lot of benefits, with one of the most important ones being scheduling. You no longer need to secure a room for your employee training sessions, as everything is done online. Additionally, utilizing virtual learning tools can make your training easy to adapt to feedback in real-time. There are a myriad of digital tools you can use to improve the training and development processes, making them more engaging, memorable, and effective as a result.
Lead By Example
In order for any new company policy to be implemented, the change must start from the top. Executive managers should lead the charge to adapt virtual training by personally taking part in sessions. Even better, CEOs and other executive staff are particularly well-suited to moderate training and development events. Employees will be able to adapt to the new situation better if their superiors are actively supporting the idea. On top of that, having senior staff on the same level as employees helps boost morale and teamwork.
One of the benefits of virtual learning and development is that it develops a strange sense of familiarity between people. Some might say that it is even more effective than working together in the office. This gives leaders and executive managers the opportunity to step out of their professional persona for a bit. By doing that, they will appear more relatable and authentic to the employees.
Don’t Be Afraid to Get Creative
Depending on the industry you are working in, you might need to think outside of the box when it comes to implementing training procedures during social distancing. For example, if you need to train on-site staff in the construction and manufacturing industries, you might need to look into purchasing a tour guide system. Such equipment has many advantageous uses when it comes to employee support, especially if they are conducting fieldwork.
If everyone is just stuck in their homes and working remotely, keep in mind that a person’s attention span is a fickle thing. An effective virtual learning program is much more than just putting on some slides and talking over them. Ensure that your staff is engaged by translating standard exercises and games to the virtual environment. You can effectively use online collaboration software and other standard apps to provide an authentic and efficient learning experience.
Encourage Collaboration
When it comes to company training and education in general, working in a team and collaborating with your fellow colleagues is crucial. In order to maximize the impact of your staff training exercises and events, you need to actively encourage communication and teamwork. Even though it might seem hard when social distancing rules apply, virtual tools give you the ability to do it just right — and even go a step further.
A great idea you can implement in your training system is the creation of an online education portal that employees can access at any time. When you combine this with collaboration tools like task management systems and chat apps, your staff will feel right at home at all times. Create an environment where asking questions is not only permitted, but expected. This way, your employees will be able to freely engage and any obstacles that social distancing poses will be eliminated.
Conclusion
Even though the rapid implementation of social distancing rules and working from home came as a shock to many, people around the world quickly adapted to this status quo. In fact, we can now safely say that this new reality offers a lot more benefits than previously imagined. The new normal comes with lots of challenges, but also with plenty of opportunities. When it comes to employee training, social distancing is not the issue it would’ve been 20 years ago.
With modern technologies and virtual learning tools, businesses from all industries can continue onboarding, coaching, and developing their staff. The virtual “classroom” can work wonders if implemented correctly. Follow the advice outlined in this article and see how you can turn this unusual situation into an advantage.
About the Author:
Tremper Longman is Marketing Director at Plant-Tours.com, manufacturer of the most reliable, easy to use, highest quality headset communication systems for the manufacturing, industrial and institution markets. In addition, he has a wide breadth of experience from multiple industries including cybersecurity, manufacturing and communications. Tremper is a graduate of Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and also holds an MBA from The University of Connecticut in Marketing Intelligence.
Career Beginnings: 5 Methods for Looking Good in a Job Interview
The past year has been difficult for everyone. Aside from the risk of contracting the virus that has gripped the world for over a year, many people have also had to contend with the loss of their livelihoods. If you’re re-entering the job market in search of a new source of income, you may have to go to a job interview.
According to human resources experts, a good job opening will attract as many as 250 applicants. Among these hundreds of applicants, only 4 to 6 will be invited to an interview. While getting a job interview is a certainly a good sign, it’s by no means a certainty that you will get the job. You need to stand out not just from among the other applicants but from the other interviewees as well.
Here are 5 methods you can employ to ensure you rise above the rest and get the job.
- Highlight Your Education
Whether you graduated high school, got an undergraduate degree or earned an online master’s degree, you should talk about your educational attainment. Your advanced degrees and college accomplishments can prove to be a great advantage over your competitors. If you have the credentials that are appropriate for the mission, you should never miss on the opportunity to bring them up and highlight how your coursework has prepared you for the job. Talk about how your professors gave you the know-how to deal with different situations. If you had to get an internship, talk about how it gave you an insight to corporate life.
2. Research the Company
Too many interviewees focus on talking about themselves and their accomplishment without bothering to look into the company they’re applying for. Companies in the same field of business may be looking for different qualities in their employees, and this can affect what you should say during your interview. If you’re applying for jobs in multiple businesses, you should always research each company you plan on working for. One business may have a more laidback, causal approach while another has strong, conservative values. Research will help you fine tune what to say, how to dress and what questions to expect during your interview.
3. Expand on Your Resume
Interviewers will definitely ask you to expand on your resume, and you have to be prepared to answer their questions. What’s more, you’ll be expected to share more details on things you put there. For example, if you talk about your conceptual skills, you should share when you put these skills to use on a project. If you have any certifications or awards from your previous job or in college, talk about how these can help you excel in the position you’re applying for. Always read your resume before your interview and get ready to explain how each entry can put you head and shoulders above the other interviewees.
4. Study Your Body Language
Aside from watching what you say, you also need to study the way you move and how you act. Body language is an essential component of a successful job interview. If the company is laidback and casual, you may not need to worry about sitting straight all the time or watching how you sit. But if the company is very corporate, you should definitely carry yourself more sternly. Keep in mind that there are new realities to human interactions brought on by the pandemic. For example, while shaking hands used to be the norm before and after a job interview, it may no longer be welcome by today’s standards. Be very careful with how you handle yourself and you will ace your job interview.
5. Ask Your Own Questions
Interviews aren’t just one-way streets, with the interviewer bombarding you with questions. If the company is doing job interviews correctly, you’re expected to have some questions of your own. Aside from asking questions regarding benefits, compensations and the responsibilities associated with the position, you should also ask questions about how you can improve your work. For example, you may want to ask what skills you should focus on to excel at the position. Or you can ask if they can recommend any supplementary courses or educational material for you to study. Asking the right questions will show your interviewer you are serious about the position and help you secure the job.
Acing a job interview is essential if you want secure a new job and earn a living. These tips will help you showcase your preparedness and how serious you are in getting the position you applied for.
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