How to Develop a Remote Employee Onboarding Process

How to Develop a Remote Employee Onboarding Process A company that invests time in a quality onboarding process is 25 percent more likely to retain its workforce while seeing an 11 percent increase in performance, according to Christine Marino, the Chief Revenue Officer of Click Boarding. If you operate a remote business, the question is not whether you have an onboarding processsâ€"the challenge is finding an efficient method for bringing a new remote employee onto the team. Without interacting face-to-face, what are the most effective methods of sharing information, facilitating introductions, and monitoring their first few weeks? When it comes to both traditional and remote onboarding, the philosophies are much the sameâ€"to make employees feel welcomed by the team, prepared for their first day and confident in learning the basics of their new role. The only difference is that, instead of an office environment with human proximity, remote onboarding uses a virtual interface to bridge the distance gap. Use the strategies below to create a remote onboarding program that integrates and connects employees based on the same strategies of traditional onboarding. Facilitate a New Hire QA Traditional: “It’s a good idea to clarify the position of a new hire, as well as [positions of] the other team members whose work is closely related…and how projects will run. Employees who know what to expect from their company’s culture and work environment make better decisions that are more aligned with accepted practices of the company.” â€" BambooHR Remote: Formalize expectations with a video QA on day one. A video call connects the two of you and makes it easier to facilitate a simple QA between yourself and the new employee. They can ask any initial questions they have, and you can discuss the core values of your organization and how they relate to this position, underscoring the requirements of their role. Introduce Your Tools and Communication Styles Traditional: “If you’re a high-tech organization that…uses social media and talks about innovation…that’s great. But if on a new hire’s first day, you hand them 15 different forms to fill out, your employment brand message has just died. So technology can be an effective way to socialize a new hire into your company’s organizational culture.” â€" Cielo Talent Remote: Consolidate initial paperwork and weave company communication tools into the onboarding and paperwork process. Start by formalizing the paperwork through a digital format. You can get signatures via DocuSign, or a similar platform, even for legal work papers like W9s or 1099s. The key is sharing all paperwork via your company communication tool, whether that’s Slack or Gchat. This gives the new hire a chance to use the platform and get used to this form of communication, which is critical on a remote team. Connect them to all the digital channels where they’ll need to communicate with employees, giving them time to skim through old conversations, project timelines, whatever is important for their position. Get Introductions Rightâ€"and Be Thorough Traditional: “Any new hire will be focused on getting their first day on-the-job rightâ€"but existing employees should have the same attitude toward welcoming a new hire. So make sure that your new hire meets the key people they’ll be working with.” â€" The Office Club Remote: Schedule at least one video call for each day of their first week. Connecting employees is even more important to a remote team than a traditional one, where regular communication is necessary for completing projects. New employees will also need to ask questions regularly, and introductions help them become familiar with everyone while getting comfortable talking with their co-workers. Schedule these calls throughout the week, starting with the people they’ll be working with most. You can even group people together for each call. The key is to avoid overwhelming them; one call a day is likely enough. Create Their Personal Success Plan Traditional: “Identify each individual’s authentic strengths. These encompass people’s skill-sets, but also their demeanor [and] attitude. By identifying key aspects of how individual employees operate, you can personalize the onboarding process and build a long-term plan concerning how and where to fit [a new hire] into the overall company.” â€" When I Work Remote: Customize a long-term onboarding process. The final part of this onboarding process is critical to keeping them engaged and excited about the position: creating a custom onboarding plan to help guide their first few months. This will take into account how this employee learns, performs and wants to be managed. This onboarding plan will: Set expectations Facilitate goal setting Introduce initial projects Cement who to report to Specify deadlines Formalize review periods and process To customize this plan, hold a behavioral interview with each new hire to determine their various skills and mindset: “It’s easy for candidates to recite their job history and learned skills in an interview. But how did they react in various situations? What kind of specifics can they offer regarding their achievements? How do they tailor their work styles to manage change? You need to ask questions that get down to the finer details of candidates’ behavior,” explain HR experts at Insperity.  The information learned here will help you build this personalized plan. Use Traditional to Inform Remote Like in a traditional workspace, remote employees need to meet their co-workers, interact face-to-face, and get a sense of how they fit into the organization and what is expected of them. Use these tips to equip new hires for long-term success with your organizationâ€"whether they’re in the next state over or across the world. About the author:  Jessica Thiefels  has been writing for more than 10 years and is currently a professional blogger and freelance writer. She now owns her own business and has been featured on Forbes. She’s also written for StartupNation, Manta, Glassdoor and more.  

Assessment

Preparation is Key - Research before an Interview / Assessment You do all the hardwork from drafting a good CV, cover-letter to balancing your time in-between applying for jobs and attending University. Then comes the grand finale with you being invited to the interview or the assessment centre. Everybody around you will tell you a good percentage of being successful at the interview stage is to have done the background research well. But how exactly and what do you have to do to know the company well? Quite often it can be a forgiven thinking that you dont need to know much about the company, after all you havent worked there before? Unfortunately that is not the case. As the saying goes, if you fail to prepare you prepare to fail. As a graduate and an intern myself, I understand how difficult it is to do the background research on companies and it is very easy to get drifted from one topic or news to another. Now, since I have done OK for myself, I thought its good to share with you some good tips on a successful background research for an interview. Google the company First and foremost tip, Google the name of the company you will interview for. Now, the first result will always be the official homepage of the company and you need to go through the website in detail. Read the News or Press Release section. Check if they have a Careers tab and check for any job profile videos or texts. Scrawl the website like a spider. What is more  important  than above (yes) is to look at the results post second and third entries on the first page. This is where external news both, good and bad starts coming in. pdf reports and related documents start appearing and this will improve your knowledge about the company. Nothing impresses an interviewer more than speaking about stuff you have learnt from outside the organisation. Sometimes you know something that can raise an eyebrow on the other side of the table or some heads turn, trust me that is when you know, you hit a certain level with the interviewer(s).  Although  dont overdo it unless you are interviewing for secret services! Use Online Graduate Job Resources Graduates and students often think there is nothing to help them know the details of the interview/assessment or the nitty-gritty stuff of the big day. It is not true. Yes you will not know everything about the day, but you dont need to know it. What you can know is what are the types of interview questions, or what have been the other candidates experience. Infact for every part of the application to interview stage I suggest you have a look at Wikijob, a good resource for those who want to do the background research on the companies and their interview techniques/experience. Another good resource on the bloc at the moment is The Job Crowd. These are real people (maybe nameless) writing about their position and what exactly does their role include. This will help you get keywords to use in interview and also a good view of what you might want to base your interview research preparation on. Apart from these two, you can try The Student Room, though it has not impressed me a 100%. Research using Social Newtorks Yes, when I say social networks it means Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. In these three Facebook is my least favourite and least helpful way of doing research as it caters a community with gossip-nature and companies that post on facebook usually share entertainment value information. Twitter is a good resource for finding about the company or keeping in touch with the news, for example you can search in google by writing twitter ( organisation name) and you will receive twitter updates if the company is on the network.   LinkedIn is less useful to research about the company but more useful to get some background on the job. You can search for Condition Monitoring and see what the job role involves across different organisation and again this will help you with concrete information during interview. Tried Apture be smart! Apture is an unorthodox way of doing a research for an interview or assessment. Infact it is not a method it is a tool. What apture does is, you can highlight a word or phrase and a pop up box will come up showing you internet information about the word or phrase. its a simple online installation for Chrome users. Try it. It is also available for other browsers. An example of it                         A very useful tool for search and information. It will help you research on any company or technology (for engineers) without having to move away from the main topic instantly. Use Career Geek You can either call this self-marketing or a good act. What Career Geek blog is trying to do is speak to graduates and students doing the job in providing helpful tips about the job interview process, applications or other information that can help you. At the time of writing we have information about finding graduate job with KPMG, job with  Nationwide  as a banking analyst, or an entry level job with Law Firm and more information about other jobs will be flowing in. You can also use other information available by using the search box on the Home page. These are some of the basic tips about doing a  background  research on company before an interview or assessment. Hope it helps you in preparing for your interview or assessment. 19

Heres Why Your Boss Should Become a Social CEO

Heres Why Your Boss Should Become a Social CEO Would you say you have a social CEO? If not, heres how to convince them to get involved. Something transformational happened on the way to 2015: CEOs became “socialised!” After tracking the rates of CEO online and social media presence since 2010,  Weber Shandwick has learned that a new day has dawned â€" CEOs have found their social footing. The Social CEO 2015 research finds that eight in 10 CEOs (80%) are now engaged online and via social media, a rate which has more than doubled since 2010 (36%). The company website continues to drive CEO sociability, with 68% of CEOs engaging through their company pages. This finding reflects the trend of companies becoming self-publishers of news and information. The research also finds that the visual influence of corporate video is fast-becoming a standard form of communication for top executives (54%) and social network usage has now hit a record high (28%). Top takeaways from this years Social CEO study: The company website continues its surge The company website is the top destination for CEO communications with nearly seven in 10 CEOs (68%) having a presence that includes more than just their name or standard biography page. The rapid rise in the use of company websites from 32% in 2010 and 50% in 2012 reflects the trend of companies becoming self-publishers of news and information. Corporate video is fast becoming a CEO standard CEO corporate video usage, either on the company website or company YouTube channel, is three times as high as it was in 2010. Over half of the CEOs in the audit (54%) now appear in company video, whether that is found on the company website (44%) or YouTube (38%). CEOs shouldn’t overlook the powers of visual influence in today’s multi-media world. 2014: A record year for social networks After two years of little growth, the proportion of CEOs in the audit with a social network account jumped to 28% from below 20% in past years. The rate of CEOs using LinkedIn nearly quadrupled since 2012, making LinkedIn the most popular social network for top executives in 2014. Twitter also contributed to the growth in social network use. It now appears that CEOs are more confident about how to use Twitter without causing alarm and reputational harm. U.S. CEOs are leading the way; Europeans are not far behind U.S. CEOs surpass their peers in Europe and APAC in terms of sociability. Nearly all of the U.S. CEOs in the 2014 audit were social (94%). However, European CEOs have made great leaps in sociability over the past few years and are catching up to U.S. CEOs. APAC CEOs are less social than those in the U.S. and Europe and did not experience any growth since 2012.Tips for CEO Social Engagement Weber Shandwick recommends that companies and their executives adopt the following strategies to optimise their online storytelling to help bolster their reputations and the reputations of their respective organisations. Our report details nine recommendations with five of them highlighted below. Socialise the executive bench. Sociability starts below CEO level. As we see from assessing the sociability of the most powerful women in business, sociability begins before taking the top job. Those executives who have the social know-how when they step up to CEO will have an advantage over the competition and may even have brighter career prospects. Choose platforms wisely. Find the right social vehicle for CEOs, especially those who are hesitant to be social. CEO sociability is inevitable, so they need to embrace it in some form. Listen closely. For those CEOs still hesitant to embrace social media, listening and watching should be the first step. Monitoring the online conversation is a way to gather data on stakeholders and gauge what is being said about their companies. Embrace a “media company mindset.” Take hold of the trend in narrating the company story and use the company website as a media platform to publish content. Feature the CEO regularly, even if it is footage from a speaking engagement or a snippet from a town hall meeting. Socialise the CEO’s biography. The CEO’s biography or profile on the company website is a central place to show off a CEO’s assets. If the CEO has social networks, link to these profiles from the CEO’s bio. Learn more about becoming a social CEO in our  interview with the Chief Reputation Strategist of Weber Shandwick, Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross (also available in iTunes).

How to Convince Your Boss to Invest in Your Education

How to Convince Your Boss to Invest in Your Education To be completely satisfied at work, employees need to be given an opportunity to grow and self-develop. Nobody wants to be stuck at a dead-end job with no prospects for professional advancement. Enter corporate training and education. Perhaps you have felt the need to widen your skillset in order to perform better in your job and prepare for career advancement, only to discover that your boss is completely unaware of it. Even if your need for developing new skills seems obvious, your boss might not realize the importance of education in the workplace. Here are some ways to convince your superior otherwise. Why education matters Let’s start with a few words about the importance of corporate education for both employees and employers. Employees who feel optimistic about their chance for career growth also feel more loyal to their employer and report higher levels of satisfaction and engagement. In other words, investment in your education benefits your company just as much as it helps you. In exchange for becoming prepared for future advancement within the firm, your employer gets a well-trained employee whit an expanding skillset, an ability to produce more, and a desire to stay longer with the company. As a result, the entire company becomes more competitive with lower employee turnover rates. Sounds convincing enough? Sure thing. Now you need to tell that to your boss. How to ask for it Suppose your company regularly interacts with new clients, but you have trouble communicating with them because you don’t know their language or jargon. You will quickly grow frustrated unless your boss invests in your continuing training. Similarly, suppose you work in the IT department but don’t have the skills needed to support your intensifying workload. Finally, imagine that youve spent too much time in your current position and feel like you must look for another job if you cant develop critical skills to qualify for a promotion. In any case, you have identified a weakness that directly affects both you and the company, so you must bring it to the attention of your boss. 1. Explain the gap You have arranged a meeting and now what? Well, start convincing your boss to support your training and development by clearly articulating this skill gap that you now experience. For example, explain the difficulty of interacting with new customers or managing technology that you don’t fully understand. Similarly, explain why you feel like your job offers no future and emphasize that you could advance within the company if you had the proper knowledge and training. Your boss will become more receptive to contributing to your education when you make a convincing argument. 2. Describe long-term benefits for the company Present a long-run view of how the company will suffer by having employees who are ill-equipped to meet daily challenges. Highlight how training and development will pay off regarding customer satisfaction and operational efficiency, but don’t forget to emphasize the effects education will have on your job performance. Moreover, your boss must understand that you can share the knowledge you gain from every educational opportunity with your coworkers. As a result, many workers will have enhanced skills that will make the company more efficient. Always convey to your boss that you have the best interest of the firm as your primary motivation. 3. Present options Your boss might not have any idea about how to set up a corporate education program, so have some proposals ready that illustrate appropriate methods for you to get the training you need. Present both online and off-line options and prepare to extol the virtues of available technology. For example, educational websites and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide fast and inexpensive ways to learn, which is great for corporate training. Make sure you can also knowledgeably discuss the capabilities of Learning Management Systems (LMA) and School-as-a-Service (SaaS) opportunities if those fit your needs. If the education you need requires hands-on training, offer solutions that will achieve the necessary result. 4. Backup with data Avoid relying on generalities to make your argument for education. Research every suggestion you make, so you can readily inform your boss. For example, if you feel that your situation requires an online college course, explain how your participation in that class would contribute to your daily routine without sacrificing productivity. Find some data that will help establish your argument. Supply your boss with statistics that show the correlation between employee training and development and satisfaction. For example, a survey shows that about 4/5 of employees who are satisfied with their employer-provided education are also satisfied with their employers.  Another study demonstrates that 40% of all workers consider job-related training as essential to their satisfaction. When you highlight the connection between education and such an important business metrics, the numbers will make the case for you. 5. Be calm and friendly Finally, don’t let your zeal for corporate education make you become overbearing and demanding. Instead, recognize that your proposal is new to your boss and that he needs some time to process all the information. To increase your chances, make sure you always have an amiable demeanor while you make your case. Confidence without cockiness as well as an unrelenting positive attitude will give your arguments a best chance for success. Final thoughts The fact that you require training and development should not discourage you, even if your employer does not have an educational program in place. Talk to your boss bravely and let your research, knowledge, and open-mindedness guide you through that conversation. Don’t forget to support all our recommendations with data and have the right attitude while making your successful pitch for investment in your education. As a result, both you and your employer will achieve increasing levels of business success. About the author: Jill Phillips  is a freelance writer from Buffalo, NY. She is an aspiring entrepreneur and tech enthusiast, who loves to share her insight on various topics. When she is not writing, Jill enjoys taking photos and hiking with her dog. Connect with Jill via Twitter  @jillphlps

8 Tips to Improve Teamwork at Your Company

8 Tips to Improve Teamwork at Your Company Teamwork is a necessary function of all businesses. Teams bring together a variety of people with their own unique talents and flaws. How can you effectively bring together a diverse group of people with different work and life experiences to work towards a common goal? While there are many different tactics that a company can implement not all methods works as effectively as others.A number of companies hope that cloud based technologies, content sharing platforms, and office functions will enable staff members to efficiently work as a team. The truth of it is, if you don’t have some basic principles in place that could be a more difficult task than you might think.evalIn no particular order, the experts at Fremont College have gathered a few tips for better teamwork:1. CommunicateIn any relationship, communication is key. This is especially true in a team. Team members should clearly express their own thoughts and offer potential solutions to problems. Other team members should a sk questions to better understand differing ideas or positions.2. Understand GoalsIt is crucial that all team members understand group goals and are committed to achieving them. One way to accomplish this is to agree upon a mission and purpose. This clarity will be reinforced with clear expectations for the team’s goals, accountability, work, and outcomes.3.3. Agree on ProcessesThe effective team must agree upon procedures for diagnosing, analyzing, and resolving teamwork problems and conflicts. It is crucial that team members do not “pick sides” in a disagreement, but instead work collaboratively towards the mutual resolution of any issues that arise.4. Take RisksA team can provide a safe environment where individual team members are comfortable taking reasonable risks. Team members should not be punished for disagreeing. Instead, discuss differing opinions or ideas as a group.5. Remember the IndividualWhile teams work as a united group to achieve a common goal, each member b rings his or her own talents and strengths. This should not be forgotten. Effective teams enhance and reinforce this idea. Weight is given to irreplaceable experiences and unique points of view or knowledge. It is important to remember that the purpose of forming a team is to take advantage of the differences of the individual team members.6. Look InsideEffective teams constantly examine themselves and continuously improve processes and practices. This type of team openly discusses problems and potential solutions.7. Have More Than One LeaderevalCollaborative teams enjoy participative leadership. This type of leadership avoids one main leader. Instead, all members participate in a variety of leadership roles, depending on their individual strengths. Whether it be leading meetings, assessing progress, holding members accountable, or providing direction in specific areas, the job of “team leader” should be spread among the members.8. Make Decisions TogetherMembers of the effective team will make important decisions together and with the support of the group.If group members can follow these insightful tips, they can become a highly efficient and successful team.

Why Crafting A Professional Image is an Important Aspect of Your Career Strategy

Why Crafting A Professional Image is an Important Aspect of Your Career Strategy The job market is incredibly competitive. In order to successfully land your ideal position, you need to develop a strategy to set you apart from other applicants. This means optimizing your resume around your achievements rather than past job duties, developing a cover letter that showcases your strengths and what you’ll bring to a prospective company, and building your network of connections. However, there’s an important aspect of your career strategy that you may be overlooking your professional image. The image you project to others says a lot about the kind of professional you are. When developing a career strategy to land a new position, optimizing your professional image can give you an added edge against competition that may have the same level of experience as you, however don’t come off as polished or as confident as you do.  Here are three reasons your professional image is an important aspect of your career strategy. Dressing for success manifests achievement                       It’s common to judge others based on their clothing choices. However, you may not realize that the same psychology you apply to other people’s clothing is also subconsciously how you judge your own. When we’re dressed for success, we’re more inclined to feel confident and to exude credibility. In simpler terms, when we feel like we ‘look the part’, we’re more confident to act the part.                       According to research done by a variety of psychologists, your clothing choices have an effect on your confidence and how you behave in work settings, as well as substantial influence over other people’s perception of your competence. For example, wearing a suit is shown to empower the person wearing it due to the suit-wearer’s internal perception of dominance. Research findings show that the increased level of confidence from wearing a suit resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy of success. Personal appearance plays into subconscious psychological bias We all know that looks matter but we may not realize how much of an implicit effect it can have on the impression we leave among others. In a controlled study of political candidates done by the University of California, the majority favored the candidate with the more attractive appearance despite party affiliations or candidate experience. This same subconscious bias plays out in other social or professional situations, including within your career or job search. This doesn’t mean you need to have model-like looks in order to get ahead, but it does mean that you should invest in your personal appearance. In order to upgrade your appearance, take into account the areas you’re proud of and where you’d like to see improvement, and structure a routine that addresses both. For example, if you commonly struggle with acne or cold sores during the winter due to the dry air, make sure to address that by incorporating an effective cold sore medication or acne spot treatment into your skincare routine. Overall, improving your appearance long-term requires a good sleep schedule, regular skincare routine, exercise, and consistent attention to grooming. Gives you an edge in making connections and influencing people Your demeanor and behavior, while not physical qualities, are still an important aspect of your overall professional image. How you behave and interact with others speaks to your character, and people will generally gravitate towards someone they see as trustworthy, friendly, and kind. Your ability to connect with others is known as your likeability, and it’s incredibly important within the workplace or on the job hunt. Studies have shown that likeable people are more likely to get job offers, get help at work, and be forgiven for their mistakes on the job. In order to really impress a hiring manager or build your influence at the office, you should make a conscious effort to be friendly and open. In a hiring or interview situation, this means keeping a smile on your face, practicing positive body language, and being actively engaged in the conversation you’re having with the interviewer. At work, you should make the effort to be social with your co-workers and maintain a positive attitude despite what may be going on at home.

Have you thought about starting your own business - Hallie Crawford

Have you thought about starting your own business I’ve seen a lot of stories on this topic in the past 6 months or so. A lot of people who have been laid off are looking at starting their own business. It does take dedication and motivation but can be very rewarding. If you are interested in starting your own business, here are some things to think about: What is your area of expertise? For example do you have experience with accounting, graphic design, or administrative support? As our world becomes more and more virtual, you can now work from almost any location, and service clients almost anywhere. Look at your area of expertise and consider providing consulting services in this area. Striking out on your own can be scary and it involves risk. It is not a cakewalk and it takes effort, commitment and work. But if you do something you’re passionate about, it won’t feel like work. It’s more enjoyable and you’ll be more committed because you’re following your dream If you own your business, or want to start one, take a few minutes to read about this free teleclass a great colleague of mine is holding on September 30th titled “A Makeover Plan for Your Vision, Thinking Profits”. Read more here. If you need more help, be sure to read my quick tip sheet “Solopreneurs: Tips for Starting and Growing Your Business”. Career Transition Coach