Monday, July 30, 2018

How To Measure ROI On HR Consulting Services

Until and unless you possess complete HR data, you can’t decide which areas of your business to invest your resources on.

Here we will mention some ways to measure the ROI of HR consulting services to help you make better investment-related decisions.

Getting the best ROI is what every business looks for and you can also do so by checking out Employment Innovations HR Consulting Services.

Return On Investment (ROI).

So, what is ROI?

ROI is Return On Investment which means that it is actually the cash that you make from your investment.

Calculating ROI is important for businesses and companies that are opting for HR consulting services. Measuring ROI is not a new concept and has been going on for decades.

Previously it was mainly applicable on stock investments, but in recent years this concept has started covering the branches of human capital investment. So, there is an increase in demand of getting positive returns on capitalising in HR processes.

Nowadays, the HR programs involve critical examination of data and information. Therefore, there is a need for measuring ROI to determine the impact and efforts of HR’s work.

Measuring ROI.

To measure ROI, the HR experts have to track their successes. The top companies and businesses align strategic objectives with HR measurements. The companies can track various strategic, operational and financial measurements by creating balanced scorecards.

You should note HR metrics to get a complete overview of the activities of the HR, because to manage the department, you need to measure their performance.

You can consider these metrics:

  • Cost of one hired person.
  • Time taken to fill the empty position.
  • Diversity in work environment.
  • Employees satisfaction
  • Total operating expenses.
  • Total training hours.
  • Total number of trained employees.
  • Benefits and compensation.
  • Absentees of the employees.
  • Employee turnover rates.

Developing the ROI Process.

First of all, you need to define the data types and different levels of evaluation through a framework. Reaction from participants is the first type of data. Generic surveys and questionnaires can be carried out to measure this type of data.

Secondly, you can calculate the actual ROI by creating a step-by-step procedure through a process model. The HR department should have a proper set of objectives. These can range from creating a goal for the ROI to establishing objectives for satisfaction. After that, work on the documentation and data collection part.

The third step is to define a set of operating standards. The next stage is to address issues such as internal skill building, goals, guidelines, procedures, policies, and responsibilities. The final part is to make use of case applications to exhibit how ROI works in a company.

Measuring or calculating ROI for HR consulting services is not simple and easy. So, take your time to develop an effective plan to test out the above mentioned things.

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Virtually Limitless – The Untapped Potential Of Collaborative Software

American business has been at forefront of establishing creative new technologies and innovations that streamline productivity and make work more effective and efficient. Every American city embodies this concept of newer, faster, and better, and this is very apparent in the leaps that the American office space has made in the last few years. As the progenitor of the coworking space movement, Americans have also taken on remote working and fined tuned it for the American business palate.

In fact, through advances in the virtual office industry, those choosing to work remotely have the advantage of many technological tools. Regardless of where they choose to work, the virtual office in the American imagination can tap into and be used in any location, nationally and internationally. More specifically, the virtual office can act as the hub of collaboration for your team members.

Let’s take a look at just some of the ways you can tap into the virtual office’s many collaborative uses and utilise this office solution to benefit your business.

Providing Structure To Your Infrastructure.

The virtual office essentially moves your physical office to an online format. However, if businesses need the use of office space, conference and meeting rooms, and boardrooms, these spaces can be easily reserved (click on the following link www.servcorp.com/en/virtual-offices/ to see the array of amenities many virtual offices have). While the virtual office suite provides businesses with both physical and online space to work, these plans work best with a business online management system and online apps that can help your business operate effortlessly, but more significantly, allow team members to collaborate easily.

Interviewing And Hiring Candidates.

In today’s American business landscape, online outfits such as Monster.com and Indeed.com have made it possible for job seekers to upload applications easily and receive queries, and sometimes within days. Let’s not mention the wonders that LinkedIn and other professional social media sites have done in transforming hiring practices. For businesses adopting a virtual office format, all they need do is advertise their position in any number of places, provide a place for prospective candidates to submit their application and upload their resumes, and then review the applications as they come into the database.

Furthermore, interviewing candidates can occur from any place in the world. Essentially, video-conferencing tools that accompany these plans can essentially remove the geographic limitations of hiring talent. These tools also place your team in the position of hiring top talent from around the world. The virtual office’s online format has made hiring team members more efficient but it has also opened the doors to receiving candidates from around the world, which can always bring a different perspective.

Using Online Management Tools To Collaborate.

Online management systems operated through a virtual office provides structure to your office. Typically, this software allows a business to house all of the necessary functions of a business under one program. For example, many of these systems allow businesses to communicate with employees through different tools, have a system for assigning assignments and receiving them from team members, and more significantly, a method for tracking work and payments made to contractors.

This structure makes it easy for team members to communicate with each other because online chat, file sharing and other apps contained in these programs make it easy to engage with team members and at any time of the day or night. Great online business management tools will actually provide video and audio capabilities, so team members can talk to each other from anywhere in the world.

Productivity In Virtual Space.

The virtual office has made the world a smaller place simply through an internet connection. For American businesses pioneering new frontiers internationally, the virtual office has provided them access to talent and opportunities they could not possibly have working in a physical reality. More significantly, the virtual office has streamlined many tasks making work more structured, efficient and effective.

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Friday, July 27, 2018

Startup Success Spotlight: Common.com

Intentionally seeking out real estate in the most expensive cities in the United States probably sounds like a wild proposition to the typical startup owner. But that’s exactly what New York-based startup Common.com has set out to do, seeing enormous success and boundless growth in the process.

Founded by Brad Hargreaves in 2015, Common specializes in coliving space, a concept which fits perfectly into the landscape of skyrocketing property values in major cities. In neighborhoods where it’s not uncommon to see barebones unfurnished studio apartments go for $2800 a month and up, Hargreaves saw the opportunity to provide housing which cost renters hundreds less while maintaining the basic amenities of traditional living arrangements. In fact, in some ways, the living situation found in a Common coliving space is superior to alternative housing options.

The way coliving space works is like this: residents have their own private quarters, typically a room. With Common, this room is furnished, cleaned regularly, and stocked with various supplies like paper towels once a week. However, beyond their door, the resident is sharing their living space with other people on their floor. A dozen or so individuals will use the same kitchen, living room, and bathroom facilities, which are sized to accommodate.

Those involved with a startup either as the owner or an employee are probably already familiar with this concept in the workplace. The rise of coworking space as an affordable option for startups to base their business is also a reflection of the seemingly never-ending rise in property values in major cities across the world. Small businesses and young professionals are both in need of space to function, and both are increasingly willing to skip the add-ons and extras in favor of low-price and efficiency.

Hargreaves and those backing his company with $63 million in investment capital to date are certainly onto something big, as demonstrated by the company’s rapid growth over the course of three years. Just in the last year alone, Common has added three new coliving spaces to their list of locations, with a foothold in New York, Washington, D,C., Chicago, and San Francisco. As of 2018 they are operating 12 locations in these cities and are fast at work securing more.

It’s important to note that the coliving housing model is itself nothing out of the ordinary, despite what many Americans probably think. While those in the U.S. probably only encounter coliving when they are in college and residing in dormitories, shared housing has been a standard in cities in other countries for a long time. More times than not, coliving spaces in these places is much like a hotel or the aforementioned college dorm; spartan and utilitarian.

Much of the success of Common is due to the fact they have taken a different approach to the design of coliving space. Seizing on the opportunity to remodel building interiors to their liking, rather than be confined to structures built in that hotel-fashion, Common has sought to make the communal areas a central focus, the space you see when you open the door of your private room first thing in the morning. According to the company, this encourages interaction among residents, strengthening the stability of the coliving space as a whole.

However, in the end, what makes Common a startup success is all about the bottom line. A person renting an apartment in Brooklyn will pay hundreds more each month than someone renting a Common room on the same block. In the course of a year, someone living in Common shared housing can save thousands of dollars in housing costs, all while living in the area they want. It’s a housing model which is set to take the urban real estate market by storm in the decades to come.

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4 Ways Online Communities Can Benefit Your Business

Online communities have become a central part of everyday life and business operations. Since the early days of Internet message boards and email groups, participation in online communities has grown exponentially. Between 2012 and 2017, Facebook grew from one billion active users to over two billion. YouTube has over 1.5 billion users. Instagram also passed the billion-user mark this June.

While the majority of participants use online communities to socialize, being part of a digital community can also provide important business benefits. Here are four ways that online communities can benefit your business.

1. Getting Support.

One way online communities can benefit you is by providing support to get answers for your business questions. Members of online communities often have a wealth of knowledge and experience they’re willing to share with others, and many online communities have special discussion areas devoted to answering user questions.

For instance, Amazon’s Kindle publishing platform has a Kindle Direct Publishing Community where users can get answers to frequently-asked questions about topics such as how to format their books. Direct selling business Amway has a thriving online community where Independent Business Owners can ask experienced peers questions about topics such as marketing, sales, and business management.

2. Networking.

Online communities can also help your business by providing opportunities to network with others who can benefit your business. You can use social media networks to meet industry leaders, find promotional partners, and learn about networking events.

For instance, award-winning blogger Rebekah Radice recommends using LinkedIn to meet business peers by doing keyword searches related to your industry and connecting with five new contacts a day. You can pursue a similar strategy by using Twitter Advanced Search and Facebook Audience Insights. Following industry-related hashtags and searching for biographical profiles with industry-related keywords in them are other ways to network with business peers.

3. Prospecting.

Online communities can also provide an excellent opportunity to prospect for potential customers. For instance, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk uses social media to tell interesting stories that attract followers, who become potential prospects. Another way to prospect on social media is by participating in discussion groups and answering questions posed by other members, which positions you as an expert while building relationships you can potentially leverage into sales. Other ways to generate leads through social media include sharing links to engaging content, hosting live video events, hosting webinars, taking surveys, running contests, and doing geotargeted searches for prospects in your local area.

4. Publishing Promotional Content.

You can also use online communities to publish and distribute content that positions you as an expert and promotes your business. For instance, posting how-to information that answers common questions in your field can establish your authority and encourage others to value your expertise, products, and services. One excellent tool for doing this is LinkedIn’s publishing platform, which lets you publish articles of relevant interest to professional audiences in your target market.

Publishing informative videos on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook is another way to promote your business. You can also use these platforms to let people know about promotional events you’re hosting. For instance, if you’ve got a seminar or webinar coming up, you can create a Facebook wall to promote the event and then share a link to the wall with your social media followers.

Conclusion.

Online communities can benefit your business by providing support for answers to questions, by helping you network with industry peers and leaders, by providing prospecting opportunities, and by giving you a platform to publish promotional content. Using these strategies will help you leverage online communities by transforming your social media time into learning, networking, marketing, and sales opportunities.

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Can You Spy On Your Employees At Work?

by Alan Price, senior director for employment law consultancy firm Peninsula

As an employer, do you ever think about monitoring your employees? Do you ever consider checking where they are via the GPS tracker in their company smartphone? Do you get home and go through an employee’s personal social networking posts, checking that they’ve not posted something controversial?

Devices, the internet, and social media have lifted the fog of war. The ease with which you can check which route somebody drove their company car to their meeting, or review every single keystroke on their company laptop, is unnerving.

And so, a pertinent question emerges: can you spy on an employee at work?

First, let’s go through how an employer will likely monitor an employee during the 21st century. Monitoring and spying have different connotations. Monitoring evokes images of assessment, such as when a line manager sits in on an employee’s sales calls for two hours to make sure the employee is ticking the boxes, using empathy, tone of voice, and narrative to intrigue the potential customer. Monitoring evokes the feeling of standard operating procedure.

But spying, of course, has a seam of secrecy sewn into it. If you’re spying on, rather than monitoring, one or more of your staff, you’re probably going to extreme steps to do so–such as microscopic cameras in the bathrooms or flying drones around the work site, without staff knowing.

So, we’ve now got two questions.

Question one: can you monitor your employees?

Yes you can, but you need legitimate reasons. You must clarify with all of your employees why it is you’re conducting any monitoring. For example, you might begin monitoring phone calls with customers for training purposes.

Or you might introducing monitoring to safeguard staff and members of the public.

You should also think about highlighting and explaining the benefits for introducing monitoring in your workplace.

When an employee joins your business, they’ll sign various documents, such as their contract of employment. They also normally sign a document to declare that they will adhere to your company’s policies, and thus strive to not breach said policies.

When thinking about introducing workplace monitoring, you should consider whether any less intrusive alternatives to monitoring exist to achieve your goal. If the answer is yes, you should choose to move forward with the alternative(s).

In managing the monitoring of employees, you’d be wise to identify any negative effects that monitoring might have on your employees and your workplace culture.

Furthermore, you should strive to conduct all monitoring in such a ways as to be consistent with all employees.

Some ways in which you might choose to monitor your staff:

  • Monitoring of email usage.
  • Monitoring of website visits.
  • Recording and listening in on telephone calls.
  • GPS tracking of company devices such as cars and smartphones.
  • Bag searches.

If you plan to carry out bag searches, you must have a policy in place that informs employees that their bags/large purses will be subject to searches. Remember, you must have a legitimate and work-related reason to do so.

Monitoring IT equipment and systems.

Your policy covering employee gross misconduct should state that an employee using the company’s computers, laptops, tablets, phones, or internet to visit sites related to pornography, hate crime, gambling, and other typically banned sites, will be in breach of company policy.

You should include all policies in your company’s staff handbook, which all staff should receive a copy of when they commence their employment. Make the handbook accessible via email, too; additionally, whenever you update a policy and thus the handbook, circulate the revised version to all employees.

Inside your handbook, you should clarify whether you will be monitoring internet browsing history, outgoing and incoming emails, physical mail correspondence, and phone calls.

If you have the budget, investing in an on-site or off-site IT team would enable you to pay closer attention to internet and device security.

Question two: can you spy on your employees?

Spying on your employee, or using covert monitoring tactics, is rarely legal. The chances that an employee will make a claim and take you to an employment tribunal are high.

You must be able to justify covert monitoring. If you suspect an employee is guilty of criminal activity or malpractice, you will need to provide some evidence to back up your suspicions, and even then, unless your suspicions are true–as evidenced by your spying–the courts will likely find you in breach of human rights. Of course, different countries have different laws.

An example of covert monitoring would be bugging staff toilets with cameras or microphones, or following an employee to a supposed meeting.

In conclusion, it’s better, more honest, and safer to monitor your employees, not spy on them.

If a person is going to conduct any monitoring, always make sure that they are trained in how to monitor staff properly. For example, if an employee has a company car, you should avoid tracking their whereabouts during non-working hours or on their lunch break.

 

Alan Price is senior director for employment law consultancy firm Peninsula; managing director of Peninsula Ireland and Elected Director & Trustee for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – CIPD. Alan Price also sat for four years as a board director at The Chambers of Commerce Ireland and on their audit committee. Alan is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD with over 15 years’ experience in employee relations.

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Thursday, July 26, 2018

Ideas For Your Medical Startup

Natural Realities.

While proper diet and exercise will always be the best possible solution for the majority of medical illnesses, research and development has begun to reveal aspects of human bodies and minds which are exceptionally surprising. For example, neuroplasticity has been discovered. This is the process by which your brain makes new brain cells.

Basically, whenever you learn something, you’re initiating a neural pathway in your mind. This necessitates growth of new neurons, or brain cells. A habit takes about three weeks to develop in most people, though this number will fluctuate dependent on the individual.

After that, a pathway is forged in the mind. This breakthrough was recently discovered, and part of the reason for that has to do with technology — especially that which facilitates mobile utility.

Mobile Medical Technology Considerations.

Offices have been outsourced using cloud computing, IoT, and BYOD. IoT is the Internet of Things, BYOD is Bring Your Own Device. Basically, through IoT and the cloud, networks can be “floated” such that you don’t have to pay for them internally; you just pay a recurrent subscription fee.

Well, medicine is also becoming more “mobile”, as it were. Have you heard of telemedicine? Basically, telemedicine makes it possible for medical professionals to diagnose and prescribe things for patients remotely. A good number of medical examinations and determinations don’t require direct presence.

A patient can fill out a checklist, and then use either an iPad or a webcam in conjunction with a trained practitioner. The practitioner directs them to move the camera around, carefully examines issues, and then metes out a solution. Sometimes patients will need to come into offices for closer examination, sometimes they won’t.

As you consider startup ideas for your medical auspices, consider the mobile component. If you don’t start from this area, you may branch out into this area, diversifying income streams and further establishing the stability of your particular medical brand.

The Branding Angle.

Startups in medicine need to think in terms of marketing and branding, as technology has become integrally related to medicine. You need to become visible as a startup, and that visibility needs to demonstrate your superiority as compared to other businesses. This is going to require proper informational resources.

Whatever kind of medical startup you’re trying to affect, you want to have access to the latest information and tech through solutions like StudyLog Systems Inc., who provide information solutions for the world’s leading academic, government, biotech, and pharmaceutical labs in dozens of countries. This looks good in a marketing/branding sense.

It also makes sense to effect protocols in your startup which institute technological renewal on a rolling basis. The moment some new breakthrough becomes viable, it must be added to your suit of service provisions. This makes you a better solution for patients, and it additionally makes diverse vendors more likely to work with you.

Strategic Local Development And Shared Liability.

Something else that is eminently considerable as you go about pursuing a medical startup involves strategy surrounding the market where you’re looking to begin business. You want to fulfill a niche that is either absent or poorly represented in your area. At least, that’s what many who are in the medical startup game are trying to do.

Ensure you’ve got your bases covered in terms of legality. There’s a thing called shared liability whereby MSPs (Managed Service Providers) providing tech solutions for startup medical businesses become liable for fines levied by organizations by HIPAA in the wake of a violation. Accordingly, they have an in-built prerogative to provide compliance.

When you’ve got your new startup buffered by an organization designed with an in-built need for qualitative service provision, you’re more likely to see effective breakthroughs that can be relied on, and ultimately represent a betterment for the medical community at large.

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Top 5 Essential Tech Gadgets For Business Enterprises

Are you a young entrepreneur with an awe-inspiring business idea looking for the coolest and most productive tech gadgets for your new startup? Business gadgets are pivotal for the continued growth and success of your burgeoning enterprise. From simple tools like wireless Bluetooth headsets to more high-end gadgets like Artificial Intelligence (AI) based equipment can help step up your brand value significantly.

I suggest all entrepreneurs must have the following five tech gadgets to run their business successfully. Let’s take a look:

1. Wireless Bluetooth headphones.

Do you love some cognitive bliss before you head off to work? Want to multitask effectively like take calls while you’re using your MacBook at the office checking options for your firm’s interior decor or searching for sources to better fund your startup? Wireless Bluetooth headphones are just the right accessory to provide you with convenience and room for productivity, especially when you’re on a busy schedule. You can go for the top brands like the Apple earpods or any best seller on Amazon.

2. WiFi printer with cloud capabilities.

Cloud is the trending technology of this era, so it only makes sense that you have devices like printers equipped with this capability. Printers are mandatory in the daily activities and operations of any business, so I’d suggest you buy a top quality Printer that includes a variety of cloud features. This provides entrepreneurs with the flexibility to perform tasks like mass-printing and storage, wireless printing, and creating shipping labels, photo quality brochures and graphics-rich presentations with ease. For more details on cloud printing, you should check Google Cloud Print.

3. Wireless Router.

No business is complete without networking and contrary to the conventional wired routers or switches used for LANs & WANs, modern times call for more state of the art business equipment for connectivity. Take an example of wireless routers like Thompson routers that are popular in the UK and other top brands that have been crafted exclusively for businesses. A good wireless router comes equipped with a plethora of features like security, remote access, information encryption, and fast processing power including dual or even triple-band connectivity. Make sure you through the specs carefully before zeroing on any specific brand.

4. Portable Charger.

A portable charger comes handy if you’re on a business tour or on the road for a vacation to one of the top tourist destinations listed on Oliver’s Travels. This will come handy when your notepad or smartphone runs out of battery and you need to post an FB update or make a video call to a client. Take your pick from one of the top power banks listed on Tech Radar or PCWorld and save yourself the hassle of running late for an important call or video conference session.

5. Conference Cam.

Entrepreneurs have to usually participate in online meetups, video conferencing and webinars to interact with different stakeholders. Choose a good conferencing cam that comes packed with a nice pixel measurement, streaming ability, and high video quality to enhance the overall VC experience and benefit from seamless communication capabilities. Whether you want to discuss a business proposal with a stakeholder or present your latest offering to a client, you need a good cam that supports high quality streaming like the Logitech C922 Pro Stream or Razor Kio to make an outstanding impression.

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