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A recent survey by Gartner of over 500 HR leaders across several countries, and all major industries revealed that “building critical skills and competencies tops the list, but many HR leaders will also prioritize change management, leadership, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives”.

As the end of 2021 draws to a close, now is the time for organizations and HR professionals to start preparing for the year ahead and align their internal goals with larger HR trends that are emerging. Here are 5 things that will become priorities for People & Culture leaders in 2022:

1.Embrace and Deliver Experience Remotely: While a majority of the workforce have been inoculated and some have returned to the office, many companies are viewing hybrid and virtual work as a long-term strategy.  And, this means, when it comes to investing in technology, the employee experience should be included in the broader picture.

HR leaders will have to adjust to working with a remote workforce and so, screening, interviewing, and onboarding new employees will be done remotely but, if it’s done properly, it should not be a challenge.

2.Cloud-Based OnDemand Applications are on the Rise: All encompassing, Human Capital Management (HCM) applications are shifting the dynamics in the workplace. In particular, employee management apps that allows a company to; automate time tracking, enhance employee on-boarding, and enhance payroll processing in real-time, to make informed business decisions and improve productivity.

3.Make an Effort to Understand the Current and New Generation of Workers
Millennials and Generation Z view work differently from the generation before them. HR professionals, will need to start adjusting to the new world of work. Millennials have been entering the workforce for several years and, at the same time Generation Z are also graduating from high school or university and entering the workforce.

This cohort of workers expect HR departments to adjust their policies to match flexibility and the collaboration they crave. And, when a company has a workforce that comprises of both young and older workers, HR has to walk a tight-rope and carefully manage employee needs without alienating either side.

4.Incorporate Wellness into the Fabric of your Organization
The coronavirus pandemic has created a fundamental shift in how work places are conceived. Health and wellness have moved from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’. Don’t be surprised if candidates inquire about your company’s approach to health and wellness during the interview stage. The pandemic has shone a light on the importance of health and wellness.

5.Create and Maintain a Positive Work Culture
A company that’s enamoured with profits over people will likely have a lot of staff turnover. A positive and healthy working environment will generate happy and hardworking employees.

A positive work environment allows employees to feel comfortable sharing and exchanging ideas-all of which, can lead to a boost in productivity and increased profits. When employees feel empowered and included in company’s goals, this can foster team building.  

Bottomline: keep the lines of communication open with employees at all times, whether they are working remotely or onsite. Simply asking them how they’re coping with work and other challenges will mean a lot. As an HR leader, you can do daily virtual meetings, send weekly email updates to connect with the team. And, you notice one of your employees are not as engaged, or a quick phone call to do a one and one chat the individual could go a long way to helping them feel part of the team.

About ATS

ATS offers a broad portfolio of time and attendance solutions that streamlines the collection, calculation, and reporting of employee hours for workforce management and eliminates the manual tasks of payroll preparation, increasing efficiency and reducing errors in corporate payroll departments.

Thousands of organizations across North, Central and South America and Europe- including more than half of the Fortune 500 – use ATS TimeWork OnDemand, Workforce Planning, Employee Scheduling HR and payroll solutions to manage their workforce. ATS cloud services offer rapid deployment, support services, software updates, and enhancements; and consulting and training services.

Paying attention to change is a mindset. Some companies adapt, while others simply can’t let go of the past, even if their inaction to change is causing disruption in their organization. We have written about the annual performance review, in the past, and its relevance or lack thereof, in today’s rapidly change workforce that encompasses; cloud computing, AI, Robotics, and a Millennial and GenZ workforce. In particular, this cohort of Millennial and GenZ employees, simply have no patience, for year-end reviews with their managers, and would instead, prefer daily or weekly feedback.

In an article, written by Valerie-Bolden Barrett for HR Dive, titled Workers overwhelmingly prefer regular check-ins to yearlies, based on a study, it revealed the following:

“An overwhelming number of employees (84%) said regular check-ins with their managers are important to them, according to a poll of 1,000 workers from Appraisd, a U.K.-based performance management software company. The percentage of employees favoring check-ins was even greater among younger age groups; 90% of Gen Zers said regular face-to-face meetings with their manager are important and 40% described them as very important. 

Workers reported different check-in frequencies with their managers. One-third of respondents meet with their manager once a month; 12% meet every two weeks; another 12% never meet with their managers at all; and 8% meet fewer than every six months. Large organizations were more likely to have regular check-ins than midsize or small companies, and the number of employees that never had check-ins increased to 17% in small companies, Appraisd said. 

According to Appraisd, the annual review is still used in 36% of the respondents’ workplaces. Four percent reported that reviews are conducted less than once a year and 8% said that they’ve never had a review with their current employer”. 

Bottomline: The annual performance review is on life support and will eventually become a thing of the past. Millennials and GenZ, will slowly seal its fate.

To learn about ATS and its suite of workforce management solutions, go to our website. You can download a demo or register for one of our bi-weekly webinars. To reach an account executive by phone call, 866.294.2467.

Millennials sometimes get a raw deal by some people. However, what that small minority of people who keep bashing them, fail to realize is that millennials are the future – and will someday control the levels of; government, private businesses and academia to name a few.

7 Tips To Help Your Company Understand Millennials

Here a poignant list of things your company should know about this next generation of bright and ambitious individuals. This list is extrapolated from an article titled Seven Things CEOs Need to Know About Millennials by Meghan M. Biro of Talent Culture.

  1. Benefits: It’s not all about the “Benjamins.” When Millennial employees were asked what they value most from an employer, you may be surprised to learn that money wasn’t most important. In fact, cash bonuses came in third with training and development and flexible work hours taking first and second place respectively. What’s more revealing is that almost three quarters (73 percent) of millennials favor the notion of being able to customize their benefits packages to better suit their individual needs.
  2. They want to be challenged: This generation wants to know that their job offers personal learning and development opportunities above everything else. They also want to feel confident that when accepting a new position, there will be opportunities for advancement within the organization. In fact, 52 percent said it would make a prospective employer more attractive.
  3. A pat on the back goes a long way: One of the strongest traits of many millennials is the desire of frequent feedback from their superiors, especially praise for a job well done. As the survey indicated, 51 percent said feedback should be given very frequently or continually.
  4. They aren’t impressed with your diversity: Generally speaking, millennials think you can do better when it comes to promoting equal opportunity in the workplace. More than half (55 percent) of respondents agreed that even though organizations discuss diversity, not everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
  5. They think you’re stuck in your ways: Millennials are continually calling out company leaders for their “old-school,” and outdated management styles. More than 40 percent of millennials surveyed felt their use of technology was not always understood or appreciated.
  6. They’re sensitive about what older workers think of them: Millennials sometimes get a bum rap and at work, 38 percent think it might have something to do with the inability of older senior management to relate to them. Whether it’s rigid hierarchies and outdated management styles (cited by 65 percent of survey respondents,) or not understanding the way millennials use technology (46 percent,) they feel misunderstood by older colleagues.
  7. They’re loyal, but only to a point: Many millennials (38 percent) admit that they are keeping an eye out for new opportunities even when they are not actively seeking a new position. In other words, if they feel their talents are being wasted or that their needs are not being met, they won’t hesitate to move on to other opportunities.

Millenials are not as bad as they are made out to be. Let’s remember that it was not too long ago that today’s, 50 year plus cohorts, who blame today’s millennials for everything that’s wrong with the workforce environment — was also criticized by the generation that came before them. Some might call this merely the cycle of life.

To learn about ATS and it’s Workforce Management Suite, go to our website. You can also register for a bi-monthly webinar or demonstration and gain access to a variety of time and attendance and attendance brochures.To reach us by phone call; 866.294.2467.

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The traditional way of work is on its way out and is not coming back, much to angst of some. Many North Americans, in particular, millennials are ditching the traditional approach to work which usually involves driving one or two hours to an office. Today’s workers and are instead looking for companies that offer flexible work options and if yours does not, good luck in attracting a range of talent.

Here Are Three Ways To Keep Your Remote Workers Engaged

If your company has embraced the new way of work and has a remote workforce, you probably know it can sometimes be hard to make sure they feel part of the team.  Here are three ways to keep your remote workforce engaged:

  1. Consistently Communicate

A consistent line of communication between you and your remote team members is vital to ensuring workers are engaged, getting the work done are motivated. Occasionally e-mail your remote workers during the day or schedule one or two phone call during the course of the day. Not only does this help them to feel part of the team, it also means you are always accessible and this can help to avoid problems.

  1. Made Good Use of Technology

The latest workforce management solutions and HR applications can help with remote employee engagement.  In addition, cloud-based tools like Skype can provide your company and its remote workers to access a variety of presentations, or obtain important HR and data related information-thus, ensuring team members can remain up to date with the latest and most critical information wherever they are.

  1. Share Feedback

Include your remote workers in important decisions that are part of your company’s overall strategy and/or growth plans. When remote workers are not included in the decisions then can quickly become disengage, and begin to can feel unsupported and unsure of how much their efforts are appreciated by the company. As an organization, you should have faith that your remote staff can work independently and meet operational objectives.

If you work in the white-collar world, you will undoubtedly end up working with or supervising a telecommuting workforce at some point. How you handle remote workers will vary according to whether they work from home in the suburbs a dozen miles away, a few provinces or states away, or in another country.

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The Work Is Important And The Compensation Should Reflect That As Well

September 6th, 2017 | Posted by ATS in Careers | HR | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on The Work Is Important And The Compensation Should Reflect That As Well)

Just scan the Internet and you will find a plethora of sites giving advice on how potential employees should approach the conversation of compensation during an interview. Many of these published articles suggest using a tepid approach, while others go insofar to suggest that the topic should addressed by the candidate only after the employer brings it up. In other words, discuss everything else, but when it comes to subject of compensation, simply dance around it. No human being is going to work for free or for less than they worth, and if they do, it won’t be for very long, regardless the size of the company or its perceived stature.

The Work Is Important And The Compensation Should Reflect That As Well

Why then is it that some companies, are interested in discussing a  candidate’s qualifications for the job that they are trying to fill, yet remain reluctant to discuss the compensation at the onset or deemed it as being rude if the candidate brings it up? At ATS, one of the first things our recruiters address is the compensation. And why not, the candidate has obviously read the job description otherwise, they would not (at least we hope) have applied for the position. Our recruiters say this approach to dealing with compensation, puts the candidates at ease and they can go about discussing the other areas of the job as it relates to the candidate suitability.

A wonderful and recent post by titled; We Want Meaningful Work and a Meaningful Paycheck by Ted Sackett, for TLNT.com sums up employee compensation debate this way;

“I’m going to stop fighting. For years I’ve been fighting morons who claim that millennials would rather do “meaningful work” than making money. That is actually one big lie, I believe perpetuated by employers who don’t want to pay market wages! (Conspiracy Theory Alert!!!) Actually, it showed up on a bunch of studies that were poorly worded and confusing.

The reality is money matters until it doesn’t.

Millennials and almost any other human on the planet would love to do work that is “meaningful” and something they enjoy doing. That isn’t rocket science. But, if you’re not at least making a fair market wage, money is the most important thing for the majority of people.

The studies that said millennials would prefer meaningful work over money, didn’t make it clear about the money. It was put to them as if it was a decision about “more” money or “meaningful” work, what would they choose. The perception being that you are already making “good” money, so now what do you want? More money, or meaningful work, or something else. In that case, the majority of people choose other things because we don’t want to come across as greedy.”

The fair compensation debate has been boiling beneath the surface for quite some time and has morphed into proposed wage hikes across several jurisdictions. And, this has left the pro and those against wage hikes, tied up in knots.

Bottom line:

Everyone wants to be in a job that values their skills and where they also feel a sense of belonging. We are, after all, social creatures. However, it is just as important, that candidates feel they are being fairly compensated. Otherwise, all you will be left with is a revolving, high turnover door.

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We Want ‘Cultural Fit’ So, If You Question The Status Quo Don’t Bother To Apply

May 24th, 2017 | Posted by ATS in Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Canada | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (Comments Off on We Want ‘Cultural Fit’ So, If You Question The Status Quo Don’t Bother To Apply)

Today, the words ‘cultural fit’ have become ubiquitous in online job boards and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), designed, to weed out those are not like us and/or use the same vernacular in every day conversations. In other words, if you do not dress, look or act like the rest of us then, don’t bother applying. Of course, these words are never actually spelt out. Instead, the much malign words of ‘cultural fit’ are used instead to the turn down applicants. Some companies advertise that they are looking for people who “think outside the box” again, another set of words that belies their true intentions, when in actuality; what they are looking for is the ‘frat mentality’.

We Want ‘Cultural Fit’ So, If You Question The Status Quo Don’t Bother To Apply

But what if you are ambitious, hard-working, and non-conformist type of person who has a lot to offer a company? You can either keep trying to find a job with a company that embraces a diverse range of views, that has employees with different experiences or create your own. You can take a page from many of today’s millennials some of whom are so fed up with the status quo that they are creating their own companies. So, why not you?

If your company fears non-conformists or rebels as some of them are called, below, you will find some wonderful tips for dealing with these types of individuals taken from an article titled ‘What Rebels Want From Their Boss’ by rebelsatwork.com. The article was recently revived by Tanmay Vora for Human Resources Today and it comes complete with a set of images to relay its point. In no particular order, we have selected five tips from the list;

  1. We need a work environment where it is safe to disagree and ask questions that challenge the status quo.
  2. The more diverse a team mindsets and experiences, the more creative the team. We may not be like you and that is a good thing. Love our differences and quirks.
  3. We are not trouble makers. We are motivated to make our organization better than it is.
  4. Challenge us. Give us the thorniest problems. Let us prove that our “wild ideas” can work. We want to be stretched, not do work as usual.
  5. We care about work than most people. That is why we are willing to engage in controversy.

Now, in fairness, not all businesses purport to the guise of a “cultural fit”.  In fact, many successful corporations hire a mix of people with different educational backgrounds, cultures and experiences and are thriving because of it. And, as for the non-conformists in your company, you would surprised at how little effort it takes to win them over, by correctly channeling their energy and creativity instead of wasting time and energy trying to rein them in so, they can follow like sheep.

To learn about ATS and our solutions, go to our website and download a demonstration or register for one of our bi-monthly webinars. To reach us by phone, call; 866.294.2467.

We’ve heard it all before, today’s young people are idealistic, and don’t like listening to their elders, well, the same was said of generations of past. How quickly the older generations tend to forget, that they too, were young not too long ago. Today’s millennial group is by far the most diverse, highly educated and well informed demographic to come of age. You have likely heard how they are disrupting everything that comes in their path with technology and plan on eradicating the once coveted industrial revolution with its corporate culture and rules with their advanced and collaborative approach. And, for those who love clinging to everything of yesteryear, they won’t stand a chance, if they do not embrace these changes. In other words, it is going to happen whether we like them it not.

An excerpt from an article written by Chad Brooks for Business News Daily titled ‘Work-Life Balance, Not Income, Defines Success for Millennial Entrepreneurs’ reads, in part;

“Young business owners don’t define success by how much money they make. Instead, 79 percent of millennial small business owners measure the success of their business on whether they have a flexible work environment and a healthy balance between their personal and professional worlds, found a study from Xero.

Additionally, 67 percent of those surveyed said being able to maintain a schedule that allows them to travel and pursue personal interests is the second most important benchmark of a successful business.

Being in charge of their careers is why most young entrepreneurs wanted to become business owners. More than half of millennials surveyed said being their own boss was one of the biggest motivators for starting their own business.”

Yes, it’s true many millennials have their own set of challenges like everyone else. For example, mounting university debts are forcing these cohorts to come up with innovative ways to address their challenges. And, starting their own business, while immensely stressful, affords them an opportunity to tap into their creative juices and work, how and when they want to.

The article continues “the research shows that millennial small business owners are taking the lead on using the cloud and social media to run their operation. More than one-third of millennial entrepreneurs run the majority of their business functions in the cloud, compared with only one-fifth of baby boomers.”

According to Pew research more than one-in-three American workers today are Millennials (adults ages 18 to 34 in 2015), and this year they surpassed Generation X to become the largest share of the American workforce, according to new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

So what do with millennials? They have given notice to the world that, among other things, they not going to work for hours on end without purpose, like some baby boomers and are determined to chart their own course in an unconventional fashion. And, why not? they are the future leaders.

 Don’t Think Millennials Have The Ambition And Drive? Well, Think Again

Is the recruiting process part art or science? Difficult question to answer when you consider employees, today, on average, leave companies in quicker numbers than in years past. Is it the type of employees that are hired or it is the workplace itself?

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt, wrote an article for PayScale, that says that the number one reason why employees leave their jobs is because of a bad manager. Ouch!

Recruiting Methods Tells A Lot About A Successful Company

Hiring great employees is one thing, keeping that talent is quite another. Millennials won’t put up with stodgy rules and policies that have no meaning behind them.  Meghan M. Biro, CEO of Talent Culture and regular contributor to a slew of well written articles on the world of Talent Management offers 5 tips that successful leaders use during the recruiting process. In no particular order we, have selected three of those tips which include:

  • Take A Workplace Culture Inventory. Take a good hard look at your current HR and recruiting practices. Put yourself in the shoes of a talented person who has never heard of your company. How are you trying to reach that person? Are you using filtering tools to target the right kind of talent you need?
  • Keep It Real. Your HR and recruiting process must be honest — a genuine reflection of your company’s leadership and workplace culture. Whether your organization is way zany, slightly playful, or downright dour, you want to attract talent that feels comfortable in your culture.
  • Engage Your Marketing Talent. HR and recruiting don’t exist in a vacuum. They may be the initial contact with talent, but the more input that other departments have the stronger and more integrated the process will become. This is especially true, of course, for the departments and functions that will be directly impacted by the applicant. Solicit input on specific job postings from people in the department where the job is.

Today more than ever, there are better recruiting tools for companies. And, attracting the best and the brightest people to join your company is the goal of successful leaders-in fact, these leaders sprinkle their workforce with a diverse group of talent that includes, race, gender and age.  It’s 2016 and times are changing, even for stodgy workplaces.

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Recruiting Methods Tells A Lot About A Successful Company

Some have argued that the workforce either does not understand millennials or, simply can’t be bothered. Whichever camp you fall into, they are the future and taking time to understand them will be well worth it in the long run.

Article by Steve Sims on Ceo.com puts it quite succinctly in an article titled; “Top Five “Ways To Reach Millennials In The Workplace.

In the article, he goes on to say:

“So what do millennials value in the workplace? Experts who have studied the group have identified an affinity for training and development opportunities, schedule flexibility and meaningful work. Millennials also tend to be less focused on compensation, advancement and people management than prior generations.”

There are five tips in this article about how to better engage with millennials-and while they are all important, but we chose numbers 3-5. You can read the article in its entirety

3. Offer work schedule options and be as flexible as the job will allow:
Millennials value their downtime a great deal. Flexible scheduling will allow them to pursue outside interests while staying focused when they are at the workplace.

4. Engage in conversations about what is meaningful in day-to-day work:
Millennials like to know that their efforts are valued and that they are making a difference. It’s not all about money to them, so make a point of engaging them in conversations about their role.

5. Rethink career progression strategies:
Traditional career paths tend to emphasize moving toward people management roles and using compensation as a carrot. Millennials might not respond to these incentives, so consider strategies that speak to their unique values.

Whatever you think of millennial, just remember they will be future leaders of business, academia and politics, so treat them well. And to Steve Sims who wrote this article, what can we say? Amen!

About ATS:
ATS offers a broad portfolio of time and attendance solutions that streamlines the collection, calculation, and reporting of employee hours for workforce management and eliminates the manual tasks of payroll preparation, increasing efficiency and reducing errors in corporate payroll departments.

For a live product tour of our cloud-based time and attendance application, go to our website. You can also contact one of account executives by calling; 1.866.294.2467.

 

Is Today’s Workplace Still Trying To Understand Millennials?

The market-place is littered with companies that offer incentive based products for the purpose of spurring employee engagement. And, in a time of employment upheaval including some well known companies closing up shop in Canada recently it begs the question, are incentives in and of themselves the only way to engage employees or are there other components that should be added to the equation?

As a supplier of business management software that propels productivity, ATS is a believer in the power of an engaged workforce that embraces a positive environment for its employees.

An article by Trudy Brunot, of Demand Media, titled “The Importance of a Positive Environment in the Workplace” reads in part;

“Our work environment encompasses more than the employee lounge, office area and lobby. Policies, resources, professional relationships and company culture also fashion the environment in which we work. Author and University of Virginia Professor Scott A. Snell, in the book, “Managing Human Resources,” defines a positive environment in the workplace as an atmosphere of employee enthusiasm that improves organization performance. Workers reap social, health and personal benefits from a positive atmosphere at their place of employment. Organizations that fail to foster a positive environment for employees risk hampering their ability to succeed.”

And in employment environments that employees view as negative, she cites the following;

“Problems stemming from a negative employment atmosphere feed upon each other to the detriment of the entire organization. Attendance issues — call-offs, lateness, leaving early — lower productivity and poison morale. “Presenteeism,” defined as reduced productivity while on the clock, leads to disengaged employees making errors due to their lack of concentration and motivation. Customer service suffers when unhappy workers cannot put on a happy face. Innovation and creativity lose their competitive advantage when disengaged researchers and product developers lose interest. As disillusioned employees leave, management loses credibility which tarnishes the organization’s reputation and causes recruitment trouble.”

There are no perfect workplaces but as a Millennial, I would choose an organization like ATS over any other who expects hardware work, but fosters positive energy that permeates throughout its upper management all the way to its warehouse employees. And, with superiors that are both supportive and visibly engaged with employees everyday, it shows they truly understand their workforce.

To learn more about ATS, go to our website and download a product brochure or pre-recorded demonstration.

A Positive Work Environment Can Yield Productive Results