BravoWebsite

People can make or break the success of a company, and thus, the human resource department plays an essential role in shaping a company. Their responsibilities range from analyzing the job market to setting and updating policies. Most importantly, every company turns to HR for a crucial task: human resource innovations.

Why are the top leaders in major organizations pushing for HR innovations? This article will help you understand the reasons, navigate the trends, and ways to empower innovation in HR.

Why HR Innovations Are Worth Investing In

What is HR innovation?

HR innovation entails the adoption of fresh concepts, procedures, and tools to better serve the changing needs of an organization and its workforce. Instead of just coming up with an immediate answer for a current situation, innovation is about foreseeing and preparing for future demands and conditions.

Even though HR teams hold such considerable influence, many have chosen to neglect it. This is why we want to highlight the potential impact of HR innovations.

The unique value of HR innovation

Innovation helps a company stay relevant and competitive in fast-moving industries. Being slow in pursuing innovation may demoralize your most engaged and ambitious employees, causing them to look for greener pastures. Staff turnover and the corresponding hiring costs would decrease your recruitment efficiency and cause disruptions to the team’s progress.

Moreover, your competitors are creating and trying out new methods and concepts every day. An outstanding company understands what it takes to stay ahead of the game – to change when the time changes.

For example, many HR departments have utilized chatbots. Some chatbots are powered by AI, some are not, but overall, they are capable of answering candidates’ questions anytime, even outside of working hours. They provide great assistance in scheduling interviews, providing contact details, directing enquiries to the right person in charge, etc. Their prompt responses improve candidates’ experience, thus streamlining your recruitment process. 

Lastly, the human resource department affects every team member at crucial points in the employment lifecycle. Therefore, HR holds an ideal position to promote and aid innovation that would retain top talents.

In conclusion, HR has the power to introduce innovation that moves the business and its people forward, keeping you in the game with its competitors.

HR Innovation Trends

Are you aware of the HR innovation trends that have taken place in recent years? One of the fastest ways to accelerate growth is to learn from others’ successes and mistakes. Read on to catch up with them.

Flexible work

The global pandemic has definitely challenged traditional office arrangements. Flexible work is strongly desired, seeing how tight the labor market has become.

No longer simply referring to remote work, flexible work refers to one’s ability to choose their own working schedule.

For example, employees may prefer three to four working days with longer hours. The 2023 Workplace Learning Report by LinkedIn found that flexible work is one of the top five considerations when employees are pursuing new jobs.

If possible, HR should examine the new work patterns the company can establish to ensure employee satisfaction, company goals, and of course, creative ideas to advance the business.

AI assistance in the recruitment process

Never before has AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) made such a substantial impact on our lives. It has made breakthroughs in marketing, customer service, strategic planning, and more. HR is not excluded from this trend.

For the most part, AI and ML technologies can do rote tasks precisely and quickly. They have been deployed to screen resumes for specific skills and experiences that match job requirements. These technologies are also used to analyze data and generate forecasts of labor demands and staff turnover.

However, it is important to remember that AI is not perfect. The ML models need to be audited regularly to ensure it stays (relatively) unbiased and delivers precise results.

Digital learning

The future of employee learning is omnichannel. Rather than gathering staff at a physical learning facility and conducting the training courses there, the learning and training will take place where the employees are. For instance, it can be online learning or pop-up campuses, utilizing platforms such as Udemy or Coursera. Or, you can also recreate your own internal platform with customized learner’s journeys depending on the employee’s career aspirations with your company. Such tailored learning experience encourages your core staff to see potential future growth with you, thus improving employee retention.

Work-based training encourages employees to fine-tune their existing skills and update new ones, automate workflow, and boost productivity.

Moreover, employees would feel appreciated as the company cares for their personal development and are more likely to commit to their positions long-term.

More focus on employee well-being and ESG

Long gone are the days when mental health was a taboo. It is now considered a human imperative. More and more companies are taking care of their employee’s mental health with transparent policies.

ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance reports have gained in importance because of the pressure from stakeholders, board of directors, and investors. Nine out of ten employees responded in a survey published in the Harvard Business Review that they would trade some of their lifetime earnings for a job with more ESG impact.

Then what does this mean for HR leaders? The S – social – in ESG will be more significant. The updated regulations and board of directors will focus more on talent acquisition concerns, namely pay fairness, transparency, diversity of new hires, and employee retention.

How to Keep Up With the HR Innovation Trends

After understanding the newest HR innovation trends, the following are a number of practical HR innovation ideas.

Upgrade your recruitment effort – use recruitment tools

As mentioned above, with the rise of AI and ML, you can automate a lot of HR processes, including the recruitment process. Frankly speaking, going through a few dozen of resumes and cover letters for each vacancy is a demanding task, both physically and mentally.

Having recruitment tools like bravoTALENT and bravoGROWTH to quickly shortlist the best candidates and speed up the overall hiring process would improve your productivity.

Establish a recognition and reward system

Engaged employees are more likely to create innovation. They are even more likely to do so when their effort is appreciated and rewarded.

If an employee is valued and engaged, they are motivated to make positive changes in the company. Recognized behaviors are repeated behaviors – so be sure to make timely recognition so the team is motivated and involved. Below is a suggestion of specific steps you can take:

1. Work with heads of department to make a list of performance expectations for each department.
2. To find occasions where employees went above and beyond the call of duty, conduct an employee survey. Have them describe a time when their teammate showcased outstanding performances.
3. Identify the types of rewards being offered to employees – a promotion, a bonus, a pay raise, or a banquet. You can conduct a survey on this matter, too.
4. After sorting out the essential factors, try to create a system that works for your company: what conditions do the employees have to meet to earn a reward? Will there be group rewards or only individual rewards? Are the goals attainable?
5. Ask for feedback after implementing the system and make adjustments along the way.

Take action and take risks

As human beings, we only want to hear what we want to hear. However, to move forward and grow, we need to be willing to hear what we need to hear. This especially rings true for leaders. Even if some ideas sound unusual at first, give them a chance. 

If the idea is original, involve other team members for feedback. This way, you will have a more objective view of the matter, and others have the opportunity to participate in the process of coming up with a solution.

Another step you can take is to create a platform for anonymous feedback so your team members can be honest and comfortable delivering feedback. bravoSURVEYS is a great tool to carry out helpful surveys to get a better insight into the issues in question.

Build a safe environment for innovation

Create a healthy environment where your employees are not embarrassed, ridiculed, or ignored when presenting new ideas. Have them know that a new idea will not be punished or rejected, even if it is a mistake sometimes.

HR should work with team leaders to encourage them to ask team members for further input and feedback.

Doing so creates space for fresh ideas, better performance, and a lower turnover rate, as employees know that they are valued and heard.

Encourage HR Innovation

HR innovation is a superpower that should not be neglected. With the right tips and HR tools like bravoSUITE, it is possible to polish your employer branding with some HR innovations that would enjoy widespread employee support.

Here is a fun fact that you’re probably already aware of: no one likes performance conversations. The comments might be easier to receive when they are praises and involve pay raises, but when it comes to discussing improvement – it is a whole different story.

These kinds of conversations can be challenging to navigate and even can turn cringey at times. Worry not, as this article will provide you with all the tips and tricks you need to properly carry out an effective performance conversation.

Why Performance Conversation Matters

If you are a manager or a team leader and find it difficult to conduct performance conversations, you are not alone. Some struggle with it so much that they delay it as much as possible, and even avoid it altogether.

Stop hiding from the problem and thinking it will resolve itself. Running away from the issue and leaving it unaddressed only leads to damaging consequences, such as:

• The rest of the team suffers: everyone has to spend more time to make up for the poor performance; some members of the team are even becoming resentful.
• The company’s overall goal cannot be reached.
• The employee’s personal growth is stalled.
• The business suffers from a bad reputation due to the poorly delivered results. In the long run, the company might even lose customers.
• As poor performance is tolerated, other employees start believing that such a level of delivery is acceptable. Thus, disappointing performance spreads across the organization.

Once again, not addressing the problem has catastrophic effects. As a manager and team leader, it is your job to address and resolve the problem effectively.

Let’s stop procrastinating by first understanding the right time to conduct a performance conversation.

How do you know if an employee needs to have a performance conversation?

Remember, avoiding the performance conversation altogether does more harm than good, as everyone on your team will be suffering. In the most extreme cases, the employee is forced to face termination.

Therefore, what you should do is engage in a performance conversation, or more specifically, a conversation to discuss a performance improvement plan. When you spot the following signs, it probably is about time for the talk to happen.

Low productivity level

Some observable signs include:

• The employee lacks the necessary aptitude for the position.
• He or she is incapable of meeting the goals or deadlines.
• He or she is always griping about the workload.

These might be some of the first signs you should be on the lookout for. It is true that every worker has their ups and downs; however, if their productivity shows no improvement, it might be time for a performance conversation.

Disengagement at work

Be on the lookout for the following signs:

• There is an increase in leaves of absence and unplanned time off.
• The general standard of the job has decreased.
• The employee displays a sense of retreat by not actively participating in company activities.

There are numerous possible reasons behind such disengagement. Properly addressing the root problem makes sure your employee is happy and the working environment is healthy.

Other team members are negatively impacted

Signs to watch out for:

• The employee is perpetually late for work.
• He or she is looking for excuses to justify every action.
• The employee frequently complains about the tasks assigned to him or her.

More often than not, the employee has no idea their performance has such a negative impact on the rest of the team. So, to keep your good employees from getting resentful, you need to find a way to address their performance as soon as possible.

Steps to Carry Out a Performance Conversation: It Does Not Have to Be Painful

It is okay if you find it difficult to carry out performance talks. Take a look at the following tips and tricks to ease the challenge and step into the performance conversation confidently, ready, and prepared.

Come prepared with the right mindset

It is crucial to keep in mind that this conversation is not aimed to make an employee feel scared, bad about themselves, and most importantly, devalued. Before stepping into the performance conversation, prepare the right assumption: the employee is capable of change. You are here to help them improve, not to reprimand them.

Give the employee a chance to talk about their own performance

One way to start off the conversation is by asking how they view their own performance. Ask them some questions to get a better idea of their perspective:

• How do they feel they are doing with their goals?
• Ask them to elaborate on the metrics they use to measure their own performance.
• Ask for specific examples.

From there, you can determine what to say next in the conversation.

• If you two see eye to eye – great, this is also the best-case scenario. You can move on to the next part of the conversation.
• If you only agree with some parts of their statements, don’t be afraid to share examples regarding the areas they could do better.
• If the employee believes they are doing well and meeting expectations, you need to speak up and let them know that you disagree. Again, your aim is not to reprimand or make them feel bad – you are here trying to help them improve. Always remember to provide specific examples alongside metrics. Perhaps reiterate the expectations of the position again.

All in all, by allowing the employee to talk about their own performance, you can better understand how they view the situation and how aware they are of the expectations of the job.

Remember to always provide specific metrics and examples. Don’t be vague. Give actionable feedback.

Identify the root of the problem

The next step is to figure out what causes the poor performance. Learning more about their situation allows you to come up with a suitable solution and accommodate their difficulties. For example, if your employee is facing family matters and they need to spend more time for their family – offer them a flexible working schedule. If they feel as if they have been overworking for a long time – help them organize and prioritize; if possible, offer to take off tasks and projects from their plates.

Helping your employee identify the root problem not only makes them feel appreciated, but also improves employee retention as your team earns the reputation of being caring and accommodating. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to these problems.

Incorporate team feedback

Managers may present a comprehensive picture of employee performance by gathering and incorporating team input into performance talks, according to Brent Cassell, vice president of advisory at Gartner.

A more comprehensive picture might be presented when the teammates’ inputs are included. There are several ways to do this:

• Fill up any holes in your analysis with examples from other people. You can even ask them to do a survey for better insight.
• Talk about the employee’s contributions to the team’s performance and goals, as well as any actions or habits that might need to change if you want the team’s performance to improve as a whole.
• Draw attention to any differences between your assessment and the employee’s self-evaluation, team input, or both.
• One effective way to do this is to provide them with specific metrics. BravoGrowth is a great tool that you should consider.

Negotiate the non-negotiables

Be clear about your expectations. Make sure the employee knows what the standard looks like, when the deadlines are, and what he or she needs to do to meet such expectations. What happens if they miss a deadline? What if they need help? What if they struggle in a certain area and are in need of more training?

Set a timeline

You now need to establish deadlines by which the agreed-upon activities and improvement areas must be seen. The metrics should be traced and tracked carefully – and it is best done when you have suitable tools, like BravoInsights.

Several timelines might be involved. While some things can and may need to be improved right away, other areas may need more time. Some results only show up gradually. Do ask for the employee’s input about the timeline so it is more practical. However, do not compromise if they are being unreasonable.

Use suitable language

The language used during the conversation plays a major role. It helps set the tone for the meeting, and might even contribute to making the employee feel heard and understood, or otherwise, offended and attacked.

Below is a list of suggestions involving helpful, positive language:

• We’d like to see you succeed.
• How can we assist you in succeeding?
• Have any comments or suggestions for us?
• Does any of our actions make it difficult for you to execute your job?
• We feel your performance has changed; how can we best support you?
• Do you think your workplace is a good fit for your success?
• Are there any tools or resources you feel could be useful?

The words “always” and “never” should be avoided. It might be risky to use absolutes in contentious talks because all it takes is one opposing example to invalidate your claim.

Using Performance Conversations as a Good Test of Your Leadership Skill

Now with all these tips and tricks in your pocket, it is time for you to put together the brief for the next performance conversation. Do keep in mind that what you are doing is for the greater good, and that you only want the best for your colleagues. Carrying out the performance conversation with an underperforming but essential employee is challenging. However, it is also a great example of your leadership in action. Ace it with our tips, and build your confidence in handling performance issues.

Cultural difference has become much more than a nice-to-have coincidence. Many industries are under pressure to innovate, and diversity is one of the major factors contributing to innovation at work. Companies big and small are looking to diversify their workforce, so that they can stay updated with the increasingly globalized consumers. Being able to leverage cultural differences to build an inclusive workplace, so that you can attract and retain more diverse talent, comes as a strength for ambitious companies.

Read on to learn the different types of cultural differences in the workplace, and how to manage them effectively.

Examples of Cultural Differences in the Workplace

Generational differences

Age gap is likely the most common cultural difference in a typical workplace, especially if your company is homogenous in any other way. The age gaps between your employees often divide them into different social groups. However, keep in mind that some are young at heart, and some are older than their age. Managing generational differences involves offering a range of benefits and compensations. 

In 2023, Baby Boomers are approaching their retirement, or they are retirees who return to work for various reasons. They possess rich professional and life experiences; they likely hold senior or leadership positions, having worked for your company for several decades. Moreover, they are looking to protect their nest eggs – their retirement funds – and they emphasize generous healthcare packages.

Gen X and Millenials are the rising stars of your company, having attained executive positions recently, or priming to be the next leadership. They tend to be at the peak of their performance, and generally expect attractive benefits and compensations that match their rising profiles. Moreover, they are raising young families, so childcare support and family-oriented benefits would be attractive to them. They also expect plenty of opportunities to flex their professional muscles, take on high-profile challenges, and expand their horizons.

Gen Zs are the young 20-something who have just started their career. They tend to hold a distinctive worldview that prioritizes equality, inclusion, diversity, and environmental protection. If they personally do not believe in such a worldview, they are still under peer pressure to at least pay some lip service to it. They are most likely to campaign for greater social changes, get involved in social activism, and to be very informed about certain social issues. They are the most likely to form groups to make demands. You can reasonably expect explosive creativity and innovation from them, but less likely conformity.

Dealing with Gen Z employees requires authenticity. Do as you say. If your company has a much older gene – meaning, it operates according to Boomers’ culture rather than Gen Z culture – then maybe create a well-defined space for Gen Z employees to hold their discussions. They are usually the most tech-savvy, so if you are much older, try to lean into their distinctive culture. After all, they are addressing overdue changes, and they are actively shaping what the world is going to be like when you retire. 

Ethnic differences

Companies in developed economies worldwide are seeing an increase in ethnic differences in their workforce. This is a natural result of the globalized world, as well as a testament to the attractive opportunities that companies like yours can offer to global talent.

It is likely that your company has an ethnic majority and several minorities. The ethnicity of the leadership has a lot of sway over the company’s culture, even if that  leadership is an ethnic minority. Especially in a community that is not very diverse, a leader with a minority background sends a strong message and attracts employees of the same background, because the candidates feel empowered by such a leader.

Ethnic differences, and the accompanying religious differences, permeate all sorts of interactions between coworkers. Examples are as follows.

Communication styles

Some ethnicities encourage straightforward questions and answers with direct eye contact, while some others tend to give suggestions and avoid eye contact unless the relationships are close. Be sensitive to how they manage disagreements, different opinions, and deadlines. If you notice an employee is not following the norms, before jumping to any judgment, have a respectful talk with the individual to see if any cultural reason is involved. 

Social hierarchy

Some cultures put great respect on seniority, either by age or by professional rank. Addressing someone by first name or surname and a title often diverges between cultures; the same goes for gestures of respect, personal space, and physical touching.

While it is necessary to establish norms for your company culture, you should also respect the minority employees’ individual expressions. They are just trying to fit in while staying true to their cultural upbringing.

Religious differences

Religious differences often manifest in holiday observances. Many Western countries celebrate Christmas, while billions of other people celebrate Lunar New Year, Holi, Ramadan, or other new year celebrations. Religious festivals also carry meanings of cultural heritage and family gatherings, with distinctive food, drinks, dresses, and customs. 

Speaking of clothing, some religions have dress codes, such as the turbans for Sikh men, and the hijab for Muslim women. This may clash with your company’s uniform, or the common fashion expected in your industry. Having a clear diversity and inclusion policy in place will help you show respect, tolerance, and inclusion for religious minority employees.

Educational differences 

Educational differences are much more prevalent in developing economies which see many young people travelling overseas for tertiary education, and then returning home to work. These employees may clash with employees who have received a domestic education, in terms of family wealth, worldviews, life experiences, and cultural orientation.

While these employees may speak the same language, they have different ways of thinking and professional approaches that may clash. Overseas educated employees may scorn the ‘domestic’ way, or they may feel restricted by local conditions, as their education has been tailored to a different market. Domestically educated employees may resent the other for their opportunities and likely arrogance, but they may hold limited perspectives and outdated methods that do not blend well with the demands of the global market. Therefore, finding ways for the two types of employees to work together would actually complement their strengths and weaknesses.

How to Work With Different Cultures in the Workplace   

Having a diversity and inclusion policy lies at the core of managing cultural differences in the workplace. Consider the following tips to build a thorough policy that earns your company a good reputation for diversity.

Facilitate cross-cultural exchanges

It is normal for your majority employees to be unaware of the cultural differences, because employees from minority backgrounds often try their best to fit in and downplay their distinctiveness in order to build rapport with coworkers.

Therefore, try to avoid putting your minority employees on the spot by asking them to talk about their cultural differences in front of a group (unless, of course, they volunteer to do so). Instead, facilitate casual cross-cultural exchanges where everyone is encouraged to share something about their heritage, family, or upbringing.

In this way, your staff learn about each other without anyone feeling singled out for their differences. To make them feel belonged, prepare some gentle questions to prompt them to share more, or to explain seemingly strange aspects of their background. Often cultural differences among your staff come down to an issue of perspectives, rather than insurmountable barriers.

Make it clear that this is a safe space, and watch out for any disrespectful behaviors by a staff against someone of a different cultural background, particularly when the offense touches upon certain sensitive topics. Maybe the offenders are socially conditioned to feel that way about a cultural difference, so try not to make the offense into something more serious than just a misunderstanding. Give the clashing staff some space to have a personal one-to-one talk, with you as a referee.

Conduct diversity training

Mandate diversity training for customer-facing staff, those who work across departments, and those in supervising positions. This is especially important for people from the majority cultural background in your community, but even someone from a minority background is not exempt from it. Being a minority may make them more sensitive to cultural differences, but not necessarily adept at dealing with them.

Diversity training includes components such as:

• Implicit bias training: becoming aware of, and managing common biases and stereotypes.
• Sensitivity training: how to communicate in a way that does not offend people of different cultures
• Understanding of how your company has attracted people from different cultures, and how to leverage this as a strength 
• Raise awareness of current social issues and justice that your minority employees are facing in the wider community

You may consider hiring a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) expert to do an audit and map out a strategy for your company. Spending effort to account for the cultural differences is worthwhile to build an inclusive workplace for all employees.

Improve emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage the emotions of yourself and others. This is not suppressing emotions – rather, it is about acknowledging and dealing with emotions with conscious effort and practice.

Emotional intelligence can be learned. It is a valuable skill that goes beyond raising the cultural sensitivity of your workplace – it can turn a tolerable workplace into a supportive, growth-oriented one.

With emotional intelligence, even if your staff do not undergo much diversity training, they can still work out ways to deal with cultural differences with grace. This is because, cultural differences are just one among many differences that make us humans, and emotional intelligence enables us to work well with people. Therefore, you may think of this as killing two birds with one stone. Implementing emotional intelligence training improves your staff’s overal competency in overcoming all people-related challenges, not just cultural differences.  

Leverage Cultural Differences to Build an Inclusive Workplace

Companies in both developed and emerging economies are hiring a more and more diverse workforce. This is a natural result of an increasingly connected world, especially the post-pandemic rise in immigration and work-related travels. Therefore, cultural differences are becoming a salient issue in most companies, and your staff need to move with the changing world. Cultural differences are just one among many differences among us. Having an inclusive diversity policy in place, aided with thorough training, and a healthy dose of emotional intelligence, you are well equipped to lead your people in dealing with a wonderfully diverse workforce.

What does a company need to excel? Is it excellent customer service, or is it a successful branding strategy? Perhaps choosing the right niche is an important success element.

Those factors all play a role in an outstanding organization. In this article, however, we will discuss a crucial internal success factor instead of the well-known external ones: human resource development programs.

Properly investing in human resource programs turns strong candidates into great employees. Moreover, it allows companies to attract talent who later enter the company and continue the success.

What is human resource development?

Human resource development is considered to be one of the five primary duties of an HR department, including:

• Talent management
• Compensation and benefits for employees
• Training and development
• Compliance
• Workplace safety

The focus of HR development is to develop the employees’ capacity and career path to align with the company’s long-term goals.  Depending on the organization, the program’s main target may vary across the stages of an employee, from early career training, to mid-career up-skilling and re-skilling, and late-career advancement. 

In addition to nurturing employees to reach their full potential, HR development also aims to cultivate a young workforce for the organization while creating the next generation of leaders. You have probably seen numerous yearly internship programs or fresher programs. Not only does these programs prepare a new crop of industry talent, but it also helps with workforce planning – cutting costs from ineffective hiring processes.

These training programs also include some following specific initiatives. 

Cross-cultural awareness HR development programs

Cross-cultural awareness refers to the understanding of one’s own cultural identity, values, and beliefs, as well as the acceptance of the cultures of others. A better understanding of ourselves and a greater respect for those who are different are all brought about by cultural awareness, which also helps to dissolve cultural barriers. By doing so, we improve our interpersonal abilities, making it easier for us to connect with others from different cultures and foster deeper relationships. 

EDI awareness HR development programs 

EDI stands for equality, diversity, and inclusion. As the name suggests, training EDI awareness allows employees to eliminate any inequality or prejudice inherent in an individual’s character traits. As a result, people are brought together to build a healthy working environment where employees can perform their best.

ESG awareness HR development programs

ESG is the acronym for environmental, social, and governance. ESG might sound like a weighty and complex topic, but raising ESG awareness not only promotes sustainability within the business, but it also fosters a workplace that takes the employee’s health and safety into consideration.

Benefits of a human resource development program:

Human resource development programs bring about major benefits for the employees and allow the company to reap long-term rewards.

Better retention rates

You have probably heard of the phrase “the war for talent”. It refers to the fight over top talent in an industry, due to the rarity of skills businesses are searching for. Notably, job seekers nowadays are not only looking at salary and benefits, but also the company’s values and the personal development opportunities being offered.

A Linkedin survey reveals an interesting fact: more than 90% of employees are willing to continue their relationship with the company if the organization has invested in their career. This statistic is a loud and clear statement about what a crucial role professional development plays in retaining talents. Keeping top talent has been an ongoing challenge for companies, which is why you should take employee satisfaction into serious consideration.

Higher retention rates reduce costs and time spent on expensive recruitment processes. Using recruitment automation tools such as bravoTALENT optimizes the process of filling in essential positions fast. Did you know that US employers spend a whopping 1.1 billion dollars searching for recruitment replacements a year? 

Priming executives in waiting

The time and energy invested in training an employee enlighten them to grasp a clear understanding of the manager’s expectations. With regular and proper feedback rounds, your employee is encouraged to perform better with higher efficiency. Human resource development programs ensure employees obtain and develop the essential hard skills for the job. However, human resource development programs can go over and beyond by investing in the employee’s soft skills. 

As human resource development programs contribute to a higher retention rate, you now have valuable resources. Aim to use it efficiently and not let them go to waste. Remember, they might be the next generation of excellent executives and trustworthy leaders. Ultimately, employees with a diverse set of skills give your business a competitive edge in the industry. 

Help the company move with time

Human resource development programs often make it easier to introduce and implement changes. These changes might be new company policies, procedures, or new industry rules and regulations. This is especially helpful when you and your team are trying to keep up with the shifting standards. Having an up-to-date team allows you and your company to gain a competitive edge and stay ahead of the game.

Help employer branding

It is no doubt that employer branding matters. When a company is well-known for investing in and caring for employees’ professional growth, safety, and even health, they are also investing in and fostering a strong employer brand.

Strong employer branding is always beneficial for future recruitment attempts, as the recruitment team no longer has to be on the constant lookout for talents, for talents are coming to the company instead. Again, this helps the company cut down on a lot of costs in the long run.

Types of HR development programs

There are a variety of human resource development programs a business can choose from. It really depends on the business requirements. However, if you do not know where to start, below are a few suggestions.

Onboarding Training

When you want to get your new talent up to speed, onboarding training comes into the picture. The training session can last from a few days to months, depending on how long it takes for the employee to familiarize themselves with the required skills for the job. This training program aims to introduce the employee to any software, hardware, or relevant projects that they will be involved with. It is also during this type of training that the employee gets a better view of the company goals, business plans, KPIs, and compliance information.

Orientation Training

Orientation training is a one-day training focusing on welcoming new employees to the company. It is to guide them through some basics to prepare them for the first day at work, including:

• Company policy
• Organization structure
• Office tour
• Paperwork
• Company’s values and visions
• Creating login accounts, etc.

Compliance Training

Compliance training is compulsory training by policy, legislation, or regulations. After attending this training, employees should understand the laws and regulations relating to the job or industry. These legal obligations mitigate risk and prevent any misconduct or litigation.

Product Training

Product training is not only designed for the sales team, but it is also useful for the customer service team, marketing team, and even your customers. Just as the name suggests, product training provides one with essential information relating to the product so that the employee can better perform at their job.

Technical Training

There is always something new to learn. There is always room for improvement. Even in situations where your team members are experts in what they do, such as writing, coding, or designing, it is always helpful to polish and update their skills once in a while. 

Technical training also allows your employees to avoid falling behind, and further master difficult skills. 

Quality Assurance (Q/A) Training

This type of training helps employees have a better grasp of quality assurance practices. From there, they can work on improving operations to ensure the final product meets the company’s standards and customers’ expectations.

Soft-Skills Training

A great skill set does not consist of only hard skills or technical skills. In today’s modern economy, soft skills play an equally important role. Soft skills are vital in improving work relationships and fostering an overall healthy company culture. Some desired soft skills might be communication, adaptability, conflict resolution, or teamwork.

Team Training

If you are looking to improve a team’s dynamic, this is the type of training program to go to. Its goals are similar to other types of development programs, as it aims to encourage healthy team dynamics, promoting the same personal development opportunities, employee morale, and employee happiness.

Diversity Training

As mentioned earlier in the article, EDI is part of the human resource development initiative. It encourages employees to look past their backgrounds and embrace differences, including race, sexuality, nationality, religion, and so on. The ultimate goal is to foster a healthy working environment with positive interactions, eliminating discrimination among employees.

It has been proven that the more diverse a workplace is, the more likely it is to be successful.

Leadership Training

This type of training program is meant for both existing leaders and next-generation leaders. As for existing leaders, it is a great way of refreshing their mindset. As for leaders-to-be, they are prepared for their higher position and better understand what it takes to handle the role.

Invest in your employees

Investing in your employees is investing in your business’s own success.

Perhaps it is time to take a good look at how your human resource development programs have been doing. If you do not know where to begin, note that the programs can be conducted in-house by senior employees who have the required skills and experience; or you can outsource training-intensive organizations and programs for further education. Use AI-enabled tools such as employee profiling to design on-point development programs. 

Whatever your choice is, remember, it really is about the employees. Their success is what makes your company successful.

How often do you provide a candidate with interview feedback? After every interview? Sometimes? Hardly ever?

But then again, why? Does interview feedback even matter?

The answer is yes; interview feedback does matter. In the long run, it would make your team’s future recruitment effort much easier.

Why does interview feedback matter?

Interview feedback refers to the comments a candidate receives after completing a job interview. Giving interview feedback is beneficial for maintaining a positive relationship and a good reputation with your talent pool for future recruitment effort. 

Many companies tend to overlook this essential step. There are two reasons why human resource departments should spend time working on interview feedback to attract more talent:

– Better employer branding 

– Support the candidate’s growth and development

Better Employer Branding

Employer branding is crucial – some even consider it to be a business’ identity. A strong employer brand attracts talented candidates, retains existing team members, and reduces recruiting and marketing costs.

Your employer brand also plays a large role in fostering strong relationships between your company, current employees, and future ones. The interview is the beginning of a relationship between a candidate and the company. Interview feedback might even play a role in influencing whether a candidate wants to invest further in their relationship with the company or not.

Support candidate’s growth and development

Interview feedback play a crucial role in a candidate’s growth and development. Constructive and positive interview feedback shows that the company acknowledges the candidates’ effort and time put into their job application. This acknowledgment also signifies that the company is interested in an individual’s personal development. Moreover, most candidates welcome interview feedback as a realistic measure of their employability.

So, what does positive interview feedback look like?

Elements Of Positive Interview Feedback

Many find it difficult to receive feedback. After all, no one likes criticism. So, the real question here is: How should you communicate feedback?

Make the feedback actionable

Good feedback should leave your candidate feeling supported and inspired to improve, not as if they have been judged. One way to achieve the said goal is by providing your candidate with specific comments. Make the feedback actionable. Avoid vague, general evaluations.

Talk about examples including the candidates’ specific strengths and weaknesses. Tools such as BravoGROWTH provide realistic assessment of a candidate’s qualities. If possible, bring up suggestions for future improvements. Keep the feedback short and focused. 

Effective interview feedback does not leave the candidate guessing. They should know what the next actions are.

Structure your feedback 

Your interview feedback should cover all key points, which consist of both soft and hard skills. If you are not sure how the structure should be, it is a good idea to utilize the job description to frame your feedback. 

Consider what skills the candidate has that match (or does not match) the job descriptions. You can also make use of recruitment tools that provide comprehensive candidate information. Evaluate the candidates’ growth mindset and ability to learn based on the job description. 

Interview feedbacks are essential and have a significant impact on the candidate’s future career. Make sure you spend time preparing and framing the interview feedback properly so that it is consistent and insightful.

Deliver honest feedback

Be honest, but kind. 

After planning and framing your feedback, make sure you are being honest about it. The feedback might be difficult to hear, but it is something an interviewee needs to go through to become a better version of themselves in the future.

One way to create a good motivation mix is by cleverly balancing the negative and positive comments. A good example of this might look something like this: “We love your confidence during the interview. For future roles, it might be a good idea to check out [topic] for even more confident and specific answers.”

However, make sure you have a purpose for the given feedback. Be straightforward and keep them concise since feedback can be difficult to receive. Many may have had negative experiences relating to receiving feedback.  Make sure to reiterate that you care about the candidate’s personal development and future.

Effective feedback will build trust between the company and potential employees. 

Time the feedback appropriately

Keep the timing of the interview feedback right. Do not delay writing the feedback down. Do it right after the interview!

Next, send the feedback to your candidate soon after the interview. Twenty-four hours after the interview is an ideal timeframe, as the interview would still be fresh on the candidate’s mind, and also fresh on your mind too. Your candidate would also have time to process their impression and information received. Timely feedback is valuable feedback.

Positive Interview Feedback Examples

Positive interview feedback underlines the areas that the interviewee handled proficiently. Below are some examples of helpful feedback dialogues.  

When the candidate has done great research about the company

“We appreciate the time and effort you put in to better understand this role in our company. Thank you for your interest and preparation.”

When they are a great fit for the role 

“We believe you are a great fit for this role! Thank you for showcasing how your personal value matches that of our company.”

“You were well-prepared for the interview and conveyed a genuine enthusiasm for joining our team.”

When they showcased good technical skills

“You spoke intelligently about the subjects we covered in the interview and showed subject-matter expertise.”

“You showcased in-depth knowledge regarding the role, which earned respect from the interviewers.”

“We were impressed with your proposed solutions for the case study during the interview.”

When they demonstrated good soft skills

“Your enthusiasm and confident attitude made it pleasant to interview you.”

“Although we were unable to proceed with your application, you showed an interest in learning throughout the process. Your attitude is a really fantastic asset.”

When you want to offer advice

“We appreciate your communication skills during the interview. However, your body language indicated that you were uncomfortable. Consider making more eye contact in the future to appear more confident.

When you think they might be overqualified for the position

“We noticed that you possess extensive expertise in this area. However, we are also concerned that this role might not keep you motivated for very long.”

Avoid “Bad” Interview Feedback

Bad interview feedback refers to those that are:

• Vague and general. They do not provide the candidate with specific suggestions to improve and might even focus solely on criticism.
• Draw comparisons between candidates. Do keep in mind that each and every candidate is unique.
• Allow personal biases to interfere with the overall evaluation.
• Come off as angry or apathetic.
• Inconsistent.

Good Interview Feedback Builds Positive Employer Branding

Interview feedback is crucial. It might seem time-consuming at first, but it is worth your time and hard work. It will improve your candidate’s experience and earn your company the reputation of being a respectful and thoughtful employer.  We hope this article has inspired you to spend a little more time drawing up meaningful interview feedback for future interviewees.

As the backbone of any company, human resources (HR) play a vital role in ensuring businesses run smoothly. From managing employee data to maintaining payroll, timesheets, and benefits, HR departments have a lot on their plate.

With so much to keep track of, it’s no wonder that HR software solutions have become increasingly popular in recent years. HR software can automate many tasks that would otherwise fall on the shoulders of HR professionals, freeing up time for more strategic work.

There are a wide variety of HR software solutions on the market, so it’s important to choose one that best fits the needs of your business. To help separate the wheat from the chaff, we’ve compiled a list of the top 7 HR software solutions and their main features.

Before digging into details, we’ll discuss what HR software is and how your business can benefit from them.

Let’s get the ball rolling!

What Is HR Software?

HR software refers to tools that help businesses automate their human resource processes. It provides a central place for companies to control all aspects of their HR operations, from tracking employee data to managing payroll and benefits.

By acquiring HR automation, the HR team can save a lot of time and money. In addition, HR software can assist businesses in tracking key HR metrics, identifying talent management trends, and making better-informed decisions about their workforce.

Benefits of HR software

There are many reasons that motivate you to leverage HR platforms.

• Automate HR Processes

Are you tired of managing hundreds of Google spreadsheets or Excel files? Traditional HR requires you to create tons of files for individual tasks. Some for recruitment, some for employee records, others serve performance appraisals, not to mention onboarding and training documents.

Thanks to smart HR software, you’re free from manual work that may take days or weeks to complete. Everything is managed on the cloud, making storing a vast amount of data accessible in one place. You’re even able to search for necessary information in seconds without having to spend days rummaging through hard copies of documents.

• Improved Accuracy and Compliance

No matter how careful we’re, we all make mistakes. “It’s an inevitable part of being human.” A small payroll error, for instance, would lead to a massive loss in your company’s finances.

Fortunately, HR software can significantly reduce errors and ensure  accurate results, from payroll to timesheets and annual/vacation leave.

• Greater Insight into the Workforce

HR software does wonders for data tracking, collection, and analysis. You can then generate HR reports and use these insights to improve processes, engage employees, and make better business decisions.

5 Best HR Software for Your Business

There are different types of HR software. Some serve the recruitment process, also known as applicant tracking systems (ATS), while others help with “core” HR. Following are the 7 most popular options that are worth your consideration.

#1 bravoSUITE

bravoSUITE comes as a smart HR and talent management solutions. It greatly improves the HR department efficiency. Not only does the software allow you to hire the right talent and understand and grow employees, but it also helps automate the core HR process.

Empowered by the DrParser AI tool, bravoSUITE simplifies the CV parsing process. Rather than going one by one resume, you can have all the data collected and structured quickly. There is also a Talent dashboard providing you with all information related to candidates, from the number of applicants, their status, how they apply for the job, email templates to following up, and so on.

bravoSUITE integrates seamlessly with popular job boards, letting you collect all candidates from different sites into one platform for easier management.

On top of that, it offers a powerful feature of exploring employee potential, making it stand out from the HR software crowd. Using Interest and Preference tests, you’ll have a better understanding of your employees’ strengths and interests. As a result, you can assign suitable tasks or arrange them for the right team.

What’s more, bravoSUITE is designed to automate core HR processes too. Employee records, payroll, onboarding/offboarding, timesheets, leave management, performance review, and 360 reviews, just to name a few.

Out of the box, bravoSUITE is the best free HR software for beginners. Its 21-day trial policy authorizes you to try out the product features before making a decision.

#2 BambooHR

BabooHR proves itself as an all-in-one HR software for small and medium businesses. It aims to collect, maintain, and analyze your people’s data.  Similar to bravoSUITE, it offers many key HR functionalities, enhancing the way you hire talent, onboard new employees, and develop the company culture.

First and foremost, the platform gathers together all your employee information in a secure database. Based on this raw data, it will then generate reports and analytics. It’s worth mentioning BambooHR’s hiring tool, enabling you to boost the recruitment cycle from the application to the offer letter stage.

What about onboarding? BambooHR empowers HR staff to fully automate the onboarding process. You can add personal details and, at the same time, create necessary forms and formalities timely. There is also an onboarding checklist ensuring you don’t miss any task on the first working day of the new hires.

Running payroll, tracking timesheets, managing leaving, and applying benefits have never been made easier, eliminating the compensation nightmare for the finance team.

#3 Monday.com

Talking about top HR software, it’d be a huge missing out without mentioning Monday.com. The tool prioritizes employee experience by tracking your talent pipeline and engaging them.

Besides managing and optimizing the hiring process, it’s possible for you to streamline internal planning. You can easily follow the candidate recruiting cycle.

Monday.com receives a lot of love from users thanks to its onboarding optimization capability. It comes with ready-made templates so you can have new employees onboarded faster. The smooth onboarding process will also result in an enjoyable experience for every newbie.

Moreover, the platform helps engage your employees via various motivated activities. It’s available for you to collect feedback from these events as well. For leave requests, employees no longer have to message the manager and wait for permission. Just submit your vacation requests, and you can receive approval notifications quickly.

The software packs enough power to get nearly everything you need about an employee performance review. It takes care of meetings and always keeps track of outcomes.

Monday.com does wonder for custom flow. Along with ready-made templates, you’re allowed to create your own workflow that matches specific use cases.

#4 Freshteam

Freshteam is a simple yet powerful platform to automate your HR, save your time, and eliminate human errors. Unlike other tools mentioned above, it also supports the customer support sector.

Its modern Applicant Tracking System (ATS) gives you a helping hand in sourcing candidates from numerous sources. From social media and branded career sites to emails and job boards, no matter which channel your candidates apply for the job, Freshteam combines them all in one place.

Freashtem efficiently eases your job posting with over 100 built-in job description templates. Emails are synced up to the platform in real time.

Apart from recruiting, it provides many other sub-set tools that serve your HR automation, including onboarding and offboarding, time off management, and HR analytics and reporting.

#5 Retable HR & Recruiting Management

Retable provides you with ready-to-use HR & Recruiting tracking templates so you can get rid of excel and spreadsheets in your human management work.

There are tons of HR templates, ranging from recruitment planning to interview questions and applicant tracking. Team workload planning, employee onboarding planning, talent development planning, employee directory demographic, and HR knowledge base are some other templates that Reable offers.

 The software receives a great deal of public attention due to its ability to auto-collect data with quick forms. You can gather employee requests and time-off applications with ease. The employee communcation aspect benefits a lot from this feature as it can collect ideas and suggestions via surveys.

Which Is Your Favorite HR Software?

The human resource department always has to cover a broad spectrum of workloads that can be overwhelming to oversee and keep track of manually. HR solutions would become a savior of business and HR specialists in this case.

We’ve walked you through the top 5 HR software to manage everything related to your employees. Each comes with a set of benefits and drawbacks that can affect your human management in the long run. If you’re looking for smart talent and HR management solutions, register for bravoSUITE’s trial and experience its powerful features.

Everyone benefits from a motivated workforce. Read these employee motivation ideas to get inspired about how to turn on your people’s desire to go beyond their basic responsibilities and contribute their best to your company. s

What Is Employee Motivation?

Employee motivation is the willingness, energy, and commitment that an employee brings to their job. When an employee is motivated, they know why they go to work every day, and why they want to do a good job. A motivated employee does not necessarily excel at their job, but they are willing to try their best and improve. Therefore, your company benefits from having motivated employees.

Extrinsic motivation

There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic motivation comes from external factors such as salary, benefits, bonuses, prestige, and recognition. Generally, the extrinsically motivated employee expects:

– a good job to be properly recognized and rewarded

– their pay scale reflects their credentials

– extra bonuses for extra effort or contribution

– their position earns them proper respect and privileges

– their association with the company brings them a good social reputation. 

Encouraging an extrinsically motivated employee can be argued to be ‘simpler’ because their motivation factors are visible and measurable. There is an element of fair exchange of labor and reward in extrinsic employee motivation. If they stop being motivated or decide to leave the company, the reasons are quite obvious: they may be scouted for a better offer elsewhere, or the company passes them over for certain benefits and recognition that they think they deserve.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation comes from internal factors such as personal interests, conscientiousness, the desire to maintain a good relationship, or other personal reasons. An intrinsically motivated employee expects:

– receive praises and recognition personally delivered from direct management

– to find their own good reason to do the job, regardless of the promise of pay or benefits

– they feel positive feelings about their job, position, and membership at the company

– the job to not just deliver a comfortable living standard, but also fulfilling certain personal needs.

– their position and job descriptions to reflect who they perceive themselves to be, and they derive personal meanings out of their job

– a promotion to reflect a change they have witnessed within themselves

Encouraging an intrinsically motivated employee can be argued to be less straightforward than motivating an extrinsic one. As a manager, you should first seek to understand the particular employee as a person, know their likes, dislikes, and professional aspirations. The common reasons for an intrinsically motivated employee to quit or lower their performance is because they do not identify with major parts of the job and all the things that come with it.

Just like energy and interests, employee motivation waxes and wanes. So to continue benefiting from a motivated staff, below are some ideas to maintain and increase employee motivation.

Employee motivation is different from employee engagement

Employee motivation is the will to do the job. A motivated employee wants to excel at the job as an individual. They tend not to be as satisfied with group success.

Employee engagement is the willingness to contribute and engage more than just their core obligations. An engaged employee tends to be intrinsically motivated. They take pride in their membership in the company. They are the best employer brand ambassador for employee referral programs, because they tend to have positive things to say about working at your company.

Ideas For Employee Motivation Plans

The ideas to motivate your employees are as varied as your employees themselves. You know your team best. Choose the ones that work for your people. Effort counts, and they may even tell you what works for them. 

Extrinsic motivation ideas:

– Accountable hybrid work

– Overtime pay

– Holiday bonuses

– Special perks

Intrinsic motivation ideas:

– Best-fit tasks and expectations

– Tailored and timely compliments

– Small gestures of gratitude

– Tolerate reasonable mistakes

Read below for a quick dive into each idea.

Accountable hybrid work

These days, if you could offer hybrid work, you would attract more employees from a wider talent pool. But you need mechanisms and technological tools to ensure accountability and fairness. Extrinsically motivated employees may see the lack of accountability in remote work as unfair, because they tend to believe in fair rewards. How do you ensure that the on-site and online teams pull their weight according to their compensation? Or, how do you recognize and reward a remote employee who is working extra hours outside the office? 

Overtime pay

This is best for a short-term surge in demand, when you need to motivate your team for quick results, usually in peak seasons. Working overtime is at best an inconvenience, and at most a hindrance, for those who have other commitments. Make sure your have a fair overtime policy to enjoy a scalable workforce.

Holiday bonuses

Depending on the positions, holiday seasons are busy. Employees are under strain to perform, and to spend extra for on holiday purchases such as gifts and trips. This also takes into account the employees who do not enjoy company-wide teambuilding activities (the introverts, parents with young children, or carer of an elderly parents) so that they can afford to enjoy the kind of holiday suitable for their life circumstances.

Special perks

What makes it special to work for your company? Maybe you offer some unique perks, such as pleasing interior decor, a great window view, nap rooms, healthy snacks, convenience in transport, exclusive membership, or privileged access. The perks really depend on your industry and company culture. Do a survey of what makes your people feel special. Make it fun, casual, and light-hearted, but make sure to deliver on your promises. Making your employees feel special to be a part of your company is a great way to put a smile on their faces whenever they are asked to talk about their workplace.

Best-fit tasks and expectations

We often consider personality fit for leadership roles, but not enough for more junior roles. Personality fit is one of the strongest indicators of employee turnover. This is especially true for some younger workers, millenials and Gen-Z, who are more driven to seek jobs that better align with who they are. Authenticity is important for them. 

Are there employees you absolutely want to keep? Modify their job descriptions to better fit their personality and work style, and adjust your expectations and KPIs accordingly. This is a clear indication that you value them for their authenticity and amazing abilities, and you are willing to go out of your way to honor what they bring to the table.

Tailored and timely compliments

This takes a lot of emotional and social intelligence from the managers, but it is worth it. When done right, compliments make the employee feel understood and seen. They feel understood because their challenges, no matter how individual or seemingly small it is, are acknowledged and sympathized. They feel seen because they do not have to play a role, and can show more of themselves at work. This also increases employee engagement.

Small gestures of gratitude

Sure, your staff is well compensated for their job. But small gestures of gratitude showing how grateful you are to work alongside them would make them feel appreciated. The gestures do not have to cost anything – you could use post-it notes, cards, messages, or small gifts. The key is in the message that comes with it: a thank-you with a smiley face, a brief pep talk when you notice they seem down in the dumps, a quick no-pressure catch-up when they feel comfortable. Doing this to let your employees know you see them as people and not just impersonal staff.   

Tolerate reasonable mistakes

Motivated employees are willing to give more than necessary. They are curious and willing to take risks, to stick out for what they believe in. As a leader, you should encourage this by tolerating reasonable mistakes. Mistakes are chances for everyone to learn what does not work. From honest or intentional mistakes, your employees are humans and they may have justified reasons for making them. When you are merciful and try to elicit the reasons for their mistakes, you may just earn yourself a chance to improve your system, industrial know-how, or techniques.

Get To Know Your People To Have Good Employee Motivational Ideas

Whether internally or externally, your employees motivate themselves to come to work every day. Employee motivation is an art because you have to really get to know your people. Your employee motivational ideas and plans have to come from the heart of understanding your employees’ experience in working for you. From there, you can see ways to improve it and bring your people along for the ride. Consider using HR management reports that can shed light on your employees without too much effort. Use them and become the leader people want to work for.