Tag: employee

by James Adam

Top 5 Ways to Improve Employee Communication and Collaboration during COVID 19 with Remote Team


Business

COVID 19 is affecting the lives of people and businesses too. The spread of this deadly virus has forced numerous businesses and organizations to adopt policies of ‘work from home’. For some organizations, this work from home culture is affecting productivity and business growth. Do you know why their productivity is affecting? Because they are not making utilization of business work from home tools as well as not planning everything in a better way.

Even, many organizations face issues like difficulty with communication, trust issue when their team is working from home, difficulty in maintaining a productive schedule, managing conflicts every day by sitting so far from each other and many more.

So, how can you resolve all these issues is the question here! How can you improve employee collaboration as well as communication during this situation of COVID 19? To get the answer of this question go through the entire post as it will help you in knowing about the same. Let’s get started! Happy Reading!

Communicate Clearly 

When team work from home, it’s obvious to face problems with communication. You won’t be able to communicate with them in the same way like you use to do in the workplace. Right? In such a situation, it’s vital that everything should be communicated in a clear and concise way to all the team members.

Whatever you communicate make sure it’s clear and they can easily understand what you are trying to convey through your message. You can make use of bullet points if you are explaining something to your team rather than writing everything in a lengthy paragraph. Since it may become difficult for them to understand the message clearly.

Invest in Communication Tools

Investing in correct communication tools, no doubt is the vital part of remote team. Every employee will probably have their cell phone and they can access emails on it. For majority of organizations, project management software’s such as Slack and Basecamp are daily part of their workday.

Slack is perfect since it enables one to integrate with different other file sharing as well as communication tools such as Zendesk, Trello, Google Drive and so on. If you wish to keep all files, important assets as well as communications under one roof then Basecamp is also an ideal choice that you can go for.

Whatever type of messaging/project management or communication tool you select to use, ensure all team members can access such tools from their home easily. Encourage all your employees to continue their chat in a similar way they use to do inside the office.

Schedule Regular Team Meetings

In the workplace, how frequently you arrange meetings with your team? Do you have debriefing meeting on every Friday? Don’t try to quit the process of meetings that you use to carry on in the office. Try your best to continue the meetings even when your team is working from home.

For that, you can make use of video conferencing apps like Zoom or Skype which are quite popular these days. This will help them in clearing their doubts easily face to face. Video conferencing likewise helps in bridging communication gap.

We all communicate a lot with our face as well as hands, so it will help your team to see you at the time of conversations. This, in turn, will avoid miscommunication which is good for you and your team only.

Set Boundaries

While working from home, no doubt its quite simple to remain in work mode all the time i.e. 24*7. But this is not a good idea! Set proper boundaries! For instance, decide with each other that you will be available from 9 am to 5 pm.

Ensure the members of your team know when you will come online and during what time they can expect responses of email from you. You can also share your contact number with them in case of any kind of emergency; however, don’t forget to describe emergency before giving them your number.

Be Human

Just because you are not working in the office doesn’t imply you will not maintain fun traditions. No doubt, it’s not possible to share doughnuts boxes or sing birthday songs together. However, you can send cool virtual birthday cards, songs as well as doughnuts. Or you can deliver treats directly to their home.

Also, make sure to appreciate each other’s work. Stay updated on what team members are doing and track their performance. This way, they will feel that you value their work during this tough time too.

Make sure your all conversations should not be related to work only. Sometimes best thoughts come from funny conversations too. This, as a result, will improve morale as well as creativity only.

Wrap Up

Hope you have enjoyed reading this guide and it helped you in knowing more about the ways by which you can improve employee collaboration and communication during this time of COVID 19. You have to patiently deal with everything so that things can go smoothly without any difficulty.

Many organizations are making use of different business work from home tools during this time. No doubt, they are helping them and their employees in every way. If you have not started using those tools then start utilizing them from today only! Don’t forget to keep few things alive in case of work from home too- fun traditions, good communication and so on.


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by James Adam

Why Business Don’t Recognize Employees Often?


Business

In spite of knowing how important employee engagement is, the employers don’t really put the efforts to run their recognition program or have one in the first place. The benefits of a recognition program are many but according to a study revealed, there are just one in four businesses that recognizes its employees frequently.

There can be many reasons as to why employers don’t want to reward or appreciate the employees for their work. They may think that employees will not work as hard afterwards, or the company might be an SME and not willing to use funds for this. They might even be of the opinion that the approach they are following is working just fine and so resisting from trying something new. Let us look at other more apparent reasons that stop employers from recognizing the efforts of their workforce.

 They don’t know the real impact it can make-

There are ample posts around employee engagement and recognition, be it the thought leaders or the HRMS software vendors, everyone is talking about it. However, businesses are still not ready fully to catch the perennial trend and enjoy its benefits. They are unaware of the fact that besides making your employees happier, the strategy will also help them in reducing the turnover and spike productivity.

They think it takes a lot of effort to recognize-

The same depends on how you plan to go about it. If you do not want to give rewards or take a lot of time, you can appreciate in person, whilst a meeting is conducted or using HRIS software feature to make announcements.

There may be less understanding around the term-

Some employers, infact most of the ones who are not practising this equate recognition with rewards straight away. And this is precisely where they go wrong and start avoiding it all together even for an employee.  Rewards can be a part of the big picture but that doesn’t mean that to recognize you have to reward every employee. It can be as simple as giving a badge and writing some words of praise for the employee on the HRMS software you are using. Infact, the same can help you in defining a bigger goal to achieve for the team members and then you can give a reward to one employee who performed the best.

They think it is too expensive-
Again, recognition depends on the approach you choose. And no matter what you choose, even a rewarding scheme pays out in the end and doesn’t even cost you much.

In the end, if the employers don’t know what they should be recognizing, they should start identifying the business leaders and start implementing their strategy accordingly. If that requires expert advice, go for it. This will set the foundation for years to come and reduce the turnover of your company. This, in turn, will help you in saving the new hire cost. All the best!

by James Adam

Chinese Drone Giant DJI Loses 150M in Employee Fraud


Technology

DJI, one of the top drone manufacturers in the industry, recently announced it fired some of the company employees after fraud cases that could cost the company millions of dollars if the information becomes public.

The company also stated it conducted an internal investigation and found that some employees inflated the cost of certain product materials and components for personal gain. DJI also made it clear that it contacted law enforcement regarding the incidents and that it would strengthen its internal controls. The matter now goes into the jurisdiction of the Shenzhen police, the city where the company is based.

SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd is the world’s largest drone maker and a privately-held company. According to its latest report, the company employed roughly 12,000 people at the end of 2018 and was planning on increasing its staff to 14,000 employees by the end of 2019.

Fraud: Legal Definitions

Legally speaking, fraud is considered the deliberate deception to achieve some gain or to deprive a victim of a legal right. The U.S. recognizes two main types of fraud: civil (in which case the victim sues the perpetrator directly to recover damages) and criminal (the government persecutes the perpetrator).

Furthermore, according to the U.S. Code of law, the perpetrator must fall within the following categories for an offense to be considered fraud:

  • Falsify, conceal, or cover up a material fact on purpose;
  • Make a materially false or fraudulent statement or representation;
  • Make use of any false document knowingly.

According to a specialty fraud attorney, the penalty is a fine and up to 5 years imprisonment in most cases. However, if the case of fraud also involves an act of international or domestic terrorism, the penalty increases dramatically.

But since the company in question is based in China, it falls under the jurisdiction of Chinese law, which has strict provisions and penalties for the criminal act of fraud. Critics note that although China has the legal framework to prosecute these crimes, they are not generally enforced.

Fraud in China

The Chinese government seems to tolerate, at least partially, the act of fraud among its companies. The Bank of China recently disclosed that it was collaborating with U.S. government to recover half a billion dollars embezzled by managers who ran to America, but experts believe this is only part of what’s currently happening in the Chinese market.

Legally, the Chinese legal framework establishes multiple offenses as fraud:

  • The unlawful raising of funds;
  • Using forged documents for financial gains;
  • Defrauding financial institutions;
  • Insurance fraud;
  • Credit card fraud.

If the police investigation conducted by the Shenzhen police finds the DJI employees guilty, they may be facing criminal prosecution by the Chinese government. The penalty itself will depend on how the authorities will interpret the seriousness of the crime. The company itself may also be facing prosecution if it is determined it has previous knowledge of the fraud.

But so far, the evidence seems to point in the other direction. The crimes were uncovered after DJI’s internal audit in 2018, after which it conducted an internal investigation and contacted the authorities. It is estimated that almost 100 people are involved, and 45 current and former employees have been put under official investigation.

The company loses are estimated at a CNY1 billion (roughly $150 million), which means those found guilty may be facing tens of years or even life in prison according to Chinese law. Moreover, depending on the circumstances of the cases, perpetrators can also have their property confiscated and face a fine.

Final Thoughts

China is no stranger to fraudulent cases, whether it’s conducted Chinese companies, or even international companies only based in the country. Given past examples, it’s difficult to predict how the case of DJI will play out, though it seems that at least from the company’s side, there are some measures taken to get to the bottom of thing

by James Adam

How Business Owners Can Help Employee Address Addiction Problems


Business

Boosting sales, increasing returns on investment (ROI) and handling the welfare of workers has got to be some of the major objectives every business owner faces. However, these objectives all go hand in hand, as one can’t work without the other. While caring for your workers, there are different issues that may arise and need to be tackled. One of them is addiction. It is important to tackle addiction problems at the work place so it doesn’t interfere with productivity. But what are the best ways to handle this problem?

1. Observe and Research

Does a particular worker behave in an awkward or suspicious way? Do they take frequent leaves of absence? Are they always late to work? Do they do hide to do certain rituals (smoking or drinking) before work hours or breaks to help them get on with work? Is any of your workers inconsistent when he talks or even looks a kind of way? These observations will help you in knowing what to look out for.

Also carry out a research to familiarize yourself with signs and symptoms of addiction. There are many journals online to go through and centres that provide information to loved ones of addicts.

  1. Talk with the worker or employees affected

This can also help those who aren’t affected to know more about addiction and how to prevent it. If they are still requiring further assistance, help them in locating a sober living near me.

“Do not tell them off. Remind them of the company’s policy on the issue, express your observation and concerns, and proffer recommendations or where they can get help. If possible, introduce helpful programs, workshops or seminars for all workers,” he suggests.

This can also help those who aren’t affected to know more about addiction and how to prevent it.

3. Discourage the use of substances or anything that enhances Addiction

Do not tolerate substance abuse at the workplace. Always remind them of the consequences and do not make excuses for employees who seem not to want to do away with the habit.

Finally, get a health insurance company that has a plan which covers addiction so staff can be on it. If addiction isn’t tackled immediately, it becomes a scourge that will affect not just the effectiveness of the addict, but also the efficiency of their colleagues and the business itself.

by Incredible Planet Staff

How Financial Crime is Affecting the Business World?


Technology

A crime of any nature is not advantageous to anyone. those who commit a crime do not know the outcomes of it and keep on committing crimes blindly until the day they get caught. People know different kinds of crime. One of them which is becoming the center of attention of the government is the financial crime. People need to know that those who commit financial crime spoil the economy of the country and compliance with financial crime can be dangerous too.

There are two main types of financial crime that are having a bad impact on the companies as well as the government. Sometimes people who know the inside information or the secrets of the company tries to sell them to the other competitor companies. This is considered as a financial crime as well. this is because it is the case of deception which ruins the companies in one way or the other.

What is the financial crime?

One of the financial crime comes under the range of dishonesty. This is because the person who commits this crime takes away the information and gets the benefit as a result. The second type of the financial crime is the one in which there is nothing that is to be done with dishonesty rather than placing the proceeds beyond the reach of the law.

Money laundering of any sort should never be tolerated at all. This ruin so many businesses and benefits those who are BAD. If you know a person who is partially or wholly into committing financial crimes, you must consult legal consultants in Dubai to send him to the jail. If we keep on tolerating such things, we will ruin our economy as well.

Reputation of the company

If someone will find out that an employee of a particular company was engaged in financial crime, people will start thinking bad about that company. in this way, the reputation of the company will get spoiled. This is how all the respect company made throughout the years will get vanished in a moment.

Fight against the frauds

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If you motivate your employees in a correct way to fight against the frauds, there will be no fraud left in the society. If the people will be moulded in a wrong way, they will start doing unethical acts.

If you really want to eradicate the financial crime from the society, make sure that you provide the rights of the employees to them. if you treat them right, they will never play with you and the things will not get ruined as well.

The most important thing that can help this system of financial crime vanish is to keep a check on all the employees who work in an organization. This will somehow help in the eradication of the system of financial crime.

Every now and then the cases of financial crime come upon the scene. The risk of financial crime is increasing day by day and the threats are huge too. the HSBC financial crime news will also agree with this for sure because it is really becoming a big issue. This is why the government is also taking action against it.

Check out the types of financial crime in the business industry at https://hhslawyers.com/practice-areas/financial-crime/ if you are looking for more information on this topic!

by Incredible Planet Staff

Negotiate And Land A Pay Raise In Eight Easy Steps


Business

Negotiating a pay raise can be an important step in your career. With a raise now, you improve your future earning potential, and you could save nearly $400,000 over the next 30 years if you invest your $5,000 raise in an account that earns a six percent return. Successfully negotiate and land your next raise when you take eight easy steps.

  1. Showcase your Performance

You may think you deserve more money, but you must prove your worth and value to the company before your boss will give you a raise. Provide data and details as you showcase your performance.

Start with a list of your measurable achievements. Have you landed a lucrative client or tackled a complicated video production project? Maybe you’ve mastered a new skill or earned an advanced degree that will benefit your company. Outline these achievements as you prove that you’re worthy of a raise.

Next, record significant contributions you’ve made to the team and the company. Have you maintained a good attitude during challenges, diffused a stressful situation, built relationships, or stepped into a leadership position without being asked? List any specific contributions like these to illustrate examples of when you went above and beyond the call of duty.

Now analyze your job responsibilities. If you’ve taken on extra duties or your job description has changed, ask for extra money to compensate for the extra time and effort you put in each day.

You’ll also want to share any praise you’ve received from your boss, coworkers or clients. Print emails or share details about the specific instances when you received verbal accolades for your performance, attitude or actions, proof that you add value to the company.

  1. Know the Numbers

Do your research to discover what your position is worth and calculate the exact raise you want before you meet with your boss. Talk with job recruiters, check out salary sites like Glassdoor or Payscale or talk with other employees in your industry to verify the going rate for your position.

  1. Focus on the Company

While you may want more money because your rent increased or you’re expecting twins, focus on how your raise will help the company rather than on your personal financial situation. Ensure your boss understands that your raise will equip you to continue to improve the company’s bottom line.

  1. Negotiate Perks

An increase in your pay rate is nice, but remember that you can also negotiate perks, especially if your boss feels reluctant to give you more money. Consider asking for extra vacation days, flexible time off, telecommute opportunities, tuition reimbursement, specialized training, or stock options. These perks could improve your morale, help you achieve work-life balance or open doors of opportunity.

  1. Prep your Boss

Talk to your boss in advance about your desire for a raise. With advance warning, your boss can review your performance and current salary and begin thinking about the ways you benefit the company.

  1. Schedule the Meeting

Avoid discussing a raise during a busy or slow season, after a financial slump, or before or after your boss’s vacation. Instead, choose a time when your boss is likely to feel relaxed or after you’ve created a stellar ad presentation or made a significant contribution to the company.

  1. Prepare for a No

Despite your best negotiations, your boss may refuse to give you more money. The way you handle this news can determine your future success, so be prepared to negotiate for perks or request to revisit the raise issue in six months. Additionally, ask your boss to identify performance achievements, move you to a different position with more responsibility or provide additional training that will qualify you for the raise you want. As a last resort, consider finding a different job where you can receive fair compensation or grow in both your career and paycheck.

  1. Remain Professional

Because negotiations can be challenging, do your best to remain calm, humble and relaxed. Stand firm in your accomplishments, but don’t be cocky, greedy or entitled. Also, don’t threaten to quit because empty threats could affect your job.

You can successfully negotiate a raise with these eight easy steps. They prepare you to ask for more money and receive the pay you deserve.