Entries by Achievers

Words of Advice from 7 HR Thought Leaders

September 18, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , /by

We have some stellar thinkers in the HR field today, so we decided to present a sampling of their pithy advice. Each of the people profiled below have their own unique take on managing your human capital, and you may even find a favorite or two whom you want to follow.

“You can’t prevent attrition if your organization doesn’t attend to employee experience.”

Meghan M. Biro is the founder and CEO of TalentCulture and an in-demand HR analyst.

In a recent Forbes article, Biro writes about the urgent need of focusing on the employee experience.→ Read More

Real-Time Recognition and Feedback: The Key to Driving Sustainable Engagement

August 14, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

A recent study revealed that 87 percent of employers surveyed rank improving retention as a key priority for their business. If you work in management or human resource, this statistic should come as no surprise. Low unemployment rates, the transformation to a candidate-driven job market and the fierce competition to attract top talent has helped employers realize the full value in their current workforce.

The Link Between Engagement and Retention

The question facing employers today is not whether they need to improve retention rates, but how to improve these rates on a long-term basis.→ Read More

5 Business Impacts of Social Recognition

August 9, 2018 /2 Comments/in , /by

Are you an HR professional who’s eager to give your company the advantages of a technology-based social recognition program? When you make your pitch to key executives, you need a way to define and quantify the benefits of such a program. Below, we line up five positive impacts of recognizing and rewarding your employees; present these to anyone who cares about your organization, and you can’t help but win them over!

Impact on Individual Workers

Worldwide, only 15 percent of workers feel engaged at their workplaces, according to Gallup research , and even in the U.S.→ Read More

Are You Personalizing the Employee Experience?

August 2, 2018 /4 Comments/in , , , /by

Have you ever been in a restaurant when one of the regular customers walks in? Not only does the waitress know his name, but she knows his order too, personalizing the customer experience. Is there any doubt in your mind that this is a loyal customer, that he will eat at the restaurant again or that he’s highly likely to recommend the restaurant to others?

This scenario isn’t exclusive to the restaurant industry. Businesses in all industries have always known the importance of providing high-quality customer service.→ Read More

Recognize Your Employees and Strengthen Your Bottom Line

July 24, 2018 /6 Comments/in , , /by

If you’re a supervisor or manager, you probably know how much more productive your team is when you make the effort to recognize each person’s contribution. In order to take employee recognition to the next level, however, and establish a company-wide system of rewards, you’ll need to be able to present the investment to your CEO or CFO in terms of the financial bottom line.

Fortunately, a growing body of research makes this easy. A Workplace Trends Report finds that recognition programs yield 50 percent higher sales, 27 percent higher profits and 21 percent better retention.→ Read More

4 Ways to Prevent Your Employees From Quitting

June 19, 2018 /0 Comments/in , /by

When you hire a new employee, that person is already looking for a new job and at risk of quitting. That rather dire warning is offered by Dan Schawbel, research director at Future Workplace and one of Forbes’ “30 under 30” list. Schawbel cites a study by his company showing that one-third of American workers are at the risk of quitting and looking to change their jobs within the next six months. Employee turnover, he points out, “costs companies a fortune,” and the numbers agree: Losing an employee in the first year of their tenure can cost your company up to three times the person’s annual salary.→ Read More

How to Navigate Culture Change During Mergers and Acquisitions

May 22, 2018 /2 Comments/in /by

News of one company buying another one makes for splashy headlines, broadcasting rising stock prices and the overall cost of the deal. Just look at the headlines Disney garnered for its recent $52 billion bid to acquire most of 21st Century Fox, as well as all of Sky News. However, what really counts after the dust settles is how you help your employees adjust to the cultural shift. Author and management consultant Mark E. Mendenhall writes that “cultural and psychological sides of M&A are often overshadowed by the financial side,” and SHRM notes “studies consistently show that most mergers and acquisitions fail, mainly because of people and culture issues.” As an HR professional, your participation is crucial during each step of the transition, but the most significant contribution you can make is probably in the area of employee engagement.→ Read More

Why Today’s Incentive Thinking Is Different

May 17, 2018 /4 Comments/in , , , /by

Ever since people started working for each other, supervisors have tried to figure out the best way to reach their performance goals and keep workers on task. Too often in human history, this meant that people with less power were simply compelled to work, and incentives — if they existed — consisted merely of being allowed to survive. After several evolutionary waves, we have a deeper insight into what truly motivates people, and today’s incentives are about far more than compensation.→ Read More

10 Fun Ideas for Celebrating Work Anniversaries

May 15, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

On the inside, you’re full of warm-hearted gratitude for the loyalty of employees who stick around for the long haul. The question to ask yourself is whether your team knows how much you appreciate their efforts. They can’t read your mind, so celebrating employee milestones and work anniversaries is a way to showcase your positive energy and spread it around. It’s also a way to strengthen your company’s financial position, because a stronger work culture leads directly to stronger employee engagement.→ Read More

5 Data-Based Reasons to Make Employee Education a Priority

May 10, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , /by

If you’re not offering employees education opportunities then you might want to reconsider. Today’s generation of workers have put employee education and development high on their list of the most-desired benefits that a company can offer.

Offering educational opportunities has a wide variety of benefits for both employees and companies, and gives a competitive advantage from a recruiting standpoint. The right educational offering just might be the deciding factor for candidates who are being sourced for similar jobs with matching salary packages.→ Read More

Where HR Tech Is Headed

May 1, 2018 /2 Comments/in , , /by

Are you ready for the future of human resources? HR tech is “on the precipice of a total reinvention,” according to Josh Bersin, author of a pivotal Bersin by Deloitte report. The amount of resources being poured into that market bears out his statement: He notes that in 2015 alone, investors sank $2.4 billion into HR tech vendors, a figure that represents a 60 percent increase over the previous year. What kinds of changes will you see from this reinvention, and what kinds of new opportunities will come your way?→ Read More

5 Ways to Keep Remote Employees Motivated and Engaged

April 17, 2018 /2 Comments/in , /by

What types of commuting issues do your workers have? All possible perks and benefits that address those problems (such as public transit vouchers, parking permits, vanpool arrangements, and bike storage) add extra costs to your bottom line – except for one: telecommuting.

On average, businesses save about $11,000 per year for every employee they shift to remote work status for half the week, according to Global Workplace Analytics. At the same time, individual workers save between $2,000 and $7,000 annually.→ Read More

Manager and Employee Relationships: The Importance of Mentorship

April 10, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

The title of “manager” makes it sound like your entire responsibility is simply keeping track of your employees and maximizing their performance. Of course you want to elicit high-level productivity from your team, but your fastest route to success is to offer something back to the people who work for you. The most successful managers enter into a mentoring, or “coaching,” relationship with their direct reports. Here’s a look at why mentoring is so important, together with some best practice tips for putting together a mentorship program that really works.→ Read More

5 Things to Consider When Building Employee Surveys

March 27, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Did you know that 88% of employees don’t have passion for their work? Even worse is the impact employee disengagement has on economy: employee disengagement costs more than $500 billion per year to the U.S. economy alone. Knowing all of this, I ask you, “What can your business do to address this major disengagement issue?”

Start with listening to your employees. By receiving honest feedback from employees, you can quickly determine what it takes to engage them. You’ll be aware of what your workforce is unhappy about as well as what they value most when it comes to working for your company.→ Read More

20 Fresh Ideas for the Best Employee Appreciation Week

February 28, 2018 /0 Comments/in , /by

At Achievers, we couldn’t quite wrap our minds around designating just one day a year for employee appreciation. One special employee appreciation week, though — that can be a great opportunity to renew your commitment to showing your employees how much you value them.

Below are a few fun ideas you can use to really show your employees what they mean to you.

Optimize the Workplace

1. Create a Mentoring Program

Mentoring shows each worker that they matter, and creates new bonds of connection within the company.→ Read More

10 Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Your Employees

February 14, 2018 /2 Comments/in , , /by

Are you celebrating your employees on a regular basis? The people who work for your organization perform essential functions for you, and in return you should respect them, appreciate them, and be supportive of them. It’s time to celebrate your employees with thoughtful gestures that can take their employee experience to the next level. Here are 10 meaningful ways to show your employees how much you appreciate everything they do:

1. Eliminate the Bullies

Even careful hiring and screening procedures can fail occasionally, accidentally adding a bully or troublemaker into the employee mix.→ Read More

12 Traits That Make a Great Manager

January 30, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , /by

Great management is essential to your company’s bottom line, but leadership skills are often considered to be inborn. The fact is, though, that these attributes can all be identified and strengthened. Moreover, a skill set that accounts for over 70 percent of the variations in employee engagement scores should not be left to each manager’s instinctive talents. While you probably rely on your own familiar set of great management skills, it never hurts to itemize what you’re already doing. If you’re still on a learning curve, these 12 traits can supply a roadmap to professional excellence.→ Read More

Understanding Why Employees Quit

January 23, 2018 /4 Comments/in , , /by

Knowing what makes employees quit — and then heading off those problems — is the goal of every HR department. While you’ll never be able to avoid individual events that disrupt the lives of workers and their families, it’s helpful to have an overview of preventable causes for employee churn. People leave jobs for several classic reasons, according to Harvard Business Review, all of which are somewhat predictable. The key is to understand each reason well enough to defuse it with a proactive intervention.→ Read More

What Female Employees Really Want in the Workplace

January 18, 2018 /0 Comments/in , , /by

This is not the 1960s, but it’s difficult to convince many female employees who function within outdated corporate Human Resources policies. The policies read like a military manifesto by describing rigid schedules and failing to mention recognition and reward systems or establishing promotion policies favoring men. The HR policies form the unforgiving backbone of an organizational culture that disengages the modern woman, even as the organization struggles to understand why it cannot meet gender diversity workforce goals, has difficulty with recruiting and hiring talented and skilled women and is challenged with low female employee retention rates.→ Read More

10 Irresistible Company Perks for the New Year

January 9, 2018 /8 Comments/in , /by

In a recent survey of millennials, more than 30 percent said that they’d like their workplace to be “more fun” – and this element seems to be in short supply. Survey respondents noted that “fun and humor” were job aspects for which daily reality fell far short of their wishes. In order to entice and retain the most talented workers in today’s competitive job market, it’s important to come up with company perks that will add fun to your environment. Here are 10 amazing possibilities that could make your employer brand sparkle in the new year:

1.→ Read More

Top 5 Company Missions and Values

January 4, 2018 /0 Comments/in , /by

Keeping employees engaged is vital for the health of your company, but it’s not a simple task that you can just scribble at the bottom of your to-do list. Your employees respond in complex emotional ways to the culture of your company, and the more positive and well-defined that culture is, the more they will feel they belong. Missions and values articulated through mission statements define a company’s identity right from the moment of its founding. When shared widely, these expressions of an organization’s purpose are an incredibly powerful tool for creating and focusing employee loyalty.→ Read More

Understanding the Power Behind Employee Happiness

December 27, 2017 /2 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

You likely know that people don’t perform as well when they’re feeling disengaged or distracted, but you may not realize how pervasive a problem this is in today’s workplace. How happy are your employees? Is employee happiness at a low or a high? The latest Gallup poll (collected from over 80,000 workers) on employee engagement tells a dismal story. In 2015, only 32 percent of workers say they’re “engaged” at their jobs. Over 50 percent say they’re “not engaged,” while another 17 percent state that they are “actively disengaged.” Furthermore, this data has shown no significant change since Gallup first started this annual poll in 2000, so the problem is persistent.→ Read More

7 Holiday Ways to Spread Employee Appreciation

November 16, 2017 /0 Comments/in , , , , /by

While you may do your best to spread seasonal cheer and appreciation, it’s important to keep in mind that this time of year is not all sparkles and snowflakes for your staff. Many of them will be trying to balance holiday schedules and family complications while feeling added stress due to end-of-year work tasks. Furthermore, absences and vacations often leave big holes in staffing right when the duties are most intense. With only 34.1 percent of employees engaged at work without the distractions associated with the holidays, don’t be surprised if the holidays bring a decline in productivity and a decrease in employee engagement.→ Read More

13 Scary Employee Engagement and Recognition Stats That Will Spook You This Halloween

October 3, 2017 /0 Comments/in , , /by

Are you haunted by worries that your best people might quit right before a key deadline? Does lack of team alignment keep you awake at night? Don’t let the tentacles of leadership doubt creep into your brain during hours when you should be rejuvenating. Read through these thirteen hair-raising employee engagement and recognition statistics below and banish any lurking shadows from your company culture.

1. Workers Are Still Rewarded Just for Existing

In a scary throwback to the mid-twentieth century, 87 percent of employee recognition programs center on how long the person has been at the company.→ Read More

Why More Vacation Time Will Make Your Employees (and Your Company) Healthier

August 17, 2017 /2 Comments/in , , , , , /by

Do you encourage employees to take vacation time? You should. Taking time off is the secret to increased productivity. If you ask a job candidate about his or her biggest flaw, chances are good they’ll say that they tend to work too hard. This isn’t just a convenient way to elude a difficult question; it’s probably the absolute truth. Furthermore, even though it might seem like this excessive diligence will contribute to your company’s productivity, the truth is that such excess work habits are harmful to employee happiness and to your company culture as well.→ Read More

The Secret Ingredients of an Amazing Company Culture

June 8, 2017 /0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

If you were asked about your top priorities as a manager, how would you answer? Increasing productivity would probably be first on your list, along with steady company growth, low employee turnover, seamless teamwork, and high employee engagement — after all, most businesses share similar goals.

However, you might not have considered developing an excellent company culture among your top-tier priorities, even though it is the foundation for every one of your key goals. When focusing on creating an amazing company culture, you will discover that other elements of business success fall into place organically.→ Read More

Why Millennials Want Coaches, Not Managers

March 30, 2017 /12 Comments/in , , , , /by

Your workforce is increasingly made up of millennials; this is unsurprising – they’re the ones with the most contemporary skills, and with each passing year they become a larger percentage of the working world. With close to 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day, millennials now represent the largest subset of America’s workforce. Approaching these younger workers with the attitude and expectations of a coach, rather than the antiquated characteristics of a traditional “boss,” is key to maintaining their engagement.→ Read More

Top 5 Ways to Boost Employee Morale

March 23, 2017 /3 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

Are you one of those bosses who feels their employees should simply be happy to have a job at all? Unfortunately, some supervisors really do feel this way, particularly when the job market is tight. However, it’s an expensive point of view to maintain, especially in an economy that is nearing full employment: Discouraged employees are 87 percent more likely to quit, and you’ll spend a minimum of 21 percent of an employee’s annual salary on a replacement. To avoid this unnecessary expense, follow these five simple tips on keeping employee morale high:

1.→ Read More

How to Identify and Retain Top Performers with Rewards and Recognition

March 9, 2017 /2 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Employee retention is a key goal for every company, but it’s important to drill down into this metric and make sure you’re doing a good job of identifying and keeping your top performers. These employees deliver 400 percent more productivity than the average worker, according to statistics published in Harvard Business Review (HBR). The researchers state, “Our workforce strategy goal should be to double down on retention tactics for high performers,” and further explain that, in many cases, managers aren’t meeting the needs of their top talent.→ Read More

4 Easy Tips to Instantly Engage your Employees

February 23, 2017 /7 Comments/in , , , /by

According to Bersin by Deloitte, “employee engagement” refers to, “An employee’s job satisfaction, loyalty and inclination to expend discretionary effort toward organizational goals.” The more engaged employees you have, the more positive results you will see – from both a bottom line and a corporate culture standpoint. It’s as simple as that. But as Gallup recently reported, a mere 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work! And it’s not that much better here in the U.S., where only one in three employees are engaged at work.→ Read More

What Rewards Do Employees Want Most?

February 14, 2017 /7 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

As a human resources professional or manager, you’re probably all-too familiar with the job-hopping ways of highly skilled employees who feel they can pick and choose the job they want. And that’s reflected in the fact that more than half of all business owners feel that competition for talent is stronger than it’s ever been. But there are a number of ways to attract and keep top talent, and to keep them happy and engaged while they’re with you. Offering an employee recognition and rewards program has proven to be one of the most effective ways to retain highly skilled workers and to build your company’s financial strength at the same time.→ Read More

Why Employees Love Social Recognition

January 5, 2017 /4 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

A business isn’t anything without its employees. So in order for your business to be successful in the long term, you have to ensure your employees are consistently performing at their best. How do you do that? By focusing on employee engagement. According to Gallup, “Companies with engaged employees outperform those without by 202 percent.”

But how can you move the needle on employee engagement? One of the best and most effective ways is through employee recognition programs. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Achievers, 44% of employees cited lack of recognition and engagement at their current employer as their reason to switch jobs in 2018, and 69% stated recognition and reward as a motivating factor to stay. → Read More

Turning New Hires into Engaged Employees – 3 Quick Tips for Success

December 22, 2016 /5 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Studies on turnover estimate that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it costs 6 to 9 months’ salary on average. For an employee making $40,000 a year, that’s $20,000 to $30,000 in recruiting and training expenses. Providing a competitive compensation and benefits package is important, but in today’s market, retention also requires making new hires feel engaged, aligned and connected from Day 1.

With this in mind, we offer three quick tips to think about when bringing people onboard your organization.→ Read More

How to Boost Employee Engagement During the Holiday Season

November 15, 2016 /1 Comment/in , , , , , , /by

Keeping your employees fully engaged during the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, is challenging. Workloads can get heavier as co-workers take time off. Employees are thinking about friends and family members who are off work for the holidays. Children are out of school, complicating scheduling. Employees must work extra hours in order to meet customer demands. Managers push their employees harder to meet year-end goals, yet often fail to give them adequate recognition. With only 13% of employees engaged worldwide, it’s especially important not to lose sight of employee appreciation and recognition during the stressful holiday season.→ Read More

How to Protect Your Company from High Employee Turnover

November 1, 2016 /0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Every manager and HR professional views employee turnover as a headache, but do you actually know how expensive and damaging it can be to your organization? Here’s a look at the dimensions of this complex problem and some tested managerial practices to alleviate it with long-term solutions.

The dimensions of the problem

Current statistics from Catalyst show that it costs an average of one-fifth of an employee’s salary to replace that person, which means that for a position paying $50,000 a year, your replacement costs will generally run over $10,000.→ Read More

How to Spot Who’s Going to Quit Next

October 25, 2016 /1 Comment/in , , , , , /by

Most of your company’s expenses are unavoidable, but employee attrition is one of the costs that you can have significant control over. Employee attrition can cost six to nine months’ worth of the departing worker’s salary, so it’s in your best interests to find ways to address employee attrition head-on. Of course it’s necessary to create a culture in your organization that makes people want to stay — but it’s equally important to be able to recognize which employee is planning to quit next.→ Read More

10 Scary HR Stats That’ll Make You Howl This Halloween

October 20, 2016 /1 Comment/in , , , , , , , , /by

Skeletons in closets, magic disappearing acts, and people masquerading as someone else: Is Halloween coming or is it just the normal everyday stuff of HR nightmares? This year, avoid spooky business in the office by brushing up on these important HR trends.

#1: Unsuccessful New Hires Haunting Your Halls

A recent survey by Leadership IQ reported that, “46 percent of newly hired employees will fail within 18 months.” Forty-six percent! And it isn’t that you read their resumes wrong or they falsified their background and experience — it’s that those new hires simply are not a good fit for your company.→ Read More

Why Work Culture Directly Impacts Employee Performance

October 18, 2016 /0 Comments/in , , , , , , , /by

A recent study from researchers at the University of Warwick, cited by Entrepreneur magazine, revealed that happiness makes people 12% more productive. Said the authors of the study, Professor Andrew Oswald and Dr. Daniel Sgroi from the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick:

“Companies like Google have invested more in employee support and employee satisfaction has risen as a result. For Google, it rose by 37%… Under scientifically controlled conditions, making workers happier really pays off.” Added Dr.

→ Read More

5 Insanely Great Company Perks That Will Draw Top Talent

October 6, 2016 /3 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Life would be simple if hiring the best people were only a matter of offering competitive pay. Incentive Magazine revealed employee benefits are more valuable than ever – according to MetLife’s 10th annual study of employee benefits trends, there is a strong relationship between satisfaction with benefits and overall job satisfaction. In today’s tight talent market, employers have to claim a unique position for their brand if they want to snag the top-tier candidates. Here are five compelling perks your business can use to make all your job openings magnetic.→ Read More

Top 7 Tips for Becoming a Better Manager

September 29, 2016 /0 Comments/in , , , , , , , /by

Bad managers cost businesses billions of dollars each year. According to Gallup, managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business units. Gallup also discovered that great managers tend to share the following traits: motivational, assertive, accountable, transparent, and makes decisions based on productivity, not politics. As a manager, your success depends on both your and other people’s efforts. To get the optimal performance from your team members and be the best manager you can be, follow these 7 tips:

1.→ Read More

12 Tips for Writing the Perfect Job Description

September 27, 2016 /1 Comment/in /by

What type of candidates are you trying to recruit for your open job positions — top-notch or just so-so? The way you present your open job positions to the world can make all the difference. As you tackle recruiting and hiring, keep these 12 recruiting tips in mind in order to draft the perfect job description and attract top talent.

1. Begin with the end in mind

Instead of beginning with a list of duties and expectations, start by picturing your ideal candidate and what your standard of success would be for their performance.→ Read More

10 Things a Good Manager Never Does

September 22, 2016 /1 Comment/in , , , , , , , , /by

According to a recent article in The Huffington Post, 3 out of 4 employees report that their manager is the worst and most stressful part of their job, and 50% of employees who don’t feel valued by their boss plan to look for another job in the next year. Don’t lose top talent because of poor management. We’ve compiled the top 10 things that leadership should never do if they want to keep their employees happy and engaged in the workplace.→ Read More

Top 5 Reasons Businesses Need Rewards and Recognition Programs

September 20, 2016 /1 Comment/in , , , , , /by

How do you handle rewards and recognition within your workforce? Has your company kept pace with current trends in HR and the widely recognized need for employee engagement programs? Most importantly, are you aware that 51% of employees are not happy at work and that, according to Gallup, fully 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged? It has been proven that engagement is crucial for business growth. Business2Community recently reported that organizations with highly engaged employees outperform those with low employee engagement by 202%.→ Read More

Social media feeds contribute to meaningful recognition

August 23, 2016 /0 Comments/in /by

Hi there, A Advisor,

I’ve been looking into some employee recognition programs for my company, and I notice that some of them resemble social media sites; they even have a newsfeed like Facebook or Twitter. If a recognition program operates like social media sites, I don’t see how my employees will take it seriously—won’t it just be a game? I want my employees to engage with our company’s values, and I don’t want them to recognize frivolously. What’s the benefit?

Sincerely,

All Work, No Play→ Read More

6 Tips to Tackle Performance Reviews for Managers and Employees

August 15, 2016 /4 Comments/in , , , , , /by

Employee performance reviews are often awkward and uncomfortable. Feedback, whether positive or critical, can be difficult to deliver or accept. Yet providing feedback to employees is an important way for a company’s leadership to guide the organization. Employees also want feedback; employee engagement increases when employees get more feedback, more frequently; and, they’re less likely to quit.

Tips for Managers

  1. Review expectations. Take a look at the feedback employees received last year, along with their self-appraisals and development plans.
  2. Evaluate performance.

→ Read More