Technology is an essential part of any modern business or organization today. Your employees might use technology with the expectation it will enhance their productivity, improve work-life balance, and ultimately make their jobs easier. Of course, not providing your employees with the right technology/resources—or failing to leverage them to enhance the employee experience—could lead to retention problems. Supporting your employees in their endeavors and instilling confidence when it comes to working. It’s part of your role as a manager. Some of it can be accomplished by motivating and working with them directly. Other times, technology tools can help you readily accomplish your goals while actively enhancing the employee experience. In this article, we’ll discuss five essential tech tools and resources that can help you do that.
Learning and Training Platforms
If there’s one thing employees want from their company, it’s the opportunity to learn and grow within the organization. Using online learning platforms is good for employees in every way. It helps to create a magnificent culture of learning, increasing both employee engagement and motivation in the process. Engaged employees who are learning relevant new skills and being trained effectively are more likely to be engaged and happy at the workplace. Once they implement what they’ve learned, they become valuable assets to the organization. With an accessible online learning platform, HR can also keep track of important training initiatives on top of the already-amazing learning opportunities such software provides. With well-trained employees and a demonstrable learning program, it’s easier than ever to get employees up to speed and help them become more advanced at your company.
Performance Management and Development
There’s an old saying you’ve probably seen splashed across the web and in various books: “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” More than three-quarters of employees actually do leave a job due to poor management at some point throughout their career. Sometimes, workers might even spend a lot more time with our coworkers than we do with family or friends. Employees are not always going to like each other and sometimes there will definitely be conflicts that arise. When these types of problems occur, company management steps in to facilitate the resolution process. This can be done by either having an open conference between the parties involved or by facilitating discussions between each individual. By allowing employees to resolve their own issues you are providing them with ownership over their workplace and showing them that you trust them to make positive decisions on their own. In addition, when employees experience success in resolving their own problems it has a dramatically positive effect on morale and retention. Performance management works as much more than a means to handle disciplinary action, though. It can be an active way to plan, monitor, assess, train, and develop employees into high-performing cogs in the machine of your organization. Using it effectively is critical and should be part of any manager’s evaluation process in the future.
Pulse Surveys
Surveys can be useful for gauging and understanding employee sentiment. Pulse surveys are a really good way to get feedback from employees on a variety of topics. Organizations can use them to assess employee satisfaction, engagement, and motivation. Pulse surveys can also help identify areas where improvement is needed. By using pulse surveys at work, employers can gain valuable insight into the thoughts and feelings of their employees. Pulse surveys are easy to administer, practically automated, and (most importantly) they’re short and sweet. Using them to gauge employee sentiment at work is an effective means of empowering your employees through technology tools.
Employee Recognition
Recognition doesn’t just help the individual being recognized; it also helps create a positive environment for everyone by making people feel supported by others on their team. People tend to work harder when they know others will notice and appreciate what they’ve accomplished, so recognizing employee accomplishments through a recognition program is critical to making your employees successful. Employee recognition ultimately provides a sense of accomplishment with their careers, leading to higher engagement. When employees feel like they have put in enough hard work and feel accomplished, it makes them want to continue working at your company because they are engaged and happy with their job. When an employee has high engagement levels, it can lead to better customer relationships as well as higher productivity levels for both themselves and for coworkers around them. It all works together in harmony to help them be the best they can be.
Onboarding Tech
When employees join a new company, it’s important to get off on the right foot. They need to get the most out of your first day and beyond and be empowered to make a good impression on their new co-workers. It’s also vital for them to enjoy your job. The best way to do that is get started during the onboarding process. Onboarding is critical to any employee’s time at a company. The onboarding period (which includes everything from the time of the offer through an employee’s first few months or year) is an opportunity for employers to train effectively. They can teach their new hires about company culture, values, and policies in real-time, ultimately preparing them for success. A successful onboarding program will not only help employees feel more welcome at their new jobs. It’s also key to set expectations for how they should create value at the organization. Technology is the best way to get the onboarding process right every time. Be sure to utilize a robust onboarding program (like Workday or many of the other great programs out there) to ensure your employees are ready from the get-go.
