Not defining your target audience

When you’re using social media as a marketing tool, you’re marketing to a certain demographic, so it’s important to define your target audience early on. You want to be able to concentrate your efforts on the customers that will be most interested in what you have to say and what you’re offering. 

If you put in the hard work into creating content and put it out into the world without first defining who it is you’re trying to target, you can’t be sure that it’s relevant to the people seeing it. This will simply lead to lacklustre results, so it’s a good idea to do the research before developing your strategy to ensure you’re posting content that will resonate with the people you’re trying to reach. 

Choosing the wrong channels

There are numerous platforms to choose from now, but a mistake that many people make when using social media for business is to try and target all of them. It’s far better to niche down and choose one or two channels to build a loyal and engaged following, rather than spreading yourself too thin across all of the platforms. 

Think about how the channel you’ve chosen aligns with your target audience and where your customers are likely to be found. These platforms should be your primary focus. For example, if you’re striving to create videos and visual content, TikTok and Instagram are a great option, while Facebook is better for the likes of tradespeople to provide updates about services or products as users use this channel as a social search engine.

Forgetting to engage

Social media requires two-way engagement. A mistake that a lot of businesses make is posting content and then neglecting to return to it, treating their page as a sounding board for the brand. However, social media should be used to build a dialogue and community, so when content is posted, it’s essential that you return to it to engage with users if they’ve left comments or asked questions. 

Take the time to respond to these messages, whether positive or negative and try to use these channels as an opportunity to strike up conversations with your followers. But it’s also important to be authentic and honest in your responses, while still being professional. Social users can sense inauthentic content a mile away, and it’s something that is incredibly important to customers, so it should be prioritized. 

Inconsistency

Inconsistency is a common problem for businesses who will post several times a day for a week or two, and then abandon their page for months before posting again. It can be difficult to build a loyal following with this strategy though, as your audience doesn’t know when to expect content from you. You need to be able to strike a balance between posting enough without posting too much and annoying your followers. 

There are best practices for specific platforms which you can use as a guide to ensure you’re posting enough to be seen and remain visible, without overdoing it. But quality also plays a key role here – don’t post just for the purpose of getting content on your page. Ensure that you’re posting content that is valuable and relevant to your audience. 

Final thoughts

Social media marketing is a process that can take time to refine, but the earlier you can break bad habits, the more effective your social strategy will be for your business. Having a good handle on the best practices when posting on different channels can help you gain the edge over your competitors and build your audience for greater success in your business, boosting conversions and building brand reputation. It’s never too late to correct the direction your social strategy is heading in and by avoiding these mistakes, you will benefit from better results going forward. 

The post 4 Common Social Media Strategy Mistakes to Avoid appeared first on PM Column.

Offboarding can play an important role in many areas of your business, from HR law compliance to cybersecurity, and even team morale. Despite this, 71% of businesses have no formal offboarding process in place. 

If your company is in the same position, you may not yet understand exactly why having an offboarding checklist could be beneficial. Here we take a look at some of the advantages of good offboarding practice, and what it can do for your organization. 

1. Learn more about your business

Many businesses fail to see the impact that offboarding has on their business, preferring instead to believe that it is just something they need to tick off as a legal requirement. However, when you consider the value that comes from knowing what your employees think about working for your company, and what could be improved, it becomes clear that offboarding is an opportunity for growth in your business.

If you don’t have an offboarding process in place then you are missing out on an opportunity to gather extremely valuable information about your business. The simple fact is that when employees come to leave a business they are able to be completely honest and open about working for the company, in a way that might not always be possible when they are employed.

Don’t think of this as a negative. This feedback – good or bad – can provide absolutely vital insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the business and help you to grow. If there is criticism about any aspect of the business, this should not be taken personally. It is just a fact that there may be some things that could be improved. 

As an employee leaves, they should have a chance to provide this information so that you can learn from their knowledge. In fact, when people leave a role they generally leave with fewer restrictions on what they are able to say.

2. Ensure no singular skills are lost

In most cases, there is some kind of exit interview that companies do with employees who were fired or who are leaving in order to find out what went wrong and to learn from the experience. However, offboarding shouldn’t stop there.

It is easy for things to slip between the cracks, especially when it comes to people leaving. You don’t want to find yourself in a position where an employee leaves the company, and next week you discover that they were the only person able to perform a particular function at the business. It is undoubtedly the case that many employees bring certain things to a role that may not be immediately obvious, or be listed in their job description.

As a part of good offboarding, you should go through the role with the employee and find out if there are elements of their job that only they do or pieces of information that only they have access to. In this case, to better manage the departure of employees, it is important to transfer the knowledge so that the company is able to maintain business as usual.

The best way to do this is by ensuring that everyone in your organization identifies, documents, and stores any knowledge (processes or people) that are critical to the success of your business. You can take things a step further and actually document how each employee interacts with other staff so you know who every individual works cross-functionally with, and their responsibilities within those interactions

3. Mitigating the cybersecurity risk

Businesses must now deal with an ever-changing and ever-growing array of threats. It is not possible for an organization to fully mitigate cyber threats — there is always a chance an attack will succeed. However, with the right processes in place, companies have been able to significantly reduce the costs and risks associated with cyber incidents.

No one wants to believe that former employees would ever do anything to harm their previous place of work, but it is a major and growing problem. A simple step in ensuring that all employee logins, credentials, and privileges are removed as soon as possible after the employee leaves the business is essential. Ideally, this should be done on the day of the employee leaving. 

“Disgruntled former employees that steal intellectual property or commit intentional sabotage are among the costliest threats to organizations,” says Simon Monahan, Product Marketing Director at Redscan “information at risk of being compromised by insider threats could include personal information relating to employees and customers, intellectual property, financial records, and details about company security controls”. 

Former employees that still have access to their accounts functionally have a way into data and information that no one outside the organization should have access to. This is something that a good offboarding procedure completely eliminates. 

4. End things in a positive way

Offboarding gives you the chance to ensure that the employee leaves on a positive note, with them feeling good about the organization that they are leaving behind, and having the possibility that they could return, or remain on good terms with the company.

Offboarding may be a bit different for every organization. However, there is an ultimate goal that every organization wishes to achieve when they are conducting their offboarding strategy: they want the employee leaving to feel as good about the company as when he or she started, if not better. That being sad, onboarding an employee must show respect for a person.

Without this step in the process, a former employee can end up seeing the company in a negative light for not appreciating their work.

Final thoughts

Having a proper offboarding policy in place can not only limit problems from employees leaving, but it can make everyone involved feel better about the concept. Other employees see that those leaving are treating with respect, and get the send-off they deserve. The former employee feels that they have been appreciated where they work, and think about the company in a positive light. 

Employee offboarding is something that everyone in the organization should be aware of, but it’s also an area of HR that is frequently misunderstood. Even small changes or tweaks to your process can make a huge difference. By making sure that you have the proper HR offboarding procedure in place, you’ll ensure that your talent costs are lower, that you maintain secure access to company resources and information, and that you can get back to focusing on growing your business as opposed to managing employees who are leaving.

The post How Better Offboarding Process Can Benefit Your Business appeared first on PM Column.

Empowering the team is one of the smartest things a leader can do. Even better, if it can be replicated throughout the company so that the benefits can be felt by everyone. Genuine empowerment is a win/win/win situation. Leaders learn to delegate effectively, allowing them to refocus their attention where it counts. Employees become engaged and motivated to perform above and beyond, and company performance reaps huge benefits as a result.

When we talk about empowerment, we mean unlocking the potential of team members at every level. It’s about creating the right workplace culture where individuals are free to voice opinions, experiment and take action. It’s about creating a framework in which people feel safe to contribute, knowing their efforts are fully supported and truly valued.

Here are ten empowerment tips that every leader should practice on a daily basis:

1. Building trust

A team without trust is a handicapped team. It doesn’t matter how skilled or experienced people are, they are unlikely to reach their full potential in terms of innovation, collaboration, creative thinking, and productivity, if they feel they have to keep watching their back. As a leader, it’s up to you to show your staff that they have your trust. Delegate responsibilities and give your team members ‘freedom within a framework’, establishing adaptable parameters that give a sense of control and ownership.

2. Communicating clear goals

As a manager and team leader, it is your chief responsibility to share the vision, convey the objectives, define the roles, and set clear expectations for everyone involved. A successful team must be on the same page, with a unified purpose and focus, for it to perform at its peak. If employees are not clear about what they are supposed to be doing, it is little wonder that they won’t be able to accomplish what’s required. Whether your team is office-based or working remotely, effective communication is key.

3. Encouraging self-improvement

Mentoring programs, continuing education, professional development, and enrichment opportunities are different ways that your team members can be supported to learn new skills. Actively invest in the career potential and personal growth of your employees and give them the tools to become more knowledgeable. Allowing individuals to leave early once a week, for instance, for choir practice or to obtain a vocational qualification will do wonders for their wellbeing, work ethic, and company loyalty.

4. Making time to chat

Regular catch-ups with your team members are essential for building strong bonds. Make a habit of having one-to-one chats every week/month, whether in the office, in the canteen or at the local coffee shop. Make a point of asking them how they’re getting on in their job but also take an interest in their personal life. Showing that you really care about your employee’s wellbeing makes them feel valued as individuals which, in turn, leads to a more congenial and productive office environment.

5. Having an open-door policy

Approachable managers welcome input from their team members, and the best way to encourage them to voice their opinions is to keep your office door open, literally. Implemented successfully and within a workable framework, this is a simple yet powerful gesture that communicates your commitment to listening to ideas and suggestions coming from your team. Everyone feels empowered to step forward and play an active part in the company.

6. Sharing, not just delegating

Delegating work tasks is one thing, but communication shouldn’t stop there – it’s not a single track exercise. Include team members in important meetings, perhaps asking someone to give a presentation or take the lead on occasion. Share client contact and project successes, and praise individual team members’ efforts beyond the immediate team. Empowerment is a multifaceted concept aimed at demonstrating to employees that they have a real effect on the business.

7. Promoting out-of-the-box thinking

The freedom to think creatively comes from a sense of safety and validation. Empower your team to think of innovative, different ways to approach problems and trust the minds around you to come up with and share business solutions that may be a much better way to do things. They do say that teamwork makes the dream work, so give them the opportunity for some left-field thinking.

8. Being flexible and compassionate

In many workplace scenarios, work does not necessarily have to happen between 9 am and 5 pm. Everyone has personal commitments that don’t always dovetail with traditional office hours, and employers need to recognize and sympathize with the juggling act that many employees are having to undergo on a daily basis. There are many flexible working options that could square the circle including flexible hours and Working From Home (WFH) arrangements that may lead to improved productivity and greater wellbeing among your staff.

9. Insisting on time off work

Rest and relaxation is an essential part of a balanced working life. As a manager, it is your responsibility to actively ensure that every team member has sufficient time off to recharge their batteries. Vigilantly guard against toxic work cultures based on presenteeism and macho working practices, and look out for early signs of burnout among your team members. Productivity and performance depend on a healthy work-life balance.

10. Showing gratitude

Finally, don’t forget to say thank you for a job well done. Everyone likes to be praised for their efforts and there’s nothing like a pat on the back to put a smile on someone’s face and a spring in their step. Showing your appreciation can take many forms, from team awards to social outings, extra time off, or financial rewards. One thing is certain, team members who feel valued and appreciated in their job will not only continue to achieve, they will happily stay on for the long term.

Read more on the topic:

• 9 Expert Tips to Engage Employees in Innovation
• 8 Employee Engagement Best Practices for a More Robust Year
• 20+ Conflict Resolution Strategies to Fit Any Need
  

The post Daily Team Empowerment in a Nutshell appeared first on PM Column.

Offering virtual work opportunities can be a huge draw for businesses but dealing with staff in various locations can feel like a challenge for employers. Luckily, there are ways to use resource scheduling software to see the big picture and adopt management methodologies to ensure your team works cohesively and that performance doesn’t suffer as a result of not working in the office. Here are six tips to help boost the performance and productivity of your remote workers and keep everyone happy, wherever they are working from. 

1. Host regular meetings with staff

Just because staff is remote doesn’t mean that you have to skip the usual structures of the working week. This includes meetings and check-ins as a team. Engaging with your remote workers on a regular basis through group meetings or one-to-ones will ensure that communication is maintained and that everyone is on the same page regarding projects and tasks. 

It can be beneficial to host virtual meetings at the same time each week so that everyone knows to be prepared and present for greater organization. Video conferencing tools like Zoom make it easier than ever to hold meetings together regardless of where each individual is located. This will help to maintain performance within the team and keep everyone in the loop as to where projects are at. 

2. Encourage social interaction (virtually)

Independent work from home can become lonely over time, which impacts performance and job satisfaction. It can also put a strain on team dynamics because the ability to get to know your colleagues is harder. But as a manager, something you can do to ease this is to encourage your employees to interact socially, not just for work. 

Perhaps you could suggest that they have virtual lunches where they can put work aside for an hour each day and get to know one another. Or have a group on Slack where everyone can chat normally on breaks, separate from projects and meetings, to help everyone relax and feel connected even when distanced. Fostering a great workplace culture, even from a remote perspective, is paramount when it comes to keeping staff happy, motivated and productive. 

3. Stay result-oriented when working from home

A result-oriented culture is a sure-fire way to boost performance and help everyone in the team feel accountable for the work they produce. Within the team, ensure that you have your own set of goals and targets, within the wider scope of the business as a whole, so that each employee knows what they are working towards. 

There are tools to help you track time and maintain clear deadlines, such as Toggl or Asana, but really productivity comes from the results you achieve rather than how many hours you’ve ticked off each day. It helps to foster a culture of accountability that encourages everyone to keep working, even when there’s not someone standing over their shoulder.

4. Keep the lines of communication open

Nothing slows down productivity quite like not having access to the right information when working from home. But while your employees may not be in the office physically, you can still provide them with all the information they need to do their job properly. Having a central source of information for everyone to access, whether it’s Google Drive, Dropbox or another tool for storing documents, will ensure that no-one is held up waiting on someone else for information. But it’s also key to keep the lines of communication open. 

Check-in regularly through email or messenger services to ensure everyone is OK and projects are progressing as they should. By ensuring regular communication is in place, staff will be able to raise issues comfortably, ask questions when they need to and trust that someone will be there for them if they need help with something. 

5. Encourage productivity with rewards

Employee engagement and recognition is important in any workplace culture, but it’s especially key if your staff work remotely. Engagement can quickly decline if people don’t feel like they are part of a wider organization and are being recognized for their efforts and when people aren’t in your field of vision each day, it can be easy to forget and get side-tracked. 

There are tools available that help to ensure that engagement is maintained even with remote teams and that there is a strong rewards system in place to enrich the culture of the business and boost productivity. By rewarding your staff for their hard work, they will be more likely to maintain high standards every day and ensure that their performance is up to scratch. 

6. Schedule personal development meetings

We all work better when we have something to work towards, whether it’s a small goal or a larger ambition. Remote workers still crave this level of engagement and drive, so it’s important that you maintain meetings throughout the year with staff to work on development plans. 

From online training to booking workshops or providing staff with the tools they need to improve their work on a daily basis, there are many ways to support the development of your staff. It’s wise to invest time once per quarter or at least twice per year in having a one-to-one video call where each of you can discuss what’s going well, what needs more improvement, and where you both see the role going.

It will give your employees a chance to talk about areas they’d like to progress their career into and what they’d like the chance to work on, as well as give you both the opportunity to outline clear goals. It’s also a great way of maintaining high performance from your staff, as they will feel valued and respected within the organization.

7. Final thoughts on work from home

Conditions under lockdown are unlike anything businesses have experienced in the past – but the same is also true for employees. Companies must do everything they can to make it easier for workers to work from home and carry out their tasks remotely.

Read more tips & tricks for project managers:

• How to Hold an Effective Stand-up Meeting
• Is Agile Good For Personal Development?
• A Trio of Powerful Soft Skills Often Overlooked by Project Managers
• How Many Projects Is Too Many?
  

The post Work From Home: 6 Lockdown Lessons for Managers appeared first on PM Column.

What is employee engagement?

More than just how satisfied or happy an employee is in their job, employee engagement refers to the level of enthusiasm and investment in the business as a whole. One is considered to be ‘engaged’ when they have a positive outlook about the organization.

Why is employee engagement important?

The simple fact is that when employees are engaged with their business, they perform well. A disengaged employee might just be doing the minimum they can at work, or may even be acting this way deliberately. But in any case, organizations with high employee engagement tend to outperform those with low employee engagement. 

Employee engagement ideas that pay off

In 2020, this trend will continue to grow so it’s important that your company takes the issue seriously. Here are eight great tips to help your business improve employee engagement throughout the year. 

1. Offer benefits that millennials and Gen Z employees actually want

Your business may well offer benefits, but if you want to improve employee engagement in 2020 you need to ensure those benefits are the kind that your workers want. With millennials and Generation Z now constituting a huge percentage of the workforce, employers need to tap into what these generations want in order to get more from them.

For example, knowing that younger generations have a greater passion for travel and activities outside of work, it can be a great idea to offer sabbaticals. 

2. The personal touch

One of the drivers of employee engagement is the feeling of being valued not just as workers, but as human beings. This means that managers and directors need to keep it personal. 

Often it is the little things that make a big difference. Saying thank you with a compliment slip is a great example of a strategy that businesses are increasingly using to promote a personal touch between managers and employees. And there are many things you can be doing to treat a member of staff as an individual.

3. Push opportunities for career growth

If you want employees to engage with your business, give them a path to grow. It doesn’t need to be enormous promotions or pay rises – often if staff feel like they are being trained and gaining additional skills, this can make them feel more positive towards the organization.

Additionally, consider promotions easier by having levels of seniority and a defined way to grow in the company. 

4. Promote wellness in the workplace

In 2020, we can expect to see businesses continue to push the idea of wellness at work. Considering how many hours employees spend in the workplace, it is important that the working environment gives them the chance to stay fit and healthy. 

5. Put a focus on mental as well as physical health

Remember that ‘wellness’ is about much more than just whether your employees have good posture or use a free gym membership. In 2020 we are thankfully beginning to see organizations take a more serious attitude towards the mental health of staff and ensuring that the workplace is not stressful or contributing to issues such as anxiety. 

This couldn’t be more timely, as a recent study revealed that 39 per cent of workers say that they have experienced a work-related mental health issue over the past year. When staff feel that they are working for a company that has their best interests at heart, the engagement levels improve. 

6. Offer flexible working

It increasingly makes sense to offer a flexible working policy in your business. If there is no need to set specific hours or no specific benefit to have staff traveling into an office every day, this change can actually not only be positive for your business, but it can seriously boost employee engagement.

As staff lead increasingly complicated lives with interests and activities outside of work, it is a great idea to give them the chance to work flexibly and fit their professional lives around their free time. 

Read more: A Four-Day Working Week: The Pros & Cons

7. Be a company that cares

More and more people are going the extra mile in their personal lives to live more sustainably. So, it can be very frustrating for employees to work for a company that doesn’t seem to share those values.

To really engage with your staff, be a company that cares about the environment. Make green changes to your business and show them off to your employees. This can really help people to feel that their place of work matches their commitments to positive change.

8. Provide more interesting work

One of the most common reasons why employees leave positions is that they feel underutilized at work and they believe that they aren’t doing anything interesting. This shows that many staff members actually crave the opportunity to take on more complex and difficult tasks because they want what they do to be stimulating, challenging, and interesting. 

If there are members of your team who do the same tasks constantly and don’t have the chance to push themselves, they can be some of the least engaged with your business. If you can provide more interesting work that challenges them, it can make a huge difference. 

The above employee engagement strategies, especially used in combination, can be a great start to boost everyone’s desire to work at full capacity, contributing more energy to your business. Continue reading How to Foster Employee Innovation, in Interviews to learn more from the experts.

The post 8 Employee Engagement Best Practices for a More Robust Year appeared first on PM Column.

While that may sound great – an extra day off before the weekend – how practical would it actually be? Would a four-day working week really be beneficial, or would it become more of a hindrance over the long run?

We’re here to answer both these questions and more, taking a look at the various advantages and disadvantages of implementing a four-day week at work. Let’s dive right in. 

Pro – Reduced costs

We start with a fairly obvious benefit – less time in the office means fewer overhead costs which, in turn, will save businesses money. It’ll save employee money too since, by not needing to be in the office every day, they’ll be able to cut down on commuting, lunch, and coffee break costs. 

Plus, employees will be doing the same amount of work over a shorter time period so, if anything, businesses will be spending less money to get the same output, while benefitting their employees at the same time – a win-win all around. 

Con – Not always suitable

One of the major downsides with adopting a four-day workweek is that it’s not suitable for every type of business. 

Since the five-day working week is now so conditioned into society, many businesses have no choice but to work five days a week to keep on top of clients and their workload. As such, four-day workweeks only really work in organizations that are able to re-adapt their working structure – not all businesses can give their staff a day off each week simply because they want to. 

Pro – Increased productivity

It turns out that working less really is more. 

As New Zealand’s financial services firm Perpetual Guardian proved last year, a four-day working week can seriously increase employee productivity, despite having less time available to get work done. 

During their six-week trial, run in collaboration with the University of Auckland, the firm found that productivity levels increased by 20%, and that their staff had a better attitude towards completing their work. They also found that shorter workweek employees were better motivated to cut down on lost time, shortening meetings and telling colleagues to go away when they were being distracting. 

Con – Longer hours = extra stress

Inevitably, employers aren’t going to be thrilled at the prospect of paying employees the same salary for spending less time at work. Therefore, fitting a 40-hour working week into just four days will require staff members to work longer hours each day. 

While some people may not have a problem with that, working long hours every day could eventually lead to burnout and work fatigue. It could also leave employees struggling to keep up, causing them stress when trying to get everything done in time. 

Pro – Happier employees

Going back to Perpetual Guardian’s research, the New Zealand-based firm also found that, following their trial, 78% of employees could more effectively balance their work and home life. This marked a 22% improvement from the beginning of the experiment, proving that a four-day workweek can lead to happier employees. 

This increase is most likely due to the fact that, by having a three-day weekend, employees will have more free time to get stuff done and enjoy the things they love. Now, who wouldn’t want that?

Pro – Less sick days

One of the biggest positives of implementing a four-day workweek is the impact it has on employee health. In fact, doing so is thought to be an effective solution to the rising issue of mental health in the workplace. 

It can also substantially reduce the number of sick days that employees take each year. Take Pursuit Marketing for example – since implementing a four-day workweek back in 2016, the Glasgow-based marketing firm has seen sickness leave plummet to an all-time low and workplace productivity increase by 30%. 

Plus, with the savings businesses can make in terms of overhead costs, staff members could be offered discounted gym membership to further improve their health, wellbeing and lifestyle. 

Is a four-day working week feasible?

Four-day working weeks are a dream situation for a lot of people, and research only seems to highlight their benefits. From increased productivity levels and fewer sick days, to happier staff and reduced costs, it’s difficult to deny how advantageous they can be. 

While yes, they may not be right for every type of business, and yes, they can increase employee workload, giving employees the flexibility to decide for themselves how and when they want to work could be an effective solution. 

As Vouchercloud’s 2017 study proved, the average employee only spends 2 hours and 53 minutes each day working productively, so what’s the harm in implementing a method that could improve that? In today’s day and age, businesses need to be pro-active in recognizing what research says and acting on it accordingly. No employer wants to have unmotivated staff after all, intentionally taking days off sick to get some time to themselves – it’s just not a constructive work model to have. 

Thanks to technology, the working world is now changing for the better. But with that, businesses need to avoid getting left behind, by realizing that the traditional five-day workweek no longer works in the same way it used to. It’s time for a refresh. 

The post A Four-Day Working Week: The Pros & Cons appeared first on PM Column.