Category: Employer Branding

Employer Branding HR policies
Employee On boarding – Optional or a Business Imperative

Employee On boarding is a formal procedure to integrate a new employee in the system or culture of the organization. It has many aspects like compliance, culture, communication, goal setting, and trainings to name a few. Why we need a formal on boarding process, can we not just assign a buddy and get away with it. In this article we will focus on the WHY aspect of employee on boarding.

Many of us must have visited local nursery for buying new plants. Being a huge fan of gardening, I always get a lot of plants from nursery. I am always very impressed to witness how all the plants are maintained so well, healthy, lush green and in full bloom. I think it is the outcome of hard work of gardener who has taken care of plants and the plants who have adapted well to that particular environment & flourished. I purchased a very healthy looking plant and bought it home, hoping it will continue to bloom in the same way.

After few days, I observed my healthy looking plant had started shedding its leaves for first few weeks. This got me worried, I continued providing it the right kind of soil, water, sunlight & care.

As time passed, I realized that it’s the old leaves that are shedding and they are gradually replaced by tiny new ones. After few weeks of nurturing, the new leaves started growing larger in size, resembling the ones in the local nursery. Now I was happy to see that my hard work of taking care of the plant had started showing results and plant had started adapting to its new environment. It was now strong enough to take care of itself if provided with the basic needs of right soil, water & sunlight.

“Human Beings are Plants with complex emotions”

Let us compare above episode with employee on boarding. So as they say “Human Beings are nothing but plants with complex emotions”. When we hire a new employee, we are getting a candidate from outside system into our system. The employee on boarding process helps the transition of a candidate into employee first and later on into a team player/contributor.

During the entire on boarding process, we help the candidate to shed his old learning or methods from the previous organization and adapt to the new culture or environment. The new learning are majorly related to compliance, company, culture, new skills & new goals/milestones to be achieved.

Thus, employee on boarding is not something which is optional but is a business imperative. Especially during the covid times a thorough employee on boarding process can prove to be a great boon to the organizations.

To overcome the challenges of virtual team hiring and managing, more & more companies are investing time and efforts in a robust employee on boarding process. If you find today’s article useful. Please subscribe to our blog – https://forms.gle/VHLNYzVoys4HbNfR9 if you wish to receive such articles regularly in your inbox or visit our blog www.acesai.in/blog

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Employer Branding HR policies Staffing & Recruitments
5 Essentials to achieve workforce diversity

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Diversity & inclusion, has many dimensions. It can be diversity & inclusion of different thought processes, inclusion of more women in the workforce or D&I of employees  from diverse cultures, race, geography, country etc. etc. There are many organizations talking about it. However when it comes to implementation, very few who are genuinely doing it. Reason because it’s not easy to develop a D&I culture.  

In today’s article, I’ve listed out 5 steps to follow, in order to  to hire and retain diversity workforce.

“Diversity is mix, Inclusion is making the mix work” – Andres Tapia

  1. Create Organizational Awareness about D&I: Hiring new employees from diverse background without creating acceptance among existing employees can lead to discrimination. Hence it is very important to create awareness about the advantages of D&I among the existing employees. To let this idea sink in across all levels, conduct D&I awareness training by hiring a Diversity & Inclusion Manager/engaging an External Consultant.

 

  1. Revisit the existing HR policy: Sometimes unknowingly an HR policy may have some elements which create bias. Review the existing HR Policy thoroughly to make sure there is no bias in interviewing process, on-boarding process and so on.

 

  1. Include it in your Employer Branding: Let the prospect candidates know that you are an equal opportunity employer that believes in diverse & inclusive culture by including it in employer branding message on all platforms.

 

  1. Create job descriptions that invite applicants from diverse background: A company wishes to hire employees from diverse background. However, the Job Descriptions are designed around technical skills and some generic soft skills. This fails to attract applicants from diverse backgrounds. Modify the JD and eliminate words/points which are unknowingly introducing a bias and preventing applicants from diverse backgrounds.

 

  1. Continuous Improvement: Developing a diverse & inclusive culture is not a quick fix. Like all other good skills in life, its an ongoing process of learning from past mistakes and improving.

 

To survive and thrive in this crisis situation, diversity & collaboration is the key. Companies need diverse clients, diverse products/services, an agile society  and diverse & inclusive workforce. Hope your found today’s article useful.
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Employer Branding HR policies Staffing & Recruitments
5 Benefits of Diversity in the Workforce

Diversity is very important in the workforce. Diversity not only in the academic background but diversity related to gender, cultural and geographical background, etc, can have a very positive impact on the organization.

In the current Covid19 situation, with increasing work from home, the location of an employee has become less significant. It is the right time to introduce diversity in the workforce, we can interview candidates from different locations virtually and they can work from their respective locations. Thus introducing cultural, geographical, and gender diversity in the workforce.

Diversity and inclusion start with introducing more women in the workforce, hiring candidates from different cultures & geographies, retired defense veterans, etc in the workforce. Why introduce diversity?  In today’s article, I’ve summarized some key benefits of introducing diversity in your workforce.

According to a Mckinsey report businesses run by culturally diverse leadership are more likely to introduce more new products than a homogeneous leadership.

  1. Availability of larger talent pool: A large talent pool of qualified candidates becomes available, once the organization plans to hire a workforce with diversity. This can reduce the duration of hiring and improve the quality of hire.
  2. Enhance your employer brand and retention: Having an inclusive workforce is a great tool to attract and retain diverse talent. It demonstrates strong company values and thus enhancing the employer brand.
  3. Foster a culture of Innovation: Workforce coming from diverse backgrounds also brings along with them diverse perspectives. Research says diverse teams are more innovative. According to a Mckinsey report businesses run by culturally diverse leadership are more likely to introduce more new products than a homogeneous leadership.
  4. Increase the client base:  Having a diverse workforce increases the capability of the organization to understand the needs of clients from different cultures, geographies, markets, etc. Having an inclusive workforce creates an overall good impression of the brand. Thus leading to an increase in business opportunities.
  5. Increase in overall profitability: It is observed that companies having a diverse workforce tend to be more profitable compared to companies without one. However, if you are a beginner for diversity & inclusion, start introducing it in gradual small steps in order to make it sustainable long term.

 

To survive and thrive in this crisis situation, companies need diverse clients, diverse products, functional society, and a diverse & inclusive workforce. Hope your found today’s article useful.
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Employer Branding HR policies Staffing & Recruitments Team Work
Top 5 Pillars to Build a Strong Employer Brand

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Employer Branding, whenever we hear this, we think of a cleverly crafted message to attract talent, fancy videos showing happy employees and happy workplace, career/social media pages on which is in line with the employer brand message, etc.

Employer branding means to be an employer of choice first, to create a great employee experience and later communicating it in a compelling manner via different mediums. Companies who get this right are extremely successful in drawing the best talent towards them and thus creating exponential growth.

There is nothing wrong with the marketing your employer brand, but this activity should be done after /in parallel with building a solid foundation for employee experience. Great branding with a poor foundation is a recipe for failure.

“Strong Foundation = Strong Brand “

In this article, I will highlight the 5 pillars of building a foundation for a strong and long-lasting employee experience/employer brand.

  • Solid HR Systems & Processes: Employee experience starts with a candidate who decides to apply for a job with your company. A systematic process designed keeping in mind employee experience, without losing the sight of the company’s vision is very important. Strong HR systems and processes right from hiring, onboarding, performance management system, etc is the first pillar for a strong employer brand.

 

  • Meaningful Employee Engagement: This involves meaningful involvement with peers and seniors to foster a culture of innovation. Top employers like Toyota, Google, etc have a system of discussing and documenting innovative ideas right from senior management, middle level to Front liners. They have a system to document, implement, and appreciate the innovative ideas of front liners. Of course, not all companies have a budget to support innovation on that scale, however meaningful employee engagement activities, where they get a sense that they are contributing to the larger vision of the company, increases employee satisfaction index to a great extent. Meaningful employee engagement which leads to growth and learning of both employee and employer is the second pillar.

 

  • Transparency in Communication: A Company is an ecosystem, with a variety of employees coming from different backgrounds. Every employee has something unique to offer to the company based on their education, background, experience, culture, etc. Open door policy where an employee can voice their ideas and concerns without the fear of being judged is the third important pillar.

 

  • Creating awareness about the vision of the organization: Clarity of company vision to the entire team up to the frontline staff. When the employees are aware of how they are contributing to the greater vision of the organization, there is a sense of belonging to the organization and greater satisfaction. Thus leading to achieve the company’s vision and mission.

 

  • Team bonding & Appreciation: This is little more than team building activities like learning together, playing together, etc. and employee awards. It is about developing a culture that encourages appreciation/ empathy/teamwork instead of blame/gossips/denial. This is a two-way thing; management cannot develop a culture of gratification without support from the team. Do not underestimate the power of a sincere Thank you from a colleague, boss, or family member. It instantaneously elevates your satisfaction and happiness. So a company where people are frugal in blaming/gossiping/denial and generous on appreciation/empathy is undoubtedly the best place to work.

 

I hope you find today’s article useful.  If you’d like more tips on building your Employer Brand, then please feel free to subscribe to our blog – https://forms.gle/VHLNYzVoys4HbNfR9 or visit our blog www.acesai.in/blog.

We’ve helped organizations right from startups to Multi-National Companies, build their employer brand. Contact us with your queries on contact@acesai.in, our HR experts will be happy to help.


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