Team Building Your Way to Better Employee Engagement - Spark Hire

Team Building Your Way to Better Employee Engagement - Spark HireSpark Hire has been discussing employee engagement a lot recenlty. For one, its a very important factor in the success of your company. If you do not have engaged employees, then chances are they are less concerned with their productivity and the affect it has on the company. Furthermora, when companies are not engaged with employees it is difficult to know where improvements are needed or where recognition is due. Aside from this, employee engagement is also just a great way to create a better company culture.It has been said that happy employees are mora productive employees, and its likely that engaged employees are happier than their disengaged counterpartes. Plus, disengaged employees are more likely to slack off and waste your companys time and money. So how can a company work towards better employee engagement? For starters, you can work on creating a team and not just a group of coworkers.Team building is one of the best ways to start working towards great employee engagement. If your company, department or group of employees views themselves as more of a team, chances are they are going to be much more engaged with your company than if they viewed themselves just as coworkers. Its easy to think this just comes naturally since they spend so much time together in the office, but building a team- a real team that is connected and communicates with one another- usually doesnt happen over night. There are a few ways you can start working on team building in your company or department to be more engaged with your employees- and have them be more engaged with each other as well.Tis the SeasonIts no surprise we have entered the holiday season and Christmas is in full swing. It may seem as though Halloween was just yesterday, but the fact of the matter is the holidays are here Its a time of stress, fun, food and parties, but it can also be a great time to engage with your employees or with your te am. Think of some things your department or team can do together to celebrate the season. Perhaps you want to head a Secret Santa where each employee buys another a present with a maximum price set. Its a great way to get your employees together and to communicate in a way that doesnt really involve business.Having a department or office Christmas party is another great way to get your employees to come together outside the office. This is a standard for a lot of companies around the holidays, but if its not for your company perhaps you should think about throwing one. Its a great way for coworkers to see each other outside of the workplace setting and to relax together. Keep in mind though that its best to have your company party at a convenient time where most people will be able to attend. Be sure to announce the date and time well in advance so that everyone can try and fit it into their schedules.Office Softball Team Its winter time, so obviously not all companies across the co untry can take part in outdoor activities, but not all sports are outdoors. Having a company team that participates in some kind of sport each month or each year is a great way to get employees engaged. Theres no better way to build a team then to have them work together as a team in a sport. Talk to your employees and see if any of them would be interested in joining a league as a company team. Know a place that has a yearly or monthly dodge ball tournament? Anyone in for bowling? In fact, you dont even have to play a sport to get everyone to sign on as a team. Perhaps your employees would be more interested in joining a monthly trivia day at a bar that is close by.Communicate with your employees and see if any of them would be interested in participating in something like this. Its a great way to get the team together outside of the office in a fun setting. The best scenario would be something that meets monthly rather than weekly, since your employees may not want to commit to so mething that happens so often.Employee FeedbackA great way to show your employees that you are part of the team and that you want them to work as a team is to ask for their feedback. Give out a survey each month or each quarter, and ask them for some feedback on how things have been going. This is a great way for your department or company to communicate without putting anyone in particular on the spot. Perhaps someone has an issue with the way something is being handled or carried out but does not want to speak on it directly. Having a survey where your employees can anonymously voice their opinion is a great way to gain employee feedback and make improvements in your company. Its also a great way to show your team that you value their opinion and that you value their happiness or satisfaction in your company or department.You can also have a monthly or quarterly focus group where your team sits down together to discuss and brainstorm ways in which what they are doing can be done b etter. What needs to be done as a whole and what can each individual do to work towards that goal? This is a great way to get your team communicating in a very productive manner. Make sure someone has control of the conversation though so time is not simply wasted.behauptung are some great way to get started on building teamwork in your office, but they are not the only ways. There are many ways you can work on team building to increase employee engagement within your company. Get creative and think outside of the box. The best and most fun team building tactics are those that are unique and creative. Create something that is unique to your company and you will be on your way to a strong team and an engaged employee base.What does your company do to work on team building and employee engagement? If its nothing, do you wish they did more? Share with us in the comments section belowIMAGE Courtesy of Flickr by clam113

How to Make Talent Acquisition Manageable with a Busy HR Schedule

How to Make Talent Acquisition Manageable with a Busy HR ScheduleWe need to hire a new sales rep. Alice quit.As an HR professional, unexpected talent acquisitioncan completely derail your schedule for the next few months. The hiringprocess can be a daunting task to add to an already full HR plate.In fact, a 2016 survey by Officevibe reports it takes an average of 27 working days to make a new hire, which is at an all-time high. Avoid drowning in the hiring process. Instead, use this guide to weave talent acquisition effectively into your already overloaded schedule Practice Time Efficient StrategiesAssessing candidates is a top priority when you are an HR pro. You will find yourself in hot water if you cant quickly bewerberinterview candidates and decide if theyre right for the job. Decrease time spent reviewing candidates by practicing more time-efficient talent acquisition strategies.Use One-Way Video InterviewsEffectively operating a business means finding the right tools and usin g them properly. Cloud-based phone ordnungsprinzip provider FluentStream Technologies found this to be true when they struggled during the preliminary interview process. As a small and vivacious startup, FluentStream Technologies employees wear many hats on any given day. They were so busy they couldnt find time to commit to a traditional hiring process. As a result, they were wasting time and missing out on the best candidates. A top priority was discovering a faster way to vet candidates after they sifted through resumes. Their original process was to conduct a phone interview, but it wasnt effective and it didnt provide a deeper understanding of candidates.So, they began using a video interview platform to more efficiently analyze their candidate pool. One-way video interviews saved precious time during the preliminary elimination round and effectively moved candidates through the hiring process. Josh Ellis, former Director of Marketing and Customer Development at FluentStream Te chnologies said, Our first new video interview hire was a knockout super skilled, outgoing, and a good cultural fit with our company. FluentStream Technologies now regularly invites candidates to participate in one-way video interviews since theyve found so much success.One-way video interviews are convenient and create the right environment to make connections with the right people. Plus, you can review the recorded interviews again and again to make sure your original assessment was correct before moving them to the next step. Hold an Employee Referral Day Employee referrals are one of the best and most dependable sources for talent acquisition. In fact, a 2016 LinkedIn survey found that 32 percent of hiring professionals said employee referral programs are the top source for quality hires.When your current employees bring you potential candidates, it saves you the time you would have spent scouring the internet. It also has the added advantage of your employees already know your company culture. They know what it takes to be successful, so you can be confident that theyre referring the best candidates.Jump start your employee referral program by holding an employee referral day. All of your current employees can bring a friend whos interested in a new job to the office.At the end of the day, tell everyone about the jobs you currently have open and how to apply for them. Youll receive many quality applications without having to take much time out of your day.Reduce In-person Interviews Without Reducing Your ReachInterviewing candidates who dont currently live in your region can be an expensive and time consuming task. However, notlage considering these candidates reduces the expanse of your talent pool.Instead of wasting resources scheduling a time to bring a long distance candidate into the office, simply send them the link to your interview scheduling page. In a matter of minutes, they can find a time when youre both available to talk. Then, you can asses s their fit through a live video interview.Use videointerviews to enhance talentacquisition efforts.Click To TweetUse Technology to Your AdvantageHR professionals must use the most convenient tools to save the optimal amount of time during talent acquisition. Tools that allow you to work smarter, not harder, are indispensable. Go MobileA video interviewing mobile app is one tool that makes working on the go possible. And this is a trend thats not going away. According to a 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report, 56 percent of companies surveyed are redesigning their HR programs to leverage digital and mobile tools.And thats because these tools are saving HR professionals time. You can review candidates from anywhere at anytime. For instance, while youre waiting in line for your morning latte, you can login on your phone and screen several one-way video interviews.Because you can fit reviewing video interviews into your schedule more conveniently, the hiring process is accelerated. Decreasing your response time improves the candidate experience, securing top talent faster.Improve the Candidate Experience Many HR professionals overlook the fact that the better your candidate experience is, the quicker you can fill open positions. A 2016 Robert Half report found that 46 percent of job seekers say they lose interest in a role if they havent heard back from a company within one to two weeks. So if youre not using the best technology to communicate and engage with candidates, they will get bored and youll have to start over in your search.To avoid this hiring misstep, use simple but effective technology to reach out to candidates. Video messages are a great way to do this. You can send candidates youre interested in a short video that lets them know where they are in the hiring process and what to expect next. This makes their experience more personalized and shows them that you and the company are sincerely interested in them.Use Convenient Scheduling Tools Keepin g up with HR digital trends means staying on top of conveniences like intuitive scheduling tools. Avoid getting bogged down by back and forth emails. Scheduling tools support popular calendar applications like iCloud, Google, Outlook.com and more. No matter what calendar you and your hiring team prefer, a great scheduling tool can be used by everyone.Consider using an interview scheduling tool that gives you the ability to create a branded landing page to match your company brand. This saves you time during talent acquisition because you wont need to worry about matching signatures or logos.The best thing about scheduling platforms is the time they save with back and forth emails. Relying on emails to schedule interviews typically requires several correspondences before a time is decided on. If the candidate only checks their email once a day, youre extending your hiring process exponentially. Scheduling tools offer synchronized availability and save HR pros time.Click To TweetHit T wo HR Birds with One StoneTheres a lot of overlap in HR duties. When you find ways to accomplish multiple goals with one action it makes your life easier.Create Employee Ambassadors Great employees deserve recognition. And great employees attract other quality talent. By creating an employee ambassadors you can acknowledge your great employees and attract top talent.The easiest way to do that is through social media. Regularly share posts that feature your high performing employees. Use featured videos of employees on social media to develop a sense of employee recognition and create a positive employer brand. Film employees discussing the positive things they have to say about the company. Prospective candidates will be more interested in a company that is trusted by their staff.Having employees promote the company to talent in their network saves you time searching for top talent. They will be able to share these unique branded videos with their audience.This effectively grows you r company brand by using word-of-mouth advertising. This is a very efficient means of sourcing, as you position your company for optimized talent acquisition in the exact place job seekers are looking.In fact, the recent Career Arc study, The Future of Recruiting, found that 67 percent of job seekers say they believe their social and professional networks will be an even more useful job search resource in the next five years. Host an Elevator Pitch WorkshopSchedule an elevator pitch workshop. Allot a day to coach employees on creating an elevator pitch about their role at the organization. Encourage employees to dig into workplace culture and develop a better understanding of how they contribute to the overall business model. Record their pitch via video and share it on the company website and social media. This will reinforce employee engagement by helping them feel more connected to company culture and growth. Time is money in almost every scenario when you are an HR pro. Practici ng time efficient strategies, using technology to your advantage, and combining daily tasks will help to make the best use of time during your talent acquisition efforts.How do you manage to work effective talent acquisition into your busy HR schedule? Let us know