Employee/Employer Relationship Archives

May, 2022

The Keys to Remote Worker Productivity

Remote work has only grown more popular with time, to the point where it is now common for employers to offer it in some capacity. While the pandemic may have expedited this shift, it is clear that remote work has become a new normal in some industries. Today, we thought we would address one of the hot-button issues about remote work: keeping your staff engaged and productive.

Engagement is More Than Production

First, you need to understand that remote employees often do better work much faster while they are in the comfort of their own homes. It’s simply a fact that people take less time to do the same tasks they would do in the office while working remotely, and since they don’t need to consider other variables that they normally would when leaving the house, they can get right to work.

It’s also important, however, to acknowledge that there might be more distractions in the home environment compared to the workplace. While it might seem they are a little less productive, we recommend sticking to the key performance indicators as a clear metric for how productive they truly are.

To shed some more light on this sticky situation, here are three factors that you can use to ensure that your employees are engaged with their work, and therefore, productive throughout the workday.

You Still Need Culture

Your company culture is much more than the incentives you offer; it’s also how you treat your employees. A remote team might feel like they are pushed aside or lurking along the sidelines rather than being a part of the team, so you need to do what you can to engage them and work toward that sense of belonging. Shared goals and interests can connect people and encourage them to work better together.

One way you can engage your remote team is to use your collaboration tool for a little bit of fun, like adding a “just for fun” channel where the team can communicate, share stories, memes, jokes, and so on. You could also set up an optional meetup for your team to just hang out in a virtual space to talk about whatever happens to be on their minds. Basically, the idea is to normalize the idea of working from home so that they don’t feel so disconnected from what’s going on in the office.

Get the Right Tools

All that said, none of this is possible without the right kind of collaboration software. There are plenty of solutions on the market that utilize different technologies to promote an inclusive work environment. From collaboration software to video conferencing, or even just a simple instant messaging platform, you might be surprised to see just how much of a difference it can make.

Provide Emotional Feedback and Support

Believe it or not, working from home can add quite a lot of stress and pressure to workers. Some simply handle it better than others. Keeping your communications organized and efficient can be a major way to take some of the stress out of their day-to-day responsibilities. You want your employees to know that they are people, not just a square in a Zoom meeting or a number on the other end of a VoIP channel. Maintaining regular communication and offering timely, constructive feedback is incredibly helpful to ensure that your employees stay engaged, productive, and happy.

It’s not always easy to manage a group of remote employees, but with the right tools and practices, you can take a lot of the challenge out of it. To learn more about how you can do so, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Sep, 2021

3 Ways to Keep Your Business Secure When Employees Leave

Turnover happens in the business world. It’s just a matter of when and how often it happens, as well as how your organization responds to it. If your company fails to address certain parts of the turnover process, it could have negative consequences that must be addressed. We’ve put together three ways that you can be sure former employees do not cause you trouble when they leave, particularly in regards to staffing and cybersecurity.

Understand Why They Are Leaving

The first step toward taking appropriate steps to secure your business is to understand why the employee is leaving. Are they feeling frustrated for some reason? Did they get a better offer that you can’t compete with? Were they potentially hired by one of your competitors? Knowing these things will help you gauge whether or not the employee will pose a threat upon departure, as well as revisit particular aspects of your business that might prevent turnover in the future.

Are There Hard Feelings?

While it’s not particularly likely to happen, it goes without saying that an employee with a sour attitude toward your business might use what they know to negatively influence you after departure. This is why it’s incredibly important to clear the air before employees leave, especially if they are a known agitant within your ranks. Take the time to sit down with the employee and learn more about them, why they are leaving, and resolve any unaddressed issues that might be lurking just below the surface. Employees who know that their frustrations are valid and validated will be less likely to act in the way addressed above.

Remove Access to Important Data and Accounts

A recent article by TechRepublic reported that one in four employees still have access to accounts and data after leaving their positions with a company or organization. This is obviously not okay, as employees who are simply not okay with leaving your organization, such as those who are terminated, might be tempted to log into their accounts and cause a little trouble before letting the door hit them on the way out. To this end, it is incredibly important that you document all of the accounts that your employees set up and which data they can access. You can then revoke those privileges after they are officially gone.

Keep in mind that you don’t want to delete these accounts right off the bat; you might still need data hosted on their desktops or in their cloud storage. It should suffice to just deactivate the account and hand over privileges to access said data to someone else within your organization who will need it.

Even if you do not suspect that any employees who leave your office might have ill intentions, it is still best to monitor those accounts and ensure that they are not being accessed in ways that seem suspicious. After all, threats can come from the most unlikely places. If you are looking to secure your network and ensure your organization is protected, reach out to NuTech Services at 810.230.9455.

Jun, 2020

Is Your Business Being Attacked From the Inside?

With cyberthreats the way that they are, a lot of industry professionals go on and on about the importance of deploying technologies designed to reduce the potential threats that a business has to confront. This technology isn’t cheap and while they absolutely do help you protect your technology and data; today’s hackers know that. Unfortunately for small business owners, that shift has left your staff on the front lines of cybersecurity; a place they really shouldn’t be. Let’s discuss cybersecurity from an employer’s perspective.

Today, there are literally billions of phishing emails sent each day. Inevitably, you are going to confront this problem, and depending on your staff’s preparedness (or intentions), you will either deal with them or they will likely deal with you.

The first thing that you should know is that you have to train up your staff about phishing and other issues surrounding your organization’s security. They have to understand social engineering tactics used by scammers to infiltrate networks, steal data, and deliver malware. If they are left in the dark about these issues, you will likely see a plethora of cybersecurity problems in your immediate future. It’s good to be lucky, but you’d rather be good.

Once you’ve committed to a cybersecurity training regimen for your staff, you then have to understand that there are three manners of attack that come from inside your network. Let’s take a look at them:

Mistakes

The first type of attack is brought on by mistakes. Those are instances where you have trained your people and they are committed to help you protect your business’ IT but made a mistake and it has caused problems. Most mistakes are only a mouse click made in error. Mistakes do happen and since there is absolutely no malice behind it, harsh reprimand of that employee, while probably warranted, will surely bring out the water works. You don’t want to alienate your staff (or your entire workforce) so if someone makes a cybersecurity mistake, and it is remediated quickly, there’s no real harm done. You will want to re-train this person and test them, so you know they understand what your policies are.

Negligence

An employee that continues to make mistakes isn’t just a doofus, they are neglecting their responsibilities. Negligent behavior is at the center of a large percentage of the security breaches seen in business today. It can be characterized by an ambivalence to your business’ stated goals that is shown by repeat offenses that put your network and data in jeopardy. It may start with a simple mistake, but if an employee continues to make careless mistakes, it could really put the business behind the eight ball. Cybersecurity negligence is just like negligence in other aspects of the business and can’t be allowed to continue.

Sabotage

The employer-employee relationship isn’t always easy. In many businesses, there is a direct conflict of interest. Employers are known to overstep boundaries in the name of productivity and employees are known to get fed up with it. People get disgruntled, people are fired, people quit. There are rare occurrences where the relationship gets so bad that current or former employees will use their access to your company’s systems to try and sabotage an element of it, or the entire thing. In the rare cases where this does happen, it can lead to complete destruction of a business. If you have had to let someone go, or they have quit, you will want to immediately remove any and all of their credentials so that they have absolutely no access to your business’ digital resources. If the saboteur still works for you however, there may not be much you can do until their dastardly plan unfolds. It’s important, then, to treat your employees with the same respect as you expect from them. A fair employer won’t run into sabotage very often.

Keeping your technology systems running and working for your company is imperative for today’s businesses. If you would like help with security strategy or with deploying tools call the IT professionals at NuTech Services today at 810.230.9455.

Aug, 2019

Employee Burnout Can, and Should, Be Avoided

Your employees are your greatest asset, which means that they need to be carefully managed and maintained, just like any of your other productivity-boosting assets. The difference is, your employees aren’t just another solution – they’re human beings, and as such, they aren’t tirelessly motivated. In fact, if your employees aren’t treated properly, they could… burn out.

Burn out?

Oh, no! That certainly wouldn’t be a good thing… but how can you prevent such a thing from happening in the workplace, when you really can’t tell if workplace stress has worn them down, or if it was a more personal issue? You can’t keep things from influencing their personal lives, after all.

Maybe they just need to get more sleep, or something.

Besides, what if you just happen to work in an industry that creates more stress upon its workers by nature of the work? It isn’t as though you can help that, either.

Sure, that’s fair.

You can’t be expected to be in control of your employees’ personal lives… but you should be in control of their professional environment.

What Leads to Employee Burnout?

While general stress can contribute to burnout, certain job factors and features can create “special” kinds of stress that contribute specifically to burnout tendencies. Let’s consider these factors briefly.

Non-Stop High Stress

Look, I’m not saying that a business should be a stress-free area. That just isn’t realistic.

However, businesses typically experience busy, stressful times and once those times are over, there is usually a period of time that employees get the chance to recover. Bookending stress with these low-stress times (and adequately compensating your team for their stress) can make employees feel better – but keeping them in a constant pressure-cooker certainly won’t.

Unclear and Unreasonable Tasks

How frustrating would a puzzle be without a picture on the box to reference?

Each and every time an employee is given an unclear task, they feel that same frustration. They’re just trying to do their job, but they can’t if it is unclear what that job is. It only gets worse if the tasks that they are assigned literally (yes, in the literal sense) can’t be done.

The more stress and frustration that builds up with tasks like these, the more likely burnout becomes.

Huge Consequences for Failure…

Some workplaces have higher stakes than others. For instance, you have those who work for child services, whose work frequently takes them into risky and heartbreaking situations.

People in positions like that have a much more stressful job than, say, a fortune cookie writer or the greeter at a superstore. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that high-stakes workplaces frequently see higher rates of burnout.

…With No Recognition for Success

How would you feel if your considerable efforts were, day-in and day-out, overlooked? If you went above and beyond in everything you did, and not one word was said to you?

Chances are, you’d probably feel unappreciated, demoralized, and unmotivated. Workplaces like this can have a severe morale problem.

Welcome to burnout.

Communication is Neither Efficient nor Effective

Without proper communication, any of the other problems your business is experiencing will only get much, much worse. Unclear and incomplete statements will make issues more complicated, especially if you are trying to deal with an employee’s issue.

As a result, demoralization and burnout become very real risks.

Lacking Leadership

Finally, if a strong, fair, and supportive leader isn’t present in the business, employees could be accelerated on their way to burnout by the lack of guidance the missing leader should be providing. Employees may feel like they aren’t getting something out of their employment – be it recognition, support, or job security – and swiftly lose the drive to perform well.

Clearly, there is no shortage of ways for an employee to reach the point of burnout… but how can you tell when one really has?

The Symptoms of Burnout

There are quite a few signs that can indicate if an employee is truly burning out, or if one is simply having an “off” day. I’m pretty confident that we’ve all felt and exhibited some of these signs – maybe even all of them – at one point at least.

How many of these symptoms have you seen among your employees?

They feel distant from their work, cynical about what they do and who they do it with.
They may be suffering from a variety of symptoms, including headaches, sour stomach, and intestinal issues.
They have slipped in their tasks at work, but their home life is unaffected.
They may keep themselves emotionally distant from their coworkers.
They may lack creativity, and will have trouble concentrating.
They are low energy, feel drained, and feel that they can’t cope.
They are visibly frustrated and stressed.

Again, we’ve all had an “off” day, where these kinds of things are almost to be expected. It’s just a part of life.

It is when these symptoms have become chronic, stretching out beyond hours or days to weeks, that your employees may be suffering from burnout. Thanks to these symptoms, burned-out employees may appear depressed, and are actually at a higher risk of developing depression later on.

Why This Really Matters to You

So, why should you care?

Well, basic human decency aside, burnout can have some significant impacts upon your business itself. For instance, sick leave is much more commonly taken among employees who are burned-out, and they are also far more motivated to find another job.

If they are successful in the latter, you will need to spend the significant costs associated with hiring a new employee to replace them.

You also need to consider the “typical” state of your employees. They might actually be some of your top performers, simply struggling through a hard time. What impact on their productivity will your business be able to just absorb?

A burned-out employee in the wrong position can exacerbate the problem, too, as a burned-out manager can easily create a burned-out team… killing productivity and morale on a wider scale.

You also need to consider the optics that burnout can produce – what business or potential employee would want anything to do with a business that has what is really a very visible issue?

(I certainly wouldn’t.)

Bringing basic human decency back into consideration, this condition can actually do a number on a human being. Not only can the influence of burnout impact an employee’s personal life and relationships, it makes them slightly more likely to visit the emergency room.

What You Can Do to Help a Burned-Out Employee

Keeping these warning signs in mind can help you to better spot when one of your employees is clearly going through a rough patch. While you may not see it as your job as their boss, it is your job as a fellow human being to offer them some support.

The easiest way to start this process? An honest conversation.

Discuss It with the Employee

Have an informal sit-down with this employee and just talk to them about it. Express your sincere worry for them as a person and offer your support with whatever they have been going through.

This support itself could help greatly, and if it is another personal issue, some personal time may be all it takes to help.

Redistribute the Workload

Even the most competent employee you have could potentially bite off more than they could chew. Whether they overstuff their schedules, offer to help with anything they can, or both… before long, this employee is going to fall behind schedule.

You should go through that schedule with them, organizing it and trimming some of the fat to make sure it is humanly possible to accomplish, redistributing some tasks if need be, if not pausing them.

If your business has any collaboration tools, they can certainly come in handy here.

Teamwork makes the dream work, as some say, so if you can leverage your collaboration platform to help the task-redistribution process, it just makes sense to. You can make use of your platform as you manage your team, assigning them certain responsibilities and sharing the weight of their tasks between multiple resources, not just the one.

Email is a great collaboration tool, but many employees can find the amount of emails they receive overwhelming, which (among other things) makes them less productive. You can help them out by introducing them to the different tools that email solutions can offer, like filters and rules to help organize incoming messages, and snoozing, to give them some uninterrupted time.

Switch It Up

If you had an employee that was particularly good at Task A, it only makes sense that you would want them covering Task A as much as possible, right?

However, designating that employee to Task A will likely make that employee pretty sick of Task A before long… and all the employees who always get Task B, or Task C will likely feel a similar way. Try rotating the responsibilities of your team on occasion, taking their preferences and goals into consideration.

Preventing Burnout in the First Place

As we’ve alluded to here, there are many warning signs of impending burnout issues, and we’ve barely scratched the surface here. Doing everything you can to keep burnout from happening at all is a reasonable strategy.

Fix your company culture to focus on self-care. Try bringing in external experts to keep your employees happy and healthy, whether that’s a yoga instructor or accounting services. Remember that your employees have lives outside the workplace to live, and encourage them to enjoy them.

These, and/or many, many other behaviors will help keep your employees engaged, motivated, and happy.

One great way to keep burnout from taking hold is to allow your employees to work how (and when and where) they work best. Remote working solutions can allow you to give your employees the freedom to shape their work habits around their lives.

While this may sound like a way to let employees slack off on work time, many employers have found the effects to productivity more than worth it… and employees have certainly shown their appreciation for the flexibility.

At the end of the day, your employees are going to feel a certain way – you can only try and help them feel more positively about their workplace by giving them better technology, more initiative, and an ear to turn to when needed.

We can help where the technology is concerned.

For solutions to help your employees be more productive, more communicative, and more successful, reach out to NuTech Services at 810.230.9455.