Few things in life are as inevitable as change. Whichever of life’s many great paths we choose to tread, we cannot avoid change and must accept that things come and go. Nowhere is this truer than in the dynamic world of business, where the need to be ahead of the game to outfox competitors and satisfy customers is the ongoing challenge. Overcoming that challenge is only possible with a workforce that is ready to adjust.

It’s a good thing then, that eLearning training programs are able to help organizations prepare their employees for changes. Whether it’s the size of the business that has grown, technology has forced a change or any other reason of the many possibilities out there.

In this article, we’ll explain how change management can be administered through training programs to help employees adjust to their new environment.

Let’s take a moment to make ourselves aware of what change management actually is. Change management is a really big umbrella term for the process of corporations supporting individuals and teams during a period of change within that corporation.

Change is necessary but can be traumatic for people in an organization, hence the need for support. New skills must be learned, ways of working understood and experience gained for something totally new. This can be dramatic with disruptive consequences. It’s for that reason that change should be managed.

Change management is all about ensuring that each individual within an organization is catered for directly. Their skills, educational background, and workplace experience are analyzed to decide upon the skill gaps that could be filled or the wealth of knowledge that can be improved even more to prepare them for a higher level position.

For the individual, this is a great opportunity. But don’t forget to speak to the individual.

If a training program planner is about to devise eLearning courses or programs for me, I’d sure want to be consulted beforehand.

The best way to make sure that the training you’re providing is both effective and suitable is by talking to the employee. This is particularly important during a time of upheaval in an organization when individuals can feel most adrift.

Make sure each employee is involved in a process that will bring great changes for them.

Business organizations aren’t charities. Staff members are paid to work on the behalf of the company and are expected to perform accordingly. But most companies do also care about their employees. For this reason, it’s important to include realistic benefits for individuals within a training program.

As we’ve already touched on, employees can feel adrift during overhauls. Their previous positions might be lost and they are expected to take on new responsibilities by drawing on skills they’ll be taught. Because of this uncertainty, a training program should communicate the real-world advantages of the training and explain how the individual will benefit from it.

Training should offer a window into a better world for the employee with the realistic possibility of job advancement, or in exceptional cases, even promotion, based on the successful application of new skills learned.

Don’t offer training simply to manage the change; make it work for everyone.

Training programs that are suitably administered offer a sense of control to employees during the period of change. Handling the change will be so much easier if employees are on your side. Giving employees a sense of ownership over their training increases levels of commitment and keep them engaged in the task ahead.

One way to do this is to involve employees in thinking of solutions to problems of the business, and then using training to instil the necessary skills to resolve them. In this way, the loss they may be feeling during the change will be taken care of, and the skills that employees garner will help the business in the future.

It’s that a company keeps their employees happy, to ensure company retention and staff morale. Giving staff some control over the training they receive creates a personal connection between training and staff member.

Training in the name of change management isn’t only an opportunity for employees but can serve as a way for organizations to reinforce the message of change too.

If the change is a sweeping work culture one, use the training programs to bolster the message of a new way of working. If the change is one of focus – perhaps to put a greater emphasis on customer service – then point this out regularly.

Use this opportunity to underscore the change that is happening.

The changing of a company’s working can be stressful for employees, and why wouldn’t it be? When we’re comfortable in situations, jumping into new things can seem a little scary.

Managing this change through online training programs eases the worries of workers. It improves the morale of staff, treating them as individuals and promoting the care for their well-being.

When a business changes its outlook or structure, the skills that are required for its continued success running will change too and training helps to make sure there are fewer skill shortages in important areas.

Using eLearning training to guide employees through organizational changes takes advantage of a period that could otherwise be disruptive to upscale worker skills and improve company dynamism. Don’t miss out.

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How to handle change management for training programs

HR managers understand that people are vital to the success of an organisation. In today’s competitive workforce, attracting and retaining the right talent—with the right skill set—is crucial for long-term industry growth. 

This is why it’s so essential to invest in suitable technology for your human resources department. With the appropriate technological tools, your HR team will ultimately be able to improve the way they hire, onboard, train and manage your employees.

In addition, a commitment to technology shows a commitment to professional development. When your organisation demonstrates a willingness to invest in tech, your company proves it’s devoted to the overall development of your staff. Having relevant, up-to-date technology solutions that are easily accessible is critical for onsite workers. It’s also an essential part of attracting dependable candidates (i.e., competent employees who are willing to remain loyal to your organisation) and in encouraging a high level of performance.

Keeping this in mind, it may be time to rethink your chosen business techniques. What services are you and your HR managers using to hire, onboard and develop your staff members? How well are these tools working for you? Do you have a healthy employee retention rate? Do your employees feel they are given enough resources to function at full capacity? Do your staff members feel you maintain an active interest in their ongoing careers?

Let’s take a look at how proper technology can benefit your individual personnel as well as how it can positively affect your organisation as a whole.

When onboarding new hires, first impressions are key. After all, the way you introduce team members to their new business community says a lot about the culture of your organisation and will also be a determining factor in whether or not your new hires decide to stay.

The right onboarding technology can help with this transitional period. Carefully constructed, appealingly interactive systems with friendly user interfaces can likewise smooth and streamline the onboarding process for your valuable team members. Given these tremendous advantages, why not consider incorporating a learning management system (LMS) into your onboarding technique?

These days, the best HR teams are embracing technology to automate their recruitment. With an effective onboarding program, you can reduce staff turnover (read more here how this is possible with a good onboarding program) rates, increase employee engagement and allow new hires to reach full productivity at greater speeds. And, with 30% of companies reporting they need a year or more for new employees to reach peak production levels, an investment in an appropriate onboarding LMS program may be your best option for combatting waste (that is, wasted time, wasted money, etc.).

If you’re interested in an LMS, online courses such as those provided by Go1 are readily available. In addition, a reputable education company like Go1 can often customise these courses for you. Comprehensive catalogues should ideally include classes in:

• Workplace safety
• Codes of conduct
• Resilience
• Harassment training
• General compliance
• …And much more

As we’ve indicated above, many employees are looking for more from their jobs than just a good salary. Case in point: Team members are likely to be motivated by other additional factors such as company culture and the opportunity for professional development. Staff members need to know their employer is interested in their future growth, and an excellent way for employers to express such interest is through effective training methods and processes. A proper digital onboarding program can not only keep new hires feeling thoroughly prepared and appropriately well informed, it can also help employers to monitor employee progress with an eye towards harnessing talents to foster individual long-term success.

Bernard Marr, author of Big Data in Practice: How 45 Successful Companies Used Big Data Analytics to Deliver Extraordinary Results, provides organisations with expert advice on data, analytics, metrics and the improvement of business performance. “HR departments are generating more data than ever before but at the same time they often struggle to turn their data into valuable insights,” Mr. Marr wrote in Forbes® Magazine, adding, “The tricky part is establishing a system to track capacity without creating huge administrative burdens and without alienating employees with a ‘big-brother’ approach.”

The answer? A good LMS. A learning management system will help you gather valuable feedback and information from staff training, which can in turn be used to bolster levels of employee involvement and increase general performance. Your HR team will have the opportunity to identify the type of training necessary for individual staff members, and will then be able to work with employees to hone their personal skills and expand their list of qualifications. In this way, a LMS can play a critical role in enabling team members to reach company objectives that will lead to positive impacts for your organisation—all while facilitating personal growth and laying the foundation for each employee to enjoy upward mobility in the future.

Social media can also be a vital piece of your recruitment process. Your website, branding and social media channels are often the front line of your global communications outreach, capable of enticing (or repelling) talent with a single click. It’s quite normal these days for potential candidates to check out an organisation’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and/or LinkedIn accounts, and these platforms can signal whether or not your company is the best fit for a would-be employee (or vice versa). Glassdoor can also be a deal breaker for many potential employees.

Are you using social media tools in the most effective way possible? You should always make sure your social media channels aren’t outdated or poorly managed. And if you’re worried your social media skills aren’t up to par, you may wish to enroll in an online course to help get them there. Some quick tips include:

• Try to integrate current affairs into your Twitter and Facebook posts so visitors know your business is active and up to date
• Search for news items and articles that pertain directly to your industry and share them often; encourage a dialogue where appropriate
• Check your LinkedIn messaging and notifications frequently
• When possible, use pictures of onsite activities that have a personal touch for your Instagram account (stock images often read as though your business is too formal or detached)

As you can see, contemporary tech solutions are an important part of efficient HR management functions. If you’re a human resource professional, you should be constantly thinking about what avenues you could explore to improve the way you hire, onboard, train and manage staff. Hopefully this article has helped to point you in the right direction.

For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

What tools are you using for hiring and development? - Go1

HR managers: what tools are you using to hire, onboard and develop your employees?

It’s always hard to admit you’ve got a problem - especially when it’s something you don’t know about! Unconscious bias is, as the name might have suggested, a condition that we are not aware of. But everybody suffers from unconscious bias, no matter how enlightened they consider themselves to be.

To speak simply, unconscious bias is the term given to the way our brains make decisions automatically, without thought. We have no control over unconscious bias when we are not aware of it.

In the workplace, unconscious bias has a negative effect because it leads us to make decisions without the use of logic. We may prefer a manager because they are tall or they are male, for example, rather than the most important reason - that they are the best candidate. This is an example of unconscious bias and for a company, this can be an HR nightmare.

After admitting a problem, the next step is getting help. This course will address the topic of unconscious bias in the workplace and help you to become conscious of why you make certain decisions.

Overcoming unconscious bias can offer many benefits to the workplace, but here is a couple to start with:

Improved Working Environment – Knowledge of unconscious bias will help eliminate underlying causes of friction between teams, creating a more harmonious working environment.

Improve Diversity – Ridding a team of unconscious bias allows a team to diversify, becoming more attractive to future employees and improving efficiency.

The course stitches together all the issues related to unconscious bias, to give students a full picture of the problem.

The course opens with an introduction to the topic, explaining the reasons that unconscious bias matters and how it affects our life, from minuscule everyday instantaneous decisions to decisions that have much larger consequences.

After the introduction comes the Navigation section, where details of the course are offered to explain how you will learn. This section explains details of expected learning objectives and how this course is different to others on unconscious bias.

The Unconscious Bias Exercise section uses the insight of Oxford and Stanford University professor, Roger Shepard, to pose the question. Shepard’s visual illusion is interesting to see as it is both accessible and can be used to quickly demonstrate the baseless biases almost all of us have.

The Are You Biased? part of the course details our very common biases further, through the retelling and questioning of a classic riddle. It is very easy to follow our own biases, but we must remember that they are important to keep track of.

In the Organizational Bias section of the course, studies carried out by Chicago and MIT universities are used to illustrate that as simple a factor as a name can have a huge impact on the possibility of receiving an interview for a job. In the United States, white-sounding names are more likely to be successful at job applications than African-American sounding names. Startling but true.

With the Big Deal section, students are faced with the cold, hard facts of unconscious bias, in how it affects people’s lives. Considering 80% of employers admit that regional accents have a bearing on their consideration of a job candidate, bias is can be powerful.

The Benefits of Diversity segment shows how and why unconscious bias is important to understand in the workplace.

How to Beat It is “the tricky part”, asking “how can you change an unconscious behaviour when, by nature, it is concealed?” This is difficult to answer, but there the video suggests that there are three major tools to help:

Awareness – Recognize we cannot be aware of our own reasons for having certain beliefs all of the time. But if we can question ourselves, we are more likely to become aware of what is driving a potentially biased belief.

Accountability – Awareness is a prerequisite to accountability, but once responsibility is accepted, change can occur.

Success Through Systems – Slowing down your thought process is a great way to fight against bias. In this section, the course explains how and what to do.

The Final Summary section ties everything together, quickly recapping on all the lessons of the course and setting a challenge.

This course is intended to explain how an individual in a corporate environment can become aware of and be accountable for their own unconscious biases. To do this, many recourses are packed into the course’s content.

The videos are the main vehicle of the course, acting as both ship and captain to steer you through often complex, involving subject of unconscious bias. These videos are fun, informative, and ask questions of the learner.

The Course Description offers a succinct breakdown of the course that the student can refer back to as and when they need to. It’s the signpost for the course, explaining what will be looked into.

While we can’t do anything about the unconscious bias that almost all of us carry, we can do something about its outcome. Is it really fair to make as big a decision as hiring or firing someone without addressing our potential biases that are playing a part in the way we’re thinking?

In a corporate setting unconscious bias can have serious consequences. Minimize these and help your teammates by applying what you learn. 

Addressing the topic of unconscious bias in the workplace

The profession of human resources requires people skills. Individuals working in HR management interact with a great number of people on a daily basis; they are in charge of handling employee relations, interviewing, hiring, training, payroll and benefits among a few other responsibilities. An HR manager has to know how to efficiently communicate with his/her employees if they want to contribute to the growth and smooth operation of a company. However, one should bear in mind that communication is an act that does not solely require talking but also listening.

In order to create a pleasant, functional, and prosperous working environment, an HR manager needs to understand the importance of taking the time to actually tune in and hear what the employees have to express. In other words, listening is a key factor that contributes to good communication and a healthy work milieu.

The following are a few tips that can help HR managers improve their listening skills:

According to numerous studies, 55% of communication is body language, 38% is attributed to the tone of voice, and only 7% is the actual words spoken. This brings us to the conclusion that HR managers are highly advised to pay attention to these subtle details, as they could help them discern more efficiently what the employees are really trying to communicate.

As important as the actual words are, intonation, volume, and pace combined with facial expression and body language are also a paramount part of the speaking process. Paying attention to these nuances can also help an HR manager read between the lines and acquire extra information.


Furthermore, another reason why one should avoid using electronic devices during a conversation is to show respect. If your employees see that they have your full attention, you will gain their respect more easily and they won’t feel devalued.


Additionally, active listening means giving the speaker room to make their point. Avoid jumping in to voice your own thoughts, as it can cause the speaker to think that the point they’re trying to make is irrelevant to you. Once the speaker is done, and is ready to receive a response from you, feel free to address the issue and give them your opinion.


Furthermore, selective hearing is another practice an HR manager should implement to improve communication. Selective hearing is the concept that refers to paying attention to a specific source of a sound or spoken word. This listening method is a great way to avoid receiving partial messages, and encounter possible misunderstandings, as the sole focus is on the spoken word.


Also, allowing the employees to have an extra moment after they appear to be done (in case they omitted to add something) is also another sign of patience that every good HR manager should strive towards.

And last but not least, taking time to ask back-up questions and conduct short summaries of what’s been said might also take some extra patience, but it will definitely pay off in the long run.

Overall, whether you are a manager at a small business or a huge corporation, building good interpersonal work relationships is important. One of the best ways to run a business smoothly is to practice good communication skills, and not forget the importance and power of active listening.

After taking a career sabbatical to become a mother, Jackie Edwards now writes full time on topics ranging from business and finance through to tech and IT. In her spare time, she volunteers for a number of local charities that support people with mental health issues

How should HR managers become good listeners?

There’s no doubt about it, the modern workforce has become increasingly complex. Faced with heavy workloads, short turnaround times and high deliverables, many workers are being asked to continually do more – with less. It’s no wonder so many employees feel like they’re constantly running on empty. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of your core needs at work, if you want to start performing at your full potential.

For Laurie Coe, Vice President of The Energy Project, it’s evident that “the way we’re working is no longer working.” Coe believes that many employees aren’t able to perform at their full potential in today’s complex work environments.

Recently, The Energy Project partnered with the Harvard Business Review on a ‘Quality of Life @ Work’ assessment which examined the feelings and responses of 20,000 employees worldwide. The survey found that individuals have four core needs at work:

Emotional – the need to feel cared for and valued

Mental – the need to be empowered to set boundaries and focus in an absorbed way

Spiritual – the need to find a sense of meaning and purpose at work

If you feel like you need to make a change in the way you work, you need to think about how you’re addressing your core needs. It’s also essential that managers pay attention to the needs of their employees, to maintain positive levels of productivity and engagement. Let’s look closer at these different types of employee needs.

No matter what role or industry you work in, it’s important to take care of your physical energy. As the Energy Project’s report outlines, employees need regular periods of daytime rest to renew and recharge throughout the day. In fact, did you know that 90 minutes is the maximum amount of time humans can maintain attention on a task before losing focus?

After 90 minutes of being absorbed in any form of cognitive work, it's in your best interest to take a break – even if it’s a short one. This is because human beings are not machines. Our bodies need to work with our natural rhythms of renewal. Choosing to power through and continue working will only result in feelings of fatigue, irritation and lack of focus, which over time can lead to burn out.

So be sure to listen to your body throughout the day. Step away from your work, get a glass of water or cup of tea, or go for a short walk. If you’re an employer or manager, encourage workers to take regular breaks and lead by example in this practice.

As well as looking after your physical wellbeing, it’s important to be aware of your emotional needs and how they’re being responded to. Even people who are quite assertive and confident in their personal life can struggle to express how they feel in the workplace.

While you may think that your feelings about your job can be kept separate from your actual work, your emotional energy has a very strong influence on how well you perform. Emotional energy needs to be fueled by a sense of satisfaction, safety and trust in your work environment. Feeling unsure, uncomfortable or unsafe at work will have a negative impact on your productivity and results.

On the other hand, feeling valued, respected and safe allows employees to focus and deliver their best results, while helping to foster a positive work culture.

These days, workers are presented with a continual stream of incoming information, more than any other generation before. Technology, for all its good points, allows us to be always available, always connected, always switched ‘on’.

This means we very seldom have the chance to switch ‘off.’ And being constantly interrupted by phone calls, text messages, emails and social media notifications makes it hard to focus all our attention on one task.

Protecting your mental energy is about making sure you allow yourself to focus – on one thing at a time. While some people think it’s impressive or cool to be constantly busy and doing ten things at once, it won’t do your career any favors. In fact, multitasking is not at all conducive to absorbing information and retaining focus, most often leading to lower quality work and higher levels of anxiety and burn out.

To protect your mental energy, you need to set firm boundaries and be self-disciplined. When you feel your focus drifting off, or feel tempted to break your attention and scroll through your phone, put those thoughts aside and refocus on just one task. While breaks are planned and deliberate, distractions aren’t – and worse, they can really derail you from your task. In fact, after being distracted or interrupted, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task at hand. Is it worth checking that incoming text message or clicking over to read a news alert?

Leaders can help employees maintain focus and mental energy by respecting and encouraging these boundaries.

According to the Energy Project study, “no single factor influences people’s job satisfaction and likelihood to stay at an organization as much as feeling connected to their company’s mission.”

Having a sense of meaning and purpose in your job is what makes it feel worthwhile. Being connected to an overall mission and working in line with your own personal values is a large part of what makes most humans feel significant. It’s also essential if you want to find your work and career rewarding.

When managers actively support employees in nurturing this purposeful energy, they’re able to create a company culture that reflects this.

Whether you’re an employer or employee, paying attention to all four core needs is the best way to make a positive impact on your organization and your own work life. Next time you're running on empty, or feel like the way you’re working is no longer working, think about your own core needs and what needs to change so you can start performing at your full potential.

Addressing the core needs of your employees

Onboarding is an incredibly important task to ensure that customers are retained. Without onboarding, a customer may feel adrift in their new service, not knowing how to take full advantage of the service – or they might feel neglected entirely. This is a huge error, with a recent Harvard Business Review study pointing out that 85% of executives said successful customer onboarding is vital for long-term customer loyalty.

But it’s important to remember that although the end goal is to generate and retain customers to increase profitability, this shouldn’t be your primary aim when organizing your onboarding process. It should be clear what you can offer the client in return for their custom, that they can achieve the desired outcome. This is where retention comes from.

Online learning is a great part of this, and in this article we’ll address why.

Before we get to the meat of the subject, let us first take a few moments to ensure we understand its main term. So, what do we mean by onboarding?

Onboarding is the name given to a process of familiarizing and integrating employees, or in this case clients or customers, with the products or services that your company provides.

The onboarding process can be seen in two main ways.

Employees – New employees can be taught, via online learning or other means, the rules, regulations and expectations of a company. They can be informed of the steps that they should take in carrying out the tasks of their job. Their progress can be checked, and appraisals are given to give them clarity on their position.

Clients and customers – This is very different. Onboarding with customers means that a company is able to exhibit its value to a customer in such a way that the customer considers their service or product worthwhile enough to continue using and ideally, to build a long term relationship with.

Why online learning is so useful in gaining more customers

Now the concept of onboarding is understood, we can look at the reasons as to why online learning is so effective in gaining more customers. While it is only one of many ways to attract clients to a business, online learning is perhaps the best method. There are many uses of online learning and multimedia in the onboarding process.

Time is becoming expensive and this means that people want to gain a lot by only sacrificing a small amount of their time.

Consider the recent crazes in physical fitness training. High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Microworkouts are both examples of gaining the maximum result in the minimum amount of time.

Online learning, being mobile and broken down into manageable chunks, is the educational equivalent. Customers can learn on-the-go and whenever they want, making use of their “dead time”. In turn, this leads to greater long-term use of learning resources and better retention of customers.

The easy use of goal setting abilities is another feature that makes online learning a huge boon in onboarding more customers. Facebook’s use of likes or Twitters re-tweets system makes use of human biology by rewarding us for using the product. Likes and retweets are effectively awards that we desire.

Likewise, the goals that eLearning offers (think of DuoLingo’s Ingots system) drive our desire to reach them. We want to achieve the next badge by finising the course. In this way, customers can be tempted to continue using the service.

This is useful for educational tools as it allows students to really learn, but it is also a fantastic way to retain customers after onboarding.

Colorful videos full of concise information that clearly tell a user exactly what they need is a very appealing offer. Rather than sift through mountains of text or FAQs, videos and exercises offer a way to learn and then test that learning, in a simple and unfussy style.

Potential customers do not want to have to work to access a service or find information. eLearning services serve it straight to the customer.

Online learning has a clear and immediate impact on customers because it provides value to them. Clients are more likely to pay for services if they believe it improves them in some way, as eLearning does.

Online learning courses minimize time to value for a business, a very precious benefit.

So there you have it. Because of the nature of learning courses, a small amount – for example, free access to the first video of a course – can be offered to whet the whistle of potential customers. You’ve demonstrated your product and customers are happier to pay for a product they know works.

To make sure that online learning becomes the force for onboarding that it can, it is necessary that your resources are varied and high in quality.

Another important point to remember in the onboarding process is to continue communication even after a customer has onboarded successfully. With online learning, this could mean suggesting similarly themed eLearning courses or send occasional quizzes to test a customer’s knowledge. It is vital that customers do not feel forgotten about.

Finally, asking for feedback from successfully onboarded customers is a good way to learn about the successes and failures of your online learning process. What did they enjoy? What did they find too easy, or not related to the product?

Only by asking these questions will you be able to perfect the onboarding process and see the value of online learning in onboarding and retaining customers.

Using online learning for customer onboarding

What are the things you must do to succeed when recruiting talent across borders? Here, I share the key lessons from my startup’s expansion into international markets and building a global workforce.

Hiring and managing talent is a challenge for all companies. As a startup looking to develop a global workforce, you have the added challenge of operating with more limited resource than larger organisations, which makes things even harder.

If you’re going global, you also have to compete for the best talent in an arena that includes international stars like Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

So what’s the best way to succeed as a little fish in a big pond? Being as creative and flexible as possible is vital.

For example, in some countries, opting to use contractors and remote workers may be a smarter option than engaging employees on the ground. In this case, you may not even need to set up shop overseas at all. However, there are plenty of circumstances where having a local presence is essential, and understanding how to effectively manage a global workforce can be the difference between success and abject failure.

There are many points of consideration, but getting the process right can yield huge benefits for your organisation. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re looking to expand your geographical footprint.

(Struggling to find local talent to meet your needs? Read about the benefits of hiring foreign workers)

1. Know when you really need a physical presence

It is imperative to understand why you’re looking to open a new office and think critically about whether there is another way to achieve the same goal. As mentioned, another alternative could be hiring remote workers and contractors, or using a startup hub.

You don’t always need to set up an office to enter a new market. In the US, my organisation originally sold our services through our website and hosted (very late night) webinars. This was a great starting point as we were able to get a feel for the market’s response without wasting tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on unnecessary overheads.

However, once we had confidence in our model we were better placed to make the decision to open an actual sales office to further tap the American market. Similarly, we opened an office in Kuala Lumpur only once it was clear that we needed a local support team who could speak Bahasa Malaysia for our 200,000 learners there.

Any new market will have local quirks, that are guaranteed to be different to the markets you already operate in. It’s easy to be lulled into a sense of a “global culture” but on the ground things are often very different.

For example, it’s easy for things to get lost in translation when opening an offshore office for a team in your global workforce. When we opened our office in San Francisco, we still used Australian terminologies for training. After several meetings with confused locals, we realised that new employees are “on-boarded” in the US, and never “inducted”. Our customers thought induction training was for cults! Having a local who is familiar with the context is a critical part of any new market entry.

Expectations around working hours, holidays and benefits also differ between countries. For example, in the Middle East the weekend is often Friday and Saturday rather than Saturday-Sunday. Staff won’t want to work on their equivalent of Sunday, so you need to accommodate this.

It’s also imperative to be aware aware of religious and cultural festivals.

On the other hand, it’s important to maintain consistent standards across markets. Quality, integrity, respect and teamwork should be applied consistently and without variation.

For example, in Vietnam we had to reconsider our bonus structure because people observe a 13th month of pay in the Tet holidays (Lunar New Year). As there are only 12 months in the year, we had to grapple with whether our bonus structure should be based on performance (as it is in Australia) or a cultural norm.

Communication is made more difficult by cultural differences, and this issue exacerbated by distance and time zones. There is no shortage of apps and collaboration systems that try to overcome these barriers, and it feels like we’ve tried them all.

But even in this era of virtual reality telepresence, nothing beats face-to-face communication with a global workforce. Email, instant messaging, and even phone or video calls can’t build the same rapport as actually hopping on a plane and talking directly to people.

(Thinking about taking your HR talents abroad? Find out more about becoming an HR volunteer).

As a manager, it’s easy to recognise the hard work of the person sitting next to you.

But it’s just as important to be aware of and to recognise the hard work of those you haven’t physically met in your global workforce, working with you half the world away.

A tactic should try is a weekly whole-of-company video call (timezones permitting) to provide updates on the week and shout outs to people who have gone above and beyond.

There are many other things to consider when it comes to managing a distributed global workforce and operations, including legal and tax – just to name a few!

However, these five lessons have helped my team kick goals together, across oceans and time zones.

This article was originally published on HR Magazine

Building a global workforce? What you need to know to be successful

Employee retention and engagement is the #1 problem that companies face.

That’s according to a survey of over 3,000 respondents across 100 countries by Deloitte. And while it’s debatable whether employee retention and engagement always rank as the top concern, when I speak to businesses it continually appears in their top five.

So what are the drivers behind issues with employee retention and engagement?

Poor internal culture is a primary reason, and, internationally, Australia ranks in the bottom 10 for staff engagement. Average staff turnover percentages have been increasing year on year.

Culture is not static, and what can start as a very positive internal culture can change as headcount grows and as people come and go. This can create an environment with low engagement and high turnover.

The wave of millennials joining the workforce is often cited as a catalyst for culture change, bringing new expectations. There are greater expectations on work flexibility, accelerated career development and greater mobility.

Changing cultures and expectations from a new generation of staff obviously demands new approaches. Companies should be on the front foot to make sure internal culture remains positive, with high employee retention and engagement.

(Need tips on how to make your management millennial-friendly? Read our guide here)

In another recent survey – this time by the Australian Human Resources Institute – 61 per cent of companies reported that training and development was a key strategy for improving engagement and retention. Approximately half of companies are also implementing flexible work policies and more regular performance appraisals.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that training and professional development ranks so highly. Better training can help answer the demand for greater flexibility, faster career development and better management.

First, flexible work options and support for mobile or remote work, often go hand in hand. Ensuring that training on all your systems and processes are available online is critical when staff can’t rely on asking the person working next to them.

Investing in learning and development also means people can pursue self-directed professional development. This addresses a second key request from staff. If some individuals want to accelerate the development of new skills and better capabilities, providing an on-demand mechanism to facilitate that is a great match.

Finally, the primary cause of low engagement and high turnover is poor leadership. Management and leadership skills are evidently important, but most people feel that these are exactly the skills that are lacking in the companies that they work for.

Good leadership involves awareness, listening, feedback and guidance. This already tricky topic can be made doubly difficult when working with mobile and flexible teams. Learning how to adapt and deliver positive leadership in changing environments is a key requirement for anyone in business.

(Want to know why a top CEO believes HR leadership is essential for success? Read our interview here)

Creating a culture of learning is not the only ingredient for success, but it’s a critical part of the puzzle. By supporting staff who demand greater flexibility, more professional development opportunities and better leadership, companies can foster a better culture.

A positive internal culture not only means more engagement and retention, it also creates a sustainable competitive advantage.

As the rate of change only increases, creating a culture of learning seems to be a key strategy to creating a better culture full stop.

What is the largest driver of employee retention?

In 2017, many people believe that gender equality has been achieved. However, a recent investigation by Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, has found this is not the case.

Through her research, Jenkins found that while members of the community may not actively be working against gender equality, many people across Australia are of the idea that it’s already been attained – “which means there is no real motivation for people to do things differently or to promote women or highlight their stories,” she says.

We’ve recently discussed some of the challenges faced by women in the workplace, including the under-representation of women in leadership and the technology industry. To recap, in terms of leadership women make up only 5% of ASX 200 CEOs, with senior female managers earning $93,000 less per year, on average, than their male equivalents. Women are also still significantly outnumbered when it comes to working in STEM-related studies and careers, making up only one in four IT graduates and fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates.

As the chief executive of the Diversity Council Australia, Lisa Annese, believes that “we are undoubtedly not making the most of the talent that we know is out there in the community. We really need to look hard at what biases, either conscious or unconscious,” are occurring in the workforce.

So what can we do to accelerate gender equality? How can we encourage greater empowerment of women in the workplace?

Take Steps to Address Gender Bias in Your Workplace

This year, through International Women’s Day, women are encouraged to “call on the masses or call on yourself to help forge a better working world – a more inclusive, gender equal world.”

The International Women’s Day website has excellent suggestions for how individuals – women, men and non-binary people – can create positive change within their own spheres of influence. Some of these suggestions can be used to address gender bias in the workplace, such as:

mentoring a woman and sponsoring her goals

If you’re an employer, manager or CEO, you’re in a position of power and can have a direct influence over the way female employees are treated within your organisation. Read our previous article for more tips for how you can accelerate gender parity to make sure you’re creating an equitable work environment.

Develop a Strong Policy Around Sexual Harassment 

Employers also have a responsibility to create a safe and positive environment for all staff. And as an individual, you have the right to work in a non-threatening work environment, free from any form of harassment.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2012 survey told us that 1 in 4 women (25%) have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2017, sadly, we are still seeing high statistics in this area.

Make sure the organisation you work for has an effective strategy that prevents and addresses workplace harassment. Read about the importance of sexual harassment policies in the workplace to find out how you can make more of a difference in how your staff think about sexual harassment in the workplace.

Encourage Confidence and Assertiveness in the Workplace

Another challenge women face in the workplace is gender stereotyping. Frustratingly, many women are criticised for being confident and assertive in the workplace “as this goes against ingrained feminine stereotypical behaviours.”

A recent article in the Guardian highlighted the current reality for Australian women at work – with women being “underpaid, discriminated against and told to be more confident.” The article states that women are twice as likely as men to receive feedback indicating they need to show “more confidence” to be ready for promotion.

Yet how can women show that they feel confident in taking on a leadership role, or being promoted, when it’s likely they’ll receive criticism for that confidence? This catch-22 prevents many female employees from receiving the recognition and salary they deserve, while also continuing to perpetuate existing stereotypes about the role of women in society.

Work to promote an organisational culture where women’s confidence is respected, rather than criticised.

Promote Ongoing Discussion Around Gender Equality

International Women’s Day means different things to different people – for many, it’s a celebration of female achievement; for others, it's a call-to-action to continue fighting for gender equality.