Month: July 2022

Nobody likes to work in an environment where the team members and your manager are just not interested in listening to your concerns. Yes, I am talking about the ability to share, feel and understand the feeling of others at the workplace. In other words, the ability to empathise at the workplace is extremely essential both for the employee and the company.

Suppose, you appear to be disinterested in working on your project due to some personal problem. But, your manager is just not concerned about the reason for this disinterestedness. Moreover, you are unable to share your problem with your colleagues as well. Now, this kind of working environment is certainly not wanted by an employee.

It is vital to develop an empathetic atmosphere at the workplace because it simply increases the productivity of the employees. In addition, this is an essential trait that every manager should possess if he wants his team to excel above others. It gives a feeling to the employees that there is someone to listen to their woes. Hence, developing the quality to empathise is beneficial at the workplace.

Let us understand few simple ways in which you can develop the quality to empathise at your workplace.

1. Develop the Ability to Listen: While working in your office, it is essential to develop the ability to listen to your team members working around you. Now, listening is just not hearing but understanding the meaning behind the words. It is to be noted that even by watching the body language of your co-workers; you can understand their mood and state of mental being.

However, in the post-Covid-19 scenario, you might wonder how to develop this feeling of understanding and sharing the feeling of your co-workers. These days, remote working has become the order of the day for most companies. It is also to be noted that the concept of remote working has brought about feeling of demotivation and low morale among the employees. So, it has become all the more important to develop this feeling of empathy in you in order to survive in this uncertain and unpredictable work environment.

Here, you can take the help of video conferencing to understand the feelings of your team members. Video conferencing once a week helps to cultivate the team building spirit and you can easily listen and comprehend the views and ideas expressed by your team members. It is to be noted that even teleconferencing is helpful wherein you can understand the true feeling of the other via the tone or pitch used by the individual.

2. Ask Questions: Simply listening to your co-workers is just not enough. It is vital for you to ask questions either at the workplace or while working from a remote location. When you ask questions, your team member gets the feeling that you are concerned about him. This in turn will lead to a conversation between you and your colleague disclosing a lot of things both at the personal and professional level. Thus, when you begin to converse you get to know several things about your co-worker which gradually helps you to empathise with your team member.

3. Remember that people have feelings: It is to be noted that while working overtime to achieve deadlines, human beings have become more or less like a robot. You need to remember that every one of us has feelings and emotions which when subdued can be extremely harmful for the growth of the individual employee and his organization. So, the next time, do not ignore a smile or a sign of acceptance from your co-worker, instead go ahead and talk to him. Only when you talk and comprehend the feelings of your co-workers, then can you truly empathise with them.

4. Only gradually, can you learn to empathise: Cultivating the quality to empathise at the workplace is necessary but unfortunately, it cannot be developed overnight. It is a human emotion and hence, unless you feel for the person next to you; you can never learn or acquire it. The ability to understand and share the emotions and feelings of your team members has to come from within and it can certainly take time to develop. You need to have patience to listen to others and understand their concerns both personal and related to work. All this cannot happen at the click of a mouse or at one go; it will take time and you need to constantly endeavour towards talking and starting a cordial conversation with your co-workers in order to understand their feelings and emotions.

Therefore, do not undervalue the importance of empathy at the workplace. Employees who feel that their voices and concerns are being listened to, tend to contribute actively towards the productivity of their company. Employees look forward towards working in a workplace which is compassionate and empathetic towards them.       

Are you thinking of switching your payroll provider this year? Perhaps, you are frustrated with the service being provided by your payroll company? Or else, the company’s negligence has resulted in errors leading to heavy fines and penalties. Maybe, you are too tired of handling the payroll function along with other functions of your company. Whatever, the reason may be; the question arises as to what is the right time to change your payroll provider?

What is the ideal time to switch your payroll provider?

The ideal time to switch your payroll provider is the beginning of the new financial year. In India, the new financial year begins from 1^st April when the old contracts end by 31^st March. Changing providers at the beginning of the year allows your new payroll company to run smoothly throughout the year. However, before making the change the following vital aspects should be considered:

• You should obtain all the copies of employee related information and tax filling from your previous payroll company.
• You should collect all the basic information about your company from your previous payroll company ( for example, passwords, log-in id)

Let us briefly understand the vital factors which should be considered while changing your payroll service provider.

1. Service Issue: Payroll is indeed a vital function of your company. So, if your employees are facing service issues with your present payroll provider, it is time for a change. There could be instances where your employees are unable to extract the data required, then this can leave a negative impact on your employees. Moreover, your present payroll service provider should be able to use technological advancements in resolving issues at a faster pace.

In other words, any kind of service issues which hamper the overall productivity of the employees and payroll errors –all are indicators of changing your payroll service provider in the new financial year.

2. Automation: The automation feature in payroll is certainly the most strong point in favour of hiring a payroll service provider. And, if your present payroll company fails to provide it, then it is time for a change. Let me tell you that automation in payroll facilitates data collection, validation, doing calculations at the click of a mouse. This in turn increases the efficiency of your company and that of the payroll service provider. After all, efficiency of your company will give a boost to your customers as well.

3. Flexibility: In the present fast paced working scenario, it is essential that your present payroll company provides the flexibility of mobile application to the employees of your company.  Perhaps, your payroll software is easy to use on your desktop or labtop but not so efficient to use on your mobile. The inability to access, update or collect payroll data while travelling can easily affect employee productivity and employee morale leading to reduction in the functioning of the company. So, when you get these indicators, it is time for you to think of a switch over to a new payroll company.

4. Competitive Pricing: Another significant area of concern is the price being paid to your present payroll service provider. If you get this feeling that you are paying too much or perhaps some of its facilities are overpriced, you should certainly look for other options. After all, there are numerous payroll service providers in the market and you can select the one which suits your budget and adds value to your company as well.

Some of the payroll pricing issues which you may come across are the following:

• Your employee count is 150 and you are a using a software which is apt for 1000 employees database
  
  
• You could be in a contract wherein you are paying additional charges for services which are just not required at your end
  
  
• You are not able to bifurcate the monthly expense of the payroll service provider
  
  

Ideally, the charges being paid to the payroll service provider should be clear and transparent for you to analyse whether you are being overcharged or not. In case, you feel there is overpricing, you should look for other options in the market based on competitive pricing and then select the appropriate payroll service provider.

Therefore, to conclude, do not undermine the importance of the payroll function in your company. If, by any chance, the present payroll service provider is unable to meet your expectations then do switch over to a new one at the beginning of the new financial year.