Easy Source HR Solutions

Employee retention strategies are gaining momentum especially in the post-Covid-19 world. Employers like never before are focussing on retaining their best talented employees to ensure the long-term success of their company. Employees also wish to stay longer in a company which promises them good career prospects and satisfactory compensation package. Let us go through some of the vital employee retention strategies which will be implemented in the present scenario.

1. Hire the right candidates: The HR of your company needs to prepare the job description clear and explicit mentioning the requisite skills of the candidates. Moreover, the HR should conduct a thorough interview and examine both the soft and hard skills of the candidate to understand his candidature for the post. Most of the times, wrong selection of candidates often leads to the employee leaving the company very soon.

2. Offer Benefits: It is not just the package but also other benefits associated with the pay package which often lures the employee to change his job. Hence, the HR should ensure to provide a satisfactory compensation package at par with the industry and other benefits such as medical insurance, holiday benefits, flexible working hours, performance bonus, retirement funds and so forth. So, the employers need to provide benefits to its employees in order to retain them in their company.

3. Training and Development: The post-Covid corporate sector is looking for talented employees capable of handling multiple tasks along being tech-savy as well. No employee wants to handle the same profile throughout his lifetime in the same company. The company should make arrangements to enhance the skills of its employees by organizing training programmes either through face-to-face meetings or online conferences. This will motivate the employees to work hard with greater enthusiasm and will break the monotony of the work as well. Moreover, the company by investing in the training and development of its employees will be securing its future as well.

4. Great working environment: Employees tend to stay longer in a company which offers them an amiable work culture and sufficient growth prospects and promise of learning and advancement in life. In addition, managers need to appreciate their team members either through monetary means or through public recognition. Remember, if the employee feels worth less and unnoticed in the working culture, he is bound to look for a job change!

5. Employee engagement: One of the vital employee retention strategies in the present scenario is to listen to your employees. As an employer, you need to listen to the suggestions and problems of your employees which they might encounter at the workplace or in their personal lives. In the Covid working scenario, maintaining work-life balance has not been easy for most of the employees. Yet, employers have supported, listened to the woes and suggested solutions to the problems of their employees. Likewise, even at the workplace, employees feel valued when their suggestions are heard and appreciated.

Conclusion

Therefore, to conclude, a company is bound to prosper which focuses on its employees. Companies need to come up with plausible strategies to retain their best employees. A company which makes its employees feel happy, satisfied and motivated is bound to garner profits and secure its efficient functioning even in times of crisis. It indeed requires hard work on the part of the company to retain its employees but it pays in the long-run. 

Have you come across the term an Employer of Record (EoR)? An Employer of Record is an organization or a company that is responsible for handling all the compliance related issues, HR and payroll related matters of employees. Regardless of the type of your business, hiring an (EoR) brings several benefits with it. Hiring an (EoR) is especially beneficial when you wish to expand your business across countries or you already have a business with offices in several states of India. In either case, an (EoR) offers numerous benefits reducing all kinds of complications for your business.

Why to hire an Employer of Record?

The essential question which comes up is: Why should you hire an Employer of Record (EoR)? Companies generally hire an (EoR) to reduce all the complications and changes which happen across geographical boundaries with reference to hiring of employees, welcoming employees on-board, providing health benefits and insurance cover to employees, keeping updated about the labour laws of the country and the various states, deducting payroll taxes, salary processing and distribution to employees, and ensuring statutory compliance by employees.

So, when you hire an EoR, it becomes the employer of your employees. An (EoR) ensures that your business in various states of India remains in compliance of the various laws, rules and regulations. At the same time, an EoR is of immense help if you wish to expand your business across countries of the world. It is to be noted that in several countries of the world such as the USA, labour laws vary across states and are complex as well. In such a scenario, an EoR will help you to expand your reach across new markets, manage all employment related matters and even make arrangement for work permits of your employees.

What are the benefits of using an Employer of Record?

• Hiring an (EoR) primarily helps your business in saving time and using it effectively in other vital areas of your business. You get to witness significant changes in terms of overall handling of areas such as the human resource function, employee benefits, compliance of state and central laws and employee compensation.

• The second major benefit of hiring an EoR is in terms of saving cost while hiring and handling legal and employee compliance related matters. This leads to marginal cost cutting and the money saved can be redirected and utilized in other arenas of your business. Moreover, this fund can be utilized in achieving the goals of your business in a quick manner. 

Before the onset of the era of globalization, liberalization and privatization (LPG), the Human Resources Department (HRD) used to function in a customary and traditional manner. The role of the HR was simply restricted to job postings, screening of candidates, sending them letter of intent and finally, the recruitment of the candidates. However, after the 1990s, the world witnessed the surge of entry of private companies and MNCs in the Indian market, and consequently, the role of HR also underwent a drastic change with the changing environment.

The arrival of foreign companies in the market brought in new technologies which required specialised manpower possessing specific skills for specific roles. This is what led to the diversification of the role of the HR. The HR now had to search and recruit candidates with specialised skills and proficient in the knowledge of new technologies such as MS Office, Excel and so forth.

Gradually, the role of the HR has diversified to include more essential aspects of the organization such as employee engagement and employee retention along with talent management and recruitment. The onset of the 21^st century has brought with it new changes in terms of the ever evolving technology that has impacted the organizational culture as well. Not only this, the concept of working couples has enhanced the number of working ladies which has led the HR to devise work from home policy especially for ladies. In addition, the HR in some organizations has also devised flexible working hours policy which is extremely beneficial for the working ladies.

Moreover, the onset of the global recession near 2009 and the years following that have compelled the HR of the organization to become an active decision-maker in the decisions of the organization. The HR now frames policies and procedures after engaging and taking the opinion of the employees before implementing and framing the policies. Surveys are conducted within the organization and after taking the poll, the HR decides on a particular policy or procedure to be implemented with the consent of the senior management.

Moreover, these days, the HR is conducting numerous workshops and training sessions to upgrade the skills of the employees as per the changing times. The HR nowadays, not just promotes cultural activities in the organization but also recognises the employee of the month – as a kind of employee recognition and employee motivation strategy.

Let us take the case of the present scenario—Covid-19. When suddenly lockdown was imposed in India in the month of March and the offices had to be shut down unexpectly due to outbreak of the Corona pandemic. It was the HR which played an extremely pivotal role in coordinating with the various departments of the organization. The HR prepared the list of the company’s personnel who would be working from home and the proper procedure of initiating the work from home concept. In addition, the HR has been conducting meetings, recruitment and other essential aspects online via videoconferencing. Indeed, the HR has come a long way from simply playing a conservative role in the company to being a decisive player in the introduction and implementation of policies in the company.

Therefore, to conclude, one can say that the HR has become extremely flexible, dynamic and instrumental in the current scenario. It has been tackling several challenges in the present scenario and as a result, it has come to assume an even powerful role than ever before.  

In this highly uncertain and unpredictable environment, organizations are finding it extremely difficult to keep their employees motivated and that too remotely. Employees differ by nature and also in their ability to perform a specific task. This ‘will’ do so is defined as motivation. The stronger is the will of an employee to perform; the better will be the motivation.

Motivation involves these three main tenets:

Primarily, it is the effort that is input by an employee to a specific task which determines his ability towards his work.

Secondly, how consistently the employee is performing that task with zeal is indeed important for the organization.

Thirdly, the employee needs to keep working in the right direction which gives the maximum output with minimal usage of resources.

During the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire work culture and the working life of employees have witnessed a U-turn. While some offices have completely given the work from home option to their employees, at the same time, some companies are asking their employees to report to office 5-7 days in a month and complete the remaining work from home.

It has been extremely difficult in these uncertain times for the organizations to keep their employees motivated. Employees all over the world have now entered an arena of virtual workplace where they are juggling to understand how to maintain work-life balance at the time of working from home and simultaneously keeping their spirits high to achieve their targets and deadlines. Face-to-face conversation has been replaced with phone calls and videoconferencing. In other words, the visibility factor has reduced which has become a major challenge for the organizations at present to handle.

Let us go through some of the ways and methods which organizations can adopt to keep their employees motivated remotely.

1. Use the option of videoconferencing instead of simple making a phone call: Technology, in these unpredictable times has become a boon. WhatsApp, Goggle Duo, Goggle Hangouts, Zoom, Microsoft Team and Skype to name a few are some of the applications which when installed in a smart phone facilitate in making a phone call and conducting videoconference.  Today, your manager sitting in say, United Kingdom can interact with you in India and with other employees as well. Making a video call instead of a phone call is simply better because the body language of the employee is visible to the employer.

The manager while interacting with his subordinate will get to understand from his body language whether he is motivated to work from home or else he is perturbed due to some issue. In this manner, the manager can discuss with his subordinate about the work status and simultaneously, he will get to know about any problem afflicting the subordinate, if there is any. In this way, the employee will also feel happy that the organization is concerned about him.

2. Recognition and Appreciation: The second foremost technique of keeping the employees motivated while working remotely is through recognition and appreciation. For instance, the organization can provide a certificate of appreciation to an employee who has completed a challenging task. Not only this, the company can even publicise this information on their social media page or on their LinkedIn page. This gives immense amount of recognition to the employee and the individual feels motivated to enhance his performance.

Another method of appreciating the employee is by giving him an incentive or a voucher as a token of appreciation. These small gestures on the part of the organization make the employee feel special and motivated.

3. On-time disbursal of salary: An employee feels happy the most when he receives the salary in his bank account and that too on time. In the times of Coronavirus, when most of the offices have been shut down and some of the employees have lost their jobs; it indeed gives peace of mind to receive your salary in your account. The fact that your salary is coming on time on a specific date also gives the notion that the company is functioning as usual as it was before the outbreak of the pandemic.

4. Promotion of skills of your employees: This technique can be another motivation booster for the employees. For instance, if your employee likes writing and has been posting his poems or short stories on the social media platform, it would indeed be a matter of pride and privilege for the organization to promote the skills of the employee. This will also go a long way in motivating the employee.

Therefore, to conclude, organizations undoubtedly, are finding it hard to ensure smooth functioning of the work flow by adopting the work from home option. Nonetheless, the organizations can ensure to keep their employees motivated by adopting various novice techniques which are proving to be successful in these challenging times.  

Introduction
You might be aware of cyber crimes and how different types of malicious software can place some or all of your company’s precious pieces of information at stake. A dramatic increase in the cyberattacks targeting the payroll departments and payroll services of companies have been witnessed since 2017. A forewarning by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre(IC3) was also issued in September 2018, which signalled a threat to the various industries including the education, healthcare and commercial airway

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transportation sectors regarding their online payroll accounts. The IC3 cautioned against the use of phishing emails by the hackers to steal employee’s login credentials and siphon money off their depository accounts.
For a long time now, news stories featuring cyber-attacks on enterprises has been on the go. Reports show that 82 % of the Indian companies  have  experienced  ransomware attacks in the last 12 months and claimed to have paid more than a fortune of 8 crores on an average to fix the issues.
How do you shield your payroll against such attacks?
Ransomware is a type of malware which encrypt’s the victim’s files and then holds it as hostage unless their demands for ransom are met. Lucky that every Indian company who paid the ransom recovered their data back, while this might not be the case always.
Therefore, not quick fixes but adopting proper safety measures to  fight  such payroll-related cyber attacks is the key. Listing down some of the preventive measures below:
Click wisely: Ransomware most commonly is delivered in the form of phishing spam. These are attachments that come with emails masqueraded as a file from a trusted source, but once you open or download these, cybercriminals can trick you to allow them administrative access and in some other cases they might aggressively take control over your computer and encrypt your valuable files.
Keep your IT systems and software up-to-date: An expired security software leaves you vulnerable to such malware attacks. Therefore, it is advisable to instantly update such security versions as soon as they are made available to you.

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Application of software patches for security holes and staying upgraded  to  the latest software packages is a must.
Conducting awareness programs: Employees need to be well-educated regarding the possible threats of cybercrime and the innovative ways used by such fraudsters to trap its target. They need to be trained on how they can act as monitors and flag such suspicious behaviours to the management at the earliest.
Use tough passwords: People often tend to use easy passwords for their own convenience but they often overlook the downside of doing so. By using easily crackable codes you are growing your chances of being attacked by manifold. Use uncommon passwords and don’t forget to keep changing the same within a short span of time.
Keep a backup strategy handy: If you can keep your payroll information safely stored in a separate drive other than storing it in the system wherein you process your payroll, you can be carefree from the fear of losing your crucial data. Why? Because once a hacker knows the IP address from which you are processing your payroll, it gets easier for the person to hack your system and steal your confidential data. This is where your backup data comes into play.
Strong security controls should be installed: It is  imperative for you to have a robust anti-malware and full system scan software installed. This will help in detecting possible threats beforehand and destroy them in the first place, hence leaving no room for intruders to invade.

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Choose a reliable third-party vendor: Before opting for any vendor, it is very important for you to do a comprehensive study on the one you have shortlisted among the others. Check their previous track records of service to its customers, their terms and conditions and once you are sure of its trustworthiness, agreements regarding security concerns can be made between both of you. Also, regular audits must be carried out at your end to ensure authority doesn’t go misused.
Avoid overdose of authority: When working in  a particular department, let’s say the payroll disbursement section, a person who is responsible for doing the transaction must seek approval from an authorised person in the higher level of the hierarchy. A single person must not be entrusted with both responsibilities. This will ensure that no anomalies go unnoticed.
Framing proper policies: Policies relating to the handling of critical business data and payroll must be weaved with utmost dexterity. Any violations must be immediately escalated and strict actions must be taken.   

It is a known fact that Covid-19 has brought several unprecedented disruptions and changes in dynamics in every sphere of life including work. To cope with the numerous challenges, several companies and enterprises introduced interim changes in the year 2021 which have continued to stay little longer than expected.

Several small and big enterprises adopted payroll outsourcing in 2021 to stay ahead in the competitive world. Unprecedented growth has been witnessed in the field of payroll outsourcing during the outbreak of the pandemic. In fact, according to industry statistics and trends, payroll outsourcing will facilitate business growth in 2022.

Payroll outsourcing will help your business immensely in adapting to the new workplace dynamics such as remote working, hiring and managing freelancers and contractual workers, adopting latest technology and so forth.

Let us understand how payroll outsourcing will help your business in 2022.

1. Saving time: Time saved is equivalent to money. Hence, by hiring a payroll outsourcing provider, you save time otherwise spent on doing payroll calculation, tax deduction, salary disbursal, leave and attendance management and others. In this manner, you and your HR team will have ample time at their disposal to focus on core functions of business such as business development, or customer retention.
   
   
2. Reducing costs: It is vital to understand that hiring an efficient payroll outsourcing provider will help your business to keep pace with the rapidly changing work dynamics. The amount of expertise and specialization which you will gain from the payroll outsourcing provider will certainly outweigh the efforts put in by an in-house HR team. Moreover, with the plethora of outsourcing options available, you can negotiate and settle for one of the best payroll outsourcing providers and that too at a low cost. So, be assured, that your cost will not increase but your gains will!
   
   
3. Application of latest technology: By outsourcing payroll, your business can leverage the usage of latest technologies such as cloud-computing system. By adopting cloud infrastructure, payroll outsourcing provider ensures flexibility, efficiency, transparency, speed and accessibility. Another latest technology which will find wide usage in 2022 is the application of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This is an emerging technology and is being increasingly used by payroll outsourcing providers for timely processing and delivering high quality and accuracy in the entire process.
   
   
4. Better security of company data: By outsourcing payroll, you will be able to protect your company’s sensitive data from any kind of theft or instances such as hacking of company’s server. Also, mishandling of large amount of employee data can be easily avoided. Payroll outsourcing providers use high-tech software and technologies which provide security and safety to your business database.
   
   
5. Compliance: It is extremely difficult for your in-house HR team to be aware and updated of the latest tax regulations and labour laws all the time. Also, handling payroll function accurately and efficiently is a complex task when handled manually. This can lead to levy of fines and penalties accentuating delay in salary disbursal further disappointing the employees. Hence, by outsourcing payroll, you will get access to experts and professionals equipped with the latest knowledge of tax laws and proficient of handling payroll with full compliance to state and central laws of the country.
   
   

Conclusion

Therefore, to conclude, payroll outsourcing is definitely going to help your business in 2022. By hiring a professional payroll outsourcing provider, you can avail several benefits and spend your time and money on increasing business productivity and growth.  

Cashflow as the name suggests is the money running into a business and the amount of money running out. Cash is important to keep meeting your expenses, which is why it is a vital element to keep your business afloat.

Cash inflow happens from sources such as payment from customers, receipt of loan, investment from investors and later on outlayed to meet the expenses such as  raw material and inventory costs, employee salaries, rents and other operational expenses.

Therefore, this helps us decipher  how a positive cash flow is important for a business to run smoothly and a higher cash flow helps you create possible avenues for your business.

Let’s learn how payroll can help build a positive cash flow

The way you are handling your payroll services has a lot to do with the success of your business. An erroneous pay process might waive a red flag to your employees, clients and capitalists which is unhealthy for your organiations growth. Discussing few points to give you a better understanding on the do’s to keep the cash inflow of your business burgeoning.

• Encourage clients to pay their outstandings early :

Client’s who owe you money might be unwilling to pay off their debts quickly, which might trigger problems in your cash flow. Therefore, you may apply the following techniques to encourage them pay their outstandings, by

1. Promptly issuing invoices and following them up regularly.
2. Offering attractive early pay-off discounts.
3. Charging an upfront deposit or scheduling pay deposits at regular intervals incase of long term projects.

• Maintain a separate cash reservoir :

At times, company  might  go through rough phases of their business life cycle, which is why maintaining a separate  cash reservoir to meet the immediate cash flow needs for a duration of a few months or even a year during the lean times is essential.

Recent pandemic however has been the best example to prove the importance of the aforementioned necessity. We did witness companies adopting savage measures to cope up with the difficult times by furloughing, laying off, forcing unpaid leaves, etc for their inability to pay their employees. This has undoubtedly tarnished the company reputation to a great extent and removing such stains off their image might take ages. Would  you  ever prefer working for such a company in future? Your answer itself is self-explanatory for having such a reservoir handy.

• Opting for a short-term loan :

When the debtors stay unanswered to your calls for the delayed payments, you can apply for a short-term loan, to pay your employees accurately on the pay day’s. Money is a major motivation and people are the assets of a company, absence of money can result in loosing out on your valuable possessions which might cost you substantially.

• Encashing high-valued belongings :

If you donot want to opt for a loan, you can instead sell your not so important belongings and manage the money to meet your payroll needs at the moment. Selling out properties such as company stocks, vehicles, real estate, office equipments and other insignificant possessions can help you fix some of the current cash crunch issues. But these are just quick fixes and not a permanent solution and hence should be considered as a last resort because recouping of such assets in future might cost you heavily. Choosing wisely might help.

• Factoring your invoices :

When you are  left with too many unpaid invoices, you can apply these techniques to make them take you more seriously.

1. Keep frequenting notices to let them know that you are not letting the debt remain uncollected even if they have the capability to pay or not.
2. Keep a lawyer who can mail legal notices for such heedless actions and also draw up a contractual agreement including remittances such as collection of a particular percentage of money on placing the order and the right to withold the delivery of the final product or services until the full and final settlement is made.
3. Employ collection agencies to follow up with the debtors.
4. Network with other business owners to gain insights on dealing with such business related matters.

• Cutting down on overhead expenses :

It is always advisable to prioritize your employees payroll instead of spending excessively  on other irrelevant concerns. The expenditures made should be value for money and not just because everyone else is jumping on the band wagon. 

The most valuable asset of any company is its workforce. The number of people employed in a company termed as ‘manpower’ is the most vital component of every business organization. The rapidly evolving and competitive business environment has made it all the more imperative for a business organization to be sensitive towards its manpower. Besides, the outbreak of the Covid pandemic has reinforced the need to rethink and redesign our policies keeping the workforce in mind.

It is indeed true that outsourcing manpower today has become an extremely viable option. In fact, outsourcing manpower proves to be beneficial in quick accomplishment of your business goals as it helps save time and money, improves efficiency, and protects from legal complications.  Yet, you can face several challenges when you decide to outsource your manpower.

Some of the prominent challenges faced while outsourcing manpower are:

1. Devoid of Connection: One of the primary challenges faced when outsourcing manpower is the loss of connection between the employees and the employer. Employees address their queries regarding medical, leaves or training to the HR department. Now, if such a vital function — HR is outsourced, it is quite possible that the employees of the company feel disconnected. The employees will get the feeling that personal touch is lost between them and the company.
   
   
2. Delay in response: Another significant challenge faced when outsourcing manpower is the delay in response from the manpower outsourcing provider. It is quite possible that the employees’ issues, problems and queries are not properly responded by the outsourcing provider as compared to the speedy response received by an in-house HR team. Now, in such a scenario, employees can begin to feel neglected, angry or disappointed with the company.
   
   
3. Security of employee data: When you decide to outsource your manpower, you hand over sensitive employees data to a third-party. Hence, you must ensure that the manpower outsourcing provider protects your company data from any kind of theft or risk. Loss of data can lead to the loss of faith and trust between the employees and the company.
   
   
4. Loss of experienced HR personnel: Even when you hire a manpower outsourcing provider, it might be necessary for you to appoint an HR executive to monitor its proper working. The manpower outsourcing provider could deviate from your company’s policies or norms. In such circumstances, you will feel the need of having a competent in-house HR executive to take care of the needs of the employees.
   
   

Conclusion

Therefore, to conclude, outsourcing manpower is being increasingly adopted in today’s dynamic scenario. However, the biggest challenge of outsourcing manpower is not having an in-house HR executive to give immediate response and resolve the daily issues that come up in every working culture.  Nonetheless, companies can select one of the best manpower outsourcing provider ensuring to keep the interrelationship between the company and employees intact and fruitful. It is imperative to keep your manpower happy and satisfied even when outsourcing to ensure the rapid growth of your business.  

Remote jobs or the work from home arrangement has been on the rise from a number of years now. But all these years since the job opportunities began to climb and the an increasing number of organizations also became more open to the idea of letting people enjoy the flexibility of working from home, the option to work remotely from home became a voluntary and welcoming one.

As opposed to that, what is going on today with COVID-19 has compelled people who are used to working from office to stay put at home and coordinate with their colleagues and managers for the work arrangements remotely over the internet.

It is on this given condition that employers need to take all measures to ensure that their workers do not feel demotivated or disturbed and enable remote working at scale. So, how do they do that?

Let’s look at some of the ways senior level managers in any organization can use to keep the motivation and engagement uninterrupted.

Resetting of goals

As with all the unplanned events, this one has also forced everyone – from organizations to their employees – to take a pause and start wondering how they are going to deal with this unexpected development that didn’t even give them a time to warm up, and this has affected the short- and long-term goal setting process. No one was mentally prepared for it, the outbreak happened and suddenly everyone found their objectives and key goals taking a hit. Organizations can set new deliverables for their employees for which the right tracking metrics can be put into place. The tools of the nature of Zoom, Slack and Skype have to be leveraged fully to get updates and ensure no one is veering off the company objectives.

Enhance teamwork on personal level

As touched upon earlier, the remote working culture has already made its way into the market. And this is meant there are a host of tools and applications for people to use in order to seamlessly engage and collaborate with their co-workers. But we’re not going to suggest only the likes of Zoom and Skype, what you also need to do additionally is employ ways to keep the engagement between the different individuals high even on a personal level. You can invest in virtual team activities like games, quizzes, and so on that helps workers bond with each other.

Encourage upskilling

The daily routine of office, where even after accomplishing a day’s work the employees are required for unproductive activities like some unnecessary meetings, some HR sessions that they can do without, or even some self-attracted distractions like a game of Foosball or Table Tennis, leaves no time to learn new skills or enhance the existing ones. In a world where we have platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and so on, you can as an employer purchase courses for your employees so that they can make the best of their work from home routine whenever there is time to spare.

Conclusion

While Covid-19 may have brought the world to its knees, organizations have a variety of options through which they can invest efforts to keep their workers engaged and productive.