A Time for Reflection
January 15th this year marks ‘Blue Monday’, thought to be the most depressing day of the year. And while there is no scientific evidence to back this claim, it is certainly a useful time to pause and recognise the stresses we face at work – particularly in an era of significant issues surrounding talent attraction and retention.
These challenges are highlighted in the Advanced Trends 2023/2024 Report, a large-scale survey of industry in the UK. The report surveyed senior leaders in a wide range of sectors, including health, education, finance, government, and law, and found employee retention and attraction the single biggest issue facing organisations today.
The survey found a number of other concerns, including a general digital skills gap, an overreliance on legacy infrastructure, and uneven adoption of emerging technologies. Respondents who reported being happy with the technology they have in place cited benefits including time saved through the automation of tasks, and better collaboration.
Clearly, then, technology infrastructure can have a positive effect on day-to-day operations. But how can technology help in the long term, and what can it do to improve employee motivation and wellbeing?
Keeping it Continuous
Continuous Performance Management (CPM) not only streamlines people management, but helps keeps staff motivated and on-task. This brings an increase in staff wellbeing, which in turn, leads to higher levels of retention. When an organisation has a positive reputation for wellbeing at work, attracting the right talent becomes easier.
Digital CPM solution Performance and Talent (also known as Clear Review) makes it easy to give feedback throughout your organisation. This feedback happens in real time, driving engagement and keeping conversations relevant. Constructive feedback is encouraged, and praise can be given from, and to, any level of the organisation – including support staff, cleaning staff, and security.
This enhances a feeling of connectivity, promoting the team mindset. Employees who may have been looked over in the past have more visibility, and the software gives a voice to those who are often reluctant to speak out. The software even has an option for AI assistance, ensuring feedback is well-written and accurate.
Performance and Talent’s My Mindspace feature allows employees to share their feedback confidentially, giving HR teams a view of any blockers that may occur, whether on an individual or team basis. This gives the chance for action to be taken immediately, giving employees a real sense they are being listened to.
Talent Spotting
Performance and Talent’s Talent Snapshots feature is a simple but effective way of identifying high performing talent within an organisation. A series of short questions helps the user gather evidential data for marking out extraordinary talent, allowing management to nurture the employee towards further success.
Talent can also be measured over time, with Performance and Talent’s at-a-glance dashboards. These dashboards give clear data visualisation, making it easy to spot trends over any time scale. They can also be used to measure uptake of new methodologies and software tools.
When it comes to setting goals and objectives, the software makes it straightforward, whether for individual employees or collaborative groups. Objectives can be revisited and reworked, depending on whether performance levels have been met. These targets ensure staff remain focussed, presenting attainable goals and clear expectations.
Are you a HR professional and wanting to discuss how to best manage your employees in this tricky time of year? Join us on Monday when we host our Blue Monday webinar and discuss the techniques proven to improve staff wellbeing, and how Advanced can support you throughout!