Lanka Talents Creation – Lanka Talents

Sri Lanka 100 2021 Ranking

Lanka Talents Creation — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 18:44:33 +0000

Sri Lanka’s Top 100 Brands Showcase Resilience Growing in Brand Value

Total value of Sri Lanka’s top 100 brands increased by 3% over course of 2020 despite pandemic turmoil
Dialog remains Sri Lanka’s most valuable and strongest brand with brand value of Rs. 54.0 billion and AAA brand strength rating
Supermarket sector records impressive 33% total brand value growth as demand spikes
In contrast, hospitality and airlines brands take hit as travel and tourism reach standstill amid lockdowns
Banking remains Sri Lanka’s most valuable sector, with 19 brands featuring in ranking accounting for impressive 43% of total brand value
General insurance sector drops 3%; Ceylinco General bucks trend growing 18%

2020 was by all accounts one of the most tumultuous years for all businesses, not only in Sri Lanka but throughout the world. The nation, first having to deal with the Easter bombing in 2019, followed by COVID-19 lockdowns over the last year, has had to negotiate a significantly depressed economy, which has resulted in a reduction in consumer purchasing power. In such circumstances, the brands that a company owns, are arguably now more critical than ever before to sustain and grow businesses.

The total value of Sri Lanka’s most valuable brands has increased slightly by Rs.16 billion or 3% this year, an impressive feat given the current economic climate. Total value, however, still falls short of the total value recorded in 2019, which stood at Rs. 630 billion. With a reduction in consumer spending power our review highlights that the larger, more established brands have withstood the downturn better, because of their resilience.

Source

https://brandirectory.com/rankings/sri-lanka

The post Sri Lanka 100 2021 Ranking appeared first on Lanka Talents.

Overcoming Diversity Challenges in the Workplace by Supporting Mental Health

Lanka Talents Creation — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 03:44:25 +0000

The racial injustices of 2020 profoundly impacted corporate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion investments (DEI.) In June, DEI-related job postings increased by 55%, and chief diversity officer hires increased by 51% by October.

In 2021, DEI commitments have continued to rise. Companies are prioritizing diverse gender, racial, sexual orientation, national origin, and ethnic representation in the workplace. A recent report noted that 69% of executives considered diversity and inclusion a critical issue. However, only 22% of employees have noticed a change in their company’s diversity.

This gap between employees and leadership is likely due to focusing on DEI compliance rather than making meaningful changes to company culture. The biggest challenge of diversity in the workplace is creating an inclusive environment for all members of your organization. Elevating and adding diverse team members is only beneficial if HR and executive leadership implement people-focused programs.

Attracting diverse talent is not the same as maintaining an inclusive workplace culture. Investing in workplace diversity and inclusion is so much more than a numbers game. A balanced approach to diversity involves supporting the mental health and wellness of employees with diverse backgrounds.

Inclusive Cultures & Maintaining a Diverse Workforce

While many companies have diversified their workforce, few have considered diversity efforts beyond hiring and promoting practices. Unfortunately, this can leave new employees and tenured employees feeling excluded and disappointed by their new roles. At worst, it can be perceived as tokenism. HR and executive management need to proactively consider how inclusive their culture is currently.

Having representation is incredibly important. But it’s only as effective as a company’s efforts to meet the needs of employees with diverse backgrounds. Failing to account for the needs of a diverse workforce is often called “diversity theatre.” This problem occurs when companies prioritize perception over the lived experience of employees with diverse identities.

In a McKinsey survey on workplace diversity, half of the respondents reported not feeling included at their current company. Those who felt most excluded were entry-level employees, women, and ethnic or racial minorities. These same groups experienced higher rates of work-related mental health issues and are more likely to quit for that reason.

Maintaining a diverse workforce depends on improving the long-term experience of marginalized employees. Representation is just the first step — maintaining a diverse culture includes making meaningful changes to your company culture. If your company’s approach to diversity is mainly based on compliance, consider rounding out your DEI strategy with employee wellness programs.

Diversity and inclusion efforts are inherently linked to investing in employee mental health and wellbeing. For example, a recent Forbes article noted, “Employees from diverse backgrounds can face lack of representation, microaggressions, unconscious bias, and other stressors impacting their mental health.” Therefore, addressing diversity and inclusion is impossible without acknowledging its impact on mental health in the workplace.

A successful DEI commitment should include employee wellness programs that address mental health conditions and concerns. A workplace mental health program should meet employees’ needs and account for their unique experiences in the workplace. It should also facilitate a sense of belonging for all employees and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health challenges.

A DEI Approach to Employee Mental Health

If you’re unsure how to integrate mental health into your diversity strategy, start by understanding the concerns of your employees. Each company has different aspects and contributing factors when it comes to workplace behavioral health. Gathering insights into your employees and their mental health stressors allows you to meet their specific needs better.

A survey of your employees will inform your next steps and allow you to choose the best solution for your workforce. No matter what, a program should provide mental health resources for common concerns like stress and anxiety. A comprehensive solution will address the needs of marginalized team members, with programming on stressors related to race and identity.

Programming on race should account for personal experiences and external factors like systemic racism and recent social injustices. Including both internal and external topics in your approach to employee mental health will help foster an inclusive work environment.

Some people feel as though the pandemic is in the rearview mirror. For others, however, the pandemic and its impact on everyday life remain a prominent stressor. This impact is especially true for people of color, women, and those with differing physical abilities.

The pandemic unevenly impacted Black and Latino people across all social, health care, economic, and employment metrics. Women in the United States experienced higher rates of job loss and financial hardship. These challenges did not end when vaccination rates increased. Therefore, your employee behavioral health program should address how recent events contributed to mental health challenges.

A well-rounded mental health program should do two things to support your diversity and inclusion efforts. First, it should meet your employees’ where they are and consider their personal identity. Second, it should acknowledge how external factors and events impact their mental health depending on their identity.

Running a mental health program alongside your diversity initiatives benefits the company and improves employee experience. Starting a conversation about wellbeing can break down cultural and language barriers, and offer employees perspectives on their coworkers’ experiences. This opens up new lines of communication leading to better problem-solving among diverse teams. Ultimately, these benefits create a better company culture, which is a competitive advantage when hiring and retaining talented employees.

Sustainable DEI: Combining Culture and Compliance

Strictly investing in the compliance side of diversity ignores the challenge of making changes to company culture when hiring or promoting diverse employees. Unfortunately, this approach ignores how identity shapes employee experience. As a result, it can lead to burnout, turnover, and hinder your ability to recruit diverse talent.

Business leaders and HR should consider how an employee’s identity influences their engagement and participation at work. Holistic mental health programs are sustainable investments that include racially informed perspectives and inclusive subject matter for employees. Supporting a diverse workplace depends on creating programs that address the experiences and challenges faced by diverse employees.

If you’re looking to round out your diversity strategy with an inclusive mental health program, check out our approach to supporting employee mental health through managing the challenges of racism and social injustice. We proudly offer programs that address mental health challenges related to identity. When executed thoughtfully and inclusively, mental health training can have a meaningful impact on employee engagement and inclusion.

We’re happy to help survey your team as well if you need help deciding on other courses to include in your DEI employee wellness initiative.

Source – Dustin Keller

The post Overcoming Diversity Challenges in the Workplace by Supporting Mental Health appeared first on Lanka Talents.

Learn What Matters Most to Job Candidates Right Now

Lanka Talents Creation — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 05:04:16 +0000

The 2021 Job Seeker Report is the third installment of a nationwide biennial survey conducted by the Trendicators research division of Engage2Excel Group. Below are some of the questions we asked a representative sample of 1,500 individuals from all major industries and demographic groups in the US:

What are the most important reasons for which you would accept or reject a job offer?

What are the most important factors that would lead you to seek employment elsewhere?
Would having to report to a manager who is younger than you influence your decision to accept a job offer?

Would your first-day onboarding experience affect your decision to stay with a company for more than a month?

Our survey, which was conducted between May 25 and June 18, 2021, provides valuable insights into how the outlooks of job seekers have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. More than two-thirds of the survey respondents (71%) stated that they were working from home because of the pandemic. Commenting on the recent spike in infections due to the Delta variant, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said, “This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” The fact that 26% of job seekers indicated that they would not accept a job that required them to get a COVID-19 vaccine is evidence that the pandemic is far from over in the US.

What’s changed? The percentage of candidates who said that a personalized gift from an employer would influence their decision to accept a job offer increased by 28 points to 64%. The percentage of respondents who stated that interacting with other employees before or after a job offer would impact their acceptance grew by more than 20 points. All passive candidates are currently willing to learn about a new job opportunity, and 41% of all respondents said that reporting to a manager who is younger than they are would affect their acceptance decision. While the importance placed on meeting someone from management or in the same job role during the interview process has declined, recognition and onboarding experiences have become even more important than before.

What hasn’t changed? One might think that during times of record unemployment, creating positive candidate experiences would become less important. However, a comparison between the results of the 2019 Job Seeker survey and those of our recent survey indicates the opposite. Candidates claim that being recognized, appreciated and respected during the recruitment process remains more important than compensation or job fit. Moreover, while fair compensation has the greatest influence on a professional’s decision to seek employment elsewhere, being recognized, appreciated and respected has been the second most important aspect for two years.

Candidate experience matters now more than ever: While many employers have found ways of keeping up with demand during the pandemic through the use of automation technologies, employees will always have the greatest impact on value creation, differentiation and competitive advantage. How organizations recruit, onboard and engage employees will determine the rate of recovery and post-pandemic success in every industry. Candidates want to ensure that their efforts on behalf of an employer will be recognized and rewarded, which is evidenced by the fact that 65% regard the mention of a recognition and rewards program on an organization’s career site as being very important or important. Further, candidates want immediate reassurance that they have made the right career choice, with nearly three quarters (72%) of them stating that their first-day onboarding experience will affect their decision to stay at a company for more than a month.

Source – Melissa Meunier

The post Learn What Matters Most to Job Candidates Right Now appeared first on Lanka Talents.

What Keeps Human Resources Professionals Awake At Night?

Lanka Talents Creation — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 04:49:43 +0000

What one aspect of your HR role has kept you up at night in the last week?

After reading through the myriad responses, I am even more in awe of HR leaders (and I used to be a Chief People Officer!) Here’s what I learned…

HR does it all!

We received over 220 total responses, broken down into nearly forty categories! Some of the concerns we saw were implementing performance management, career development, returning to the office, competencies and skills matrices, compensation, ongoing learning and development, and communication with the C-suite.

Here’s a thread that offers more clarity into an HR challenge (disciplinary action):

I can’t give information, but when a valued employee really messes up, nothing illegal or immoral, it is difficult to decide how to address and repair the damage and how to move forward. Sometimes, firing isn’t the answer.

Response: Thanks for sharing, I feel you on this. I think that most of the time, firing is not the answer, especially because people talk and then the org or team gets a reputation that it’s not safe to make mistakes. I’m curious how the expectations and agreements were set up from the beginning and if there were any obstacles to the employee speaking up and asking for help?

And another that discussed both cultural issues and employee off-boarding:

I’ve been doing exit interviews, and while most of them have been easy and joyful, the harder ones are the ones that stick with me, the employees who felt that they’ve been wronged and hurt by our organization. I keep thinking about how what I see from my perspective is sometimes so far removed from their day-to-day experience in the organization. I didn’t even know some of the things that have been unearthed in these interviews had been happening. It’s something I hope to plan to rectify moving forward.

Response: I commend you for prioritizing proactive feedback to reduce the number of exit interviews you get in the first place.I understand the struggle of obtaining solid participation numbers when it comes to feedback. Creating a culture of continuous feedback is a company-wide effort that needs to be initiated and backed by leadership. Sending you a DM. 🙂

What really keeps Human Resources professionals up at night?

To make sense of the data, we consolidated the forty themes and charted the data below. These are the top seven concerns of HR professionals:

Talent Acquisition and Retention
Performance Management
Culture and Morale Issues
Returning To Office (Health & Safety)
Building the HR Function
Remote/Hybrid Work
Employee Wellbeing

Talent Acquisition & Retention

No surprise here, as this was an ongoing concern even before the pandemic. Now it seems that with remote work becoming more normalized, employees are moving to parts of the country that have a significantly higher quality of life at a fraction of the cost of living. One example is The Great Exodus from regions like Northern California:

During the fourth quarter of 2020, roughly 114,600 people left the Bay Area, up 29.7 percent from the same period in 2019.
Mercury News

There’s also The Great Resignation, where 40 percent of people are thinking of leaving their jobs and a good percentage of folks are actually doing it. This is related to increased access to a global talent pool, but also to unexpected factors like burnout. In a recent, community fireside chat with TrueCar CEO, John Foster, John shared that burnout has a lot to do with control (click the link directly above and watch at 39:26):

When people are talking about this Great Resignation… that’s sometimes a break because you have control. You can choose to say, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore. I can choose to go somewhere else’.
John Foster, CHRO of TrueCar

Despite how the media frames these phenomena, for people teams, there is nothing great about exodus or resignation. The stakes have never been higher to build a strong employer brand, create opportunities for internal advancement, and build a robust culture where people can thrive.

Remote/Hybrid Work

This one is not a surprise either and, as I’ve shared, is related to that top concern of talent acquisition and retention. We even made this our June theme in the community with round-tables on dynamic work and community members sharing their reopening office plans.

What we saw in 2020, was that many organizations who were forced to go remote in order to survive were dealing with trust, communication, and engagement. Technology helped to ease these struggles, but that alone was not sufficient.

As offices reopen and hybrid work is becoming the new, new normal, we are seeing a whole slew of emerging issues that tech alone can’t solve. Creating competition between the here’s vs the there’s, uneven odds of getting promoted, and cultural dilution, to name a few. Since this way of working is here to stay, we are seeing a huge opportunity for innovation in the field of HR and the need for strategic initiatives.

Performance Management

Many of these comments had to do with successfully rolling out performance management software or the implementation of process. Issues like performance reviews, engagement, culture and morale, psychological safety, and team communication all fall into this category.

Community members also voiced concerns about executive buy-in. Here is the response and advice that was shared:

Executive sponsorship and involvement is critical for success in any company-wide software roll out. I would say the “must do” prior to rolling out is to get executive buy-in, including a company-wide announcement by your executive sponsor to explain why you are doing this, to set expectations around key dates, and to ask for feedback/questions.

The shift to strategic HR

Many Human Resources professionals are bogged down in administrative tasks like payroll and benefits, they struggle to get ahead of employee attrition, and they are not seen as true partners to the rest of leadership. What’s needed is to get ahead of these issues by becoming strategic business partners and planning a people strategy to ensure a strong employer brand and high performance and engagement.

But one of the main concerns we hear from HR leaders is that they are too busy to be strategic. When two-hundred people people say that forty distinct concerns related to their roles keep them up at night, that’s a pretty strong indicator that this issue is real.

We created the HR Superstars community to help with this concern; to elevate HR to a strategic business function. Because that’s what HR is. They are not ancillary. They are most valuable when they lay out and execute the frameworks for how to pair people performance with business performance.

To be a part of this movement, please join us in the HR Superstars Community! We host fireside chats with successful, progressive people leaders from large organizations. You can access actionable resources like webinars and playbooks from academics and industry experts. Best of all, you will have a place where you can connect, grow your networks, and get answers from people who have been there.

Source – Adam Weber

The post What Keeps Human Resources Professionals Awake At Night? appeared first on Lanka Talents.

9 Biggest Payroll Challenges In 2021

Lanka Talents Creation — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 05:38:22 +0000

Whether small or large, every business handles payroll in their own way, which governs how it handles all payments owed to employees and contract employees (freelancers).

An organisation must ensure that every pay, tax bill, invoices, and data input aligns with the compliance laws. Many complex procedures are involved since the tax laws, and compliance rules keep changing from time to time!😕

This means more difficult payroll processes, more data, and more effort. Fortunately, you can address all of these payroll processing challenges with the help of a payroll software and focus on hiring from a bigger talent pool!😍

Many HR professionals are eager to explore the world for talented recruits, but technicalities sometimes appear to be an impediment that businesses must overcome. The majority of them involve payroll management.

Calculating payroll and distributing salaries may appear to be a simple task; however, it is not. In fact, while running the payrolls, an HR professional faces several difficulties. Recognizing your payroll processing challenges is the first step towards identifying appropriate solutions to overcome them.

It’s important to get your payroll right✅: paying employees incorrectly or untimely can hurt employee morale, and failure to comply with tax or labor laws can result in severe penalties.

Steps Involved In Payroll Management Process

Payroll management determines employee pay, deductions, tax computations, bonuses, and compliance, among other things.

The following are the primary steps in payroll processing:👇

Payroll Management Process

The first step is to establish a payroll policy. Fix your payroll processing norms, including guidelines for leave, attendance, and compensation.
The second step involves keeping an eye on the various departments’ contributions. For example, attendance records, tax requirements, leave records, and so forth.
Once you’ve gathered the data for payroll processing, you’ll need to check it for accuracy and legitimacy. For instance, knowing the exact amount of unpaid leaves taken by an employee.
After you’ve gathered this information, you’ll need to run payroll calculations, including deductions and taxes.
Payroll management calculations are accompanied by ensuring statutory compliance, such as TDS, EPF, etc.
After completing the payroll, you’ll need to enter everything into your accounting software for precise accounting and administration.
The second and final stage is to distribute payments to employees and provide them with pay slips. This phase entails keeping track of employee account information.
Finally, keep track of inaccuracies and other errors to improve your payroll structure in the future.

We can’t deny that the payroll management process is time-consuming and inconvenient.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest challenges of payroll processing.👀

Challenges Of Payroll Processing

In this blog, we’ll discuss the 9 biggest payroll challenges and ways you can adopt to eliminate them.🚀

Payroll Processing Challenges

➡️ Statutory Compliance & Legislation Issues

Running a company isn’t a cakewalk.❌ Staying compliant is one of the biggest challenges of payroll processing. Labor laws, state regulations, and statutory compliances are only a few of the legislation and rules that exist. Following these laws is not an option; it is necessary!✅

On the other hand, making compliance mistakes isn’t necessarily a decision; many people simply don’t understand intricate regulations. Plus, they get revised from time to time!

This can result in significant fines and penalties for your company. Honestly, it doesn’t sound like something you want!☹️

Furthermore, most businesses rely on conducting payroll manually or entrusting the task to their HR staff. You must realize that no matter how much time you devote to learning the compliance regulations, they will change, and you will be back to square one.

This might pose a challenge that will end up causing major distractions in the process of payroll generation.

➡️ Evolution Of Technology

The blind trust in the technology can end up being one of the biggest global payroll challenges we face in 2021. Chances are that the blind faith in these can turn out to be faulty in the long course of time.

This is where we pan out to be wrong and not on the correct path. Technology does make the process of payroll generation easy and a lot streamlined doesn’t mean it is going to be accurate every single time. ❌

Good and effective payroll software do have the capability to alleviate the issues many face with their payroll management process but it is important to be very aware of which technology to opt for and which ones to trust. Every single prospect of the payroll service provider should be very well verified to avoid any kind of further risks.

➡️ Need For Higher Flexibility

Payroll management is not restricted to merely paying off your workforce.

COVID-19 has caused significant changes for several businesses, necessitating increased flexibility. For instance, a company may have reduced or modified its work shifts, necessitating frequent and major changes to employees’ schedules, influencing leave, payroll, and other operations to coordinate and compute overtime and other payouts.

Businesses are evolving daily and are reinventing entire product lines due to changing market demands. This involves dealing with a lot of important tasks leaving almost no time to get caught up in payroll related challenges.

Many businesses have also been forced to deal with remote work, which necessitates coordinating schedules and remote payroll management across multiple locations.

There are no easy ways to avoid these payroll and compliance challenges using the manual payroll process. However, using an automated payroll management system can help you overcome these difficulties easily!😍

➡️ Shortage Of Payroll Professionals

Payroll industry has recently experienced a booming increase in their demand and popularity. The last few years are what has boosted the overall growth of this industry. This is the reason why the demand and the supply are posing a problem altogether.

The year of 2021, in terms of payroll challenges, might experience a shortage in the number of talented professionals in this field. Finding well equipped and well trained and experienced payroll professionals is turning out to be a problem in the coming year or so. But, the same can also be mitigated effectively owing to the kind of growth it is gaining over the years.

➡️ Challenges In Attendance & Leave Management

Employee attendance is frequently tracked and time-stamped by card swipe, finger-print punches in/out, or simply by ‘signing in’ one’s name on a worksheet with manual payroll processing. To calculate the pay and other incentives, that ‘data’ must be carefully duplicated, imported or exported, and passed around teams before making it authorized.

Managerial permissions and modifications are sometimes required. Because of the mountain of paperwork and individuals involved, this simple daily operation takes a lot of time and effort, so errors and inconsistencies are common.

➡️ Challenges In Handling Remote Work

With so many employees working remotely from home or even overseas during COVID-19, traditional HR and payroll administration is nearly impossible.☹️

Card readers and sign-in forms are ineffective for attendance management. Hard copy management of leave and compensation is no longer possible. Email processing can be chaotic due to the numerous submissions, manager approvals, verifications, and coordination necessary.

Furthermore, with the pandemic looming, the typical onboarding and offboarding process, which involves many documentation and face-to-face meetings, is no longer feasible.❌

In such circumstances, a system that can automate remote attendance, leave requests, performance management, training, and other HR and payroll operations is more important than ever.😇

➡️ Consistent Automation

Automation is taking the world by a whirlwind. While the same might be an amazing addition to the overall prospects of the growth and development, the same is also believed to become a potent challenge for the overall global payroll system in the year of 2021. Automation might enhance the payroll management process so much that it could become a lot harder to cope up with the pace of it with manual inputs.

The capabilities and workforce implemented by the automation are also going to undergo a rapid change and evolution which might further end up contributing to the overall payroll system even further. It is a wrong notion that the inclusion of automation is going to end up making manual labor redundant.

That is not going to be the case. Rather, the same is believed to impact the overall growth in the end but the initial impacts might impose a bit of challenge for the people working in the payroll industry.

➡️ Threat To Data Security

With the ever-growing realms of technology, the amount of threat and risks are on the rise as well. It is not surprising that more and more people are finding it hard to keep their data and information encrypted and safe. The same does go out to the payroll industry as well. The kind of threats to the stored information is not necessarily new.

More and more reports of cyber crimes and cyber breaches are on the rise and the same might inflict impacts on the overall prospects of the payroll industry as well.

The payroll industry and the data associated with it might be on the risks and that is expected to stand out as one of the possible challenges in the year 2021. That being said, the security is also strengthened and that itself could pan out to be quite beneficial on the whole as well.🚀

➡️ Inconsistency In Policies

Company processes and policies can be subjected to change a number of times. That being said, that can actually pan out to be one of the most common challenges faced by the payroll industry.

Given the fact that this relies on the right in the moment and current and updated information to be relayed to the employees, it is not surprising that the same might end up being a challenge in the coming few months.

Companies and organizations are constantly changing their processes and policies and while that might be a good thing for the company, the consistent changes pan out to be a trouble for the professionals under the payroll industry.

If you are someone willing under this similar situation, be assured to stay in consistent sync with the companies you are working along with. This will help in keeping track of the changes and making the necessary changes accordingly.

Challenges In Payroll Computation

Some small and medium-sized businesses continue to use excel sheets to manage all payroll-related data, resulting in several issues:👇

Incorrect payments are the result of data entry errors and rule misapplication.
Data is dispersed in such a way that HR and tax audits are difficult to manage.
Payroll records are difficult to handle, and accessing them can be problematic.
The information being filed is difficult to comprehend for the managers who approve it.
Compiling statistics and preparing reports for high management as a reference has proven difficult.

Even businesses that use payroll management software may be utilizing outdated versions that are unproductive due to a lack of features critical to increasing efficiency. ❌ Some of the drawbacks of older software applications are as follows:👇

Not tailored to the company’s operations, rules, and requirements
Other HR information and tools, such as attendance, leave, claims, employee benefits, and so on, are not interconnected.
Does not automatically adapt to the frequency of statutory updates.

Overcoming The Payroll Challenges 2021

The Payroll industry is a very dynamic industry with consistent updates and changes. While payroll is currently gaining popularity, it goes without saying that the obstacles and challenges that the coming months bring along are quite extensive.

Payroll processing is not a simple task, which can be handled manually by one person without hassles. There are a series of challenges that impact your accuracy and compliance structure. As a result, non-compliance penalties are levied.

Want to effortlessly eliminate all of these challenges? 😉

You can easily minimize these challenges by using good payroll management software which can easily handle the constantly evolving intricacies of payroll.✅

The post 9 Biggest Payroll Challenges In 2021 appeared first on Lanka Talents.

Job Applicants and Gender Pay Disparity

Lanka Talents Creation — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 04:44:05 +0000

I remember first learning about disparity in gender wage in the 1990’s, when I was studying sociology in university. As a young woman about to start my career, I was outraged. I imagined a chauvinistic, capitalist patriarchy that undervalued women, and like many of my peers, I was bound and determined that we would transform the “system” that drove this disparity. Sadly, when you fast forward nearly 30 years, not much has changed!

The facts, as they stand today. In Canada:

‍

• Comparing the annual earnings of full-time employees, women made an average of 76.8 cents for every dollar earned by men (Statistics Canada, 2019)

• A woman in Ontario takes 15.5 months to make what a man earns in 12 months (Ontario Equal Pay Coalition).

• In the 20 years between 1998 and 2018, the gender pay gap reduced only $1.04 (or 5.5 percentage points) in Canada, despite legislation designed to rectify the problem.

In the United States:

• Women earn 84% of what men earn (The Pew Research Centre, 2020).

While there are a number of factors that contribute to the gender pay gap, I had an experience early in my career that left a lasting impression on my understanding of this issue.

It was in the early 2000’s, and large companies were building mega call centers to manage their sales and service delivery. Convenience was the driving factor for consumers, and companies needed to offer service and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to remain competitive. At that time, I worked for a staffing company, and my team and I had been contracted to support the hiring of over 1,000 people to fill a new 300-seat call center that was going to operate around the clock.

We set out to find the brightest and the best. And, having interviewed over 2,000 candidates, we were ready to move to the offer stage. Our client wanted a “higher caliber” call center agent, and they were willing to pay for it. While the average call center at the time paid $9 to $10 per hour (minimum wage at the time was $8.65), this company was prepared to offer $14 to $16 per hour.

I spent two weeks making calls to offer jobs to over 1,000 candidates, all with relatively similar skill sets, all to perform exactly the same job. My starting offer for everyone was $14/hour, knowing that I could increase to a maximum of $16 if they chose to negotiate. What I experienced in that process left me both educated and dismayed. During those two weeks, while I was “pounding out” job offers, I found that women almost always accepted the $14, immediately telling me how excited and grateful they were for the opportunity. Only a handful of women asked for more. It was the exact opposite Candidate experience for their male counterparts. Of the more than 500 men I offered jobs to, perhaps a dozen or so accepted the opening bid of $14 per hour.

I considered myself a self-proclaimed feminist who was committed to transforming the gender pay disparity. But with over 1,000 employees with similar skills starting the same job at the same time, I ended up paying men about $1 to $1.50 more per hour than I paid women. Not because I wanted to, but because they asked.

While this experience was the most dramatic illustration of this trend, not that I made that many job offers often for the same position and at the same time, the pattern hasn’t changed much over the last two decades. When I extend job offers, I become equally surprised and secretly excited when women negotiate, and men do not.

While there is far too much to unpack in what socialization causes this difference, I have spent some time coaching women on job searching. When it comes to practice negotiating a job offer, women invariably become tense, even in a role play environment. Frequently, they have expressed fear that if they ask for too much, they can lose the opportunity. I would suggest that this is flawed thinking. If I am offering a job to someone and she asks for more than I can deliver, I will counter-offer rather than rescind the offer entirely. And, if asking for a market-competitive salary results in the potential employer punishing you by removing the job offer, you have probably dodged a bullet by not working for them.

Another mistake women often make is that they hold a belief that they will start the job and their new employer will be impressed enough to see their value and give them a raise to the salary they deserve. While there are exceptions to every rule, I would submit that this is not a good strategy. The belief that your employer will “make it right” later is wishful thinking. The average annual salary increase is typically about 2.7% in Canada and 3-5% in the United States (pre-Covid, it was closer to 1.3% to 1.6% in 2020-2021). You are better off negotiating a fair wage before you start than hoping for one to come later.

As a woman and an HR Professional, the continued gender gap in wages saddens me, but it also represents a call to action. Not only have I learned to always negotiate for myself, I tend to approach job offers with an understanding of dominant trends in talent relationship management. If I am offering a position to a woman, I will approach the negotiations less combatively and more collaboratively. I start the negotiation closer to the target rate, versus opening at the minimum of the band. For example, if the posted salary is $70K to 80K, and we are targeting a starting salary of $75K, I will open at $74K. In the event that she negotiates, I explain my process, and land in the target rate. And in the event that she does not, I am not significantly underpaying.

In conclusion, I offer the following advice to women:

• Know your value! Quantify your accomplishments, even if only to build your own confidence, and know the value you bring to the table. If they don’t see you as a qualified candidate, they will not be offering you the job!

• Know what you value is. Salary is one point of negotiation. You can also ask for vacation, benefits, work from home opportunity, flexible hours, etc. Know what matters most to you, and make that the centerpiece of your negotiations.

• Know your market! Do your research – resources like payscale.com, Glassdoor, and salary.com can give you great insight into what is competitive in your field.

• Know your “bottom line”… go in with an idea of the minimum amount you are prepared to accept, then ask for more. And don’t take less. It’s okay to turn down an offer, walk away from a job, and keep looking for something that meets your expectations.

We have more power in closing this gap than we may imagine!

Source – Shannon Jackson

The post Job Applicants and Gender Pay Disparity appeared first on Lanka Talents.

HR efficiency tips for small businesses

Lanka Talents Creation — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 04:29:57 +0000

Even minor improvements to the efficiency with which you handle HR matters can make a major difference to your small business operations.

The good news is that there are plenty of tools and strategies which can positively impact HR efficiency, so here is just a selection of the best tips to take onboard.

Use a paystub generator

Managing payroll duties is one of the most demanding aspects of running a small business, and there are plenty of solutions which are tailored towards making this as speedy as possible.

A paystub generator is a great example of this, as it not only lets you fire out paystubs each week or month to ensure employees have all the documentation they need, but also catalyzes this process by automating the calculation of tax deductions and other crucial elements of an individual’s income.

Modern paystub generators are far faster than the manual alternative, while also promising to minimize errors as well.

Standardize procedures & provide employees with relevant info

Setting up procedures by which your organization operates makes sense, but you also need to remember that this information is not just to be kept to yourself, and should also be shared with employees as soon as they are hired.

Lots of companies have a handbook outlining procedures and policies so that there is no confusion about what is expected of team members, nor what obligations the firm has to them.

In addition to providing employees with access to this, you should also be willing to listen to feedback and make changes if necessary. It should make dispute resolution much more efficient if you keep on top of this type of standardization.

Outsource if it makes sense

Attempting to do everything yourself can be both stressful and inefficient, so if you find that you are not able to adequately wrangle all of the HR tasks that are on your plate in a given week, why not outsource them?

Sure, there may be costs that come with outsourcing to a separate HR specialist for things like payroll management, recruitment and so on, but this will easily be justified by the amount of time that you save so that you can focus on other pressing matters in which you have experience and can make more headway.

Establish an attractive company culture

It may not seem like the culture of your small business has much to do with HR efficiency, but this could not be farther from the truth.

Not only does it make sense to think carefully about the kind of culture you are fostering within your organization from the point of view of attracting the right applicants to available positions, but it also means that you will be able to boost employee loyalty and ultimately sidestep the time-consuming and costly process of having to hire new people when turnover levels rise.

Company culture is a relatively nebulous concept, but it can cover everything from the perks and benefits that employees are entitled to claim, to the way in which you approach things like providing feedback and measuring performance.

Go paper-free

While the dream of the paper-free office is not always achievable, it definitely makes sense to aspire to it wherever you can, especially when it comes to HR matters.

Moving to a digital-first approach and embracing the tools that will let you avoid physical documents is not only good from an efficiency standpoint, but can also be more secure as well as being sustainable.

Now you have a few ideas for improving HR efficiency, you can go out and put them into practice in your own small business!

The post HR efficiency tips for small businesses appeared first on Lanka Talents.

What Are the Seven Steps to Succession Planning?

Lanka Talents Creation — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 04:20:16 +0000

Succession planning—a process for creating and maintaining a talent pipeline—is a necessary part of talent management, and is something you’ll appreciate having done especially when faced with a sudden, unexpected event. While the process is not complicated, following these seven steps to succession planning will ensure an outcome with a greater potential of acceptance by all those affected by the change, as well as a better opportunity for business continuity.

Who should participate in succession planning?
Typically the succession planning team consists of the C-Suite, board of directors, and senior management, in addition to human resources. Be sure to alert team members that their participation will be required before you begin the process.

The Seven Steps to Succession Planning

1. Define the goals and objectives of your succession plan

Your team will need to determine what outcomes are desired from the plan. By defining the desired outcomes, you’ll be able to measure the success of the initiative. Usually succession planning goals include business continuity, talent retention, internal mobility (supported by learning and development), corporate culture, and those relating to costs and expenses.

2. Assign roles and map out responsibilities for creating and maintaining the plan

Determine what roles will be played by each member of the core team. You’ll need to consider responsibilities related to designing and implementing the plan at the outset, measuring the data and outcomes after implementation, and maintaining processes in each department throughout the year that are integral to the plan’s ongoing success. Some may take a role of oversight and approval, while others—such as department heads—may be more involved with developing talent and identifying employees for more senior roles. Similarly, human resources staff might be responsible for administrative tasks and materials that would normally fall within their purview, such as tracking open positions, organizing meetings, and educating staff.

3. Draft the succession policy

Having a policy in place will mean that any future member of the succession planning team will be able to follow the procedures you put in place now. In addition to outlining the procedures, the policy should identify its purpose (or goals). Keep in mind the various scenarios where this policy may be used, including planned and unexpected vacancies, as each type may call for different strategies. Use this policy template from SHRM as a guide.

4. Identify key roles and develop a list of potential succession candidates

An organizational chart will help you to identify the roles and reporting structures, which you can then view with an eye toward your business goals. These goals will inform your future workforce needs and help you to determine what roles to include in your succession plan to minimize disruption and ensure continuity.

Once the roles have been identified, map employees’ skills and experience to find talent who could be a fit for those roles, either now, or with upskilling. Leadership development training and coaching programs can help talent discover their suitability for more senior roles and foster empowerment and drive to help the company succeed. Such programs can also help retain motivated talent.

When identifying key talent and those who may be on a leadership track, be aware of conscious or unconscious biases, particularly toward protected classes, that may affect selections.

While you may have designated whom you’ve deemed the best fit for the key roles, those selections won’t matter if the talent isn’t interested in them. Have meetings with them to gauge their motivation to pursue the opportunities.

5. Consider talent development and acquisition as important parts of your succession plan

Existing talent should be nurtured and outside talent hired based on your succession plan. Having upskilling programming and coaching and/or mentoring opportunities in your organization will make it easier to develop employees’ careers, which will help not only with retention but also to equip those on a leadership track with the necessary skills for future roles. At the same time, such programming can help attract new talent, as they learn that they will have a path toward increased and new responsibilities and more senior roles to develop their careers with you.

When you do need to hire outside the organization, consider your goals for leadership diversity. Making hires that align with your succession plan will ensure a diverse leadership team in the future.

6. Track your plan and measure outcomes

You will have identified the goals and metrics in the first step of this process. Now is the time to measure the strength of your plan. Regularly check your data, such as how each vacancy has been filled and whether it was filled by someone internally or outside the organization. Also look at how successful those placements have been, in addition to retention and turnover rates, and talent costs. Based on the data, as well as any major organizational changes, you’ll be able to determine whether adjustments or improvements to the plan are necessary.

7. Be transparent about the succession planning process

Carefully and clearly communicate with your employees the intentions around your succession plan so that they understand its benefits to the organization as a whole and to each individual within. This is a good way to discover members of your organization who may be interested in growing with the company and developing leadership skills.

Once the plan is in force and you have learnings, share them with your employees to remind them of your commitment to developing talent within.

In summary

Following these seven steps to succession planning will make it easier to process each subsequent change your organization encounters. Aligning your team, having buy-in on the policy, roles, and potential candidates, and incorporating the plan into your employee lifecycle will help you attract and retain employees and create and maintain the right leadership for your organization.

Source – ROBYN KERN

The post What Are the Seven Steps to Succession Planning? appeared first on Lanka Talents.

How To Accept an Apology at Work

Lanka Talents Creation — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 03:51:14 +0000

Has anyone ever said anything to you at work that was really hurtful or snarky? It’s an experience we can all relate to. Sometimes it’s an intentional slight or power-play. But here’s the thing. More often, it’s an unplanned quip and your colleague wishes they could take it back. There are a couple of different ways you can go when this happens. Personally, I advise going the civilized route—if they apologize, accept. Accepting apologies at work is a good “people equation” skill to master because it maintains relationships and enhances your professionalism.

Professionals Accept Apologies Graciously

If you act graciously when you’re on the receiving end of a colleague’s blunder, you maintain your professionalism. I’m not talking about allowing someone to treat you poorly — such as intentional snide comments, tirades or any form of workplace bullying. That’s a different topic altogether and not acceptable behavior. Period.

No, I’m talking about those times when someone tried to be funny, but wasn’t. Or, their attempt at edgy repartee came out sounding mean. Or any number of other things that get said in the workplace by a decent person who contracted a temporary case of foot-in-mouth disease.

It happens. They’re mortified. You’re caught off guard. If you can manage a gracious response then you will have succeeded in stopping what could turn into resentment between you and your colleague. And really? Have you ever seen a grudge match that turns out well?

[Related: Lost your cool? Here’s how to recover from an emotional outburst]

Granting Forgiveness is Good for You

Accepting an apology goes beyond graciousness and professionalism. When you extend forgiveness, you help repair a potential rift in your relationship. And, you’ve helped preserve another person’s dignity. Moreover, research shows that there are benefits to forgiving someone. According to the Mayo Clinic, letting go of grudges can help you reduce stress, lower your blood pressure and improve your immune system. So consider “letting it go” and acknowledging their apology. Who knew that a simple “I accept your apology” may have health benefits for you as well?

Examples of How to Accept an Apology at Work

Professional responses might include:

“I know you didn’t mean to be hurtful. I accept your apology.”

“It’s OK. We all have those days once in a while.”

“I understand. You’re angry at the situation, not at me.”

“You seem really irritated about this. Should we take a break and discuss it later?”

It takes courage for the offending speaker to publicly acknowledge the transgression. Tempting as it might be to poke back, resist. Take the high road. Accept the apology — and mean it. After all, wouldn’t you hope they’d do the same for you?

Source – JENNIFER V. MILLER

The post How To Accept an Apology at Work appeared first on Lanka Talents.

Employee Productivity Means Having a Healthy Relationship with Technology

Lanka Talents Creation — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 04:24:11 +0000

I’ve been seeing a lot of articles about stress and burnout lately. I’m sure you have too. All with some sort of advice on how to manage and minimize it. However, there is one consistent thread in all the articles – technology.

Technology is an important part of our personal and professional lives. There are wonderful technology tools that can help us save time and money. Technology can give us access to information we wouldn’t get otherwise. So, let’s give technology the appropriate accolades.

That being said, it doesn’t mean we need to be on technology 24/7/365 to realize it’s value.

I subscribe to The New York Times newsletter Dealbook where they recently covered the importance and challenges of stepping away from technology. What I really loved about the newsletter is that it didn’t offer the standard “take a digital detox” approach. Because let’s face it, we all can’t simply walk away from our devices. And on some level, I’d argue that we really don’t want to. We just want the ability to push it away every once in a while to focus on something or someone else.

I will freely admit that I work a lot. I love what I do. And I spend a lot of time on my technology devices. Because I like tech. But even I have a few rules that I try to follow to maintain a healthy relationship with my technology.

Not using technology during meals. Some organizations have no tech rules for meetings. Many families will have no tech rules for meals. For the most part, I try to follow this rule but there are a few exceptions. If I’m traveling and alone, then I might have my phone out. Or if Mr. Bartender and I are playing “name that song” with the music in a restaurant, then I have my phone out. But when we’re at home, my phone is in another room. Designating times when technology is off limits can be helpful.

Blocking off “Me Time” on the calendar. I live by my calendar. That doesn’t mean I never move or change things – I do that all the time. But when I put something on my calendar, it gets done. So being open to scheduling time to do whatever I want was a new concept. But once I started it, it became very easy to do. It sounds weird, but I schedule blocks of time to step away from my desk.

Using technology for fun. Prior to the pandemic, I was able to read, watch a movie, play games, or listen to music when I traveled. Mr. Bartender was able to do those same things when I was gone. Being at home together has been great – I couldn’t ask for a better person to spend a pandemic with – but we also had to find time to do those things we used to do when we were apart.

How does this apply to work? Well, if we want our employees to be productive then we need to help them build a healthy relationship with the technology they use every day. We need to model good technology habits and show our colleagues that it’s okay to step away from our devices. And that we can use our tech for fun and for work.

Technology isn’t going away. I don’t believe the answer is to let employees – at any level of the organization – get so frustrated with their technology that they are stressed by it. Organizations need to set expectations and actually follow them. That way, employees get all the benefits of technology with a minimal amount of frustration and stress.

Source – Sharlyn Lauby

The post Employee Productivity Means Having a Healthy Relationship with Technology appeared first on Lanka Talents.