The New Worker

If you ever underestimated the power of employee engagement, here's your sign to pay closer attention to it. It's a key factor in a company's success, and if you take it full circle, it also reflects a well-run organization. And while maintaining employee engagement requires thought and resources, it's a worthwhile investment that pays off in the long run.

Organizations that prioritize and actively work towards increasing employee engagement are proven to retain people who consistently do their best work. So, when only good things come from high employee engagement, making it part of your business strategy is a no-brainer.

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What is employee engagement, really?

When we think about what employee engagement means, the first thing that usually comes to mind is that engaged employees are happy people who feel a sense of purpose and emotional connection with the company they work for. They're invested in their work, committed to their goals, and aligned with the values of their company — and it shows.

The high-level view of employee engagement is straightforward. But what does it really mean and what goes into it? We've been studying it since the beginning of Officevibe, and here are the 10 key factors of employee engagement that portray how employees feel and how invested they are in their roles:

1. Personal growth 
2. Feedback 
3. Recognition 
4. Relationship with manager 
5. Relationship with peers 
6. Happiness 
7. Ambassadorship 
8. Wellness 
9. Alignment 
10. Satisfaction 

When you dive into each, you can uncover the areas of employee engagement that are on the rise, and those that need to catch up. Finding these gaps is the foundation of a great employee engagement strategy and is the first step towards making disengaged employees happier at work and more productive.

A deep dive into the ROI linked to positive employee experiences can revolutionize the way your organization nurtures its human capital

Breaking down the return on investment of employee engagement

Employee engagement contributes to a healthy and thriving company culture, but it's also really great for business. Employees who feel good about their contribution to the company tend to be proud of their work and feel valued, and the impacts of this are felt across the board.

By definition, employee engagement ROI is the financial profit companies gain from investing in employee engagement strategies. Employee engagement ROI can be evaluated similarly to how you calculate any other investment. So simply put, this involves dividing the profits earned on the investment by the cost of the investment itself.

While it sounds simple on paper, there are a slew of employee engagement outcomes that lead to higher employee productivity, and ultimately profitability for the business. From higher employee satisfaction (and a lower employee turnover rate) to the positive effect it has on customer satisfaction and relationships, the ROI of employee engagement matters greatly.

But before we get into measuring employee engagement ROI, let's break it down:

The higher the engagement, the lower the employee turnover rate

When it comes to employee turnover and employee engagement, the equation is simple: engaged employees are less likely to leave their job. That's why it's so important to prioritize employee engagement, satisfaction, and development.

What if your top talent isn't your most engaged talent? When you have disengaged employees, you risk losing them, which can be a huge detriment to your company. An employee who leaves an organization takes the knowledge they gained about your products, brand, processes, and customers with them. And while you may be able to train a new hire, getting them to where their predecessor was will take months, if not years.

High turnover really does take a toll on a business's success. Not only are there many hard costs associated with turnover, but it also heavily impacts the team and their ability to perform. When employees are constantly in and out, it rattles team dynamics and employee morale, leading to lost productivity and a harder time reaching corporate objectives.

Employee engagement efforts can help you retain star employees, and subsequently minimize the heavy costs of turnover. If you invest in your employees, they’ll be more invested in the company and committed to sticking around and doing great work.

💡As much as the world has changed, there’s still a lot you can do to retain talent. Don’t stand on the sidelines until things settle. Try these 5 proven strategies to reduce employee turnover.

Highly engaged employees create greater customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty can make or break a business. So if your customers have great relationships with your company and your employees, you're in a great spot.

When employees are passionate about their work, own their responsibilities, and feel engaged, they’re more likely to go above and beyond the call of duty to deliver great service and ensure customer needs are exceeded. They want your customers to have a positive experience, and your customers feel it.

In fact, engaged employees don't even have to try extra hard to improve customer satisfaction and business outcomes. Research by Oxford University's Said Business School shows that simply being in a better mood does the job, and even increases the likelihood of employees converting calls into sales.

What it boils down to once again is that nurturing your own relationships with your employees is a springboard for business success. In the words of Sir Richard Branson, "take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers". It's a positive domino effect. High employee engagement leads to solid customer relationships, which lead to a stronger ROI of employee engagement and more stable revenue for your company.

Engaged employees are innovative employees

Innovation and creativity are undoubtedly keys to success for any business. What's the correlation between employee engagement and creativity, you might be wondering? Well, when you give your employees the encouragement and opportunity to push boundaries, your company gets the competitive advantage.

Employees who are disengaged are less likely to contribute their ideas to the company, which can result in inhibited innovation and growth. The ability to innovate is an essential factor in staying competitive and boosting the ROI of employee engagement.

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Tracking employee engagement with Officevibe to reduce turnover

Sharethrough, a digital technology company, grew their team from 65 to 160 employees and counting following a merger and strong growth trajectory. With these major changes and a new, fully distributed team, their VP of People & Culture, Natacha Brind'Amour, needed the right tools and processes to keep her team happy, engaged, and productive.

Cue Officevibe. The tool that helped Natacha and Sharethrough gather all the information they needed to truly understand and act on employee sentiment.

"Tools like Officevibe that are 100% anonymous really helped us learn about our teams and make sure that we didn't have any blind spots." - Natasha Brind'Amour, VP of People & Culture at Sharethrough

The result? Sharethrough has been able to maintain a great turnover rate while sustaining above 30% annual year-over-year growth and completing a transformative merger in 2021.

Want to learn more about how Sharethrough used Officevibe to maintain its growth? Read the full story.

Best practices for improving employee engagement ROI

Knowing how important employee engagement is, it may come as a surprise to some that only 21% of employees are engaged at work. While most companies may want an engaged workforce, many of them don't actively do what it takes to get there.

Employee engagement doesn't happen out of nowhere. It starts with a great engagement strategy and requires at least a small investment — be it time, money, or both. And as we explored above, it pays to invest in your people.

It’s important to recognize employee engagement initiatives as a strategic priority and to act accordingly. Things like engagement surveys, regular feedback, individual development plans, and clear expectations on how each employee can progress within the organization should all be part of an effective engagement strategy.

Now that we have a clear understanding of why it's important to invest in your employee engagement, we can take a look at some of the best practices your company can implement to gain momentum and level up.

1. Set clear expectations

Employee engagement stems from how well employees understand their role and team expectations, why their role matters, and how to meet and exceed the expectations put in place for them. When expectations are laid out clearly, employees fully understand what they need to do and how it has a positive impact on the business.

2. Tap into what motivates your employees

Directly asking your employees what motivates them through frequent surveys can help you map out an effective employee engagement program. These surveys can help you establish clear paths for success based on what motivates them to stay engaged and grow.

Once you understand what drives people at work, assigning tasks and projects won't be based on current skill alone. You'll quickly learn that interest and desire to learn are big factors to improve employee productivity and can be the basis of a great professional development plan.

When you're ready to craft a more in-depth plan, you can schedule a career development talk to see exactly where employees envision their future.

3. Lead by example

Leaders should do just that: lead by example. Engagement starts from the top, so if employees see that their leaders aren’t engaged, it will ultimately trickle down and affect everyone else. Managers who don't appear to be engaged themselves can’t expect their employees to be either.

As a manager, it's so important to be the cheerleader your team needs and to reflect the culture you're trying to build. Always remember that highly engaged teams start at the top.

4. Establish a feedback loop

When it comes to keeping employees engaged, consistent feedback is essential. But it's also what you do with it and how you respond to feedback that really matters. As a business, you need to demonstrate that you're taking the feedback seriously and putting it to good use. This will ultimately help you build trust with your employees by showing them that you take their input seriously and are actively working towards addressing their concerns.

Embed feedback as part of your culture, so you can keep a pulse on what is happening, identify what's influencing turnover, and nip it in the bud before it gets ahead of you.

Ready to give it a go? These top strategies to create a feedback loop are sure to create a virtuous cycle of employee engagement.

5. Create a culture of recognition

A quick way to disengage your team is to leave them feeling unappreciated, especially when they do exceptional work. No one wants to feel like their efforts are for naught. It makes motivation plummet, which can have a big impact on employee satisfaction and performance.

The flip side of the coin is that you can significantly improve employee engagement (and reap all of its benefits) by recognizing and celebrating employees with intention. Recognition is a powerful thing in the workplace, and in life in general. It satisfies our fundamental human need to feel valued, while instilling pride and purpose. So if increasing employee engagement is your end game, you shouldn't skimp out on building a culture of recognition.

Employee recognition can be embedded in all aspects of work. With these tried-and-true tips to improve recognition in the workplace, it'll never be an afterthought again.

6. Conduct exit and stay interviews

Like we touched on before, the more engaged employees are, the less likely they are to leave. While it's routine for most organizations to do exit interviews when people leave, it’s just as crucial to perform stay interviews with employees who are still actively with the company.

The information you gather from the stay interviews is valuable for your engagement and retention strategies. Before employees become dissatisfied and look for opportunities elsewhere, tap into what matters to them and leverage the information to keep employees engaged and retain top talent.

Psst: Avoid getting to the exit interview stage by checking in with regular stay interviews. Guide the conversation with these six stay interview questions, so you can uncover what's keeping employees committed to their jobs, or what's causing them to feel disengaged.

Putting specific actions into play

Successful employee engagement strategies are constantly in motion. To identify what’s working and where there's room for improvement, you need to measure and assess engagement with your employees, and you must do it consistently.

Officevibe's employee engagement solution offers comprehensive tools for gauging current levels of engagement and employee productivity, which are vital to help you identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.

The employee engagement software can help you implement these best practices, build an effective engagement strategy, maintain a highly engaged workforce, and prevent employee turnover. It opens the door to frequent, honest feedback from your employees so that you can increase the ROI of employee engagement. Progress and business success are in your hands.

Time for the question of the hour: how much can you really save by investing in employee engagement? Try our brand-new employee experience ROI calculator to find out.

A lunch and learn is a great way to offer an informal training or educational opportunity. In contrast to typical training sessions, a lunch and learn incentivizes employee engagement in a social setting. While lunch and learns may have keynoted and guest speakers, their main focus is the joint interaction of all attendees.

In this article, we'll delve into what makes a lunch and learn a unique solution for your training programs, why they're so effective, and how you can make the most out of them. Let's dig in!

What is a lunch and learn?

A lunch and learn is a special lunchtime training session designed to encourage employees and applicants to engage with each other. During a lunch and learn, employees can learn new skills, complete training, attend seminars, and assimilate information in a fun and pleasant way.

Typical lunch and learn training programs

Cross-training

Cross-training is one of the most valuable purposes of a lunch and learn program. A company can foment a healthy culture of learning by allowing employees to explain their daily responsibilities to colleagues from other departments. If all employees understand the duties of their peers, a company can work synergetically. 

Product training

One of the main learning objectives of a lunch and learn can be educating employees on new products. For instance, the team responsible for developing a new piece of technology can offer customer service reps training on how it works, helping them fulfill their work duties better. Lunch and learns may be more effective for this purpose than forcing employees to use products in their spare time or just offering asynchronous courses, since they open allow interactions and questions.

Employee-led training

Employees with particular skills can be offered time during a lunch and learn to share their knowledge with coworkers. You could use your one-on-ones with your staff to identify with them key skills or interests that may be relevant to their team or even other departments. This way, your entire company can benefit from one's knowledge while empowering them and recognizing their value.

Leadership skills training

Good leaders can work in tandem with broader company goals. A lunch and learn focused on improving leadership skills can help employees grow professionally by letting them learn more about essential leadership qualities and skills.

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Leadership in the workplace: an essential skill to develop

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Time management

One doesn’t need customer rep or sales training to show up on time. Still, time management is a very useful skill that many employees can’t get a hold of. A lunch and learn focused on time management can help employees improve both their professional and personal lives and boost the company’s productivity.

Why lunch and learn programs are so great

Lunch and learn programs provide a more appealing alternative to traditional training events. They’re the ideal occasion to foster a collaborative company culture where employees can freely share their knowledge and learn new skills.

The benefits of lunch and learns

• Efficiency: Lunch and learns are a great method to help employees work on their teamwork skills while also focusing on their personal development. Since a lunch and learn is meant to be held at lunch hour, it doesn’t take time away from an employee's workday. Instead, these relaxing and fun activities give employees something to look forward to during their lunch break.
• Team-building: Part of building a strong company culture is bringing isolated employees together. More often than not, certain employees (like customer service reps) spend too much time on one-on-one interactions with customers and similar tasks, missing out on the camaraderie shared by their peers. During a lunch and learn, employees can interact with their colleagues and become more familiar with them.
• Networking: During a lunch and learn, an intern and an executive share the same table and can connect in ways unattainable during normal working hours. Likewise, a lunch and learn program is a great way to attract new employees. Having lunch and learn sessions with potential hires can help a company learn who is the most interested in a job.

The drawbacks of lunch and learns

• Cost: The planning and coordination of a lunch and learn may be more costly than managing an online training session. Needless to say, it is also recommended to pay for the food since it’s off hours. One good way to make the investment worth it is to record the session and add it to your employee training software.
• Attendance: Companies must accurately calculate the number of attendees if they wish to organize a successful lunch and learn. If too many people wish to attend, it may leave certain areas without the manpower to properly work. On the other hand, if very few people are interested, a lunch and learn may seem like a waste of time and resources. It is not a good idea to have lunch and learns as mandatory events. Holding them as a monthly event may help create a steady and rotating group of attendees. 
• Sensitive topics: Topics such as race and religion, which may casually appear during a conversation, can be offensive to certain attendees. Individuals with the soft skills to appease disgruntled attendees should be ready in case any sensitive topic comes up during a conversation.

8 tips for successful lunch and learns

1. Determine the goals of your lunch and learn session

From focusing on life skills to announcing changes made to a company’s trajectory, it is important to identify what a lunch and learn is trying to achieve. One should plan a lunch and learn with ideas that are worthwhile, relevant, and interesting. People will be more eager to attend a lunch and learn if the subject resonates with them. You should therefore focus on topics that matter to employees in and out of work, as well as offer unique training or educational opportunities. 

2. Keep in mind the number of guests

One of the first decisions to make before you start a lunch and learn is to decide who will be the target group of participants. A lunch and learn can be attended by everyone in the company or can be limited to only certain groups such as potential new hires. Either way, you should send invitations and ask people to promptly reply, so you can plan the event accordingly. 

A tool such as Workleap LMS can help manage attendees and document the session's essence on a centralized online training platform.

3. Be mindful of the food quality

The kind of food you serve should depend on your budget and your lunch and learn goals. Some food options, like hot meals, may be a bit too distracting and counter-intuitive to the objectives of your lunch and learn. Light, healthy snacks that can be eaten with your finger tend to be a good option. You should also consider if you need cutlery, plates, and the like.

If you plan to run regular lunch and learns, then it would be best to occasionally vary the menu options. If the same food is served every time, it may feel redundant to employees. Remember that any guest speakers may also wish to eat.

4. Choose the right location

A good venue is critical to the development of an event like a lunch and learn. Areas that have been designed for eating, such as canteens, atriums, and breakout spaces, are popular places to hold lunch and learn activities. Just as with any other type of presentation session, there should be as few distractions as possible during a lunch and learn. 

If you plan to record the session, make sure as well that you have a computer or camera set up to focus on the speaker. Maybe a microphone would be great to ensure the audio quality and eliminate background noise.

5. Decide your lunch and learn's ideal atmosphere

The time, place, and frequency of a lunch and learn are important. For instance, if you wish to conduct a lunch and learn with a relaxed atmosphere, then it would be better to do it on a Friday. This way, employees might feel the event is part of their weekend activities. However, if you wish to conduct skills and business-oriented lunch and learns, keep them during the week and at regular intervals. This will help reduce the risk of learning fatigue.

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Developing employee skills: a how-to guide

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6. Invite your remote team to your lunch and learn

Remote workers are also part of the company and may also be eager to participate in a lunch and learn. Thanks to technological solutions like learning management systems, it is possible to run live and online lunch and learn for them to participate. If certain factors such as time differences make running a remote lunch and learn impossible, then you can record the session. This way, the important topics of a lunch and learn can be shared with remote employees and future ones as well.

7. Keep a list of ice-breakers at hand

The success of a lunch and learn depends on the event having a steady pace. Even if a lunch and learn is centered around a keynote speaker, there is still the chance of awkward silences occurring. It is not the responsibility of employees to break down barriers and get others involved. Good managers know what topics are the most interesting to their employees. Thus, they should plan a series of quick turnarounds in case the conversation goes nowhere. 

8. Don’t forget to promote your lunch and learn event

People will not attend a lunch and learn if they’re not aware of it happening. Information about your lunch and learn should be made available to employees as soon as the event details such as the venue have been decided. The sooner you promote the event, the easier it will be for employees to learn about it.

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What is the purpose of a learning management system?

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To wind up, just know that lunch and learns are a brilliant way to provide your team with ongoing training and development in an engaging, hands-on way. By adopting the right approach, you can create an environment that fosters learning, networking and team building. Easy to say that the benefits of lunch meetings are undeniable! However, it is important to be aware of the potential drawbacks (such as costs or planning) and take steps to overcome them.

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Internal mobility will become a trump card and secret weapon for the highest-performing companies of the next decade. In this age of constant change and a tightening job market, doing more with less is essential at both the company and individual level. 

It’s imperative for companies to remain agile and for employees to access career development opportunities. However, unlocking a culture of internal mobility is easier said than done, so we have prepared an easy guide to help you get started on the right foot and prepare for the future of employee management.

What is internal mobility?

Imagine that your company is a big and complex maze with different departments, projects, and opportunities. Internal mobility is like a GPS that helps your employees find their way through the maze and explore different paths to reach their goals. 

For example, a digital marketer might look to become an SEO specialist. This could grant them the ability to be assigned to SEO-related projects in their current roles or get promoted to a role that takes on more SEO-specific responsibilities.

It's not just about moving up the ladder, but also about moving sideways to gain new skills, or even moving down to explore a different department or project that aligns with their interests.

Internal mobility programs are like personal fitness programs for your employees' career development. Just like how you need to work out regularly to build and maintain a healthy body, internal mobility helps your employees build and maintain a healthy career fit to their needs, interests, and strengths. It helps them avoid stagnation and complacency, and keeps them motivated and engaged by providing new challenges and opportunities. You could consider an HR manager to be the trainer that creates that program and accompanies the employee in their journey, ensuring they achieve the necessary milestones to reach their goal — like identifying that a 3-month PMP certification course needs to be passed for a manager to be promoted into a senior role.

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Career progression is valued by the new generation of workers: A survey by LinkedIn found that 43% of Millennials would consider leaving their current job for a role with more opportunities for career progression.

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The benefits of internal mobility are not just for the employees, but also for the organization as a whole. It helps retain valuable employees by showing them that they have a future in the company, and it saves the company money and time on recruiting and onboarding new hires. Plus, it fosters a culture of continuous learning and development, which attracts top talent and boosts the company's reputation, as well as produces subject-matter experts which are extremely valuable to organizations.

Why internal mobility matters

Companies that have a robust internal mobility program experience higher performance and retention rates. How so? Several benefits come from implementing an internal mobility strategy, including:

• Greater visibility and collaboration across the company which helps break down silos as well as promote teamwork and communication. This involves creating a company culture where departments are open to sharing information and collaborating on projects — such as a marketing team working with a sales team to create a cohesive strategy for lead generation.
• Career development acceleration by encouraging the development of more rounded skills and T-shaped employees. Encouraging employees to develop a diverse set of skills can increase their value and make them more adaptable in their careers. A graphic designer who takes courses in UX design and social media marketing is an example of this.
  
• Maximizing existing resources instead of overreliance on new hires or external consultants. This means looking at current employees and their skills to see if they can take on new responsibilities before hiring new employees or consultants. A company may identify an employee who has a talent for social media and have them manage the company's social media accounts instead of hiring a new employee for that role.
  
• Increased employee engagement because employees feel their work is seen as valuable when they feel they are part of the bigger picture of the business. This creates a sense of ownership and purpose by providing opportunities to learn about the company's overall goals and strategies. A good way to do this is for a company to hold regular town hall meetings to update employees on company performance and future plans.
  
• Shift to a project-based approach instead of a role-based approach, which creates a culture focused on positive outcomes rather than personal advancement. This means focusing away from job titles and roles, and towards project successes. For example, a company may have a team of employees working on a specific project rather than assigning tasks based on individual job titles.
  
• Encouraging intrapreneurship achieved by encouraging employees to be entrepreneurial within the company, allowing them to create and innovate. Creating an internal innovation lab where employees can pitch and work on new projects is something many tech companies do.
  
• Flatter organization instead of top-down decision-making, which fosters a culture of ownership and accountability. This means moving away from hierarchical management styles and giving employees more autonomy to make decisions. At a basic level, companies may give employees the authority to make decisions related to their work (such as task prioritization) without having to seek approval from a manager.
  
• Enlisting new mentors offers a variety of perspectives, and working and leadership styles. This is a good thing, as learning from multiple people is better than from the same manager all the time. Encouraging employees to seek out mentors who can provide guidance and support can be done through creating a mentorship program that pairs employees with mentors from different departments or areas of expertise.

How to track and measure internal mobility

Tracking and measuring internal mobility can be done in several ways. We like to call them our Internal Mobility Key Performance Indicators (IMKPIs). 

• Employee attrition rates: An attrition rate is the percentage of employees who leave a company over a certain period (voluntarily or involuntarily). By tracking and measuring employee attrition rates, companies can gain insights into whether their internal mobility policies are working. A decrease in attrition rates can indicate that employees feel they have opportunities for career growth and development within the company — and vice versa.

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A company notices that they have a high rate of turnover for employees in specific departments. Upon investigating, they discover that there are fewer opportunities for career advancement within those departments. The company then implements a career development program, which includes job rotations and cross-functional training. After a year, the company notices a significant decrease in attrition rates in those departments.

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• The number of internal applicants for new roles: This is the amount of existing employees who apply for a different position but within the same company. By tracking the number of internal applicants for new roles, companies can gauge the level of interest employees have in advancing within the organization.

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A company posts a job opening for a management position. They receive a high number of internal applicants from various departments. The company recognizes that they have a pool of talented individuals who are eager for career advancement and are loyal to the company. They offer additional training and development opportunities to prepare these individuals for future management roles.

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• Positive responses in career satisfaction surveys: Surveys to “take the temperature” of their employees can be anonymous, done digitally or in-person. By measuring employee satisfaction with regards to career advancement and development opportunities, companies can identify areas where they need to improve

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A company conducts a career satisfaction survey and notices that a large percentage of employees feel they are not being given opportunities to grow and develop within the company. The company then implements a mentorship program, where senior employees mentor and coach junior employees. After a year, the company conducts another survey and sees a significant increase in positive responses regarding career growth and development.

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• The number of consultants: By tracking the number of consultants (non-employees hired to fill a gap in skills), companies can determine if they are over-reliant on external resources and if there are opportunities to develop internal talent.

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A company hires a consulting firm to help with a project. After the project is complete, the company tracks the number of consultants used and the associated costs. They realize that they could have used internal resources to complete the project and save money. The company then implements a cross-functional training program to develop internal talent for future projects.

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• Time to complete projects: By tracking the amount of time it takes to complete projects (and associated individual tasks), companies can determine if they are effectively utilizing internal resources for the project.

A company begins a new project and brings in a consultant to help. They track the time it takes to complete the project with the consultant and then track the time it takes to complete the project with internal resources. They notice that the project takes less time to complete with internal resources. The company then implements a program to better utilize internal resources for future projects.

• Company profitability: Profitability is the organization's profit relative to its expenses. By measuring profitability at the organization level, companies can determine if their internal mobility policies are contributing to the bottom line — or hindering it.

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A company implements a career development program and tracks the profitability of the organization over time. They notice that profitability increases as employees are given more opportunities for career advancement.

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• Diversity and inclusion ratios: This is the measure of the employees found in minority to the total strength of the organization. This ratio can be based on gender, ethnicity, age, and so on — and gives valuable insight into the broadness of the perspectives an organization benefits from. By measuring diversity and inclusion ratios, companies can determine if their internal mobility policies are benefiting a diverse set of employees.

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A company implements a job rotation program and tracks the diversity and inclusion ratios of employees who participate in the program. They notice that the program benefits a diverse set of employees, ensuring equality of opportunity is available for all.

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Top internal mobility challenges (and how to overcome them)

Internal mobility programs can be a great asset to companies, but they are not without their challenges. Here are some of the most common hurdles and how to overcome them:

• Resource hoarding by managers: Some managers may be unwilling to share their best employees with other teams. To overcome this, it's important to emphasize the benefits of cross-departmental collaboration, such as increased innovation and knowledge-sharing, and establish clear politics around this to formalize it at a company level.

• Time management: Employees may be hesitant to take on new roles or projects because they are already overwhelmed with their current responsibilities. To overcome this, it's important to make sure that internal mobility programs are flexible,can be adapted to fit the schedules of employees, and offer a clear view of objectives and expectations.
• Sourcing candidates based on current skill and forgetting about future potential: When looking for candidates for new roles or projects, it can be tempting to stick with those who have the skills and experience required for the job. However, internal mobility programs are all about giving employees opportunities to stretch and grow outside of their comfort zone. To overcome this, it's important to look for employees with potential and a willingness to learn.

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79% of CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills — internal mobility can be a way to address this issue.

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• Lack of visibility into employee skills, potential and pathing: Without a clear understanding of employees' skills and potential, it can be difficult to identify the best candidates for new roles or projects. To overcome this, it's important to invest in tools that can help you map out employee skills and career paths.
• Psychological safety: Employees may be hesitant to apply for new roles or projects for fear of being shamed or feeling disloyal. To overcome this, it's important to create a culture of psychological safety, where employees feel comfortable taking risks and trying new things.

Internal mobility best practices and case studies

Let’s take a look at some companies that have successfully implemented internal mobility programs and what we can learn from their efforts.

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Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide launched their Thrive@Hilton program to help their employees find fulfilling career paths within the organization. The program includes career mapping, internal job postings, mentorship opportunities, and learning and development resources. As a result, Hilton has seen a significant increase in employee engagement and a decrease in turnover rates.

Key Learnings: Hilton’s internal mobility program is successful because it provides employees with clear career paths and opportunities to grow within the organization. The program is also supported by an extensive suite of additional resources — like online courses, mental health support, financial planning tools, and volunteer opportunities — which ensures that employees have the support they need to succeed.

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IBM

IBM’s Blue Matching program is an internal talent marketplace that matches employees with projects that align with their skills and interests. The program uses a proprietary algorithm to match employees with relevant projects and provide them with the opportunity to gain new skills and experiences. Since the launch of the program, IBM has seen a significant increase in employee engagement and a reduction in external hiring.

Key Learnings: IBM’s internal talent marketplace is successful because it uses data and analytics to identify relevant opportunities for employees — using AI-powered objectivity rather than human-related subjectivity (and bias). This ensures that employees are appropriately matched with projects that align with their interests and skillsets, which makes the program more engaging and effective.

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T-Mobile

T-Mobile’s Career Success campaign was a comprehensive internal mobility strategy that helped reinvent its employee growth and development program. The campaign included activities focused on career guidance and job exploration, growth and development planning, opportunities to meet new career advocates and to audition for a future job shadowing. As a result of this campaign, T-Mobile has seen a significant level of employee engagement and an increased participation rate at the CareerFest event.

Key Learnings: T-Mobile’s internal mobility program is successful because it is supported by a range of initiatives that provide employees with opportunities to grow and develop through a comprehensive lens. The program is also designed to be inclusive and accessible, which ensures that all employees have the opportunity to participate.

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Internal talent marketplaces are the next frontier

The future of internal mobility lies in the development of internal talent marketplaces (ITMs). 

ITMs are platforms that use skill mapping as the company’s currency, allowing employees to be assessed, developed, and matched with the right projects. These platforms can help organizations create a culture of continuous learning and development, while also providing employees with opportunities to advance within the organization.

According to Gartner, the development of ITMs is a critical step in the evolution of internal mobility. By leveraging data and analytics, organizations can gain a better understanding of their employees’ skills and potential, which can be used to create more effective career pathing programs and support the development of the workforce.

Internal mobility: 3 easy steps to get started 

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, internal mobility has become a key competitive advantage for organizations looking to do more with less. By creating a culture of internal mobility, organizations can leverage the skills and experience of their existing workforce to drive innovation and growth — which also boosts job satisfaction and retention of their employees.

Here are three easy steps towards improving your company’s internal mobility capabilities:

1. Map your talent pool’s skills: Use skill mapping to gain a better understanding of your employees’ current and potential skills, helping you see gaps and opportunities more clearly.
2. Open projects across expertises: Create a culture of internal mobility by opening up projects to employees from different departments and teams, which offers them opportunities to expand their skills and professional horizon within the company.
3. Design career pathing around new skills and projects: Use your employees’ skills and interests to create more effective career pathing programs — it’s about personalization rather than standardization.

Internal mobility is a cornerstone of the future of work. Companies that invest in internal mobility programs, supported by internal talent marketplaces or skill mapping tools, are better positioned to succeed in the modern business landscape. By enabling employees to move within the organization and expand their skills, companies can foster a culture of engagement, collaboration, and growth.

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Companies who invest in internal mobility programs see 3.5X employee engagement and 2X longer employee life cycles

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So, whether you're just starting with internal mobility or looking to enhance your internal mobility strategy, Workleap Skills is here to help. 

Get in touch with our team to schedule a free demo and see how you can transform your company programs and leverage your workforce ingeniously.

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What's in this article

• The future of work is all about employee experience
• 6 pillars of the modern-day employee experience
• The future of employee experience is skills-based

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Gone are the days when ping-pong tables, foosball, beer taps, and yoga mats were considered essential workplace perks. With the rise of remote work, it's clear that these office luxuries can no longer compete with the true essentials: comprehensive career development and fair compensation plans. These foundational elements are now the cornerstone of the modern-day employee experience.

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What used to work for the previous generation of employees doesn’t necessarily work for the new one. Millennials now make up 50% of the workforce — a number expected to be 75% by 2030. Companies need to pay attention to their Millennial and Gen Z employees, and adapt to changing trends and needs to ensure higher retention, loyalty and productivity.

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In a world of virtual teams, high burnout rates and recognition incentives, how can employers ensure they are building an attractive work environment that delivers on what today’s employees value?

The future of work is all about employee experience

Companies are beginning to realize the importance of the employee experience and how it can serve as a strategic competitive advantage. With the modern-day workforce demanding a more engaging, inclusive, and fulfilling workplace, it's become essential for companies to focus on every aspect of the employee journey — from hiring to onboarding to career development.

A job-hopping survey shows that poor career development opportunities (which includes when companies aren't offering clear career paths) is one of the top reasons for employees to look for another job. However, the appetite is there — 78% of employees (4 out of 5) would be happy to learn new skills with their current employers.

Employees who feel supported in their career growth are more likely to stay with a company longer, resulting in lower turnover rates and increased productivity. The bottomline: ping-pong tables and free office swag are the empty-calorie snacks to the real employee development protein that modern day workers crave.

The connection between employee experience and business success

Building a positive employee experience is crucial to not only job satisfaction, but also overall success for both employees and the organization. 

The employee experience is the sum total of everything an employee encounters when interacting with their organization, from recruiting to onboarding to performance management.

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According to Forbes, companies with a strong employee experience 40% less turnover than competitors — and 4.6 times more productivity!

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Employers must be committed to creating an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to succeed. By doing so, they’re not only improving company culture, but also boosting productivity and innovation. In the end, human capital will always be the greatest and most defensible economic engine.

6 pillars of the modern-day employee experience

What should employers consider about the modern-day employee experience? The idea is built around four key pillars: 

1. Skill and career development
2. Internal mobility
3. Overcommunication and visibility
4. Role of the office (in a hybrid/remote context)
5. Work-life balance
6. Collaboration and teamwork

Skill and career development

Skill and career development is critical to meet the demands of an ever-changing world and to keep employees engaged and competitive. Clear pathing and goals, as well as gamification for engagement, are key elements to offer employees and keep them engaged.

From winning gold stars in kindergarten to scoring the most points playing video games as teenagers — we love measurable success. Skill mapping tools that offer different levels of star rating keep employees motivated to develop their skills.

Employees who have the opportunity to continuously develop their skills by accessing training, mentorship and opportunities for career growth are more engaged, motivated, and have higher job satisfaction. As the employer, you can be the hero that reminds them the world is their oyster. How powerful is that?

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Those who get it, get it.

Airbnb has a strong focus on employee development and growth, offering a range of training and career advancement opportunities to help employees grow their skills and advance their careers. Through these programs, employee engagement, satisfaction and performance improved — No wonder the company keeps being voted as one of the best employers to work for!

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Internal mobility

Working hand in hand with skill and career development, internal mobility is important to help employees take their careers to the next level and stay loyal to their employer. By allowing employees to upskill and make lateral moves within the organization (think cross-onboarding) and work on projects outside of their departments, they enhance their knowledge, get exposed to new peers and mentors, and develop a more T-shaped skill set.

Employees can be more empowered, able to identify areas for improvement and work on acquiring new skills that will make them more valuable to the organization. This leads to higher job satisfaction and a better work-life balance, as employees feel empowered to take control of their own professional growth.

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A T-shaped skillset is the perfect balance of versatility and expertise. It combines a broad range of general skills with deep expertise in one specific area. T-shaped skillsets bring a well-rounded understanding and a specialized perspective to problem solving, making employees highly valuable to their teams.

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Overcommunication and visibility

Overcommunication and visibility are crucial to ensure that every team member involved is informed and engaged — especially in this hybrid and remote work era. It's important to recreate organic information exchanges as much as possible, communicating more rather than not enough to ensure every stakeholder is engaged and on the same page. 

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Slack, our favorite chat channel (we love the GIFs features!) analyzed the importance of connection at work. 98% of employees report wanting to feel close to their colleagues and 31% believe communication tools should be made a priority.

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The role of the office in a hybrid and remote era

The role of the office must be redefined in the hybrid and remote era. Instead of serving as just a place to work, the office should become a community builder and campus, providing employees with a place to collaborate, connect, and grow. 

Companies like WeWork, Google, and Amazon are great examples of this, creating offices that serve as hubs for their employees' professional and personal growth — allowing for flexible remote work schemes, but hosting big meetings and social gatherings under a shared roof. 

Work-life balance

Balancing work and life is a challenge for any professional, but studies show it's essential for employee well-being and job satisfaction in the short and long term. While a majority of people consider themselves workaholics, 72% factor in work-life balance when looking for a new job.

There are many ways employers can support work-life balance via flexible working arrangements, including remote work options and flexible schedules:

• Flexible Scheduling: Offering employees the option to work flexible hours that better align with their personal life can help improve work-life balance.

• Remote Work: Allowing employees to work from home or another remote location can be a great way to give them more control over their work environment and reduce the stress of commuting.

• Unlimited Time Off: Some companies have implemented an unlimited time off policy, allowing employees to take the time off they need to recharge, reduce stress, and maintain a healthy mind and body.

• Mental Health Days: Encouraging employees to take mental health days to prioritize their mental well-being and reduce stress can help improve bandwidth and capacity.

• Employee Assistance Programs: Providing access to counseling, wellness programs, and other resources can help employees navigate personal stress to improve their mental and emotional well-being at work.

• Health and Wellness Initiatives: Providing on-site gyms, healthy snack options, and other wellness initiatives can help employees stay active, healthy, and reduce stress.

• Career Development Programs: Providing training and professional development opportunities can help employees grow in their careers and feel more fulfilled.

Collaboration and teamwork

Collaboration and teamwork are critical components of a successful work environment. From regular team-building activities to open communication channels, companies need to create a workplace where employees feel heard and valued.

Diversity and inclusivity are also key to promoting collaboration and innovation, pooling from a variety of talent with complementary skill sets to create even more dynamic and effective teams.

The future of employee experience is skills-based

With the rise of remote work and hybrid models, the need to focus on employee satisfaction and engagement has become more pressing than ever. And, let’s be honest — modern day employees want to continuously grow in their career to feel engaged and fulfilled. A skills-based approach makes it a win-win for both the organization's bottom line and the employee's personal growth.

Employee experience is the secret of the Caramilk when it comes to talent development and retention.

Anchoring the employee experience around a skills-based approach is key to unlocking employees' full potential and fostering deeper engagement across the organization — making employees feel like they are in the driver seat of their own careers.

Skill and career development, internal mobility, communication and visibility, and the rethinking of the office must be at the forefront of the employee experience strategy if you want to succeed in this new digital era.

Mapping the way forward with Workleap Skills

At Workleap, we understand the importance of this and have built a career development platform that helps employees build their skills, grow in their careers, and collaborate more effectively with their colleagues. 

With our platform, your company can take the employee experience to the next level and create a dynamic, engaging, and fulfilling workplace for their employees. Book a demo with us today and see how you can start building a more resilient, agile, and engaged workforce — your future self will thank you!

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What's in this article

• What is workforce planning and why it matters
• Key benefits of a skills-based workforce planning approach
• Workforce planning: Key metrics of success
• The future of workforce planning: skill management for data-driven decisions

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Workforce planning is a critical component of modern business strategies and an essential aspect of company success, yet often overlooked or performed haphazardly. Understaffing or overhiring are common (and costly) pitfalls that can undermine a team’s velocity, affect morale, and, ultimately, impact your bottom line.

Digital transformation and a changing economic landscape are forcing companies to become more cautious and frugal when it comes to hiring. As a result, traditional workforce planning is akin to an older smartphone model in desperate need of an OS update. 

As tech companies move towards rightsizing in an era of layoffs, long gone are the days where relying on instincts or best guesses is good enough — it’s now crucial more than ever to have a mindset that puts data at the forefront, giving way for a clearer understanding of your organization’s skills, gaps, and true needs, so you can make strategic decisions that keep your employees happy, engaged and performing.

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Numbers speak louder than words: Strategic workforce planning can save a company up to $6 million for every 100 employees, according to Deloitte. That’s no small change.

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In this article, we’ll explore the importance of workforce planning, the benefits of a skills-based approach, and key metrics for success.

What is workforce planning and why it matters

Workforce planning refers to the process of identifying and anticipating future workforce needs and then taking action to meet those needs. It’s a critical component of any business strategy, as having the right people with the right skills in place is essential for achieving organizational goals. 

If you’re not familiar with the term, know that workforce planning relates to many HR activities, including: 

• Flexible working systems
• Demand supply forecasting
• Skills audit/gap analysis 
• Talent management
• Role design
• Risk management
• Outsourcing
• Career development
• Scenario planning 

By understanding the current and future demands of your organization, you can make informed staffing, training, and development decisions that will ensure their workforce is equipped to meet business objectives.

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When it comes to workforce planning, standards must be raised: According to a 2022 talent planning report, only 31% of employers collect data to identify skills gaps and 28% to identify retention issues. And 30% of companies plan beyond 6 months when considering future workforce needs.

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Skill mapping is the cornerstone of workforce planning 2.0

Skill mapping is the foundation of modern workforce planning, and it involves identifying and assessing the skills of your current workforce. It allows you to zoom out and get a better picture of your organization’s resources, and helps you zoom in to your real needs by determining where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

By using a skill mapping tool, you can quickly assess your organization’s talent pool and make informed, data-driven decisions about future staffing and training needs.

Applying the M&A Build-Buy-Partner framework, skill mapping helps identify needs and gaps faster to make the right decisions for your company:

• Build: Training existing employees who’ve been identified as having the potential to fill other roles or gaps. This method, when possible, is definitely the least costly.

• Buy: Acquiring or recruiting employees from other companies, also known as employee poaching. Depending on contract clauses, this could be expensive but worth it.
• Partner: Instead of permanently hiring one person, it’s possible to “hire” a team for a fraction of the price via agencies to fill specific needs your business may not be able to do in-house.

Key benefits of a skills-based workforce planning approach

There are several key benefits to using a skills-based workforce planning approach:

Going from reactive to proactive

One of the biggest benefits is going from reactive to proactive. All too often, especially for small and growing businesses (SMBs), workforce planning is done in real-time in response to incoming requests. By taking a more data-driven approach and monitoring skills gaps and needs in real-time, you can become more proactive and strategic, avoiding costly mistakes made in the heat of the moment.

It’s like swimming in the ocean: a proactive swimmer anticipates the waves, whereas the reactive swimmer is painfully surprised by each one every time and needs to use more energy to recover. 

And in the world of business, there will never not be waves. 

Prioritizing  internal mobility over external hiring

Another benefit is prioritizing internal mobility over external hiring. Without a clear view of your people’s skills and capabilities, it’s easy to default to hiring externally and rely too heavily on consultants to fill the gaps. 

External hiring can become expensive over time and may result in turnover, as existing employees go elsewhere to find roles they might have aspired to be promoted for that you already filled with an external consultant — which is terrible for employee morale and trust!

Focusing on reskilling and upskilling can reduce the need for external hiring, ensuring your company doesn’t rely on hiring crutches, and promote career development, which empowers your team.

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Employees appreciate when their organization is invested in their career development:  Happy employees are 12% more productive than ones that are not satisfied at work.

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Bridge skills gaps through training programs

Addressing skills gaps (or skills mismatch) through reskilling and upskilling is a critical component in developing successful training programs, and goes hand in hand with internal mobility. Focusing on internal development reduces the need to hire from outside and maximizes resources at hand.

By equipping employees with the necessary skills and knowledge, companies can not only enhance their internal mobility, but also improve overall productivity and efficiency. 

It’s like teaching a person to fish — upskilling ensures you’re building a team of capable fishermen in the long-run, rather than limiting your workforce to rely on outsourcing.

With the right training programs in place, organizations can create a strong and capable workforce, capable of adapting to the changing demands of the market and technology. 

Ensuring long-term success and creating a positive work environment that supports growth and success for all.

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Upskilling can improve employee happiness too! 71% of employees feel that learning new skills improves their job satisfaction which positively impacts overall company culture.

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Create a data-driven culture over politics

Without a clear, systematic, data-driven approach, it’s easy to be held hostage by politics and be at the mercy of competing managers. Skill mapping can help you get a holistic bird’s eye view of your organization and ensure that business priorities, not politics, guide decisions.

Ultimately, a skills-based workforce planning approach will foster greater organizational agility, accountability, and forecasting — and every company needs to get on top of that.

Workforce planning: Key metrics of success

There are several key metrics to measure the success of your workforce planning efforts, including internal mobility, forecasts, employee bandwidth and morale, and training and development programs. By tracking these metrics, you and other hiring managers can get a clear understanding of the effectiveness of their workforce planning efforts and make necessary improvements.

Internal Mobility

Internal mobility, or the number of positions filled internally versus externally, is a critical metric that provides insight into the strength of an organization's internal talent pool and the impact of its training and development programs. 

Forecasts

Forecasts, or the accuracy of headcount predictions and budgeting, are another important metric. This will help you understand if you over or under-budgeted and what you can do to improve your forecasting in the future.

Employee Bandwidth or Morale 

Another key metric is employee bandwidth and morale. If your employees feel overworked and overwhelmed, it may be a sign that you have not properly planned and staffed your workforce. This can lead to decreased productivity and employee burnout, so it’s important to regularly assess this metric to ensure your workforce is healthy and engaged.

Training Programs

Finally, evaluating your training and development programs to ensure they are meeting their goals and contributing to your workforce planning success should be done routinely. This can be measured through metrics such as employee satisfaction, skill acquisition, and employee retention.

Monitoring and tracking these key metrics will help you get a clear understanding of the effectiveness of your workforce planning efforts and what you can do to improve. 
It’s all connected. Spot on workforce planning means there’s no no understaffing or overhiring — which leads to employee satisfaction and retention because no one is overworked (or underworked, aka bored).

The future of workforce planning: skill management for data-driven decisions

Workleap Skills planning is an essential aspect of any organization looking to grow and succeed in today's competitive market. With the help of a skills-based approach and utilizing AI tools for better skill mapping, companies can unlock the full potential of their resources, increase internal mobility, reduce external hiring, and ultimately create a more data-driven and agile culture.

At Workleap, we’re paving the way for the future of workforce planning. And getting started is easy. In three simple steps, you can experience the full value of our data-driven skills mapping tool:

• Assess your company’s current resources and skills through skill mapping
• Utilize insights gained to identify gaps and prioritize areas for improvement
• Monitor progress and adjust your workforce planning strategy as needed with real-time data and insights

Incorporating Skills into your workforce planning strategy is a proven way to unlock the full potential of your resources and drive success for your organization.

Book a demo today to see how it can help plan, create, and nurture more fulfilling and productive workplaces.

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Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is at the forefront of discussions in the workplace. And it should be — a diverse and inclusive workplace can improve employee morale, increase productivity, and reduce employee turnover, which as we know have a positive impact on a company’s bottomline. Case in point: a report by McKinsey & Company found that companies with more diverse leadership teams are 25% more likely to see above average profitability within their industry.

However, biases and office politics continue to play a significant role in career advancement and compensation, leading to unequal opportunities for employees based on factors such as gender, race or even existing relationships that could lead to favoritism or nepotism (fans of HBO hit series Succession will know what we mean).

What if the key to making the workplace more human is by minimizing human biases? While this may sound counter-intuitive, emerging AI-powered technology can mitigate these issues by removing subconscious prejudices from decision making. By using a data-driven approach, skill mapping tools like Workleap Skills help managers and decision makers remove guesswork and subjectivity from the equation when it comes to assessing their teams. This, in turn, helps provide more equal opportunities for all employees to be recognized and valued based on their competencies and career development aspirations — not personal biases.

3 common areas where organizations fail to see their blind spots —  and how to work around them to provide equal opportunities

The point of blindspots is that we are blind to them — and no organization, or individual part of an organization, is immune from having their own. In order to promote equal opportunities, and become an equal opportunity employer, these must be tackled. Recurrent blind spots employers experience are commonly be found within these contexts:

1. Distributed Workforce: As with the saying “you don’t know what you don’t know”, you also don’t know what you can’t see. With remote work and dispersed teams, it can be challenging to properly assess individual contributions and growth on the day-to-day. Skill mapping can help managers better evaluate team competencies and eliminate the risk of missing out on valuable contributions from more introverted or less vocal employees by giving equal weight to each member.

Skills are the great equalizer. They level the playing field on how we evaluate, develop and promote talent in a distributed workplace.

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Studies in 2022 show that remote work is exacerbating existing problems in the workplace:

95% experienced more race-related hostility in remote settings, and 23% of those aged 50 and above saw a surge in harassment and hostility.

36% of women and 42% of trans workers within tech industries reported an increase in gender-based harassment while working remotely during the pandemic

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2. Internal Talent Mobility: As organizations grow, visibility on new opportunities is crucial for employee development. Skill mapping helps level the playing field by organizing work around projects and outcomes, not roles and titles, providing greater visibility, opportunity and mobility for all employees. Adopting a skill-centric approach can help avoid creating asymmetrical systems that give unfair advantages to some.

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The importance of providing employees with opportunities for growth and development: According to a survey by LinkedIn, 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers.

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3. Access to Mentorship and Learning: Mentorship and learning opportunities have traditionally been impacted by office politics and access to key decision-makers. Skill mapping can match employees seeking skill development with the right mentor, regardless of natural affinities, geographic proximity or professional degrees of separation.

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Investing in winning leadership teams helps employees grow… and stay

As we’ve already highlighted, companies who commit to diverse leadership are more financially successful. And strong leadership is worth the investment: 86% of professionals are more likely to stay in their jobs if they have access to mentorship.

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10 key biases skill mapping helps curb

Artifical Intelligence (AI) software doesn’t see people, it sees data points. Turns out this is the key to actually seeing people for who they really are – free of preconceptions and biases. Skill mapping can help curb biases by removing subjectivity from the decision-making processes around hiring, retention, and compensation, focusing on skills and competencies rather than factors that could cause discrimination such as gender, physical abilities or other personal traits.

What types of biases can impact hiring, employee promotion, pay and organizational culture? Here are the most common ones:

• Gender: Gender bias refers to prejudice and discrimination against individuals based on their gender, often leading to unequal opportunities and pay gaps between men and women.

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To this day, the Gender Pay Gap can still be observed. On average, women still earn only 83 cents to the dollar compared to men.

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• Race or Ethnicity: Race bias refers to prejudice and discrimination against individuals based on their race or ethnic background, leading to unequal opportunities and disparities in career progression and compensation.

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Black workers still earn less than their white counterparts: Black workers are earning nearly 24% less per hour on average than white workers, even after controlling for education, experience, and other individual characteristics.

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• Disability: Disability bias refers to prejudice and discrimination against individuals with disabilities, whether they are visible or not.

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People with disabilities form a pool of workers worth tapping into: Employees with disabilities often bring unique skills and perspectives to the workplace, leading to increased productivity and improved overall performance.

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• Personality: Personality bias refers to prejudice and discrimination based on an individual's personality, particularly the extrovert-introvert dichotomy. 

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Types of personality bias phenomena include confirmation bias, stereotyping and the Halo Effect.

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• Age: In the workplace, there may be biases towards employees based on their age, whether they are perceived as too young or too old, which is also referred to as ageism.

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Age isn’t just a number, but it should be: 62% of workers aged 50 and over report to have personally seen or experienced age discrimination at work

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• Sexual Orientation: Bias towards employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identification can occur across all industries.

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LGBTQ workers face significant barriers to employment: 1/4 report being fired, denied a promotion, or experience some form of mistreatment in the workplace due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

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• Religion: This refers to bias towards employees based on their religious beliefs, practices or affiliations.

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By law, employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious practices. However, unconscious bias throughout the hiring and interviewing process can still happen and are hard to discern.

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• Existing relationship: While building a valuable network can sometimes be merit-based (especially when relating to sales skills), bias towards employees who have relations with decision makers can take the form of favoritism, nepotism or cronyism.

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Favoritism happens no matter how experienced you are: In a survey of 303 US executives, 56% admitted to having favorite candidates and 96% of them would hire or promote their favorites rather than consider their professional abilities.

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By focusing on data rather than personal biases, AI technology can help eliminate discrimination and promote fairness in hiring, retention and compensation — making you an equal opportunity champion!

Making hiring, retention, and compensation more skill-centric and equal

Skills are often evaluated based on an employee’s years of experience or education. However, experience does not always equate to mastery. After all, some people will need five years to master a skill while some, who may be fast learners, may only need two. Applying a skill-centric approach ensures hiring managers focus on competency mapping rather than arbitrary data points like years occupying a particular job and title.

79% of HR professionals agree that unconscious bias exists in both recruitment and succession planning decisions. By embracing skill mapping and making it a core part of HR processes, organizations can thus create more equitable work environments and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

As an employer, the key is to work towards equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome.

Compensation sees the most inequality between gender! 60% of women admit to having never negotiated their salary and rather change jobs for a better pay — while men are more likely to ask for a raise. Using skillstech can help achieve fairer outcomes based on true performance rather than a person’s abilities to negotiate a salary.

This shift towards a data-driven, skill-centric approach can help close the gender pay gap, provide better visibility and mobility opportunities for employees, and help connect employees with the right mentorship and learning opportunities to help them grow and develop.

Jumping into the future of hiring

Equity in the workplace is achievable. Workleap's skill mapping technology works by creating a clear and comprehensive picture of an employee's skills and competencies. By doing this, personal bias is removed from the equation and ensures that employee promotions and compensations are based on merit and skill, rather than favoritism or political alliances.

Workleap Skills also helps create an equitable work environment by providing a clear and transparent process for employee promotion, which helps to break down the barriers that often prevent underrepresented groups from advancing in their careers. By painting a comprehensive picture of their skill set, employees can see exactly what they need to work on to reach the next level in their careers. This not only empowers employees to take control of their own careers, but also helps create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. 

In a climate where DEI in the workplace is non-negotiable, data-driven and biased-free tools are no longer unaffordable — and a must. By embracing tech solutions, companies are able to leap towards creating a more diverse, inclusive, equitable and successful future for their employees.

Ready to become an equal opportunity employer? Get in touch with our team to book a demo.

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Meet your new employee of the month (and of the decade): AI. Artificial intelligence used to be the stuff of sci-fi movies - a distant promise of a distorted future. No longer. AI will soon be as ubiquitous as electricity or the Internet, and will usher in the 4th industrial revolution. In fact, it's already underway and it's transforming the way we work... forever. 

From natural language processing to machine learning, AI is creating new opportunities for collaboration between humans and machines, allowing the workforce to focus on more valuable tasks while giving less valuable ones to machines. 

In fact, calculations estimate that AI could add $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030. AI is not a fad but a paradigm shifter, set to become the backbone of the all-digital world and the next frontier for the workforce worldwide. 

In this article, we explore how AI-human collaboration is changing the workplace, what jobs and tasks have been affected… and what the future holds for AI and the workforce.

AI-induced white-collar blues: the impact of artificial intelligence on office jobs

The 20th-century industrial revolution changed blue-collar work forever with machinery and automation taking over factory floors to make work faster and safer for all. 

Now, the next great industrial revolution is happening. And this time, it will affect white-collar jobs as well. AI will replace some jobs while displacing others. But more significantly, it will augment workers and create new jobs too.

More than ever, the need to upskill or reskill with AI will become paramount to the success of organizations and the employability of workers. According to the World Economic Forum, 50% of us will need to reskill by 2025, as the "double-disruption" of the economic impacts of the pandemic and increasing automation transforming jobs takes hold. Organizations must build with agility and adaptability to take advantage of technology and its new darling: AI.

AI-human collaboration is the future of work and HR leaders must prepare for it. Technology will change the way we hire, train and retain talent.

Putting AI to work: 10 examples of AI-human collaborations

These days, ChatGPT is all the rage. Its popularity has given us a glimpse into the future of how game-changing AI assistants will be for human productivity. While some knowledge workers fear AI could replace them, the most future-forward companies and individuals understand that putting AI to work as a copilot for tasks will grant them a competitive edge. 

Here are examples of existing professions already benefiting from AI to automate the minutiae, maximize productivity and scale their impact:

1. Customer service: AI  has the ability to learn from past tickets to automatically build custom answers, which can save a ton of time to customer service representatives.
2. Email marketing: AI algorithms can be your personal coach for email marketing, analyzing customer data to optimize email content and subject lines. The result? Higher open and click-through rates, like scoring the winning goal in a game.
3. Content writing: AI can be your brainstorm buddy, assisting in generating content outlines and providing suggestions for improvements to increase readability and engagement. Think of it as having a co-writer who always has your back.
4. Programming: AI can be your trusty sidekick, assisting in coding, testing, and debugging software. This leads to faster development cycles and enables you to save the day for your clients, like a superhero team working together.
5. Graphic design: AI can be your design genie, assisting in designing graphics and layouts based on user preferences or with image generation. Who doesn’t want faster turnaround times and improved user engagement? AI can create magic that delights your audience quickly.
6. Recruitment: AI can be your talent scout, assisting in writing job descriptions, screening and evaluating candidate resumes — resulting in more efficient hiring processes and helps you build your dream team, like a coach building a championship team.
7. Data analysis: AI can be your data wizard, assisting in data analysis and decision-making. This results in more accurate and timely insights that can help you make better decisions, like having a crystal ball to predict the future.
8. Sales forecasting: AI can be your fortune teller, assisting in predicting sales trends and identifying growth opportunities for a stronger bottom line. It can help you stay ahead of the competition, like a team that always scores before the buzzer.
9. Project management: AI can be your assistant, helping manage project timelines, allocating resources, and identifying risks. Think smoother project completion and your team being always one step ahead, with everything kept on track.
10. Language translation: AI can be your language ninja, assisting in translating documents and content accurately and quickly. Faster communication and expanded global reach on demand — your very own multilingual team who can communicate with anyone, anywhere.

TL/DRL: AI is quickly becoming everyone’s favorite and most reliable colleague, helping boost productivity and achieve faster results by allowing workers to spend less time on repetitive, mind-numbing tasks. Enhancing employees' skill sets with AI can actually make work more fulfilling — humans can focus on their higher value tasks and create better work-life balance, while AI takes care of the minutiae.

Artificial Intelligence will likely create more jobs than it will destroy

News headlines often equate technological advancements with job disruption. But if history tells us anything, it's that technology leaps inevitably lead to the creation of new needs and more jobs. 

For example, the advent of social media created an entire new stream of jobs, with now hundreds of thousands of social media managers in the world — a job title that didn't exist 15 years ago. 

AI will likely do the same for our job market, creating more jobs than it will displace. We are already seeing glimpses of that future. Even if it is estimated that up to 14% of the global workforce (375M workers) will have to change jobs by 2030, AI integration will prompt the surfacing of innumerable net new jobs — more than we could have ever imagined.

1. AI Copywriter: Writer's block no longer has to get in the way of creativity. With the help of AI, content creators can generate endless writing prompts to spark their imagination and spend more time on creative copywriting.
2. AI Developer: Also referred to as an AI engineer or a machine learning engineer, the name says it all: AI developers are becoming more and more needed, not only to develop artificial intelligence but to also integrate it into software and applications.
3. NLP Engineer: Natural Language Processing (NLP) engineers specialize in human language, including spoken and written information, focusing on improving the voice assistance, speech recognition and document processing aspects of AI.
4. BI Developer: Business Intelligence (BI) Developers generate and manage the business interface — organizing business data, extracting insights, and keeping a close eye on market trends.
5. AI Safety Agent: Such roles are linked to AI alignment, ensuring the existential and technical safety of AI processes, optimizing them for researchers and developers.
6. AI-Generated Photo Editor: AI can do the heavy lifting when it comes to generating high-quality images thanks to its advanced algorithms so that photographers can spend more time being creative in their editing process of the final product.
7. VR Experience Designer: The world of entertainment and training is about to get a lot more immersive and Virtual Reality (VR) Designers are masters of AI tools in order to create mind-blowing virtual reality experiences that transport users to entirely new worlds.
8. Digital Transformation Consultant: The digital age is here to stay, and businesses need to adapt to stay competitive. Consultants will be able to guide organizations investing in the right kind of AI assets, assisting them in their digital transformation, and helping them achieve growth and innovation objectives.

Friend not enemy: AI-Human collaboration is an opportunity, not a threat

While there may be some apprehension around AI replacing human jobs, it’s essential to understand that AI-human collaboration is not about replacing people, but rather about augmenting their capabilities. 

Most of us are quite excited about AI! In fact, 81% of employees believe AI improves their productivity and overall performance at work — which is awesome.

AI-powered machines can take on the more mundane, repetitive tasks, freeing up time for employees to focus on the more engaging and strategic aspects of their jobs. The benefits of AI-human collaboration unlocks an abundance of opportunities:

1. Making work more meaningful by removing redundant, mind-numbing tasks and focusing humans on higher-value outputs.

AI can take on tasks that are repetitive and mundane, allowing employees to focus on higher-value tasks.

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AI-powered chatbots can handle customer inquiries, freeing up human customer service representatives to handle more complex issues. This not only makes work more interesting and engaging for employees, but it also increases productivity and job satisfaction.

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2. Make organizations more efficient and profitable.

AI can help businesses streamline their operations, resulting in greater efficiency and profitability.

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AI-powered supply chain management systems can optimize inventory levels and shipping routes to reduce costs and improve delivery times. Similarly, AI can be used in predictive maintenance to detect and fix issues before they cause downtime, thereby reducing costs and increasing productivity.

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3. Helping you leapfrog to offer better customer service and experiences to customers.

Thanks to automation, AI can be used to provide customers with faster and more personalized service, which can lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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AI-powered chatbots can provide 24-7 support, answering customer questions and resolving issues in real-time. This not only reduces the workload of human customer service representatives but also improves the customer experience by providing instant and efficient solutions. AI can also be used to personalize marketing messages and offers based on individual customer behavior and preferences, leading to higher conversion rates and customer lifetime value.

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Opportunities are yours for the taking! But act quick. 35% of companies worldwide are already using AI and 42% are exploring AI options for future implementation.

The companies that are hesitant to embrace AI-human collaboration and innovation will quickly find themselves at a disadvantage, both in terms of the speed of innovation and the agility required to adapt to new technologies.

Adopting AI to unlock new skills and advance career progression

Upskilling and reskilling will become imperative in the age of the AI-augmented workforce for any business model. As constant change becomes the new norm, companies and employees will need to invest in their capabilities in an ongoing fashion. Turns out AI is there for that! 

Workleap Skills is a prime example of putting AI to work at the service of human potential. Its AI-powered skill mapping tool helps map your teams' skills and identify gaps in a matter of minutes. This ensures HR managers spend more time on workforce planning and designing career progression paths by saving them the countless hours manual processes used to take when updating skills in Excel spreadsheets.

If your company has yet to embrace AI-human collaboration, there's never been a better time to start and we’re happy to take you for a Skills test drive.

The future of work is here, and the AI-augmented workforce is leading the way. Those who embrace this change will be better equipped to meet the demands of a rapidly changing business landscape. It’s time to prepare for the future — are you ready?

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No one likes to be called “soft” or a “softie.” But from where we’re standing, being “soft” is a formidable asset. Soft skills are among the hardest to learn or master but are some of the best skills to have. Of course, strong people skills can have a positive impact on our personal lives. But in today’s ever-changing — and sometimes volatile — world of work, these valuable interpersonal skills can also be a differentiator in our professional success. 

Modern businesses have moved past the ineffective micromanagement and rigid top-down structures of the past. Great leaders know that success is a team sport. More than ever, interpersonal relations are the lifeblood of organizations that don't want just to survive but thrive. Why? Because leaders and teams with strong communication, collaboration, and conflict management skills are better equipped to handle the challenges and opportunities ahead of them.

What exactly are soft skills?

Before we jump ahead, here’s a quick overview of what, exactly, we mean by soft skills. While hard skills are the technical abilities people have that make them qualified for certain jobs or professions, soft skills are the factors beyond that. They’re the traits that make someone a uniquely good fit for a team, or the right type of person to lead a group.

You can think of soft skills as one part emotional intelligence, one part communication and leadership styles, and one part our behaviors, habits, and how we show up in our day-to-day. In fact, soft skills can include a pretty broad range of qualities and abilities, like:

• Adaptability and resilience
• Leadership and influence
• Communication (verbal and non-verbal)
• Critical thinking and analytical skills
• Conflict management
• Problem solving and initiative
• Negotiation skills
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Active listening

While we’re not all naturally gifted in every one of these areas, we each have our own personal strengths. And just like hard skills, soft skills can be learned and developed. Keep reading to understand better how these abilities fit into the future of work and how you can build your soft skills!

Soft skills are the future of work

Artificial Intelligence and automation continue to disrupt the job market and how businesses get work done. And as the most repetitive tasks become automated, reskilling and upskilling will be inevitable for most workers. But this digital transformation is largely centered around hard skills. Things like data entry and product recommendations are real applications for machine learning, but a sense of humor or the ability to listen with empathy are harder to replicate. Humans will always beat machines at what makes them human in the first place.

As a result, soft skills will be among the most sought-after and futureproof skills in the workforce of tomorrow. Realistically, they’re already among the most important skills today. Employees and teams must be equipped to navigate constant change on a technological and interpersonal level.

Artificial Intelligence and automation continue to disrupt the job market and how businesses get work done. And as the most repetitive tasks become automated, reskilling and upskilling will be inevitable for most workers. But this digital transformation is largely centered around hard skills. Things like data entry and product recommendations are real applications for machine learning, but a sense of humor or the ability to listen with empathy are harder to replicate. Humans will always beat machines at what makes them human in the first place.

As a result, soft skills will be among the most sought-after and futureproof skills in the workforce of tomorrow. Realistically, they’re already among the most important skills today. Employees and teams must be equipped to navigate constant change on a technological and interpersonal level.

Soft skills dominate the top 10 professional skills of 2025 projected by the World Economic Forum. Included on the list are analytical thinking and innovation; active learning; creativity, originality, and initiative; critical thinking and analysis; leadership and social influence; emotional intelligence; and reasoning and problem-solving. Each and every one of these is a uniquely human — otherwise known as “soft” — skill.

The next generation expects their leaders to be soft (skilled)

While employees of all levels can benefit from developing their soft skills, leaders, in particular, must make it a priority. When you manage a team of people, you need to be able to connect with them on a human level, give feedback and delegate work with tact, and facilitate effective teamwork.

The world of work needs to evolve and adapt to shifting employee expectations and needs. And as new generations enter the workforce, they tend to send ripples of change through organizations. This is a good thing, because these changes impact not just the next generation’s employee experience, but everyone’s. Great Place To Work’s research finds that Gen Z wants these five things from their employers:

1. Diverse and inclusive workplace
2. Livable pay
3. Mentally healthy and safe place to work
4. Special meaning
5. Warm welcome

Pay might be determined by HR and company policy, the rest of these factors are influenced by every person at an organization. And often, it’s team leaders who set the tone in the day-to-day employee experience. Managers who are tuned into their soft skill set are the ones best suited to create an environment that welcomes all different types of people warmly, makes them feel comfortable to bring their full selves to work, and ensures they know their work matters.

How companies can assess, improve, and invest in soft skills

It’s clear that soft skills are a core differentiator that can take a workforce from good to great. The good news is that they are skills — and skills can be learned! Here’s how you can help improve soft skills at your organization:

1. Offer opportunities for assessment

Before we can improve our soft skills, we need to understand what our strengths are, and which skills we want to build. Soft skills assessments can be done independently or with the input of others. Give employees and managers a chance to self-evaluate their skill set, and/or do peer assessments. The benefit of external feedback is that it can illuminate areas we might not see or recognize in ourselves.

Skills assessments can be done through surveys, quizzes, or feedback forms. Whatever approach you take, make it consistent so it’s easier to derive insights from the results. This is also a great way to understand where certain teams shine, and where there may be skill gaps throughout your organization.

2. Implement soft skills training

One of the most straightforward ways to boost your workforce’s soft skills is to offer training and resources. This might look like bringing in experts to run workshops once a quarter or investing in virtual learning experiences for employees.

Soft skills training could be around subjects like:

• How to give and receive feedback
• Fostering inclusion on your team
• Active listening techniques
• Public speaking best practices
• Conflict intervention and de-escalation tactics

Make sure employees know that training is available and that they’re encouraged to participate. Give people dedicated time outside of their regular tasks for professional development, including soft skills training. You might also make some training a part of new employee onboarding and incentivize existing employees to complete training with bonuses or rewards.

Leading by example: Employers like Mid-Day Squares, a plant-based snack food company from Montreal, are paving the way for a more open, honest, and soft-skilled future of work. The founders share their unfiltered experience of managing a business, navigating conflict, and attending therapy regularly on their viral instagram account. Remember that developing soft skills at your organization doesn’t mean having it all figured out — it’s about committing to making a consistent effort to learn, grow, and evolve over time!

3. Integrate soft skills development into team activities

To make soft skill development feel more natural, you can incorporate it into activities teams would otherwise participate in. This can take place in the context of a team’s day-to-day work or as a dedicated team building activity.

Ways to build soft skills organically:

• Swap out a happy hour or mini-putt for working on puzzles or an escape room. Soft skills involved: problem-solving, teamwork, and critical thinking.
• Run brainstorming sessions regularly with your team to come up with and pitch ideas for new projects and initiatives. Soft skills involved: creativity, collaboration, and innovation.
• Host a monthly “show and tell,” where employees can take turns sharing about a personal interest or hobby. Soft skills involved: communication, active listening, and building personal connections.
• Have employees take turns planning, running, and presenting at meetings. Soft skills involved: planning and organization, initiative, leadership, and social influence.
• Use the first 5 minutes of a recurring meeting for a simple “tell me about your weekend” or a unique conversation prompt. Soft skills involved: building personal connections and active listening.

Get teams to review their KPIs once a quarter, share their findings, and plan how they’ll apply their learnings going forward. Soft skills involved: analytical thinking, developing hypotheses, and future planning.

Using skill mapping to unlock your teams’ superpowers

As organizations move forward in a world of work that’s changing at lightning speed, upskilling, reskilling, and cross-skilling are more important than ever. And this includes doubling down on soft skill development.

What if you could get a clear view of the varied soft skills represented in your workforce? What if you had a tool to help you identify rising stars and future leaders on your teams?

We envisioned and built Workleap Skills on the belief that "soft skills" are the superpowers of the workplace of tomorrow. That's why we designed a skills management platform to help businesses maximize the potential of their most precious resources: their humans. You can use Skills to:

• Custom-build teams with complementary skill sets for specific projects 
• Spot opportunities to cross-train and upskill employees
• Craft unique career paths and growth plans for your people

As we strive to help companies level up employee skill sets, we’d love to hear from you! Book a demo to chat with one of our product specialists about how Workleap Skills can help you tap into your team's skills instantly.

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What's in this article

• 3 reasons why modern businesses need to get smarter with hiring and retaining talent.
• 3 benefits of shifting from a role-based organization to a skills-based organization
• 3 modern companies leveraging skill mapping to leapfrog their competition
• How to get started with skill mapping at your organization

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably feeling the pressure of economic headwinds. After a historic bull run fueled by a cocktail of interest rates and government subsidies, the recession is most likely starting to hit the economy and your industry with full force. Yes, the world of work is shifting once again, creating new business imperatives for big corporations and SMBs alike. And one of the top imperatives for 2023 and beyond? Upskilling employees to prepare them for an uncertain future.

In this new economy where overhiring is being replaced by hiring freezes and layoffs, companies need to do more with less. Maximizing the output and talent of existing workers by developing their skills instead of hiring new employees will become the default strategy and, for those who master it, a competitive advantage for the future.

3 reasons why modern businesses need to get smarter with hiring and retaining talent.

Business realities and employee expectations have changed significantly in the past few years. Companies that want to thrive now and into the future must shift their approach to hiring and retaining talent, and adapt to this new reality. Here are 3 key reasons why organizations big and small need to adjust their hiring and retention strategies:

1. The labor shortage market

Employers face a complex labor market as we navigate a recession, mass layoffs, and a labor shortage all at once. As baby boomers retire, the population of working-age people is decreasing in most developed economies. Not only that, but millennials and Gen Zers are more likely to seek out part-time and gig work rather than full-time, permanent roles.

This all means that hiring top talent is as challenging as ever, making it that much more critical to hire the right people to begin with. And once you’ve hired them, you need to offer an exceptional employee experience — with growth, development, and learning opportunities — if you want to keep them around.

2. A tough fundraising market

Raising capital has become increasingly difficult for startups and scale-ups over the last year. VC funding dropped with each quarter that passed, and now many small to midsize businesses are feeling the pressure to perform.

But funders aren’t looking for a flashy pitch deck and hiring spree — they want to see a solid foundation, product-market fit, an extended runway, and a team that’s well-equipped to succeed. Now is a time to do more with less, rather than arbitrarily growing your headcount. As TechCrunch put it:

“In 2023, we will see two worlds emerge. The companies with the best talent, products and positioning will command capital at normalized market prices, and everyone else will experience a depressed market.”

3. The need for more generalists

Gone are the days of a hyper-growth hiring approach with long lists of open roles. Companies of all sizes today might not be able to afford to hire technical experts in niche functions, so it’s time to shift the focus from specialists (depth of skills) to generalists (breadth of skills) — also known as ‘T-Shaped’ employees.

For the early growth stage of a business, teams of generalists are well equipped to tackle complex problems and work collaboratively towards common goals. Even at larger organizations, people with dynamic skill sets are more adaptable to change, and more resilient in the face of adversity.

Today, the best recruitment and retainment strategies are all about investing in employee learning, development, and experience. It’s essential to both build the strengths of current employees, and hire culture-add candidates with dynamic and cross-functional skill sets.

3 benefits of shifting from a role-based organization to a skills-based organization

What does a focus on skills development and strengthening your existing workforce look like in practice? One of the best starting points is to map the skill sets on your team, to get a sense of where you stand, what your strengths are, and where you need to focus more attention. Here are 3 benefits to becoming a skills-oriented workplace:

1.  Building a more agile company  

When the focus is less on each person’s job title and description and more on the broad skill set they possess, it’s easier to improve your team’s velocity and efficiency. Skills mapping gives you a 360 view of your organization, helping you unlock the potential of every employee and team. As priorities, goals, and markets shift, your business will be adaptable enough to keep up — outpacing the bigger, slower competition.

2. Building a flatter organization and culture of ownership 

Alongside agility, a skills-based approach breaks down hierarchy and breeds autonomy as people cling less closely to titles. This helps flatten your org chart, encouraging employees to see one another as collaborators rather than authority figures. Instead of asking for permission from higher-ups, teams take ownership and accountability of their deliverables and objectives.

3. Accelerating your talents 

Finally, fostering a culture of learning and development at your organization encourages a spirit of intrapreneurship. When people feel empowered to upskill and reskill on the job, they’re more likely to see a real future with your company. Your team members will not only be more engaged at work — they’ll grow faster, in turn becoming more valuable as employees. Simply put, what’s good for your people is also good for your bottom line.

3 modern companies leveraging skill mapping to leapfrog their competition

Looking for inspiration from other organizations that have taken a skills-based approach? Here are 3 companies that doubled down on employee skills development:

1. Shopify

Next up, Shopify takes employee growth and skills development seriously. Cross-skilling is something they’ve long since encouraged, having had an internal movement team in place since before the pandemic. This team’s mandate is to help employees understand the internal opportunities available to them and make it easier for them to pursue those opportunities.

Shopify prides itself on encouraging employees to develop new skill sets and seek out learning opportunities within the organization. And, they’re dedicated to keeping their talent’s skill sets sharp, even implementing a re-training program for developers returning from extended leaves of absence.

2. Unilever

Employee upskilling and reskilling are a pillar of Unilever’s company culture. A global leader of consumer goods, Unilever is committed to keeping their employees engaged, performing, and up-to-date on the skills they need to thrive at work. Unilever’s skills mapping and development program begins with employees narrowing in on their purpose. In their own words:

Once employees have pinpointed what gives them a sense of meaning at work, they can develop a career path and outline the skills and strengths they need to develop. From there, they join the company’s bespoke learning hub with personalized learning materials. Employees can also pursue hands-on training and development through working on special projects with other teams.

3. Adobe

Mapping out career paths and offering on-the-job training and development is central to Adobe Systems’ employer brand. In particular, Adobe is committed to welcoming new graduates and employees early in their career, supporting them in envisioning their future. While many major players focus on recruiting more established talent, Adobe invests in the next generation to keep the business one step ahead of the competition.

To set new recruits up for success, Adobe uses their “Check-In” system, developed to replace annual performance reviews. This gives new employees a chance to reflect on their skills and consider where they might want to develop. Check-In is a space where employees can set and track goals, receive performance feedback, and explore opportunities for internal mobility and advancement at Adobe.

How to get started with skill mapping at your organization

Larger corporations like the examples above might have the time and money to develop large-scale upskilling programs. But that doesn’t mean small and medium-sized businesses can’t also build — and reap the benefits of — a skills-oriented company culture.

More than ever, companies must do more with less to survive and thrive in this new economy. And at Workleap Skills, we believe organizations of all sizes should be able to understand their employees’ skill sets, and maximize the value of their workforce. That’s why we’re empowering companies to map out employee skills, get to know their strengths, and spot opportunities for growth.

3 strategies to start skill mapping your workforce

1. Assess your team members: Have employees self-assess and peer-evaluate both their hard and soft skills. This gives them a clear view of their skill set beyond their job description, helping them see potential growth paths. And, it gives managers and leadership an overview of the skills represented in your teams.
2. Uncover your team’s strengths: With the data gathered from your assessment, you’ll start to notice where your employees and teams really shine. This is valuable information that you can use to best empower your workforce. You can use employee strengths to develop work methods, company values, and even business priorities.
3. Spot opportunities for growth: What’s missing in your skills map? Pinpointing the skills that are lacking in your organization helps you plan for the future. Which of the skills that are less represented would really add value to your business? Use that to guide your training efforts for existing employees and what you look for in new hires.

Reskilling and upskilling are no longer a nice-to-have in this changing economy. They are a must-have for organizations that want to grow their teams efficiently and retain their top talents. Profitability is the new ‘growth’, and maximizing resources is the new business imperative. Investing in your talents is not only a sound strategy in the short term to navigate tougher times, it's also the cornerstone to building a more resilient workforce that will become the most defensible competitive advantage of your business for years to come.

Curious to know more about the skills-oriented future of work we envision at Workleap Skills? Book a demo with one of our product specialists to chat more about skills mapping at your organization.

Employee turnover is a white-hot topic these days — and with good reason. According to a recent study by McKinsey, around 40% of employees surveyed considered leaving their jobs for greener pastures within the year. And as the battle for talent rages on, companies are looking to adapt their employee experience strategies to keep their people around for the long haul.

A certain amount of turnover is to be expected at every company. But as an HR leader, you want to avoid losing your top performers by reducing employee turnover on your team. The first step is to learn how to calculate employee turnover and understand your turnover rate. From there, you can take active steps to improve your retention rate, which is the other side of the coin.

What is the employee turnover rate?

Employee turnover refers to the number or percentage of people who leave an organization during a specific time period (typically one year) and are replaced by new employees.

Turnover can be divided into two categories: voluntary and involuntary. The former refers to employees who decide to leave their positions for new opportunities at a different company, different department, or for retirement. Involuntary turnover, on the other hand, occurs when an employee is asked to leave the organization for a number of reasons, including lackluster performance, problematic behavior, or significant misalignment with the company culture.

Why should HR calculate employee turnover?

Saying goodbye to a colleague is always tough, regardless of how they left. But after employees leave, the fact remains that there might be significant gaps in projects and implications to consider for the rest of the team.

Replacing employees can put a financial strain on an organization. These hard costs are quantifiable and are usually the biggest considerations for C-suite leadership when calculating employee turnover rates.

According to a 2019 Gallup study, it can cost a company one-half to two times the employee's annual salary to replace them. If the average employee earns $50,000 annually, your organization may be dishing out anywhere between $25,000 to $100,000 to replace them.

The biggest hard costs of employee turnover include:

• Offboarding costs
• Hiring costs
• Onboarding new hires
• Training new employees
• Benefit costs

But the costs extend far beyond the dollars and cents, though; these more subtle but equally important ones are called soft costs. If you have high turnover, your team could experience the true employee turnover cost in ways like:

• Lower engagement and morale: People leaving the team can impact team spirit for active employees. Saying goodbye to colleagues, disrupting regular teamwork cycles, and taking time out of your team’s calendar to help with backfilling roles on your team can all lead to employee disengagement if it’s happening too regularly.
• Fear and uncertainty: When people frequently leave your team, employees might wonder if they should leave, too. People might even fear that they could be next to be let go. This kind of uncertainty can cause your employees to lose trust in management and leadership. It can also cause your employer brand to take a serious hit.
• Decreased productivity: Work gets shuffled around and projects are impacted when someone leaves the team. And when employees go, they take valuable skills and knowledge with them. This can even lead to burnout, as team members who stay start taking on extra work.

You can’t always stop employees from leaving. However, knowing your company's turnover rate will help you identify any problems that might be happening on your team. If you notice that people are leaving your team at a more-than-regular rate, you can spend some time understanding why, and work on your employee retention strategy.

How to calculate employee turnover

Annual employee turnover rate

Math doesn't always come easy to everyone, but it’s important to understand how to calculate turnover. Follow these steps to measure turnover.

Step 1: Add the number of employees at the start of the year with the number you had at the end of the year.

{emphasize}For example: 20 employees at the start of the year + 18 employees at the end of the year = 38 employees.{emphasize}

Step 2: Divide the total you got from step one in half (by 2).

{emphasize}For example: 38 total employees ÷ 2 = 19 employees.{emphasize}

Step 3: Divide the number of employees who left during the year by the outcome of the first equation.

{emphasize}For example: 2 employees left during the year ÷ 19 employees = 0.105{emphasize}

Step 4: Multiply this final number by 100, and you‘ve got your employee turnover rate.

{emphasize}For example: 0.105 × 100 = 10.5% turnover rate.{emphasize}

Monthly employee turnover rate

If you want to keep a more active pulse on this number, you can calculate your turnover rate more often in a certain period. All you have to do is follow the same equation, but with shorter time intervals, such as bi-annually or quarterly. Checking in on your monthly turnover rate can also be a good approach.

According to SHRM, you can follow these steps to calculate the monthly turnover rate at your company:

1. Determine the number of employees who have left during the month.
2. Take the number of departures and divide it by the average number of employees who are active.
3. Take that result and multiply by 100.
4. Voila! Your monthly employee turnover rate.

{emphasize}Here is a quick example:

Five employees left in October and the average number of employees at your company is 80.

5 ÷ 80 = 0.0625

0.0625 × 100 = 6.25%

Your average turnover rate for that month is 6.25%.{emphasize}

What is a good employee turnover rate?

When it comes to employment data, it’s hard to pinpoint a golden number or benchmark. You need to look at your employee turnover rate from a few different lenses to get a real sense of what it means to you.

An average employee turnover rate hovers around 18%. This includes both involuntary and voluntary turnover. However, a turnover rate of 10% or less is what most companies consider a healthy turnover rate.

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Understanding your team’s turnover rate

Remember, there is more to this number than meets the eye. It’s crucial that you contextualize your turnover rate within the reality of your team and organization.

Who are the employees that are leaving? Why are they seeking out other opportunities in other industries or companies? Addressing the root causes of your voluntary turnover can help you make improvements to the employee experience after you part ways with a colleague.

Some of the most common causes of employee turnover include:

• Inflexible workloads and schedules
• Lack of professional development opportunities
• Murky understanding of roles
• Burnout and disregard for employee well-being
• Misalignment of values

Making time to calculate employee turnover on a regular basis is one way to understand employment patterns and engagement levels on your team. Consider calculating your turnover rate at the end of each quarter, so that you can have a fluid and up-to-date comparison over time. You might spot trends from seasonality or company changes that could give you valuable insights into what contributes to employee turnover.

If you’re experiencing turnover because people are leaving the organization and you’re not sure why — or if everyone is citing the same reasons for their departure — this could be a red flag.

Another good way HR leaders can better understand their team’s turnover is to ask. Make sure you have an exit interview for every employee departure. This can be a formal or informal discussion with a departing employee to get a sense of what led them to make the jump and whether they have specific feedback to impart.

Better yet, conduct a stay interview if you're sensing that an employee may be thinking of leaving and address the reasons why they are considering moving on.

{emphasize}Pro tip: Don’t just wait until people are packing up their desks, you can also ask employee retention questions to your team to understand the employee experience. Get to know what’s keeping them happy, engaged, and motivated at work.{emphasize}

Lower your turnover rate with proven strategies

If your company is experiencing an undesirable annual turnover rate, it might be high time to adapt your engagement and retention strategies to keep your people happy.

Collect (and act on) employee feedback

Taking a regular pulse of your employees is primordial to the success of any business. Check in on your teams by asking them the right questions to get to the heart of what matters most to your people. But remember, if you collect feedback, it's vital to act on it. Feedback may uncover challenges on your teams, but this is a great opportunity to work in tandem with your people leaders to improve the employee experience.

Create a culture of recognition

Building a culture of recognition means more than just celebrating big wins — it's about highlighting the valiant efforts regardless of outcomes. Employees want to know that the hours and energy they put in are being noticed. Receiving recognition instills a sense of pride and will go a long way in keeping employees engaged and happy with their work.

Hold frequent one-on-one meetings

We've said it before and we'll say it again: check in on your people. By holding regular one-on-one meetings, you and your managers are creating a safe space for your employees to share their thoughts and concerns and ask questions on everything from salary to project clarity. While team meetings serve a specific and important purpose, knowing when to chat privately with an employee who might need a hand is a mark of good leadership.

Offer professional development opportunities

Most people want to grow within their companies and will seek out other opportunities if not given the chance to flourish. Tap into your talented team's interests and provide career development opportunities like workshops, lunch & learns, or even language courses.

Lean on trusted tools

Like tracking engagement metrics or asking for feedback from your team, calculating turnover is one more tool you can use to understand what matters to your employees. But you don't have to go at it alone; employee engagement solutions like Officevibe make it easier than ever to take the pulse of your team.

By practicing active listening and putting in the hours to make changes, you can keep your top talent engaged and committed to your organization for a long, happy time.

Being a manager is a delicate balancing act; when to push and when to yield, how to ask and how to offer, what to accept and what to decline. One of the greatest tools to help you find this balance is having frequent one-on-ones with your employees. There are many benefits to holding one-on-one meetings and keeping this ongoing communication with your team members helps you lead them effectively and with confidence.

One-on-one meetings offer profound insight and perspective that help you make better decisions. Beyond building stronger relationships, engaging employees, and clueing you to their challenges and needs, one-on-ones help you manage projects effectively, anticipate problems, and prioritize the most important things on the day-to-day.

6 Benefits of one-on-one meetings

It's no secret that frequent one-on-one meetings foster positive employee-manager relationships, build trust within a team, and boost engagement. But do they offer value beyond that? Are they worth taking time out of your busy schedule? Spoiler: Our answer is unequivocally "YES." Let's dig into it.

1. Understand the bigger picture

As a manager, you’re guiding your team to a destination. Knowing where you want to go is a good starting point, but you need additional details to properly lead your employees.

Imagine a map that also points out mountain elevations, river depths, and dangerous or uncleared paths. One-on-one meetings help you see beyond the map and reveal the unstated or invisible on-the-ground realities that affect your team’s effectiveness. They fill in knowledge gaps to help you understand the territory.

One-on-ones can offer insight into your employees’ skill sets, focus and energy level, feelings on a project, and interpersonal dynamics that may impact employee productivity. One-on-ones uncover these hidden realities so you can efficiently guide your team.

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Need help along the way? See what managers on the ground are doing to spark better one-on-one conversations.

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2. Detect small signs of conflict

Surprises and conflict can throw your team off balance. Sometimes, small, seemingly insignificant issues can compound with time. Slowly but surely, tensions bubble into conflict. And this has the potential to result in a large, irreversible, and even costly surprise.

As a manager, you stand at a unique vantage point. Your elevated perspective allows you to see how a small or seemingly disconnected event can derail your team in the future. Your one-on-one meetings can help you detect early signs that things are off, giving you the intel you need to be a more proactive manager. They can surface potential dangers ahead, help you manage risk, and spot issues before they become problems.

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Let's outline an example:

The two employees you placed on a project have been taking two very different approaches for a few weeks. Tension is building between both employees and the project isn't advancing as it should. With one week left, you now realize you need “all hands on deck” to correct and complete the project.

You could have been alerted and prevented the crisis had you scheduled a one-on-one meeting with a project status update in the meeting agenda.

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3. Manage up more effectively

One-on-one meetings also help you manage up to your own manager. Understanding when your team is distracted, exhausted, or energized helps you manage your boss’s expectations and set clear boundaries. It also helps you make decisions on projects coming your way, balance your team’s workload, and consider your own performance. And ultimately, it will help you explain and justify those calls when you’re in a one-on-one with your manager.

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What does managing up mean?

Managing up is the art of learning to work better with your manager, as a manager yourself, no matter their skill level, work style, or personality type. It's about understanding the role you play between your direct reports and your own supervisor.

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Your one-on-ones with employees can also signal when you should request additional resources from your manager. Things like when to recruit a new hire, ask for an increased budget, plan learning and development programs, or access productivity tools to assist your team. This is how you find that sweet spot between your team and your boss.

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Equip yourself with the right leadership and conversation tools so you can be on the same page with everyone in your work circle.

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4. Celebrate and recognize accomplishments

Giving frequent, heartfelt employee recognition is a key way to boost employee engagement and keep your people happy and motivated at work. And while it's great to receive praise in writing, it's always nice to hear it verbally, too. A one-on-one offers the perfect moment to let someone know they did a good job and appreciate their hard work. These types of meaningful discussions help employees feel valued and cared for, so they should never be forgotten or swept aside.

Recognition can also go beyond employee performance. Regular one-on-ones can give you insights into your employees’ personal interests, allowing you to celebrate their achievements outside of work. This shows that you care about them as people, not just workers. What's more, addressing recognition on a personal level can even brighten team dynamics and spark more meaningful connections.

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Here’s a quick example based on a true Officevibe story.

Rodrigo asked his manager for a day off work. Curious and concerned, his manager asked if everything was okay. He shared that he had been studying for a sommelier exam and the day requested was the exam date.

When Rodrigo returned the next day, after passing the exam, his team prepared a celebratory lunch with a wine theme and gifts. They were genuinely interested in his achievement, and this small act of recognition led to more empathetic work relationships.

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Are you checking in with employees at the start of your one-on-ones? Try kicking your meeting off with a personal check-in, so you can build healthier relationships with each direct report.

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5. Support employee development

As a people manager, you've been granted a unique opportunity: a chance to align your own ambition with serving and supporting your employees in theirs.

Your one-on-ones help you understand your employees’ personal and professional aspirations. In your position, you can support their professional development by applying a coaching method like the GROW model. You can also focus on connecting them to the right people or offering stretch assignments. This includes gently and gracefully guiding them closer to their desired destination through goal setting, coaching, and mentorship.

You're more influential than you think. Your support and guidance on career growth can leave a profound and lasting impact on your team members, so make it count!

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Help your team define realistic goals that align with the global company strategy and their individual strengths and career objectives.

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6. Normalize performance management conversations

Annual performance reviews can be stressful for both employees and managers, especially if you aren't having conversations about performance often. But that's exactly the secret to making these reviews more effective and less nerve-racking. Adding talking points about your employees' ongoing performance during your weekly or biweekly meetings leaves no room for surprises when the more official conversation comes around.

When you support employees with regular check-ins on their performance goals, you can give them valuable feedback, which they can apply instantly. This gives them more confidence in their roles, betters their employee experience, and leads to more employee engagement across the board.

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☕️ Consider keeping these one-on-one meeting conversations lighthearted by approaching them as informal check-ins. For example, meeting regularly over coffee (virtually or in person) can be a great way to give useful performance feedback while keeping things human.

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How to get the most out of your one-on-ones

If you're excited about running one-on-ones and want to get the most value from them, here are three simple suggestions:

Schedule

One-on-one meeting frequency varies and depends on your and your employee's needs and preferences. Decide what works best together, and send each employee a recurring calendar invite.

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🗓️ Pro tip: Make sure the allotted time is convenient for both you and your employees. This decreases the chances of having to cancel or reschedule your one-on-ones.

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Prepare

A bit of preparation can add a whole lot of value to your one-on-ones. You can prepare by having a few one-on-one meeting questions ready, and ask your team members to do the same.

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⏳Pro tip: Time can be a scarce resource for many managers. Save on one-on-one meeting prep time by choosing a pre-existing one-on-one meeting agenda.

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Follow up

When scheduling your one-on-ones, set a reminder for yourself to follow up within two days.

Your follow up can be as simple as, “Thank you for sharing your thoughts so openly with me. Excited to discuss [insert topic] further during our next one-on-one.” And, include the main points discussed to help both sides prepare for the next one-on-one.

Your employees will appreciate your time, effort, and careful attention.

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🧑‍💻 Pro tip: Make your follow-ups simple with a one-on-one meeting tool like Officevibe that structures and keeps track of your conversations, so you don't have to do it manually.

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Discover more benefits of one-on-one meetings as you go

The more you have one-on-one meetings with employees, the more you’ll uncover the benefits they bring you as a manager. Just as every team is unique, every relationship you have with each team member has its own dynamic, too. Getting to know every person on your team will help you form these bonds, and better support them over time.

Workplace meetings are integral for all high-performing teams, whether the meeting is for planning, brainstorming, decision-making, feedback exchange, or to have a retrospective. But too often, meetings feel unproductive or lacking in structure.

Setting team meeting goals (and one-on-one goals, too) helps everyone stay focused on the topics that are most relevant. Starting a meeting with a clear objective can encourage collaboration, empower employees to generate ideas, and cut wasted time.

Read on to learn more about how you can have more productive meetings and save time by setting clear, effective meeting goals.

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What are meeting goals?

Meeting goals are the thing you'd like to accomplish by the end of any given meeting. Because meetings are typically time-bound, you want to set specific, achievable meeting goals that respect people's time.

For example: Your meeting objective might be to share performance feedback with your direct report, then have them define action items based on your conversation. But it might be unrealistic to expect that they'll come up with a game plan to implement your input on the spot. Instead, you can schedule a follow-up meeting and give them time to do some action planning.

You can also define broader, long-term meeting objectives for recurring meetings. And each time you have the meeting, you can set smaller, more specific meeting goals.

For example: A long-term meeting goal might be to improve efficiency on the marketing team. More short-term team meeting objectives could be to start by auditing how the team plans and executes their work, then look for opportunities to streamline it. Finally, team members can implement these changes and come back to follow up on how it's going after a set time.

Why it's important to set meeting goals

When employees are jumping between many meetings in a day, it's easy to get distracted or lose focus. Effective meeting management helps keep the conversation on track, making it more likely you'll achieve your common goal. Starting your business meeting by laying out specific goals and a clear agenda gets everyone on the same page.

Goal setting ahead of meetings offers the following benefits:

• Time saved: Setting goals ahead of time keeps participants focused and on schedule. It also reduces the need to give a lot of context at the start of the meeting, saving everyone time.
• Increased productivity: Rather than talking in circles, meeting goals help everyone focus on the relevant information. They help you respect the meeting agenda and avoid going down rabbit holes that are out of scope.
• Better project completion rates: Every successful meeting helps keep your team aligned as they progress on a project or initiative. More effective meetings make it easier to accomplish each project efficiently and on time.

In a remote and hybrid world of work, meetings play a big role in shaping a team's culture. Check out VIBE: Human-generated culture, a zine produced by Officevibe to help teams curate the best version of themselves.

Setting the right meeting goals for every type of meeting (with examples)

There are a number of team meeting purposes, just as there are various types. Here are a few common types of meetings with great examples of objectives for each one:

Planning meetings

Planning meetings can be with a whole team of people or one-on-one between managers and their direct reports. These meetings are for when you have a clear goal, and it's time to figure out how to achieve it.

Planning meeting goal examples:

• Prioritize the roadmap for next quarter in accordance with team goals
• Set milestones towards an employee's professional development goals
• Determine how a team's workload will adjust when someone departs

Problem-solving meetings or brainstorms

Brainstorms and problem-solving meetings are a time for team members to get creative, exchange their different perspectives, share ideas, and often plan a project or initiative. These types of meetings can take place when teams are facing a specific challenge or simply as a way to work towards their measurable goals.

Brainstorm goal examples:

• Identify 3 ways to improve poor customer service reviews
• Come up with an A/B test to improve click-through on a landing page
• Find new ideas to make social media channels more engaging to younger audiences

Tip: Try the RACI framework to establish clear roles and ownership in team projects. This framework helps keep things clear as a team embarks on a new project. It can be used to support decision-making, planning, and execution.

R: Responsible person who plays a leading role in executing the project
A: Accountable person in charge of managing and delivering the project
C: Consulted people who contribute to the project or provide feedback
I: Informed people who are kept in the loop throughout the process

Feedback meetings

Exchanging feedback is crucial to employee, manager, and team success. Employees at all levels need feedback from their peers, manager, and any direct reports they have. Often, a meeting is a great place to have these conversations. Setting meeting objectives helps keep feedback relevant, structured, and clear.

Feedback meeting goal examples:

• Collect input from various perspectives on a piece of work that's in progress
• Let an employee know that their hard work is noticed and valued, and explain how it contributes to the team and company objectives
• Find out what your team members think you should keep doing, start doing, and stop doing as their manager

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Retrospective meetings

Retrospectives help teams reflect on past work to identify success factors and improvement opportunities. When you're having a retrospective meeting, the goal is to understand how you can streamline, optimize, or otherwise improve your performance next time. These are also a great way to build team trust by reminding everyone that you're in this together.

Retrospective goal examples:

• Draw hypotheses about why a certain project didn't perform as you'd expected
• Discuss what held the team back from completing your workload in the last sprint
• Exchange tactics that kept you productive and focused at work in the last month

One-on-one meetings

Finally, one-on-one meetings are absolutely integral to employee engagement, performance, and success. Managers can meet with their team members once every week or two to discuss all the topics that are pertinent to the employee's individual development. One-on-ones are also a great opportunity for managers to give employees recognition for their hard work.

One-on-one meeting goal examples:

• Setting clear goals that align with an employee's professional development ambitions as well as team objectives
• Reviewing an employee's job description to make sure it's still relevant and representative of their day-to-day work
• Sharing constructive feedback on an employee's work or coaching them through a challenge they're facing

Tip: Don't forget to set a clear agenda for every one-on-one! And, be sure to take notes so you have meeting minutes to refer back to next time.

How to set goals for your meetings in 5 simple steps

Setting goals is an important part of leading more productive meetings — but how do you set a great goal? Follow these 5 steps to set better meeting goals from here on out:

1. Identify your desired outcome

Understanding the purpose of the meeting helps you set a measurable goal. If you project yourself into the future after the meeting's been had, what would the optimal results be?

The desired outcome could be to push a project forward, have a decision finalized, or be equipped to take the next step on something.

2. Summarize your meeting objectives

With a clear outcome in mind, you're ready to set goals for your meeting. Try to summarize each goal in one sentence to keep them as clear as possible. By having your goals in writing, you make it easier to track and follow up on them in the future.

3. Ensure your objectives are realistic

Meeting goals should be attainable. You want to avoid being too ambitious and needing to schedule a follow-up meeting because you didn't get through your talking points. So whether you have one goal or several, just be sure it's realistic when you consider the length of your meeting and who will be attending.

4. Share the meeting objectives with participants

Give meeting participants the meeting goals in advance so they can prepare any materials, ideas, or suggestions ahead of time. The more clarity people have on why they're being invited and what their role will be in the meeting, the more equipped they'll be when they show up.

Ahead of your meeting, send out an invite that includes the goals, an agenda, and anything people need to know or prepare for. You can even tag attendees alongside specific agenda items to let them know where their input will be most valuable.

5. Measure your goal progress

You might achieve your meeting goals, or you might not. Either way it's important to keep track of what your meeting accomplishes and any next steps to follow.

You might assign action items to different people and schedule a follow-up. Or, you might end up setting additional goals for a future meeting. Whatever the case, be sure to take note of your progress at every stage.

Setting clear meeting goals with Officevibe

Setting goals is an essential part of making every meeting a success. But planning and monitoring those goals can quickly become a workload of its own. To more effectively set, track, and measure your goals, try Officevibe's goals and OKR tool.

Not only does Officevibe become your goal-setting sidekick, it also creates transparency for your teams. All of your goals are set, stored, and tracked in the same place, helping employees at every level of the organization focus on making the most meaningful contribution.