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Tips to how HR can Motivate and Engage New Hybrid Workforces post Covid.
	

	

		
The pandemic has made the professional world more challenging than ever. With the backdrop of a more unstable workforce, organizations are realizing the value of efficient employees more than ever. With all the uncertainty and dynamism in the air, HR professionals are indispensable now.


Companies have had to tirelessly innovate the organization structures to accommodate changes. Due to frequent separation of employees, workflows have had to be redefined and manpower planning has become more complicated. Job descriptions have evolved and become more fluid, making recruitment more challenging amidst a shrinking budget. Given the current state of things, it is imperative for companies, both large and small, to focus on employee retention. Onboarding and building a sense of belonging in any new hire’s mind cannot be done through conventional means anymore. Earlier, the infrastructure of offices in itself played a role in engaging new employees. But now, HR is forced to think outside the box.


One of the contemporary innovations is the hybrid working model, which combines both working from home and working from office. This has the potential of being both a boon or a bane, depending on the implementation. HR professionals have been brainstorming, ideating and endlessly improvising to ensure a committed and uninterrupted workforce. The crucial thing here is striking the right balance and enabling the transformation, both physically and psychologically. If and when employees are coming to offices, HR needs to plan what number of employees need to be available at the same time and at what intervals. Policies for this would range from planning the transport to understanding which employees are interdependent on each other. One common model evolving is where localites are being called to work first and people from out of station are being given the option to report to their nearest branch instead of one fixed branch. Even attendance policies have had to be reframed to define how many hours an employee has to spend at work. Productivity patterns have reformed a lot. After employees have worked from home for all these months, it will be difficult for them to sit at their desks and be continuously productive for hours at a stretch in office, especially in a hybrid model where working from home will still be in the picture. Policies to accommodate small regular breaks while working would need to be put in place. Plus, more attention needs to be paid to employees’ families, since schools are not operating like they used to.


One of the greatest weapons in an HR’s arsenal used to be recognition. However, not only is it more difficult to measure performance now, it is also more difficult for keep everyone updated with their peers’ accomplishments. Performance review policies need to be restructured to identify key performers. KRAs and KPIs must now be aligned with the new working model. With roles becoming more fluid and open ended, career objectives are also becoming multi-dimensional. A simple “Employee of the Month” is no more sufficient. Matrices to measure intangible contributions such as leadership skills need to be developed. This can be done by asking leading questions, communicating more often, and structuring rewards accordingly.


Communication policies too need to be redefined to make sure loyalty is built amongst the employees. Certain organizations have come up with virtual “water cooler” channels wherein employees can have informal communication in office hours. These channels are crucial for maintaining the balance. Periodic automated feedback, HR Skip meetings, monthly self-appraisal, are all some simple ways of implementing formal communication channels.


The most basic requirement of a hybrid model would be to blur the boundary between office and home. The comfort level at offices will have to be increased to make the frequent switches in work environment friction free. Actions for this could range from something as simple as putting more comfortable chairs in offices, to something as complicated as being focused on the output rather than work hours. However, that said, it is also essential to value work-life balance. Employers must realize that covid-anxiety is real and going forward, mental health needs to be factored into decision making.


The beginning of the pandemic witnessed a global recession with millions losing their jobs. But now that the world is slowly accepting the new normal, we are seeing what is being called “The Great Resignation” or “The Big Quit”. America saw as high as 4 million resignations in a single month (April 2021). Europe too has faced resignations from over 6% of its overall working population in some major economies like France, Germany, UK, Belgium, etc. China is facing a similar phenomenon. It is all due to a dissatisfied and displeased workforce. Employees are wary of joining an organization which may resort to lay-offs when crisis hits. Even MNCs like Microsoft and Apple are spending millions to retain talent. The only way to manage all this change is to give credit where credit is due. Value the invaluable role that HR plays in any organization and start acknowledging that human capital is the most expensive and potent one there is.

	


	

			






	

			

	

		
Artificial Intelligence & The Future Of Marketing
	

	

		
Marketing is one of the areas of business operations where it is widely predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) will drive enormous change. In fact, a McKinsey study found that, along with sales, it is the single business function where it will have the most financial impact. This means that if you’re a marketer and you’re not using AI, you’re missing out on the benefits of what is possibly the most transformational technology.


Actually, though, the chances that there are people out there doing marketing today and not using AI in any shape or form is somewhat unlikely. This is simply because there are so many tools with AI features that we are used to using without even thinking about it. The most frequently used social and search engine advertising solutions, email marketing platforms, e-commerce solutions, and tools designed to assist with content creation all provide functionality that taps into what we refer to as “AI” in business today. To be clear, this isn’t what we think of as “general” AI – machines that have the capability to think and communicate like us and turn their hands to just about any task. In business today (and in marketing in particular), AI refers to software that helps us to carry out one particular job – such as identifying where to place advertising in order to maximize efficiency or how to personalize an email to increase the likelihood of receiving a reply – and get better and better as it is exposed to more data.


 


However, it’s my experience that, while there may be many tools out there and most marketers are increasingly comfortable with using them on a day-to-day basis, it’s often done in an ad-hoc manner. Many marketing departments still lack a coordinated, strategy-focused approach to implementing bigger projects. Just as importantly, many are lagging when it comes to fostering an AI-friendly, data-first culture as well as developing competencies and upskilling in order to meet the skills demand.


 


The industries that have a lot of data and a need for heavy personalization, and intelligent automation of their operations have been doing AI for probably the last decade – healthcare, financial services – but doing it within the operations of their business, not within marketing and sales.


 


“But those same industries have a strong need for personalization, better customer experiences, better predictability of outcomes, the reasons you’d use AI. But generally, at a macro level, we are extremely early in the understanding and adoption of AI …; that is my perception.”


So what are the most exciting opportunities when it comes to using AI in marketing, and where are they already being tapped?


 


Advertising


Advertisers face the perennial problem of working out how best to place adverts in order to achieve the most bang for their buck.


Facebook and Google are the biggest online advertising platforms, and they both offer tools that work by combining audience segmentation with predictive analytics. Segmentation splits customers into groups according to characteristics – gender, age, income level, interests, for example, and potentially an infinity of others. Predictive analytics works out which of these groups a particular product or service is most likely to appeal to. Facebook, Google, and all of the other platforms that offer advertising functions then allow businesses to target thousands of potential customers with multiple different versions of advertising materials in order to measure and assess their effectiveness. With traditional methods of advertising such as television, newspapers and magazines, it’s very difficult to attribute sales growth to advertising content, placement, or external factors. AI-driven advertising tools and platforms make this a doddle – but are most effective when used as part of a coordinated AI marketing strategy, taking in the other areas of marketing covered here!


 


Public Relations


Public relations used to focus on the challenge of getting coverage of products and services into mainstream and specialist media publications. In today’s online world, the media landscape has exploded, offering opportunities to promote brands directly through social media as well as via influencers and third-party content creators, sponsored and unsponsored. But how do you know where to find the best influencers to bond and cultivate relationships with?


Here once again, AI can help by matching products with people who have cultivated audiences that are likely to be synched to a brand’s appeal and values. Some uses of AI in this field of marketing involve taking things a step further though, such as AI-generated influencer Lil Miquela who has used chatbot technology to create an entirely digital persona. Despite the fact she doesn’t exist, millions of followers consider her an arbiter of style and are happy to go along with her recommendations, meaning she can earn a hefty fee from brands like Calvin Klein and Prada.


Writing press releases, shaping external messaging points, and researching the best outlets (online or digital) for gaining coverage are other PR tasks that can all be augmented by AI.


 


Content Marketing


“Content is king” has been accepted wisdom in marketing departments since the dawn of web2.0 and the rise of user-generated content platforms (including social media). But what content is king? And where should we put it? How often, how in-depth or simplified … quite simply, how do we make sure our content achieves our aims of establishing our brand, positioning ourselves as experts or authorities in our field, and, of course, eventually generating sales and leads?


Well, one option is to use AI. Buzzfeed is one of the biggest content-driven sites in the world, and Roetzer has examined how it uses AI to drive every aspect of its operations, such as determining the odds of a particular piece of content going viral, suggesting what content visitors would like to see, and automating the routine aspects of publication such as keyword selection, categorization, and personalization. What marks out Buzzfeed as a truly AI-driven content outlet is its strategy-focused approach where every piece of content as well as every user interaction is measured and optimized for insights that can then be put to work anywhere within marketing operations.


 


Email Marketing


Email marketing is often about tweaking headings, scheduling, and copy in order to impact those all-important open and click-through rates. Small differences in the language that is used can make the difference between an email getting identified as one of the 148 billion spam emails sent each day and snared by a filter or making its way through to the intended recipient at a time when they are open to suggestions on what they should buy.


A large number of AI-powered tools exist to help with these tasks, such as Phrasee, which automates the creation of subject lines; Seventh Sense which optimizes the timing of mailshots; and rasa.io, which makes it easy to create personalized newsletters.


 


Where next?  


Whether AI achieves the potential that clearly exists depends on businesses coming to understand the need for a coordinated and strategic approach to marketing AI implementation. It should be clear enough how the different use cases I have mentioned above can be useful in isolation. But the real value is unlocked when we start using them together, with the aim of answering our most pressing questions, influencing our most important metrics, and achieving key business goals.

	


	

			










	

			

	

		
8 Steps to how businesses can manage diversity successfully in the workplace
	

	

		
As I was interviewing some prospective candidates for a job interview, one of the questions I asked most of the candidates was “What is your view on “Diversity & Inclusion” ?


I was surprised that not many had an idea and a couple of them, who had some understanding related to this is either gender diversity or that India is a diverse country. Is diversity only limited to ‘gender’?   There is a need to understand the much wider scope of diversity and that diversity without Inclusion is meaningless.


Many corporates over the years have been speaking about diversity and some of them even relate this to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  However, the fact is that this is not a  CSR, it is not hiring & promoting  more females into the organization, nor is it rolling out pleasant and small time benefits for the female employees.   It is not a   ’good to have’ but a ‘Must Have’ part of your business strategy, if today’s corporates wish to be globally competitive and become respected businesses. It needs to be looked at as one’s own responsibility towards the organization, towards the community of equals that you would like to build around you.


Diversity and Inclusion truly is a MINDSET CHANGE.


First and foremost, the corporate world needs to introspect whether they want to talk about Diversity only ‘to appear right’ or they truly believe in ‘being right’.  If it is the latter, then diversity alone is meaningless, we need to be inclusive in our approach.  For example, even if we hire a diverse workforce, what is more important is how ‘inclusive’ are we towards people with different gender, abilities, thoughts, beliefs, viewpoints, ethnicities and many more.  Without inclusion diversity has no relevance.  Therefore, before we even make diversity as an initiative in corporates, there is a need to have an inclusive mindset.  How many of us are willing to accept a person who is with ‘special abilities’ as a Manager , or for that matter from a ‘different gender’.    Do we welcome different viewpoints from our peers or our team members or do we stereotype them?  How true are our intentions towards taking initiatives around diversity?   The leadership needs to first and foremost have genuine and true intentions towards diversity and inclusion and win the trust of the entire organization by ‘walking the talk’.  To my mind, this is the STEP ONE and needless to say that STEP ONE is the most difficult one and is the biggest milestone.  Once this milestone has been achieved,  the rest of the journey  becomes a lot more seamless.  This journey can be instrumental in the organization turning from ‘Good’ to ‘Great’.


 


Some key points if kept in mind would lead to a totally effective and joyous experience for all.


    

  1. Involve all the stakeholders
    2. 

  2. Effective Communication within the organization
    3. 

  3. Training on Emotional Intelligence and Respect at work for all
    4. 

  4. Walk the talk
    5. 

  5. Diversity and Inclusion to be a part of the KPIs at all levels
    6. 

  6. Diversity and Inclusion to be a non- negotiable value
    7. 

  7. Define a ‘measurement criteria’ of the organization moving in the right direction
    8. 

  8. Take course correction as and when required
    9.