Ninja Gig Blog – Page 2 – HR musings for your entertainment and benefit

Top Reasons Why Companies Outsource

Post author By ben
Post date March 17, 2020

Traditionally, outsourcing is defined as strategically utilizing outsourcing resources to perform job duties and activities that would traditionally be handled by internal resources and staff.

Companies often contract major services from valued business partners that have areas of expertise or knowledge that may also come at a beneficial cost-saving to companies.

Why Do Companies Outsource?

Many businesses choose to outsource certain functions. These are the seven most common reasons why companies outsource:

Reducing and controlling overall operating costs
Gaining access to unique expertise outside of the immediate organization
Improving the company’s focus
Freeing internal resources to do other types of work
Maximizing the use of external resources
Increasing efficiency or streamlining time-consuming tasks
Sharing risks with a partnering company

The Downfalls of Outsourcing

Outsourcing isn’t always productive or positive. In fact, companies have to weigh the advantages or disadvantages of outsourcing, which can also prove to be challenging to manage. The following are the most significant reasons why outsourcing could prove costlier or fail.

Existing employees may feel threatened or as though they are disposable
Staff redundancies
Communication problems that relate to language or time zones
Issues with service or product quality
Loss of control over procedures and policies
Data security threats

What Companies Outsource

Outsourcing gained rapid popularity in the 1990s when many companies began using it to help save money. Most jobs that were initially outsourced were customer service-related jobs, such as call centers. Today, outsourcing has rapidly grown, and now financial services, IT, retail services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, software and computer technology jobs are often outsourced by companies.

How to Successfully Outsource

Thirty years ago, the most common reasons companies outsourced were to reduce their headcount and overall costs. Today, more companies outsource to help add value to in-house services, especially when they don’t have employees that specialize in certain areas of service. To successfully outsource, companies must:

Have a strategic plan and vision
Carefully select vendors
Clarify company objectives and goals
Structure vendor and subcontractor agreements
Practice relationship management
Have open communication with stakeholders about outsourcing
Pay attention to personnel issues that may arise
Have a short-term financial justification for outsourcing
Have the support and involvement from senior leadership

Avoiding Failed Outsourcing

Most outsourcing contracts are canceled or renegotiated within three years. It’s vital that companies and executive management work to help foster and support an ongoing relationship with outsourcing teams and companies to avoid this economic loss and the time spent finding new outsourcing options.

Senior management should regularly meet with outsourcing teams to discuss expectations and identify and resolve any challenges or problems that arise during the working relationship.

By implementing these strategies and focusing on the end goal, which is to produce better products or services for your customers, companies can have productive, long-term outsourcing relationships.

Ninja Gig helps companies accept job applications online via an automated hiring process. Whether your company wants to hire in-house or test the grounds with an outsourcing employment agreement, our advanced HR online recruitment system can successfully help you create legally compliant job applications. Sign up today for a free Ninja Gig trial and see how Ninja Gig can help improve your company’s hiring practices.

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Human Resources Compliance Roles

Post author By ben
Post date March 10, 2020

The function of Human Resources within companies is generally to help businesses identify, hire and retain qualified people. The government has several regulations and laws that govern organizations to ensure that they treat their employees fairly, and imposes costly fines and penalties for businesses that violate these conditions. Whether it’s the Fair Labor Standards Act or the Family and Medical Leave Act, HR departments must create and execute compliance.

What Goes Into HR Compliance?

For companies to be successful, they need to have HR compliance. HR can’t merely have compliance policies written, but needs to ensure that they are enforced and communicated throughout the organization by management.

Once HR compliance is in place, leadership must take action to ensure that all employees understand these compliance issues. Businesses need to institute the following to help minimize legalities and maximize HR compliance.

Hiring the Right Employees – Having the right employee talent in place is crucial for a company’s success. HR professionals must have the experience, skills and knowledge to avoid potential liabilities, which includes making sure that employees understand hiring practices, compensation, talent management, legal requirements, employee benefits or handling employee-related issues,
Education and Training – HR employees must understand regulatory and legal requirements, as well as employment law. Employees must undergo regular training and education since these requirements and regulations are everchanging. It’s also necessary that as laws change that any employee handbooks or company policies receive regular updates.
Employee Handbook – Simply having an employee handbook isn’t enough, as it needs to be updated regularly to include any new legal policies or procedures.
Schedule HR Compliance Audits – Most HR departments are overworked and understaffed. Non-compliance can be costly, putting companies at risk for hefty fines, penalties or even lawsuits. Conducting regularly scheduled HR compliance can help avoid legal liabilities.
Open Communication – Regular and open communication is critical for compliance. All HR function leaders, including executives of companies, need to be up-to-date on the latest HR regulations and compliance risks, helping ensure there are internal checks and balances to avoid costly legal issues.

By implementing these necessary steps, companies can help ensure that HR functions work towards achieving their goals – assisting companies to avoid costly liabilities while maintaining a healthy, profitable organization.

Ninja Gig is an ideal solution for HR hiring and job advertising compliance. Incorporating a proven applicant tracking system that helps make online recruitment easy, Ninja Gig focuses on creating legally compliant job applications. HR teams can easily track and accept job applications online, which makes this automated hiring process easy to implement and incorporate into HR procedures. Companies that are interested in an easy, cost-effective applicant tracking system can sign up today for a free Ninja Gig trial. See how Ninja Gig can help automate and improve your company’s hiring practices.

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Four Workplace Trends That Positively Change Performance

Post author By ben
Post date March 3, 2020

Workplace performance can be influenced by external factors and even society’s changing ideologies. Gallup’s State of the American Workforce report shows that when employees are positively engaged at work, their profitability increased by 21 percent; however, only 51 percent of employees report being actually engaged at work. The following workplace tech trends will help positively change employees’ work environments, thus increasing their overall performance and profitability.

Prioritizing Workplace Safety

The #metoo movement has helped to address the issues of workplace safety and harassment. Employees that witness harassment are more likely to begin searching for new employment. How well a company responds to misconduct, including harassment and discrimination, is essential, which is why employers need to facilitate more open lines of communication.

Collaboration

Open employment engagement is important, especially as more jobs focus on computer work and being behind a desk. Whether it’s using Google Docs or Slack, incorporating collaborative techniques can help boost employee productivity dramatically.

Work-Life Balance

Studies show that three out of four employees have a difficult time balancing their family work and other personal obligations. Furthermore, more employers are offering flexible working schedules and arrangements to help employees better balance and manage their time. Employees that can have more flexible work arrangements are more satisfied with their overall work culture.

Technology to Support Inclusion and Diversity

By building a work environment that embraces inclusion and diversity, you can help encourage employees to produce new, innovative ideas. Different experiences and backgrounds unique shape us, which helps create a multi-talented team.

Ninja Gig helps to automate HR systems, including focusing on an applicant tracking system for online recruitment. Making it easy to accept job applications online, Ninja Gig also makes it easy for applicants to apply quickly. Sign up today for a free Ninja Gig trial and see how it can help improve and automate your business’s hiring practices.

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Introducing the Gig Economy

Post author By ben
Post date February 25, 2020

Today’s hyper-connected world has made it possible for a new gig economy to emerge. A gig is a temporary work engagement, and our gig economy is altering how Americans view and perform work. Many companies are making it easy for workers to find temporary jobs – hence a gig – which can range from all types of work, such as editing a paper, writing a resume, fixing a leaky faucet or repairing a car. The difference between a gig and a traditional job is that it’s only temporary, and the worker is paid on a freelance basis for the project.

Who Makes Up The Gig Economy?

There are three main groups that main up today’s rising gig economy.

1. Technology Platform Companies

Technology platform companies have helped the gig economy expand significantly. These platform companies have direct transactions with the consumer and producer, offer flexible work schedules, provide online payments and feature online reviews and profiles, so it’s easier for both parties to enter into a gig arrangement.

2. Gig Workers

Gig workers generally have two main classifications, such as labor providers – which includes drivers or delivery people – and goods providers, such as artists or writers.

3. Consumers

When consumers want less expensive services, temporary work arrangements become a more cost-effective solution for businesses.

Ninja Gig is an online recruitment software that allows companies of all sizes to post gig job openings and accept job applications online. Online recruitment has never been easier, and our software has a built-in applicant tracking system that makes it easy to post legally compliant job applications. If your business is looking to post gig jobs in 2020, sign up now for your free trial and start getting your online job applications in front of applicants today.

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How Automation Will Transform the HR Industry in 2020

Post author By ben
Post date February 18, 2020

Attention-grabbing headlines, such as “Robots conduct job interviews,” sparks panic in today’s job seekers. Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise, and we are moving towards a more automated hiring process and future, which is destined to transform the workplace.

HR needs to stay one step ahead, and leverage automation to further streamline tasks, freeing up valuable time for strategic thinking and product creation. Whether using automation for payroll, time tracking or an online applicant tracking system, today’s automated technologies can help improve outcomes, reduce redundancy and minimize human errors.

The following offer some great starting points for businesses in 2020.

Performance Management

While large corporations employ more standardized tracking processes, many small and medium-sized companies often have informal processes, which means that the conversations only occur after employees miss performance benchmarks. Some companies don’t have any formal benchmarks, which makes it challenging to objectively assess performance, including what employees may need additional support or training. If managers could receive automatic alerts as soon as employees falter, they could better reach out and help them get back on track quickly. Having automated performance management would minimize potential losses when it comes to employee turnover.

Onboarding

An employee’s first day of work sets the tone for their experience. Many companies don’t have organized onboarding experiences, which means that sometimes employees show up, and they don’t have email credentials, much less a desk or computer. Worse, their new team is in meetings all day, which leaves them sitting there and fending for themselves while trying to track down equipment and get trained.

To help make sure that employees have a more positive onboarding experience, standardize this process. For example, once a candidate is hired, an offer letter should be automatically sent to the candidate. Once they e-sign, it can trigger HR and the IT team. The IT team can then work on creating network credentials, an email address and setting up a computer for the new hire. The HR team can then send out a welcome kit, and send calendar invites for their first day of work, including any calls or meetings they will need to attend. By automating the onboarding process, companies are setting employees up for success.

Offboarding

Just as the onboarding process with new employees should be seamless, so too should their last day. A positive exit interview will help set the tone for former employees if they refer people or even if they want to return to work at a later time.

Similar to onboarding, offboarding involves a different set of documents, such as transition paperwork, final meetings and an exit interview. Based on when an employee leaves, it can trigger actionable items for both HR and IT, such as removing network credentials, archiving emails, and changing employee’s benefit status.

Ninja Gig works with companies of all sizes, allowing them to create the first step in an automated hiring process, which starts with accepting job applications. Online recruitment has never been more straightforward, and when you sign up with Ninja Gig, it’s easy to promote jobs and even easier for qualified applicants to apply. Sign up now for your free trial and start getting your online job applications in front of applicants today.

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Company Diversification Strategies for 2020

Post author By ben
Post date February 11, 2020

Leveraging a market diversification strategy can help companies drive growth and survive an upcoming recession.

What Exactly Is Market Diversification?

Diversification is a corporate business strategy where a business can enter into a new industry or market, creating a new product for this market and further diversify their offerings.

Popular Diversification Strategies

There are three significant types of diversification techniques that businesses can utilize when trying to expand their current market.

1. Concentric Diversification

Concentric diversification is when a company adds a similar service or product to their existing business model. A great example is Apple, which started building desktops, branched out to laptops and music devices, and is now a leading retailer for Smartphone devices with their popular iPhone.

2. Horizontal Diversification

A horizontal diversification model involves adding new, unrelated services or products and offering them to existing customers. For example, when Amazon.com acquired Whole Foods, this is a horizontal diversification strategy because they were able to offer existing customers organic food products.

3. Conglomerate Diversification

Conglomerate diversification is when a company adds new services or products that are entirely unrelated. A superb example is Disney that went from films to creating and operating entertainment parks.

Companies usually diversify to help earn higher profits, but also to recession-proof their business model, as this can mitigate risks in the event of an industry downtown.

If your company is looking to diversify and you are looking for executives or employees that specialize in a new product or service, consider listing your online job applications with Ninja Gig. Our easy to use applicant tracking system creates an automated hiring process for online recruitment. Sign up today for a free trial to see how Ninja Gig can help increase your job application exposure in today’s marketplace.

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2020 Hiring Trends

Post author By ben
Post date February 4, 2020

Human resources and recruiting are always evolving, and with a new decade upon us, these industries are preparing for shifting changes. While we can’t look into the future, there are some trends that these industries are preparing for and anticipating seeing this upcoming year.

Culture Will Become a Top Priority

Today’s world continues to focus on increasing corporate accountability and having business transparency. A company’s culture has a major impact on their ability to effectively recruit and retain top-tier talent. When interviewed, more and more employees will choose a healthy, positive company culture over higher salaries. Additionally, since applicants can quickly search online and scour social media platforms, they can quickly learn more about a company’s culture before they apply for jobs. Both research and studies show that company culture helps to drive businesses, as those with great cultures attract more talent, perform better financially and have more satisfied customers.

Many leading companies are emphasizing employees. Gone are the days when businesses only focus on shareholders. Without happy employees, suppliers, customers and the communities where they do business, companies will falter. Unlike the days where employees focused on the dot-com dot-gone perks, such as ping pong tables and air hockey, today’s employees desire quality senior leadership, a clear mission statement and career opportunities.

Bracing for a Potential Recession

While the U.S. is currently experiencing one of the most prolonged periods of economic growth in our history, what goes up, always comes back down. Many warning signs indicate that a recession could be just around the corner. The yield curve, which is one of the most solid predictors of a potential recession, suggests that a downturn is likely very soon. Additionally, the pace of job gains is another factor, and our employment pace has decreased from over 220,000 each month in 2018 to just over 165,000 in 2019. Forward-thinking companies are already developing recession-proof strategies to limit their losses.

While many employers mistakenly assume that hiring is easier in a recession, the truth is that they usually are flooded with low-quality applicants applying. Companies then face hiring recruiters to find higher qualified candidates.

Both short and long-term, employer branding will play a critical role in helping companies stand out among the competition for job applicants. It’s essential to remember that company brands can withstand recessions, but if a company loses its image, it can take years, if not decades, to earn that back. It’s important to focus on preserving a company culture to weather a recession successfully,

Mobile Job Search

With the number of smartphones increasing year after year, more people are searching for jobs on their mobile devices. The World Advertising Research Center estimates that within the next five years, more than 75 percent of people will access the internet via a mobile device. Unfortunately, most companies have not created a truly mobile job application experience. Companies must focus on improving their mobile-friendly sites so that it’s easier to accept job applications online.
Ninja Gig helps companies of all sizes accept job applications online via an advanced, easy to use applicant tracking system. You can also participate in online recruitment and have a more automated hiring process. When companies sign up with Ninja Gig, it’s easy to promote their jobs, and it’s also simpler for applicants to apply quickly. Sign up today for your free trial and help make sure that your online job applications are getting in front of qualified applicants.

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Three Best Practices HR Managers Should Implement into a Family Business

Post author By ben
Post date January 28, 2020

Working for a family business can have its shares of challenges. While it may be successful and maintain a solid reputation on the outside, it may not have the traditional structure, policies, or work environment as other corporations on the inside.

Changing the ways of a corporation since “the father or grandfather” founded the business more than 40 years ago will not happen overnight, but it’s not entirely impossible – especially if it will benefit the company in the long term and resonates successfully to the “corporate family members or board.” Here are three key best practices to suggest if you land a HR management role at a family-run business.

Set a Professional Foundation.

According to jobstreet.com, certain family members – such as a son, daughter, or sister – may feel entitled to a more senior position within the company or some owners may expect that family members work twice as hard as regular employees. Both situations can potentially be unfavorable and have a negative impact on exit plans, so you need to ensure there’s a structured platform of professionalism. You should also try to prevent unprofessional behavior, tardiness or even favoritism, which can all be common. The result could be a positive one without any distinction between family members and non-family members, which can result in more objective and sound decision making.

Implement Training Sessions

Jobstreet.com also suggests that you implement succession planning, talent management plus regular training among employees to not only grow but to ensure the company successfully moves forward. After all, it’s not uncommon for many family members to “grow up” within the family business and also have long-term, loyal employees. While they may be knowledgeable of operations, the industry and company structure, it’s vital for any company to change with trends and always implement best business practices.

Increase Retention Practices

Walking into a family business may sometimes seem like stepping back in time. Its company policies may be redundant and expectations from employees may be old school. For instance, according to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), it’s not uncommon for company leaders of a family business to expect employees to work as hard and as long as they did earlier in their careers. So, it’s important to make them to realize that employees’ expectations have changed. Millennials even Generation Xers now seek a better work-life balance, comfortable work environments, career development, plus rewards and recognition for their work. Implementing benefits, holiday hours, vacation time, and bonus structures, to name a few incentives, will not only increase moral, but attract better talent and increase overall retention.

There are countless of family businesses that are successful. While some have different policies and structures than other corporations, these are just a few of the best practices that HR managers should implement or strengthen to ensure company growth and a strong future. By signing up with Ninja Gig, companies easily promote openings using online employment applications. Online job applications make it easy for qualified applicants to apply. Sign up now for your free trial and get your online job applications in front of potential candidates now.

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Is Your Employee Telling the Truth?

Post author By ben
Post date January 21, 2020

Managing a work environment is no simple task for HR employees. It’s a good assumption that most seasoned HR professionals and managers have heard every complaint, dispute, personal problem, sickness, theft and quite possibly more from employees.

While these are all sensitive issues in a work environment, how can you tell if an employee is in fact not telling the truth to reap inner-office sympathy, a day or two off work, or some of a company’s policy benefits? Short of being a mind reader, there are ways to detect that an employee is lying. An article published at www.experityhealth.com, reveled some unique indicators that just may end up revealing the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Reading Body Language

This is an interesting one. When a “suspected” employee is questioned about a certain situation, they may exhibit certain defensive or protective body language. This could include covering their mouth with their hands, avoiding eye contact, excessive fidgeting, or “shifting their body away from the questioner.”

Understanding Timelines

Resorting to a timeline of events is an effective method. While it all depends on the situation, many issues or concerns may include some sort of timeline. Guilty employees can get confused and lured into the truth if they explain times and dates out of order, are evasive about key details, or just have “a blank look” when asked about certain moments.

Change of Voice

Lying can be stressful even among the best of them. The fact that stress can cause the vocal cords to constrict, a lying employee’s voice may crack, have a higher or lower pitch, or they may start clearing their throat.

Although, HR professionals are not expected to have the training of an interrogator for the FBI, they don’t need to. Yet, it’s important not to be naive and clearly understanding some of these signs. In the end, by setting an example and implementing the consequences will only provide for a more secure and honest work environment.

By signing up with Ninja Gig, companies easily promote openings using online employment applications. Online job applications make it easy for qualified applicants to apply. Sign up now for your free trial and get your online job applications in front of potential candidates now.

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How to Deal with an Employee Who has a Negative Attitude

Post author By ben
Post date January 14, 2020

Employees with a negative attitude are never productive for any company. Not only are they difficult to work with, but their negative outlook can spread throughout the staff, affect moral and disrupt progress or success of a business. Also, over time, an employee’s negative behavior could mean the difference between gaining and losing a client or valuable employees.

To ensure a harmonious work environment, HR managers should first recognize who the employee(s) are that have a negative attitude. An article on NaturalHR.com, explains that this may be more difficult than it seems but some sure signs include:

They always question management and constantly disapprove of decisions.
Protesting against work volume, co-workers or the company.
Creating rivals between employees and management.
Overstating mistakes by either the company or other employees.

If you recognize some of these characteristics, arrange a meeting with the employee. Before speaking to them, however, clearly recognize how their attitude is effecting the work environment. Are employees upset or discouraged? Are employees leaving for other opportunities? Is success or progress in the company being affected? Whatever the concerns, organize your thoughts and notes, and speak clearly about the issue(s) at hand and try the follow practices as suggested by Natural HR:

Keep it professional. Don’t make it seem like it’s a personal attack.

Be clear and relay examples of their bad/negative attitude and that it needs to change for the better. By being vague or evasive won’t necessarily address or solve the problem.
Always listen to what the employee has and let them voice their concerns. There may be a root cause.
Try not to point the finger directly at them. Rather than using “you have a bad attitude ” try explaining “we are seeing some negativity around the office because of your bad attitude.”
While it’s important to be clear that their behavior has to change, try to conclude the meeting on a positive note, and how they can make a difference in the workplace.

It’s never easy confronting an employee with issues that can have an effect on other staff and even a company. By following some of these steps, it can alleviate some problems and provide the chance for a more pleasant work space.
By signing up with Ninja Gig, companies easily promote openings using online employment applications. Online job applications make it easy for qualified applicants to apply. Sign up now for your free trial and get your online job applications in front of potential candidates now.