As experts in absence and time tracking, the topic of travel expense reimbursement is crucial for us. In our quest to add new features to our software and provide even better service to our customers, it quickly became clear that we wanted to integrate a digital solution for travel expense reimbursement into our app.

We’d like to share with you the arguments that have convinced us the most during this process in this blog post.

The “submitters” face the following hurdles the most with analog or “rudimentary digital” travel expense reimbursement (think “Excel”).

For submitters, the ordeal starts with finding the appropriate travel expense template. Employees who travel infrequently often spend a long time searching for the right document, which can turn into a sort of “scavenger hunt” until the template is finally found.

Solution:

With software or an app, this search is completely eliminated. You open the app and, with just one click, the necessary form.

A classic issue is finding the receipts. The business trip is over and the expedition begins. Where is the invoice for the train ticket? Where did I put the taxi receipt? Where is the receipt from the dinner?

It costs nerves, time, and money.

Solution:

This problem can be solved with a mobile app. Business travelers can submit all receipts on the go. The train ticket invoice can be uploaded as a PDF, the taxi receipt as a photo. Dinner paid with a company credit card is directly created as an expenditure in the app.

Guidelines change, both internal company guidelines and legal ones. Those still working with travel expense templates quickly find themselves in trouble. As guidelines change, not only do all templates need to be updated, but it must also be ensured that all employees are using the current versions. For the submitter, this often results in an annoying mistake. They use the old template, creating double the work and delaying reimbursement.

Solution:

A software solution almost completely resolves this issue. As guidelines change, everything is updated accordingly and centrally in the software. Using the app prevents the situation of using an incorrect template.

Analog processes take time. This is true not just for travel expense reimbursement but is one of the main arguments for digitalization in general.

Delays become particularly frustrating when it involves money, especially one’s own. Travel expenses and allowances are costs that the employee effectively advances to the employer. The fact itself is challenging, and every day waiting makes it more unpleasant.

Solution:

Apps and software significantly speed up the process. Searching for templates is eliminated. Searching for and submitting receipts proceeds much faster with an app. The responsible supervisor receives an immediate notification, can review the expense report, and approve it. Accounting has everything compactly and digitally at hand and can reimburse the costs.

The HR department also struggles with old processes. Digital solutions can simplify and streamline these.

An analog travel expense reimbursement is primarily slow. HR waits for receipts, which they then must individually check, sort, and process. This not only leads to delays in reimbursement but also ties up a lot of time that could be used more wisely by HR.

Solution:

A digital travel expense reimbursement shortens the time effort through more efficient processes. All receipts can be submitted digitally by the travelers along the way. This not only prevents waiting time but also reduces sorting, reviewing, and processing efforts. This frees up a lot of time, saves money, and spares nerves.

Analog processes are not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. Manual data entry always poses a risk. This includes calculation errors, missing information, etc.

It costs nerves, time, and money.

Solution:

Software and apps significantly reduce the risk of errors. The app takes over the calculations, receipts are automatically read, and the software issues an error message if something is missing or incorrect.

Paper can get lost, especially when there’s a lot of it. Physical receipts, forms, etc., tend to disappear. This can lead to minor but also massive difficulties.

Solution:

Digitally, everything is well preserved, especially when using software like absence.io, which operates with the highest security standards. This eliminates the worry of disappearing documents. Plus, using the search function makes things much easier to find.

A lot of paper requires a lot of space. The offices of HR departments are bursting at the seams.

Solution:

Digital requires little space.

Just as for employees, adhering to internal and external guidelines is a crucial factor for HR. Reviewing per diem rates, tax deductions, and other regulations can be challenging in the analog world when things change, new employees are hired, or one simply doesn’t remember a regulation.

Solution:

A digital travel expense reimbursement largely takes this problem off your hands. The software ideally knows everything. It not only calculates the per diem rates but also alerts both submitters and HR and accounting to anything that is missing or incorrect.

In today’s work environment, analog travel expense reimbursement is on the same level as phone books, fax machines, and filing cabinets. It needs to disappear.

The analog process is lengthy, error-prone, insecure, annoying, complicated, and expensive. A digital solution resolves old problems, straightforwardly and affordably.

These arguments have convinced us at absence.io to integrate travel expense reimbursement into our software, as it optimally complements and extends our product portfolio.

If you’re still battling through cabinet labyrinths and cluttered desks searching for forms and receipts, if you’re still chasing your employees or grappling with legal regulations: Come to us!

We’ll help you implement a digital travel expense reimbursement and take a lot of work off your hands. Just arrange a non-binding and free consultation with us, and we’ll take a closer look at the matter.

Hero image by Alexander Grey

The post Digital Travel Expense Reimbursement: How It Streamlines Processes, Overcomes Obstacles, and Boosts Employee Satisfaction appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

Especially in the area of process optimization, we see great potential, but also in service. We would like to give you a brief insight into our thoughts so far.

After signing up, many users want to handle the setup themselves. Although our user guide is a powerful and successful supporter, an AI assistant can save a lot of time and prevent errors.

Based on its knowledge about our software, the respective legal requirements (of the country) and the company information provided, it could alert users to missing information, errors, or legal irregularities.

Based on historical data, AI could identify periods with high personnel capacities, for example.

“Since many developers were available in April in the past years, we could have made room for Project X.”

At the same time, personnel bottlenecks could be identified. Linked with a project management tool, for example, the product owner could be warned that many developers have been on vacation or sick during the planned period in recent years.

Linked with appropriate tools and software, AI could automatically record working hours for certain tasks. Although it sounds a bit like George Orwell, it’s practical. Without having to enter everything manually, AI could automatically track how much time a developer spends, for example, programming, researching, or in meetings.

Through AI time tracking, the workload of employees could be determined. For those with low workloads, certain open tasks could be suggested or directly assigned. In the case of overload, tasks could be redistributed accordingly.

In conjunction with time tracking and a link to project management tools, based on experience with similar projects in the past, the time efforts for projects could be reliably estimated.

With well-maintained types of absence, AI could calculate necessary office capacities. Based on recorded business trips, home office, vacations, or sicknesses, AI could reliably analyze how many workstations a company actually needs. This could prevent unused office space and save rental costs.

AI, linked with all the data and information captured in the account, could prove to be a valuable analyst. Important information could be obtained via voice or text input:
“How many sales staff are available to us in the 2nd week of July?”
or
“How many sick days did X have this year?”
etc.

At the center of every idea is the benefit for our users. We try every day to make our software even better, and AI is a lever that enables us to provide great features for you.

At the same time, during development, we will always ensure that everyone feels comfortable with the respective features, whether they’re an admin or a user. It’s particularly important to us that users do not feel monitored or lose control. Every AI feature is designed to help you, not cause uncertainty.
Stay tuned!

In the second part, we will take a look at use cases of AI in the areas of personnel administration and expense and travel cost accounting.
Coming soon!

If you haven’t used our software yet, you can now try it free for 14 days. Manage absences and vacations, track working hours, create digital personnel records, and discover the benefits of digital expense and travel cost accounting. Let’s get started!

Hero image by Cash Macanaya

The post AI in HR (Part 1): Potentials in Attendance and Absence Management? appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

That’s right. In a recent European Court of Justice ruling, all companies in the European Union must track their employee’s working hours.

This may seem archaic to some of you given flextime, home office days and more generally the culture of freelance work. But don’t forget that although punching in and out may no longer be a mainstay of your daily working day, tech companies and start-ups have not forgotten about it and have in fact continued to modernize how employees can track their hours.

Yes, the thought of tracking your time may seem cumbersome and outdated. But really when we get to the bottom of it, mandatory time tracking is simply a tool of accountability and responsibility not only on the part of the employee but also for the employer.

How so?

Tracking working hours means more fair and transparent compensation.

I’m not only talking about getting paid for the 40 hours you put in every week, but also being compensated fairly when you work overtime, on statutory holidays and on those odd hours during the weekend.

By tracking your time, you’ll also know when you’re due for a break and for how long. Working an eight-hour day? Well go and take your 30-minute lunch and don’t listen to that co-worker giving you a hard time for it – you (legally) deserve it!

Managers have access to a wealth of information regarding productivity.

Now, this doesn’t mean that managers should then go ahead and start micromanaging everyone and chastising people for days when they may not be 100%. But think about it, when employees track their time, managers will be able to see a breakdown of tasks worked on, and when an employee is most productive.

This kind of data can help companies introduce practices that would make it easier for their employees to be more productive throughout the day. This may mean, encouraging employees to take more shorter breaks or perhaps introducing an outdoor office space for fresh air.

With all this data, maybe a six-hour workday would be best for employee health ????

The benefits of time tracking are many! With this new ruling, the EU is taking steps in protecting workers’ rights and well-being.

At absence.io we’re all about living a balanced life and we strongly support practices that will not only make our team happy but also those that will encourage individual health. Our time tracking feature is based on these principles, and if you’re like us then why don’t you give it a try and see for yourself?

You might also like:

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The post Hurray! The EU passes time tracking legislation! appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

In a recent study, it was found that the average worker spent more time procrastinating than actually working.

Here’s a breakdown of a typical day:

• Checking social media – 44 minutes (spent doing this during working day)
• Reading news websites – 1 hour 5 minutes
• Discussing out of work activities with colleagues – 40 minutes
• Making hot drinks – 17 minutes
• Smoking breaks – 23 minutes
• Text/instant messaging – 14 minutes
• Eating snacks – 8 minutes
• Making food in office– 7 minutes
• Making calls to partner/ friends – 18 minutes
• Searching for new jobs- 26 minutes

In total, the average worker spends about two hours and 53 minutes working.

Now it’s easy to blame workers for this and insist that they stop procrastinating, but maybe instead of resisting this information, it’s time that we rethink the way we define what a productive workday is.

Maybe instead of enforcing an 8-hour workday, companies and legislators should begin to use this information to create workdays that are not only conducive for productivity but also for individual well-being and happiness.

When we consider all these things, it seems likely that restructuring how we work and when we work will only create a more efficient and beneficial work environment.

The post How Many Hours Are Workers *Actually* Working? appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

Those emails are piling up and who wouldn’t want some time to concentrate and just get it done?

But you know what, all work and no play is no fun at all and in fact having a little bit of fun and building friendships at work is found to benefit you in more ways than one.

So let’s hear it for having a few laughs and for your work BFF, because without them you’d be less happy, less motivated and less productive!

In fact, having a work BFF is linked to higher engagement and positivity levels at work.

So seriously, take some time out of your work day to chat to your colleagues or desk buddy – who knows maybe one of them will end up being not only a work BFF, but a BFFL.

Read on!

• Hustle harder? Burnout faster?
• In the Age of AI, Is Business More Suited to Female Leaders?
• Neuroscientist Says These are the 4 Most Important Decisions to Make at Work

The post Can We Be Friends? appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

1. Don’t micromanage

People don’t like to be constantly told what to do. If you’re breathing down their necks about every little task and every little project, down to the way they take their coffee. You’re sure to diminish feelings of efficacy and engagement in the workplace.

2. Give them internal reasons to want to succeed

Make the work personal and something they can attach a sense of ownership and accomplishment to. Nothing is worse than feeling alienated from the work you’re doing, so make sure that you try to make the task at hand something that they can feel proud of. Of course, not every task can feel like their own, but if your employees can see how the little task contribute to the bigger picture, they’ll feel less alienated from their job and readier to innovate when the time is right.

3. Recognize their work

Oftentimes, all we want to hear are words of recognition after a job well done. We all like positive affirmation, it gives us a sense of pride and lets us know that we’re doing a good job.

4. Reward them with benefits and incentives

Everyone has needs and wants. Sometimes by giving your employees a slight raise, it shows that you care for their well-being and understand the amount of effort they put in daily for your team. Giving them a raise bolsters feelings of equity and job satisfaction.

Last but not least…

5. Allow them to recharge!

We all have our personal struggles. Sometimes we fall sick or just aren’t feeling 100%. As employers, it’s your job to create an environment where your employees feel that they are welcome to take a day off or two to get back to their 100% so that they can be ready to tackle the work ahead of them.

You might also like:

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The post How to motivate your employees appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

But where does working harder and longer actually lead us to?

Burnout. That’s where.

Burnout can be blamed for the lack of motivation in employees, the feelings of stress and exhaustion, and overall reduced quality of life. According to Dr. Susan Biali Haas, burnout is a reaction to prolonged job stress, and typically encompasses three main components.
1. Exhaustion

You feel constantly tired and will most likely not be motivated to face your workday. As the day wears on, you lose the little motivation you can muster up and no matter how much time off you get, you come back worn out and overwhelmed.

2. Cynicism or chronic negativity

What may have been once fun and exciting, is now just frustrating or annoying. Your colleagues are taking a toll on you and you just can’t seem to be positive at work or at home.

3. Reduced feelings of self-efficacy

You no longer have confidence in what you do. You may have major doubts about yourself and can’t get those doubts to go away. They may even affect your personal relationships and lifestyle.

Keep in mind, that your body will speak to you before you even realize you’re burning out. You may be getting sick often or may have a hard time getting out of bed and motivating yourself to start the day.

You may not notice these symptoms right away, and that’s why it’s best to keep these signs in mind and check-in with yourself once in a while.

We at absence.io are firm believers in taking some time to recuperate and to find the time to be yourself again.

It’s no shame to want to feel whole. So remember to breathe, relax and to most importantly treat yourself with kindness.

If you’re an employer, you may want to encourage your employees to take personal health days when they need it and not to be sceptical of the real mental impact burnout can have on a person. Encourage your employees to turn off and really disengage from work emails when they’re off work.

You might also like:

• Why a Healthy Company Demands Smart Sick Day Management
• Is Hell Millennials in the Workplace?
• This Habit Could Ruin Your Career and Cost Your Company

The post Hustle harder? Burnout faster? appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

How does one rate a CEO? Turns out, it’s more of an objective art.

Rating CEOs is more of an objective art as HBR fine-tuned its performance measuring metrics. In addition to incorporating the environmental, social, and governance metrics of a company (ESG) from firms like Sustainalytics, HBR drew from CSRHub, a service that aggregates ESG data and gives feedback on areas of improvement to a company. Through these methods, offering more objective insight into leader performance, one is able to understand the effectiveness of an entire career, rather than drawing conclusions from quarterly ratings.

The ranking gives insight into what shareholders could consider when selecting C-Level members. Given the hire-and-fire feel of the job (in 2015, the turnover rate of global CEOs was 17%), it’s essential to find indicators for success. Amongst the 100 ranked CEOs, the average tenure has been 17 years and churned out an annual return of 20.2%.

It’s important to note that many of these high-performing CEOs do not have “traditional” business backgrounds. The top spot, belonging to Lars Rebien Sørensen, studied forestry. 24 of the ranked CEOs were engineers by trade. For those selecting talent, it’s not about finding the leader with the “right credentials”, but rather foreseeing the longevity based on past performance—even if in other industry.

How to judge a CEO (according to the experts)?

According to Elena Botehlo, a partner at ghSMART, a consulting firm, weighs in to Harvard Business School on what traits set great CEOs apart.

1. Usually have had a major career blow up.

Botehlo cites an interesting find: CEOs that had a major career event occur, like being fired, were more likely to be recommended to be hired. In fact, 45 percent of CEOs in Botehlo’s survey of hundreds of participants. Why? Boards and companies want to someone who has been tested and seen the rough side of the road. To be back in the role, they will have usually have had to prove their worth again, making them smarter (hopefully) in the climb up.

2. Know perseverance

This ties in with creating a comeback after a major blowup. A CEO has to have a certain must-do-it-ness. They plod on despite the hardship. Think of well-known business leaders like Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison, who kept innovating despite numerous and considerable setbacks. Perseverance is not something one is a born with; it’s a honed virtue.

3. Make “tough calls”

Being the boss comes with a set of challenges. It often means making some tough decisions, like laying off employees, cutting product features, or knowing to step aside. They make the right calls by rising above the “noise” and can be lasered focus on what needs to happen. They head straight to the core of a tough issue and know how to find the answer — even if they don’t know it quite yet. Great CEOs know how to prioritize and how to commit to enacting the best decision for the company.

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The post According to Harvard Business, Here are Best-Performing CEO Traits appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

Because bringing out the best people takes work.

And the right tools.

We’re the eyes-on-the-ground for what tech tools are moving the HR industry forward. Our latest discovery is moving mountains in bringing how global companies manage their global workforce. With offices around the world, Papaya Global oversees global payroll, keeps employee records, and makes sure their clients remain 100 percent compliant with national and international standards. In fact, they were the first HRIS solution to promise 100 percent GDPR compliance. Which tells you they’re committed to solving problems before their clients receive a hefty fee.

Papaya Global CEO, Eynat Guez, shares her insight into the critical social movements affecting HR, the challenges a global company faces in managing a global workforce, the future of work, and her love of open water swimming.

What led you to founding Papaya?

The beginnings of Papaya goes way back. My career started in global relocation and holding companies. Projects were mainly in Africa and Asia. But what I saw firsthand was companies, that had no local presence, had difficulties in keeping compliant because they had no local insight on the rules. They also seemed to have issues with immigration, because they had few resources to understand what policies were changing. This kind of challenge stuck with me.

What does Papaya Global do?

We provide the transparency and execution of one of the biggest challenges for international companies. A global company has to follow the rules of a local company, which makes sense, but for an international company with employees from all over the world (with different visa requirements, etc.) it quickly becomes a tangled problem. Payroll includes contracts, local benefits, immigration, and administration red tape.

China provides different payroll data than Brazil does, for example. They both have such different regulations and demands. Most companies still don’t have any idea on how to consolidate that kind of data, local information; there is a lack of understanding in how to adhere to local compliance easily—and quickly. Before us, clients struggled getting this kind of information beforehand. Now, they understand the environment they’re operating in.

What are the changes you’ve seen in how tech is augmenting the human work experience?

Firstly, regulations are getting stricter. It becomes more difficult to relocate people. When I worked in relocation services earlier in my career, contractors were not bothered by local compliance. Today, companies need to be more aware. With tech, rules can change faster. So companies need to  have a system in place that allows them to be more agile while still be able to find and manage the best talent.

What are trends that are shaping how companies work with employees?

Recently, President Trump made immigrating to the United State more difficult by heightening requirements. Talented people are being denied access to the U.S., so companies are having to figure out where to place them. It feels benefits are becoming more stratified. For example, some freelancers want the same social benefits as regular employees, like having local holidays off. On the other hand, regulations are changing where it’s more difficult to terminate employees under the guise of “let’s protect our work force”. This has been happening in the last 3-4 years.

How do you envision the human work experience in the next 5-10 years?

Companies will be facing compliant-heavy issues, as regulations are growing stricter. Companies will have a global workforce, with freelancers and remote employees working in different time zones. Employees will be asking for employers to provide local benefits, like meal vouchers and gym memberships. There was a recent story on how a group of engineers working for Facebook wanted the same benefits as their Menlo Park colleagues, though this group engineers worked elsewhere in the world.

What are companies asking for now they didn’t ask for 2-5 years ago?

Determination processes have become super important. Benchmark what are the local benefits and packages. They want to understand what annual costs look like in their respective industries. Many companies are starting to roll out paternity leave.

You were one of the first HRIS solutions to offer virtual currencies as a payment method for employees. Why was that important to you?

Social forces affect how companies run their company, but also affect employees expectations about their employer. We want to provide a solution for employees and employers where they can meet and work easily together. Crypto is a symbol of that. Exchange ranges can be crazy and change their monthly income, so we want to be sure our customers can always remain compliant.

Since you see how companies manage people, do you have any advice to managers or founders in how they oversee?

Be open and transparent. It’s important to speak about the bad thing too. Keep an open relationship with employees, sharing both the troubling and the good. When employees feel they know what’s going on in the company, they will feel more connected to it.

You’re an open water swimmer, are there exercises or methods that you carry between swimming and running a company?

It’s my time to disconnect. It’s my own form of meditation. When I’m in the water, it becomes the only place on Earth where I can renew. When you’re able to go into such a space, you bring new energy into your work.

Special thanks to Eynat Guez for this interview!

At absence.io, we’re doing something different when it comes to absence management. Governments, companies–like MyTheresa and Check24–trust our digital method to help them navigate planned (and unplanned) employee absence.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post Meet ‘n Greet the Next Gen in HR Tech: Eynat Guez, CEO of Papaya Global appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

The real work lies in how a company can “delight” their customers, not in how a company makes their filing cabinets look pretty…right?

Filing cabinets aside (one can only do so much to make those look attractive), why should a company care so much what they put on their walls?

Firstly, it goes beyond providing motivation to employees. 51 percent of employees feel disengaged at work. A space that is both beautiful and functional can spark an employees subconscious mind. Design consultant Avantika Agarwal, the growing trend of startups and co-working spaces have raised awareness on how the modern workforce wants their space to look like. Speaking to India Times, “Millennials don’t want just a good salary. They are looking for soft benefits and companies are going all out to keep them motivated.” As trite as it might seem, an attractive office may mean higher employee retention. A pretty office shows potential and current employees that they are worth investing in, which signals a sense of commitment to employee well-being.

Research conducted by Teknion and multiple design-industry leaders, like Joan Blumenfeld found the workplace must be promoting two essential virtues. Their paper, Ethonomics: Designing For The Principles Of The Modern Workplace, believe that offices should provide movement throughout the day and should be visually appealing. The authors find that mixed spaces like open and closed offices, lounges, and private rooms provide the ability to retreat and collaborate as need be. Colors and texture, they find, can bring teams to a creative solution or help them focus. Walls can be the biggest focal point in keeping employees motivated, with whimsical colors or quotes.

It turns out, walls really do talk.

Displays of funky fonts and motivational quotes are a great use of space

Modern stripes in calming shades of blue and green promote focus

Try a funky decal for visual panache

Make a bold statement with graphic art

Post company values in a fun, creative manner

Try something different than a motivational poster–motivational clipboards!

Beautiful and bold without being distracting

Perhaps open up walls as a medium to brainstorm and illustrate on white-board walls

At absence.io, we’re doing something different when it comes to absence management. Governments, companies–like MyTheresa and Check24–trust our digital method to help them navigate planned (and unplanned) employee absence.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post Wake Up Your Walls: Office Decor is the Other Team Member appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

Whether we like it or not, political and social shifts are being brought into the workplace.

More often than not, the modern workplace has never been prepared quite for an era like this: employees possess instant access to terabytes of information; they can share their opinions with a click of a button with a mass audience; they take part in online communities that have offline influence.

Little has been done to equip employees with conflict management in these situations. Employers would prefer a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy when it comes to discussion controversial topics. Some employees may feel bullied, undervalued, or judged for their viewpoints—a perfect recipe for employee dissatisfaction, low morale, and high turnover.

Companies are missing on an opportunity to impact more than a higher dividend payout to shareholders.  Employers could be the ones demonstrating and training how people can possess starkly opposite opinions, but still learn from each other, and work together.

But how? This is all new territory.

With Millennials as the majority of the workforce, they vocalize political and social issues in the workplace, more so than previous generations. How can a manager train their employees to meet conflict head-on and come out on the other side better for their disagreement.

Brené Brown, shame researcher at the University of Houston and celebrated author of several New York Times Best Selling books, knows a thing a two about conflict in the workplace. After her TEDx talk, “The Power of Vulnerability” became viral, Brown became Fortune 500 companies’ favorite invitee, sharing her work with executives and employees alike.

In an interview with business and life coach guru, Maria Forleo, Brown discusses how people can “be brave” in expressing their authentic self—but also allowing others to express themselves, including controversial opinions they may hold. Employers and employees can benefit from Brown’s work in creating a space where conflict can be healthfully discussed.

Be in the arena

Own your viewpoint. Be willing to be criticized for your perspective. Get ready to un-learn, learn, and share your learning. Brown highlights anonymous forum contributors who bully other contributors, but don’t have the guts to own their own remarks. Own your own viewpoint does not mean you have to discuss it or be pressed to discuss it. But once you begin sharing, you’re in the arena. This is different place than a soap box. The arena is  a place with others. Yes, you may spar with others, but it’s also a place where you can deconstruct your own thoughts and motivations. The arena is the space for learning, which is far from the easiest place to be.

Ban “If you aren’t with us, then you’re against us” thinking.

Conversations cannot happen and learnings cannot be made if coworkers feel at arms. Too often, we forget every individual has a reason or motivation for believing what they believe. There is nuance. It is not a conducive to any space to have already-formed lines. Innovation will fail, as conversations have pre-set conclusions. Shaming others for not disliking the same people you do creates a space of hostility. When disagreements occur, be sure to treat them respectfully—and most importantly, kindness.

Create an invitation about your viewpoint

The best way to avoid drawing lines within a conflict is by opening up the floor to your counterpart. Healthy disagreements involves varying sides; by creating an invitation that there are other points of views shows you want to learn, takes the issue and put it on the communal discussion table, rather than associating a point of view with an entire person. A simple invitation is as easy as “What do you think?”. Then, listen.

Contribute more than criticize

Perhaps on the biggest contributions could be listening. Or it could look like voicing your opinion, even if you have the chance not to. For example, two coworkers are making racial statements. You could easily name call and be critical, but that wouldn’t get to the heart of the matter. Brown suggested, a “Jeez” or “That’s not right” for moments like this. It’s easy to fall into the spiral of name calling, rolling eyes, or looking for the one point to criticize into oblivion. Also, if you see people who are trying to create a healthy conversation around a topic, don’t tell them to stop. If they’re trying to create peace in the workplace, contribute to supporting them. One big idea Brown suggests is that choosing to opt out of a conversation or a controversial topic is the definition of privilege. Contributing may be standing up for a person or an idea at work.

Remember accountability is different from shaming

Share, discuss, debate, or disagree. This is politics—it gets messy! Discussing how the world should be run or how society should react can quickly become complex. If coworkers are disagree, there should be a rule of no name-calling, shaming, or putting others down. Accountability is holding ourselves or someone else responsible for actions and consequence. If you see someone doing something out of alignment with company values, then speak up and tell them what they’re doing is wrong. Brown highlights shame  never drives positive behavior; it drives rage, rationalization, and blame. She continues that holding people accountable is not as much fun and does not give as much emotional satisfaction as shaming. “It feels good, your anger has a place to go”, but it is not the way to peace.

At absence.io, we’re doing something different when it comes to absence management. Governments, companies–like MyTheresa and Check24–trust our digital method to help them navigate planned (and unplanned) employee absence.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post Conflict Transformation: How to Stay Authentic Whilst Disagreeing in the Workplace appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

In the early 20th century, workers would “punch in” at the beginning and end of their shift. This method carried on through the rest of the century, with little change. Only when the knowledge economy began burgeoning did the outlook on how to manage knowledge workers change. The onset of a little invention called the “Internet” finally has executives managing their workforce differently.

Famed management guru, Peter Drucker, created the term “knowledge economy” to describe how members of the workforce now relied on their cognitive function and intellectual edge to solve problems. This differs from the centuries-past worker, who often was given a rote job with specific responsibilities (think steel worker or an office secretary). These kinds of workers were given little autonomy compared to today’s workers. Often work could be performed between the daily card punches. Positions like these are still in existence; over 23,000 workers in Los Angeles still punch in daily.

However the knowledge economy does not operate in a vacuum. Social changes, like that of equal career opportunities for women, the need for maternity and paternity leave, and much-earned vacation days have created a more equitable and livable life for the average worker.

But the modern day challenge: employers have found little solution in tracking the diverse needs of every employee.

Combining how knowledge workers dole out higher amounts of energy and cognitive skill and the industrial demand for more autonomous decision makers within a company creates a special need: how to successfully manage the absences of these skilled workers.

Here’s how too many companies manage employee absences:

Excel

Ugh. Even the sight of the word makes you want to pull out your hair. Excel proves useful for business modeling, budget tracking, and other business means. As an absence management tool, well, it wasn’t built to manage people. How does one tell Excel that an employee will be absent an afternoon every month for a doctor’s appointment?

Usually, employees have to:

• Find Excel Sheet
• Check remaining days
• Enter vacation days
• Print and sign
• Send to manager

Companies need to move at a notched-up, 21st Century speed. This isn’t cutting it. Manual entry is time-consuming and fails to give a fast experience for employees and managers on-the-go.

Sickness absence tools

There are useful tools that give employees to log and monitor sick absences. They’re great to get a bird’s eye view on sickness absence, but the tool is limited. Additionally, a manager could be juggling up to 5 different tools on tracking employee performance, absence, sickness, or holidays. Productivity is lost, not to mention employee frustration may be amped.

While creating a “tick” in logging absences, these tools fail to show what’s behind the absences (a sickness, a doctor’s appointment) nor does the tool use easy-to-access information. Only a few companies take account of all the employee data at their disposal—mostly because it’s too poorly organized to make interesting amends to policies. These single-use tools were helpful, but in Web 2.0, tools should be multipurpose and accessible.

The 7-Point System

This system comes in handy when managing employees and their absences. But like the single-use management tools, this process can already be done through a software, like absence.io. For those unaware of what the 7-Point System:

1.  Reviewing existing policy and checking that everyone is aware of what the policies are.
2. Hold manager meetings to clear up any confusion about policies or to sift through a difficult situation.
3. Make contact people, so managers and employees know who to defer to.
4. Teach clear reporting on the myriad of types of employee absences, from unpaid absences to paternal leave.
5. Make the report, which includes counting team members and tallying up absences.
6. Set up an appointment to welcome employees back after a prolonged absence, if applicable.
7. Create a system of accountability.

No doubt this system is helpful in carving out the conceptual goals of managing people. But operationally…

How does a company create a system of accountability?

Digital absence management is the antidote to this modern day challenge.

Customizable absence management

Company executives and human resources take extra pains in creating company culture, curating employee-company fit, why is managing team absence often a one-size fit solution?
You can tailor your absence management to your company. If employees work in the part of the world that observes Ramadan or celebrates the World Cup, managers can customize the system to fit the social fabric employees are naturally a part of.

Accessible Request Process

Managers and employees save time when digitally requesting time off. No more trying to catch the boss between meetings to request a week off in a 3 months. No more awkward conversations of “I don’t remember us discussing your leave…” An employee sends a request to their manager, an email is sent along with the requested time slot pending in the dashboard. Employees can see whether their manager has approved it or not; if no response, then an employee can easily follow up.

No more leave inquiries lost in the Internet ether.

Quick Approval Process

As requesting time off becomes streamlined, so does approving employee requests. Old methods include using time-sucking Excel sheets, email, and shared files. With a smart dashboard, approving an employee request is as simple as one click.

Smart Calendar Integration

Dashboards are cool, but have you ever thought how convenient life could be if it were integrated into your calendar? With absence.io, you can easily check your calendar and see who’s in the office. Our tool works for the world’s favorite calendars, Google and Outlook.

Dream Team Calendar

Planning takes preparation. What’s the fastest way to prepare and plan? Having an overview of when team members are in and out of the office. For all-hands-on-deck meeting, you can easily block out times on a calendar that will restrict team members from requesting out-of-office time. Add structure to how you manage your team. With structure, people feel confident to make more autonomous decisions. Energy is focused on the project, rather than trying to tie up the loose ends of planning. No more accidental overlaps or other scheduling mishaps.

Instant reporting

Collecting and filing documents usually ranks last in terms of job enjoyment. Why do what office managers and filing cabinets did in the 1970s, when you can click a button and instantly receive a report? Absence.io records absences, like sick and vacation days. It also has a time tracker for instant feedback. Employees and managers can both check on how many vacation days they have left, or whether they’ve used all their sick days. Hiring mangers can quickly create a report as our reporting function exports all data. Say goodbye to Excel sheets and juggling different employee files or management tools.

Here’s the Best Part

We’ve nailed how to manage a team’s planned (and unplanned) absences. Companies and even governments trust us to modernize how they manage people.
Check out exactly how they use absence.io.

At absence.io, we’re doing something different when it comes to absence management. Governments, companies–like MyTheresa and Check24–trust our digital method to help them navigate planned (and unplanned) employee absence.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post Absence Management – How to Survive the 21st Century appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

Does it involve a company car, the corner office, your own assistant, or your own hefty bank account?

A few users on Reddit named what their favorite jobs have been.

From pizza delivery guy to a bouncer, there’s little mention of a Benz or a Central Park View.

According to professional development program manager at EDUCLAUSE, Joan F. Cheverie, autonomy is the primary ingredient to a satisfied employee. In her interview with Inc., Cheverie highlights that autonomy brings employees happiness because they

“perceive that they have choices, that what they are doing is of their own volition, and that they are the source of their own actions”.

Besides lower turn over and higher engagement at work, autonomous employees means higher employee morale. Below,  From interacting with people, getting in shape, or hanging by the water, the a few people what made their best job ever, their favorite.

AKA Introvert Heaven

Music + well-behaved people is a win

Paid to scare

Sun and booze, not too shabby

Mailrooms are a riot

Pizza is (work) bliss

Bowlers do seem like legit nice people

Creativity in the workplace

Pizza guys delivers happiness

“Sunshine on my shoulders”

At absence.io , we’ve optimized absence management. Companies like MyTheresa, Check24, and even governments trust our tool to easily manage their employees’ planned (and unplanned) absences.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post People Confess What Their Best Job Ever Was – No Mention of a Corner Office appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

The power to make good decisions.

In this day and age, where we live like sea creatures in ocean’s of information, choice is everywhere. Sometimes it feels we’re one (or a few) poor decisions away from accomplishing our career goals or finding the right partner.

In Barry Schwartz’s The Paradox of Choice, he writes how being a smart decision maker can make the biggest change in our life.

After millions of years of survival based on simple distinctions, it may simply be that we are biologically unprepared for the number of choices we face in the modern world.

“Unlike other negative emotions—anger, sadness, disappointment, even grief—what is so difficult about regret is the feeling that the regrettable state of affairs could have been avoided and that it could have been avoided by you, if only you had chosen differently.”

Thinking on choice and regret applies to everyone at every stage in their professional and personal trajectory. Our world of automatic payment, food delivery, and potential date for Friday night means more possibility—but excessive choice increases our chances for potential suffering as well. When we have more choices, we hypothetically think of the trade-offs we’re leaving behind. When we make a decision, we are leaving lots of things on the table, more so than any other time in human history.

This begs the question for business owners, executives, and managers alike:

How can I increase the possibility of making wise decisions when there are more decisions to be made and less time to make them?

It starts with your mind.

Schwartz recommends these 5 steps to optimize your decision making—and leaves you feeling more satisfied about your decisions.

1. Make decisions irreversible

Forget about trying to keep your options open. It’s psychologically draining and in general, useless in accomplishing your goals. Eliminate options. Make the most irreversible decision. A study published in the Journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science showcased research that showed people tended to be divvied into two groups when making a decision: maximizing decision makers and satisfying decision makers. Maximizers conduct extensive research for the best solution; Satisfiers research for the best solution, but don’t do it exhaustively. The happier of the two groups, the satisfiers, disproportionally chose irreversible decision making.

2. Be a Satisfier

It may be tempting to conduct a draining search for the best candidates for the new hiring season. You simply want the best person who will do the best work. What’s wrong with that? It takes significant emotional and psychological resources to make decisions á la maximizing. There’s simply no time for that. You’ve got people to manage, parents to call, dry cleaning to pick up…in short, you’ve got to keep your sanity. Maximizers tend to continue wondering, slaving over whether they made a good decision or not. Satisfiers lay out the talent needs and requirements and hire the most suited candidate, then drops it.

3. When you can, defer to the expert

Reserve your cognitive resources for things you know about and care deeply about (like composing music or raising your children). There will come time when you are in a situation that you are completely unsure about; find the experts and defer to their expertise. In Straight Choices: The Psychology of Decision Making, the authors-researchers point out that experts are “less susceptible to biases than non-experts”. Schwartz highlights a study that showed 65 percent of people would choose their own cancer treatment, if they ever had cancer. For the people who actually had cancer, 88 percent of them preferred to defer cancer treatment choosing to their doctors.

4. Set aside time for gratitude

When deciding, gently remind yourself that you’re able to make this decision, that you have the opportunity to receive, make, or change something in life. If you want to be a manager that tends to do more satisfying decisions making, appreciate the team you do have. Pay attention to all the project details that are going right. Managers that say “thank you” to team members who work for them tend make these employees feel more motivated. Research conducted at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that when university fund raisers were given a pep talk by the director—who highlighted the specific needs being met with the raised money—fund raisers doubled the amount of phone calls made, increasing the amount of donations. Gratitude goes a long way.

5. Forget the Jones’

Stop comparing yourself, your life, and your choices with anyone else. Social comparison is the robber of joy. If you do, your choices may be influenced by others’ needs and abilities. If you can’t afford a Lexus, then it makes little rational sense to keep up with your manager friends who can. Good decisions means making choices that are suited for your life and goals.

At absence.io, we’ve optimized absence management. Companies like MyTheresa, Check24, and even governments trust our tool to easily manage their employees’ planned (and unplanned) absences. Smart delegation for the win.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post This is the Truest Super Human Power: How Managers Can Optimize Decision Making appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.

But some individuals experience SAD symptoms even during sunny summer. You may notice some employees’ mood worsening during these past few months. According to a study published in the prestigious science journal, Nature, a link has been found between increasing temperatures and suicide rates. For every one degree increase in average temperature, the suicide rate increases by 0.7 percent. Employee summer depression is serious correlation—one that employers and managers can be mindful of during the hottest time of year.

Reverse SAD may occur to only 10 percent of those suffering from SAD, but addressing employees needs during this time is vital. Anxiety and depression cost companies a significant loss in productivity. Reverse SAD sufferers frequently mention the little escape from heat, feeling pressure they should be outside enjoying the outdoors like their friends, or feeling anxious about heatstroke or dehydration.

With constant feed of friends showcasing their holidays on Instagram, everyone outside barbecuing at the park, or hanging out a music festival, reverse SAD can be  an isolating experience—which is likely to further drive employees into depression or anxiety attacks.

What can companies do to keep productivity and morale high despite the heat?

Eliminate heat at the office

No one wants to work in a stifling workspace, reverse SAD or not. Employees will have difficulty focusing, thinking, and make good decisions. If your cooling unit is unit and it’s a hot day outside, think of allowing employees to work from home. 67 percent of employees agree they feel more productive when they’re able to work remotely.

Stock chilled essentials

Even if it’s not within your company policy to give employees free drinks or food, stocking chilled bottled water and fruit goes a long way. It boosts morale for employees knowing they won’t be dehydrated at the office. Nibbling on cooled fruit keeps employees from heatstroke and their energy—and mood—levels steady (during the summer months, our bodies lose more water as the body works to cool it down. This means the body needs to replace the lost water and energy).

Offer optional fans

Give employees the option to have fans in their workplace. It can be small fans that they’re able to put on their desk or a larger one that can accommodate a few employees. In a warm office, moving air can make a big difference on employee mood.

Create a budget and/or workshop

If you’re managing people, you know planning makes all the difference is smooth sailing. For the yearly budget, put aside a small budget for purchasing bottled water, cooling snacks, and fans for employees. Even though the phenomenon is still relatively new to research, arrange a small workshop with employees in how they can keep cool during the summer. They can teach strategies like keeping a room dark (to avoid insomnia and keep it cool) or who to contact when they are experiencing symptoms.

At absence.io , we’ve optimized absence management. Companies like MyTheresa, Check24, and even governments trust our tool to easily manage their employees’ planned (and unplanned) absences. Smart delegation for the win.

Try absence.io for free!

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The post Do Your Employees Have Summer Depression? Help Them Beat the Heat appeared first on Happy Employees, Happy Employers - Our Blog!.