As a tech business owner, it can be easy to rattle on into the future and enjoy constant new developments without thinking about the impact these could have on your employees. This could end with them being left behind and confused about what is going on. Then, to make sure that they are all on the same page and able to thrive, here are some of the top tips you should follow to keep your tech employees on the same page as their colleagues- and you- both now and for years to come.
Update the Company Handbook
You can use your company’s handbook to detail all of your HR processes and give all of your staff a comprehensive knowledge of the information that they need to know, which is integral to the successful running of your company. This handbook is a document that they may well return to many times throughout their employment, especially if they are experiencing a major issue that is concerning them or want to find out where they stand on a certain matter. However, these handbooks are often outdated, and leaders have not created new versions in years. This can mean that they do not consider aspects such as technological advances, which could change the problems they encounter, as well as your company’s operations. This means that you should rethink your company handbook every year or so, or whenever large changes occur in your company. You should also send out a copy to all of your employees and just new onboards.
Hold Digital Meetings for Your Team
You might want to avoid holding too many in-person meetings as they can be dull and useless, with many of your employees switching off halfway through them or wasting time in a long discussion when they could be completing the work that they need to get done. A great alternative to physical meetings can be digital options, as this will allow your staff to log in from wherever they are without having to travel to their destinations. Keeping digital meetings short is also much easier as there are fewer distractions and interruptions from all corners.
Digital meetings are also effective options if your team works from home, as they can allow you to see each other face-to-face without physically being in the same room. You can even time your meetings so that you can prevent them from going on for longer than 25 minutes without you realizing it. During this meeting, you can share quick updates about the company, ask questions, and discuss new ideas that could benefit your business; as well as this, you can share upcoming deadlines and dates, as well as the most recent responsibilities that your team need to be aware of and handle. This can often be quicker than sending out a lot of individualized emails to everyone on your staff.
Speak to Your Employees
Communication does not have to be a difficult or unwieldy task, though. Instead, you simply have to speak to your employees rather than ignore their existence. This does not even have to be incredibly formal, and you might simply want to pass on messages and have a chat with them during their working day. Making an appearance in the office can also boost morale and help them to feel connected to you. You might also decide to host one-to-one appraisals where you can share more individualized feedback and information about your company, and where they can also give you feedback in exchange.
Train Your Employees
When your employees first join your team, you should see them as a blank slate. However experienced they are, you should not presume that they have any knowledge about your business or the way that it is run. To make sure that they know what they are doing and what your company stands for, you should make sure that you create training schemes that have been tailored to your business. These schemes will allow them to get all of the essential information about your business over the course of a few days and will give them a chance to ask any of the key questions that they might have.
Create a Member’s Section
If you do not have a digital portal for your employees where they are able to access all of the resources that they need, such as newsletters, calendars and software, you should consider setting up a member’s section of your website. In this area, you can place essential documents for them to look back on whenever they need to without having to ask you first. These documents can include HR items, such as your discrimination policies, as well as the training materials that you might previously have used during the onboarding process.