Andraya Carson :: 5 Ways to Get the Most from Virtual Employees

BY PETER ECONOMY  @BIZZWRITER

Today, your staff can work from anywhere, but to make the most of that increased flexibility, leaders need to pay special attention to remote workers. Here are the key things you need to focus on.

The virtual work force is growing fast and bringing many benefits to companies. According to Chris Ducker, an expert on virtual staffing and author of the book Virtual Freedom, a typical business saves $11,000 a year for each virtual worker it hires. Beyond that, the ability to hire the best people you can find, regardless of whether they work from your office, can produce immeasurable benefits.

But although that's all well and good, managing virtual employees brings challenges that you just don't have in a standard office environment. The good news is that these challenges can be conquered with just a bit of effort on your part. Here are five tips for managing your virtual employees more effectively than you ever thought possible.

1. Increase communication as you increase distance

The old saying "Out of sight, out of mind" really applies when it comes to virtual workers. It's easy to forget that they're out there--at least until something really good or really bad happens that involves them. Make a point of reaching out to your virtual employees regularly, even if it's just to say hello and ask how things are going. The farther away you are from your virtual workers, the more important it is to keep in touch. Put a weekly call on your calendar to each of your virtual employees, and make sure you follow through on it.

2. Bring your virtual employees into meetings

Technology now makes it easy to include your virtual employees in regular business meetings. Invest some money in getting a quality speakerphone system for your conference room that allows everyone to hear and be heard clearly, or set up a PC or laptop with a camera that you can use to make calls on Google Hangouts, Skype, or a platform like GoToMeeting. There's no reason to leave anyone out of your meetings, regardless of where he or she may be.

3. Schedule periodic team-building events

People naturally build strong relationships when they work together as a team. It's much harder for virtual employees to build these strong relationships with co-workers--especially co-workers whom they never meet in person. You can help your virtual employees build strong bonds with their co-workers, both virtual and nonvirtual, by hiring a facilitator and scheduling periodic team-building sessions with all of your employees. Not only will these employees enjoy meeting one another in person, but you will help them build better working relationships and bridges of trust that will make them more effective and productive.

4. Make your expectations crystal clear

Because virtual employees don't work in the office, they are not subject to the standard rules that your other employees have to adhere to. If they work at home, every day may be Casual Day, and you may find them working at a Starbucks in the evening or on a schedule that has little relationship to the one your business runs on. Although some amount of independence in your virtual workers is usually a good thing, if you have specific expectations for them--for example, that they will work during normal business hours or that they will always be available by phone--then you need to make those expectations perfectly clear. If everyone's expectations are in sync, you can avoid a lot of misunderstandings and potential conflict.

5. Celebrate their successes

All your employees need to be recognized and rewarded when they do good things for your company, and this includes your virtual workers. Make sure you take time to reward your virtual employees, and publicize this recognition widely throughout your organization. Though you may not be able to bring your virtual employees into the office for recognition, you can send them thank-you notes and recognition items such as gift cards, coffee mugs, flowers, or any number of other items to celebrate their success.

FOR SOURCE CREDIT, AND TO SEE COMPLETE ARTICLE, VISIT: http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/5-ways-to-get-the-most-from-virtual-employees.html

Andraya Carson: Negative Comments on Internet and Companies Dray Carson has Worked With.

Hi, my name is Andraya Carson. Yes, I am actually the real Andraya Carson and not the impersonator that is all over the internet trying to discredit my name. I guess that I really made it in life to have someone else who I don't even know, pretend to be me, Dray Carson, and post things on the internet. Now I really know that there is reality behind the saying that 'just because it's on google doesn't make it real!'. Don't trust everything on the internet. I personally have never ever written something negative about another person or a company that I have worked with, on the internet. As a matter of a fact, I have never helped anyone else who may be doing that type of work with negative postings. I am from the thought that if you can't say something nice, don't say it all at. Especially on the internet. But for some reason, someone who I don't even know, thinks that I have posted something about a company that I worked with, and so they are threatening me and blackmailing me openly on blogs until I 'take down the posts'. Unfortunately, there is no way that I, Andraya Carson, can do that, since I NEVER POSTED ANYTHING TO BEGIN WITH! And this 'person' is saying that I am involved in Sex trade, that I- Dray Carson- am a sex prostitute and have aids and other diseases, and they also name people (who I have never met) that I am involved with for these illegal actions. The irony is that I am actually an activist against Human Trafficking- Sex and Labor Trafficking, and this mysterious person is saying that I am a part of the very industry that I am against. What a joke. And their language is so poor, it's a strange combination of painful to try and figure out what they are trying to say, and hilarious when realizing how outlandish what they are saying really is, to anyone who reads the remarks. So, for those of you out there who have the misfortune to come across this type of content, my apologies in advance for that trouble. For those of you reading this who may be actually doing that drama of posting those things- realize please that you are misguided and think this through clearly- If I could take down the 'information' you claim I am posting, trust me I would have. There are so many things that are important to me that I don't have enough time as it is to do- I would NOT WASTE my time posting nonsense about companies that I no longer am affiliated with. And to be honest- I don't have anything negative to even say about any company I have worked with. I was always in the right place at the right time, and fortunate for all experiences (good and bad) that I have had while working with various companies and persons. I have learned all along the way!

Peace!

Andraya Carson :: Tired of Complainers? How About You Offer Bundled HR Service Plans

IBy Andy Porter · 06.19.2014

magine you’ve just invested a ton of time and money designing and implementing an employee engagement survey so that you can get a real sense of what’s going on in your organization because you know, you care.  Now imagine the big day is here—you’re presenting the findings and recommendations to the senior leadership group.  Overall, the data is quite good (with some pockets of concern), and you’re really excited to get an opportunity to talk about all the good things the HR team is working on and how it’s impacting the business.  But your excitement starts to wane as the team starts to focus (over-focus you think) on some of sub-pockets of poor scores on things like career development and satisfaction with your boss.  The tone of the meeting starts to shift: “HR needs to do a better job of…” and it goes on.

You know these are important components of building an engaged workforce and you also know that the heads of the groups that are driving the poor scores want absolutely nothing to do with HR in any way, shape or form.  And they make sure their teams know exactly how they feel.  In fact, they actively choose NOT to participate in precisely the type of initiatives that would address the poor scores.  You try and explain why, but no one wants to hear it.  You leave the meeting annoyed with a laundry list of things HR needs to do to fix it.

Ever find yourself in that meeting?  Yeah, it’s an annoying one.  Over the years, I’ve come to accept that there are some parts of the business who are eager for support and some who couldn’t care less.  So, I focus on the groups who care.  But HR is often still held accountable for good “scores” for everyone in the company.  This got me thinking that there must be another model for how HR engages with the business. Last month, as I was complaining to my wife about our lack of cable channels she said, “Why do you always act so surprised that we don’t have all these channels?  It’s not like you want to pay for it.  You know we only signed up for basic cable.”  That’s when it hit me. HR needs to adopt a similar model and offer annual service packages to employees… and if we were getting really crazy, charge them for it!  Here’s the menu of options:

The Basic Plan (also know as the “Don’t Bother Us and We Won’t Bother You” plan).  If you sign up for this plan you’ll get basic services taken care of like getting paid on-time, ability to participate in our benefits programs, and well, that’s pretty much it.  You’ll be automatically enrolled in our annual merit program, but you’ll have to wait until everyone else has been given a raise before you get one.  As an additional perk, you won’t get spammed with any requests to participate in any company-wide initiatives.  And if you find yourself with an emergency situation on your hands requiring immediate HR attention, you’re going to have to sort it out yourself (unless you purchase our ER insurance program for a small fee every month).

The Deluxe Plan (also known as the “Employee Development Bundle”).  As a member of our deluxe employee program, you’ll have access to all of the services in the basic plan plus 12 personal coaching sessions per year.  You can use these sessions to work on things like developing your career, getting 360 feedback on your performance or figuring how to better work with Sally in accounting.  You’ll have access to special content like training courses, and you’ll hear about upcoming career opportunities before they become public to give you an edge on your basic plan competition.  In addition to being eligible for our merit program (before the basic plan, people) you’ll also be enrolled in our rewards program where you’ll be eligible to receive cash and other perks based on your performance.

The Premium Club (also known as the “We Have To Invite You To Join” plan).  As a member of the Premium Club, you’ll have access to all the latest and greatest tools and approaches when it comes to developing your career.  You’ll have unlimited personal coaching available to you 24/7 throughout the year, along with a career plan tailored to your specific needs.  Not only will you have access to special content, you can have content developed specifically to suit your needs.  When it comes to new opportunities, you’ll  have the right of first refusal for anything that you’re interested in pursuing.  You’ll also be eligible to receive extra perks like bonuses and stock options… and have first access to the annual merit pool.

If we did this, and segmented employee responses by plan and the people in the premium plan weren’t engaged, then we have a problem.  But if you’re basic plan folks aren’t engaged, you go sell them an upgrade!

SOURCE CREDIT AND COMPLETE ARTICLE: http://fistfuloftalent.com/2014/06/bundled-hr-service-plans.html