Module 6

Hybrid Work Model

INTRODUCTION
Hybrid work is a flexible work model that supports a blend of in-office, remote, and on-
the-go workers. It offers employees the autonomy to choose to work wherever and
however they are most productive.
Hybrid work is a people-first approach to managing the workforce that drives increased
productivity and job satisfaction while addressing the major challenges of remote work,
such as isolation and lack of community. A hybrid work model provides employees
with greater flexibility and the option to work from home or anywhere they can be
productive. With hybrid work, the workplace is no longer inside the four walls of the
corporate office—it is an ecosystem of employees working from home, in co-working
spaces, and the office. Team members can migrate between various lo cations
depending on the work they need to get done.
To define what hybridity is, especially in a workspace, it combines the physical work
arrangement and the remote work system. In essence, some work in person on site
of the business or organization while some work by virtue of the internet. This
arrangement could also involve the same party of people, where they get to show up
physically on site of the company and take the rest of the week’s days to work
remotely.
The hybrid working system ensures the organization employing it enjoys the special
advantages that come with the remote working system. In the package that comes
with remote work, essential elements are flexibility at work, reduced labor cost, more
satisfaction on the part of workers, and better environmental experiences. Also added
is the benefit, which comes with the traditional working system. There is the assurance
of hands-on interaction of the existing culture in the work organization. Likewise, there
comes the advantage of informal networking, more likely in-person collaboration, and
the added benefits of a structure to help foster creativity. Where both the benefits of
the traditional and remote workplace system coexist is referred to as the situation of
hybridity.
TYPES OF HYBRID WORKING MODEL
FLEXIBLE HYBRID WORK MODEL
Employees choose their location and working hours based on their priorities for the
day. For example, if they need to spend time focusing on a project, they can choose
to work from home or in a coffee shop. If they want a sense of community, need to
meet with their team, attend a training session or join a town hall, they can choose to
go into the office.
Benefits:
 Offers freedom and flexibility for individuals to determine where and when they
work
 Builds a trust-based relationship with employees, which increases loyalty and
job satisfaction
 Expands talent pool, leading to more diverse thinking
 Improves the bottom-line due to cost savings on office space and travel
Challenges:
 Difficult for employees to find a suitable day or time for in-person teamwork
 Lack of visibility into how many people are going to the office on any given day
and if the building has the capacity to support them
FIXED HYBRID WORK MODEL
The organization sets the days and times employees are allowed to work remotely or
go into the office. For example, it could be that certain teams go into the office on
Mondays and Wednesdays, while others go in on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Alternatively, an organization could allow everyone to work from home on pre-
determined days each week.
Benefits:
 Increases opportunity for in-person collaboration and team building
 Gives employees the option to schedule appointments or run quick errands on
certain days of the week
 Provides the ability to easily forecast office capacity

Challenges:
 Lack of individual choice, which could lead to a loss of productivity if employees
are not in the optimal setting for the work that needs to be done
 Inability to reduce office space
OFFICE-FIRST HYBRID WORK MODEL

Employees are expected to be on-site but have the flexibility to choose a few days a
week to work remotely.
Benefits:
 Allows flexibility and individual choice
 Helps maintain company culture and community
Challenges:
 Lack of visibility for employees around who will be in the office and when
 Inability to accurately forecast how many employees will be in the office on a
given day

REMOTE-FIRST HYBRID WORK MODEL

Employees work remotely most of the time with occasional visits to co-working spaces
or the office for team building, collaboration, and training. In this model, the company
may not have an office space and instead relies on team members in the same area
to get together when they see fit.
Benefits:
 Increases productivity and job satisfaction for employees who want to work
remotely most of the time
 Provides the ability to reduce costs by reducing or eliminating office space
Challenges:
 Potential for employees to feel isolated
 Increased challenges maintaining the company culture and community

SUCCESSFUL HYBRID WORK MODEL

Workspace flexibility Minimum and/or most amounts of time spent working remotely
or at the workplace, as well as specifications of wherever the remote geographical
point is also located geographically (nationally or internationally).
Work time flexibility. Minimum and/or most amounts for time spent throughout or
outside of workplace hours.
Frameworks for fixing and chase area and time flexibility. Timeframes for hard the
amounts pay operating remotely or asynchronously (weekly, monthly, quarterly or
yearly), and constraints for the individual to require into consideration, together with
mounted workplace days for teams, departments or whole organizations
The hybrid working model is a location-flexible arrangement, permitting staff to mix
onsite and offsite work as they and their employers see work. Following the lifting of
COVID lockdowns worldwide, a good range of hybrid arrangements have emerged,
granting staff flexibility that was rarely offered before. Employees who are working
hybrid have a a lot of positive read of their company and hour team, each in terms of
their ability to adapt to the pandemic and to specifically address their remote work
issues. They conjointly feel a lot of productive whereas engaging at home, that is
probably going because of a healthy balance between performing from home and
going into the workplace. They need higher job satisfaction and report higher well-
being and psychological state at work since the pandemic began than staff who are
working completely from home or onsite.

Employee Skill Development

WHAT IS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT?
Skills development is generally used to refer to the productive capabilities acquired
through all levels of learning and training, occurring in formal, non-formal, informal and
on-the-job settings. It enables individuals to become fully and productively engaged in
livelihoods, and to have the opportunity to adapt these capabilities to meet the
changing demands and opportunities of economy and labour market. The acquisition
of such capabilities depends on many factors, including a quality lifelong learning
system and a supportive learning environment. The types of skills required for
employment can be divided into:
Basic and foundation skills:
Basic and foundation skills which are acquired through the primary and secondary
formal school system, or through non-formal and/or informal learning processes (e.g.
active learning, oral expression, reading comprehension, written expression, ICT
literacy, active listening). These are pre-requisites for acquiring further skills enhancing
the prospect of sustainable employment.
Transferable skills:
Transferable skills, which include the abilities to learn and adapt, solve problems,
communicate ideas effectively, think critically and creatively and the ability to manage
self and others. These skills enable people to adapt to different work environments as
well as improving their opportunities to career building.
Technical and vocational skills:
Technical and vocational skills, which are specialized skills, knowledge or know-how
to perform specific duties or tasks, mainly in a professional environment. These
include, but are not limited to, the traditional forms of technical and vocational
education and training (TVET), skills acquired through the secondary level of the
formal school system or through non-formal and/or informal learning processes.
Professional and personal skills:
Professional and personal skills including individual attributes relevant to work such
as honesty, integrity, reliability, work ethic, and judgement.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF LIFELONG LEARNING
Lifelong learning takes on a broader approach than education. It is the organising
principle putting adequate integrated and systematic policy and practice into place for
social transformation within a framework of sustainable development. In an education
system that provides opportunities for lifelong learning, policy and practice provide
every individual and community with a flexible and diversified range of useful learning
and training options throughout his or her lifetime (context specific). A skills-
development strategy, as an integral component of a national education system for
lifelong learning, successfully links skills to productivity and employment creation while
at the same time coping with all life situations (e.g. work, active citizenship, and family
life).
To ensure leaving no one behind, lifelong learning also requires that the poor and most
vulnerable groups in society fully participate in and contribute to the development
process. The adoption of a human rights-based approach to skills development
requires training contents and methods as well as a learning environment adapted to
varied groups of people.
FACTORS FOR SUCCESS, PRINCIPLES AND APPROACHES TO SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT
Adopting demand-led models: An active involvement of local communities,
employers, unions, and other social partners is crucial for planning, carrying out and
following up of responsive skills development programmes. It helps the training
providers to better understand the variety of needs in the workplaces and respond
appropriately. Such interaction will create win-win relationships between the world of
learning and training and the world of work.
Ensuring quality training: Well-qualified teachers are key to improving quality of
training. Thus, investing in training of teachers, trainers and managers is decisive for
quality. Interaction with the world of work is also crucial for improving the quality of
learning and training activities. Improved quality in turn increases the attractiveness of
skills training programmes. Apprenticeship training is one way to make employers
more actively involved in skills development and contributing to the improvement of
quality.
Enhancing the capacity of delivery: In many low-income countries skill training
providers, both public and private, are often small and poorly equipped to meet the
required needs for adequate and quality training. Investment in infrastructure, facilities,
equipment and materials to meet the ever growing and changing demands of the world
of work requires incentives and support mechanisms to stimulate and improve training
capacity.
Ensuring broad and continued access to quality training and skills
development, including quality counselling: It is essential to foster opportunities
and benefits of initial and lifelong learning for all, including disadvantaged young
people who have dropped out of school or are working in the informal sector under
precarious conditions. The participation of women in skills training should be ensured
and gender stereotyping in occupational choice should be actively discouraged.
Establishing a system for labour market forecasting and information: Up-to-date
labour market information and forecasting is key to match current and future labour
market needs for skills with the supply of skills. Such a system will provide necessary
information for short-term and long-term planning as well as provide disaggregated
data to track changes in labour market outcomes for different population groups
(women, youth, the disabled and minority groups).

Mechanisms for efficient recognition, validation and accreditation of skills:

Such a system is necessary to allow for multiple paths for further learning and training
(formal, non-formal and/or informal) and for the mobility of the workforce. Furthermore,
such mechanisms for efficient recognition, validation and accreditation need to be
developed with active participation of labour market actors.

Internal Mobility
Internal Mobility: From Evolution to Revolution
Internal mobility is more than just an internal career site. Its definition and importance
has come a long way in recent years. Although its evolution was previously being
driven at the rate of digital transformation and the influence of the future of work, the
Covid-19 pandemic has fast tracked it to a top priority.
Changing workforce expectations, reduced budgets and hiring freezes have all led HR
teams to look inward to realize their greatest asset could be on their own doorstep.
The desire to engage employees added to the need to do more with less has pushed
internal mobility into the spotlight.
Although subject to many different definitions, the most expansive explanation of
internal mobility is as an opportunity marketplace. Not only a place where employees
can nurture their own career development, but an essential tool for managers to really
understand the abilities they have within the company. This subsequently helps the
organization adapt to inevitable changes in the market.
The notion of internal mobility now has less emphasis on just the movement from one
full-time role to another, but more towards gigs, short-term projects or training
opportunities across the business. This is underpinned with the development and
reskilling of your talent, which in turn keeps them engaged, and most importantly
employed, with your company.
Making an Assessment
Where to Start
As a starting point, it is important to establish the current status of your IM strategy.
This process should be driven by HR who can start by reviewing existing internal
mobility programs to find out what elements have been successful previously and
identifying those that require a revamp. Speaking with employees and assessing their
current understanding of your strategy can form part of this and give invaluable insight
into its effectiveness.
As part of this review, HR professionals must consider how well they know their
workforce by assessing the following:
• What are their skills and strengths?
• How do they perform?
• Which elements of their role do they most value, and why?
• What are their career aspirations?
• How can you support these aspirations?
It is important that HR communicates and supports line managers in gathering as
much data as possible about their team’s skill sets, experience, career aspirations and
their understanding of the existing IM program.
If you don’t already have this data to hand, it can be gathered through multiple touch
points, from employee surveys, regular manager and employee check-ins and talent
management portals, all of which can combine to create the overall picture of the
workforce.
What Kind of Organization Are You?
Assessing what internal mobility means to you is a vital part of this process. Most
multinational organizations are structurally complex in one way or another. So it is
important to think carefully about how well your internal market will reflect the
opportunities available and ask yourself questions such as:
• What kind of opportunities do you include;
e.g. jobs, training opportunities, short-term projects, charity/community days or job
shadowing?
• What rules will be put in place to structure how employees go about putting
themselves forward for these opportunities?
• How will they be assessed?
• What metrics will be used to ensure you are on the right path?
Who Is Responsible for Driving the Internal Mobility Program?
Many stakeholders have their part to play in internal mobility. Business partners,
managers, recruiters and HR all keep the strategy afloat with their commitment to a
culture that breeds a thriving opportunity marketplace. However the hub of the IM
strategy should ideally be driven by HR, collating information from both talent
acquisition and talent management teams. If managers are convinced you can quickly
replace members of their team that have moved with another strong candidate, they
are more likely to support the program. This strengthens the connection between the
macro belief in the culture of IM and the micro day-to-day behaviour, where talent
hoarding can often be an issue. Often, if the internal mobility platform is not mapped
out and managed through one single point, it is difficult to create consistency and can
subsequently affect its credibility. Formalizing it and appointing dedicated staff to
manage the initiative will help ensure its success. If the program is just one of many
projects sitting on the side of someone’s desk, then you can guarantee its
effectiveness will reflect this. Investing in the right technology will help create a solid
foundation from which to formalize your strategy. The easier your IM platform is to
navigate, the easier it will be to create a clear structure behind your strategy.
How HR Can Discover the Talent Within
Go to Your Internal Marketplace to Find the Talent You Need
To many, internal mobility is still seen as a lottery, subject to how many responses you
get from a job post on your internal careers site. However, successful mobility is
proactive and is based on understanding your employees, segmenting your database
and reaching them with opportunities, as opposed to a reactive wait-and-pray
approach.
By pulling information from performance reviews, application history, employee
profiles and preferences you can get a broad view that allows you to search through
your workforce and proactively approach them. This data can be enriched further by
asking employees to develop their own profiles.
Encouraging them to upload skills and areas of interest for recommendations is an
important piece of the puzzle but requires buy-in and a belief the information is going
somewhere to help their careers.
On top of this, tailor the branding of your internal careers marketplace to you.
Personalizing the look and feel to align with your employer brand will make it a place
employees want to be and reassures them that it’s something you’re taking seriously.
The more employees are committed to navigate their careers and get
recommendations the easier it will be to connect them with the relevant internal
opportunities. Trusting the platform to deliver accurate recommendations off the back
of this has a big part to play in creating confidence in the program.
Changing View of Skills
There is a lot of focus now on finding employees with enduring skills. Abilities such as
problem solving, reasoning, negotiation and the capacity to learn new skills will be
required for all roles and will be seen as central to company cultures. As the landscape
is changing, job requirements are too, so it is only right that your HR platform should
follow suit. Matching skills with jobs is an important step in the internal mobility
process. However, it is just as important to get the full picture. So, when setting criteria
it is not only about skills, it is about location, areas of interest, learning programs,
career goals and performance management suggestions by line managers.
Who Is Responsible for Driving the Internal Mobility Program?
Many stakeholders have their part to play in internal mobility. Business partners,
managers, recruiters and HR all keep the strategy afloat with their commitment to a
culture that breeds a thriving opportunity marketplace. However the hub of the IM
strategy should ideally be driven by HR, collating information from both talent
acquisition and talent management teams. If managers are convinced.
you can quickly replace members of their team that have moved with another strong
candidate, they are more likely to support the program. This strengthens the
connection between the macro belief in the culture of IM and the micro day-to-day
behaviour, where talent hoarding can often be an issue.
Often, if the internal mobility platform is not mapped out and managed through one
single point, it is difficult to create consistency and can subsequently affect its
credibility. Formalizing it and appointing dedicated staff to manage the initiative will
help ensure its success. If the program is just one of many projects sitting on the side
of someone’s desk, then you can guarantee its effectiveness will reflect this. Investing
in the right technology will help create a solid foundation from which to formalize your
strategy. The easier your IM platform is to navigate, the easier it will be to create a
clear structure behind your strategy.
Encouraging them to upload skills and areas of interest for recommendations is an
important piece of the puzzle but requires buy-in and a belief the information is going
somewhere to help their careers. On top of this, tailor the branding of your internal
careers marketplace to you. Personalizing the look and feel to align with your employer
brand will make it a place employees want to be and reassures them that it is
something you are taking seriously. The more employees are committed to navigate
their careers and get recommendations the easier it will be to connect them with the
relevant internal opportunities. Trusting the platform to deliver accurate
recommendations off the back of this has a big part to play in creating confidence in
the program.
Changing View of Skills
There is a lot of focus now on finding employees with enduring skills. Abilities such as
problem solving, reasoning, negotiation and the capacity to learn new skills will be
required for all roles and will be seen as central to company cultures. As the landscape
is changing, job requirements are too, so it is only right that your HR platform should
follow suit. Matching skills with jobs is an important step in the internal mobility
process. However, it is just as important to get the full picture. Therefore, when setting
criteria it is not only about skills, it is about location, areas of interest, learning
programs, career goals and performance management suggestions by line managers.
Empowering Employees to Map Their Career with You
A successful internal mobility platform sits at the heart of a comprehensive program
that gives employees ownership of their careers, while giving them access and
exposure to internal job roles, projects, tasks outside their immediate team.
According to a survey last year, a third of employees who quit their jobs did so because
they didn’t learn new skills and 77% of employees feeling they’re ‘on their own’ to
develop their careers at their company. This does not necessarily mean there are not
opportunities for them within the organization, rather there is no program in place that
allows them to search for, find and apply to them. If opportunities are not clearly
communicated, it is common for employees to lose motivation or even want to quit.
Employees might want a new challenge but it shouldn’t mean they have to move
company to achieve that.
Though current circumstances might make it less likely that employees jump ship, this
still highlights the benefits of what a formalized program can have on engagement.
Despite the worries about job security, employees have always been and still are
interested in training, career pathing and new opportunities. Under any circumstances,
having the chance to be a part of a company that promotes this will always be
welcomed and will ultimately breed engagement.
Changing Career Trajectory
As part of the new definition of internal mobility there has also been a move away from
the idea that a career is linear. An employee’s ambitions may be much more complex.
Embracing the idea of career lattices as opposed to ladders and encouraging
employees to develop sideways as much as upwards is fundamental to the notion of
successful IM strategy. It also substantially expands the internal talent pool.
Creating a Buzz
Once the ball is rolling and there are some success stories under your belt, make sure
you disseminate this information. Internal social sharing tools can be used to create a
buzz for successful internal mobility and can include gamification strategies. This level
of communication cannot be underestimated in allowing the workforce to not only know
you have a strategy in place, but that it is working.

Opportunity Matching
Uses the information to make sure that your employees are receiving relevant
opportunity recommendations that match their skill profile. This includes their
aspirational data and any other custom criteria that is relevant for your culture
Career Pathing
This gives employees visibility of their potential career options. They can not only see
recommended career paths that currently match their abilities, but can search for
desired positions in the company to understand what is required for that role and skill
gaps they would need to fill to get there. This empowers managers to act as coaches
with their direct reports, create individual development plans and guide them in their
journey to acquire new skills.
To ensure employees make the most of these features, an internal social sharing tool
such as Avature DNA, allows you to engage with the workforce providing a platform
for you to create a buzz around your mobility strategy. By sharing advice on how to
use the platform, guidance on the range of features available and success stories, you
can educate employees on the process, and inspire them to stay engaged in the
initiative.
Building an IM Strategy That Fits With Your Other Systems
Internal mobility is holistic and hybrid in nature and is often seen as the bridge between
talent acquisition and talent management. So, where the solution sits in your tech
stack should reflect this, forming part of a broader talent strategy. Ensuring your IM
program integrates with your other talent acquisition and management solutions is key.
From your ATS and CRM to your performance management platform, allowing IM to
work in harmony with them allows you to draw on valuable data and will only enhance
your strategy.
Having It All in One Place
Often all the data to create accurate matches is scattered between various different
platforms and stored in a multitude of formats. With many organizations having to
adapt to an almost entirely remote workforce during the pandemic, having the ability
to consolidate information from all stages of the employee journey and keep it all in
one place takes on a new importance.
Develop Your IM Strategy with Reporting and Analytics
Build on strong leadership and communication using comprehensive reporting and
analytics to constantly assess and hone your strategy. Having the right technology can
support data-driven decisions, increase matching accuracy across the business and
sharpen the assessment and eligibility criteria for all opportunities. Create custom
reports that measure retention rates, percentage of positions filled internally, voluntary
turnover among high potentials as well as other metrics to assess how your mobility
program is performing. Choose a solution that allows you to break down these metrics
by division, location and position type to personalize the information you want to be
included.
If you’re starting an internal mobility program from scratch, there are benefits to
adopting a crawl, walk, run approach to put your strategy into action and celebrate
success all while using these tools to sharpen the areas that need attention.
If you are honing an already successful strategy, reporting and analytics play an
integral role in being able to achieve that. Little by little, this allows you to steer the
ship in the right direction and get leadership and employees to buy into the strategy.
Conclusion
Given the current global situation, internal mobility can play an instrumental role in
allowing your organization to emerge with an engaged workforce. Luckily most
organizations are sitting on a wealth of existing talent so investing in the right
technology to sit at the heart of a formalized IM plan will help empower your workforce
and drive IM forward.
Although it was a “nice to have” before, doing more with less is now a necessity for
many companies. Whether it was the global pandemic, high turnover of employees or
a large bill for contingent workers that has put internal mobility on the table, the long-
term benefits cannot be ignored. One huge advantage is the ability to stay agile and
keep adapting and thriving if we are ever faced with a similar crisis in the future. Hiring
employees typically reduces cost per hire and time to fill. They are already a cultural
fit, want to grow as much as ever and you need their skills. An engaged workforce is
a strong workforce, one that will be much more willing to adapt with an organization if
they know they are being invested in.
Whether you are starting from square one, revamping your current strategy or just
honing an already successful program, the time has come to give internal mobility the
attention it deserves.
 Diversity and inclusion in Workforce
Dimensions of Workforce Diversity
The diversity has also been divided into three categories: principal, secondary, and
tertiary, as shown in the table. Divide them into two categories: primary and secondary.
Primary influences include gender, race, and other visible factors, while secondary
influences include factors that are less visible and have a variable impact, such as
language. The prominent characteristic of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and disability
are among the primary dimensions. Religion, lifestyle, family status, economic status,
community, ethnicity, sexual preference, thought style, political orientation, job
experience, language geographic origin, and education are among the secondary
dimensions. Beliefs, assumptions, and perceptions are among the tertiary dimensions.
These aspects of diversity have been divided into only two groups by some
researchers: primary and secondary. Race, ethnicity, gender, and age are examples
of primary dimensions that are inborn and cannot be regulated externally. Diversity
was also divided into four groups, with the first being racial/ethnic/sexual balance, the
second being cultural recognition, the third being culturally divergent beliefs, and the
fourth being broadly inclusive diversity (cultural, subcultural, and individual). Since
there is such a wide variety of significant and influencing aspects of diversity. The
author has also grouped the various aspects of workforce diversity into three groups.
Variety, Separation, and Disparity are the three groups. Separation is related to
differences in opinion among employees that arise due to different attitudes, values,
or beliefs, and the disparity is related to differences in assets that arise due to different
attitudes, values, or beliefs. Another classification of diversity separates the
dimensions into measurable and unobservable factors, such as gender and skill. Thus,
diversity is a combination of different or related features, and diverse organizations
have been linked to multicultural, multiethnic, and multiracial elements of the
workforce. The significance of these various dimensions varies across the world.
Different countries place different values on various aspects of diversity. A dimension
that is important to one individual may not be important to the other. In most countries,
race and nationality are highly valued. Gender is a widely recognized component of
diversity, and it is discussed as such in many countries. Many countries understand
the importance of age differences. Race is critical in racially diverse countries like
Korea and Japan, but it is irrelevant inhomogeneous countries like Korea and Japan.
Many countries have yet to recognize physical disability, and only a few consider social
status to be important. The least significant aspect is a sexual orientation, which has
received considerable attention.
 Dimension of diversity

Primary Dimensions Secondary Dimensions Tertiary Dimensions

 Race  Religion  Beliefs

 Ethnicity  Lifestyle  Assumptions

 Gender  Work  Group norms

 Age experience  Perceptions

 Disability  Economic  Attitudes

status  Values

 Culture  Feelings

 Sexual

orientation

 Family status

 Political

orientation

 Thinking style

 Geographic

origin

 Nationality

 Language

 Education
Benefits of Diversity:
In a multitude of ways, diversity benefits a company in a variety of ways. For starters,
hiring a diverse workforce improves the supply of employees and potential
applications, which can lead to more options, better quality, and lower costs. Second,
labor diversity promotes individual performance, resulting in increased productivity
and job satisfaction in the workplace, as well as lower attrition, recruiting, and training
expenses. Third, increased job satisfaction among a diverse workforce improves the
quality of employee-customer interactions. Fourth, a diversified workforce expands
resources and enables comprehensive access to new networks. Fifth, the concept of
diversity fosters group creativity and innovation, and sixth, better cultural
appropriateness between service staff and customers can improve customer
experience and satisfaction. Many strategies to dealing with diversity in the workplace,
particularly cultural diversity, have been recommended in the literature, such as
incorporating a diversity committee, multicultural workgroup, advocacy group,
language classes, intercultural training, and a diversity workshop. Training, staff
development, and formal recruit training can all help to instill the ability to deal with
diversity. The study also found that when firms apply human resource policies that
involve identity awareness (for example, actively targeting minority groups), the
participation of women and minorities in management improves. Some studies
investigated numerous ways to manage diversity, they discovered that establishing
diversity responsibility (e.g., a diversity officer, a diversity committee, or an affirmative
action plan) is the most effective way to boost minority managers. The author in one
study demonstrates the usefulness of diversity initiatives in increasing the participation
of women and minorities in the workplace, particularly at the executive level. It's worth
noting that businesses who deliberately pursue diversity management do so when
their business goals align with the demands of women and minorities, such as
increasing profitability and consumer base. Those organizations who have succeeded
in managing diversity think that diversity is the key to their success. According to
numerous studies, entrepreneurs that are devoted to increasing diversity in their staff
will attract a larger client base and boost their company's profitability.
 People Analytics
What is people analytics?
People analytics is about looking into these numbers. Instead of (or in addition to)
relying on gut feeling, people analytics helps organizations to rely on data – just like it
helped Google evaluate their hiring process. This data helps us make better decisions.
By analyzing the data, decisions can be made based on facts and numbers: people
analytics is a data-driven approach to managing people at work.
As the example shows, Google thought its managers hired world-class performers.
However, this was an assumption they had never tested before. That is quite ‘un-
Google-y’. Instead of relying on gut feeling, the head of Human Resources (HR)
decided to crunch the numbers to see how effective the interview process really was
– and how it could be improved. Even small improvements would make a big difference
because employees spent so much time interviewing new candidates. These
improvements are also part of what people analytics is. By adopting a fact-based
approach, organizations are able to validate their assumptions on how to best manage
people.
People analytics is about analyzing organizations’ people problems. Human Resource
professionals have long been amassing valuable HR data. Yet de-spite the value it
holds, the data has hardly ever been used. When organizations begin to use this data
to analyze their people problems and to evaluate their people policies by connecting
them to business outcomes, only then they start to engage in people analytics.
Since people analytics involves aggregating and analyzing data, it requires a skillset
that goes beyond those considered ‘traditional’ to HR. People analytics is a
combination of Human Resource Management (HRM), finance, and data analytics.
Figure. People analytics is the combination of HRM, data analytics, and finance
Skills needed for people analytics
People analytics is an overlap of HRM, finance, and data analytics. This means that
organizations need varied skillsets in order to implement people analytics. This
involves more ‘traditional’ knowledge such as recruitment, hiring, firing, and
compensation. Insight in these HR processes will help to make sense of the data that
is required to run the analysis but will also help to make sense of the outcomes of the
analysis.
Why is people analytics so important?
People analytics, also known as HR analytics or workforce analytics, refers to the
practice of using data and statistical analysis to gain insights and make informed
decisions about an organization's workforce. It involves collecting and analyzing data
related to employees, such as demographics, performance metrics, employee
engagement, turnover rates, and other relevant factors.
The primary goal of people analytics is to provide evidence-based insights that can
help organizations improve their human resource management, talent acquisition,
employee engagement, retention strategies, and overall organizational performance.
By leveraging data, organizations can identify patterns, trends, and correlations that
can lead to better decision-making and more effective strategies.

Employee Well-being
When talking about employee happiness, employers used to focus on health benefits.
Employee well-being encompasses more than just the absence of illness. The goal of
employee wellbeing is to improve the health of all employees. When discussing
healthy and well-functioning persons or employees, it is not only about physical well-
being, but also about other aspects of well-being that must be considered. In a
nutshell, employee wellbeing refers to how a person's job, expectations, and work
environment influence their overall health and happiness.
To put it another way, the term "employee wellbeing" has evolved beyond the
traditional perspective of providing medical care to employees. Employers are more
aware of the myriad factors that contribute to employee happiness and health, and
they are working to make their employees happier and healthier.
Employee wellbeing is described as your employees' total mental, physical, emotional,
and financial health. Various factors influence it, including their relationships with co-
workers, the decisions they make, and the tools and resources they have access to.
Employee happiness is influenced by hours worked, compensation, and workplace
safety.
Dimensions of Social Wellbeing
Social Wellness
In simple terms, it is about making connections with co-workers. Building and
maintaining healthy relationships should be done on a regular basis since it helps
employees feel more connected to the community.
Emotional Wellness
Organizations must assist their employees in coping with and dealing with workplace
issues. Long hours can have a negative impact on everyone. The emphasis should be
on frequent breaks to assist people. Recognizing mental health at work should be the
first step, as most companies do not do so.
Environment Wellness
Everyone is affected by their work environment. Employees flee for their lives in a
poisonous atmosphere, but an open and flexible culture enhances employee
satisfaction.
Physical Wellness
An employee's journey at the organisation can be derailed by unexpected health
issues. It is also linked to mental health. Sleep deprivation causes weariness, which
leads to a lack of creativity and productivity.
Significance of Employee Wellbeing in the Present Scenario
With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, many organisations have realised the influence
that employee happiness has on their performance and, as a result, on the bottom
line. Employees were distressed and concerned, and companies needed to figure out
how to meet the growing demand for empathy toward their workers. Employee well-
being, on the other hand, was a major concern even before COVID-19.
Reduced absenteeism and healthcare costs
Companies began to recognise that preventing issues related to poor employee
wellbeing, such as burnout, stress, and illness, was more profitable than reacting to
all of these issues after they occurred. The employees' sedentary lifestyle, in particular,
increases risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments. That is to say,
employee happiness is linked to absence and its cost to employers.
Increased employee engagement
Employees feel more connected, their health improves, and their happiness rises as
a result of implementing an employee wellbeing programme. All of these elements
contribute to a better degree of employee engagement. Employee engagement, on
the other hand, is influenced by employee recognition and appropriate feedback
processes. When seeking to improve employee engagement in the firm, make use of
a holistic approach.
Improved employee productivity
On the one hand, studies suggest that smokers are twice as likely to miss work, while
obese workers lose three to six sick days per year more than those of normal weight.
Employees who handle stress effectively, on the other hand, are less susceptible to
burnout. Employees are more focused on their work and their productivity rises when
their well-being is improved.
Improved employee morale
It is clear that how critical it is to maintain employee morale throughout the COVID-19
crisis. Employee morale can be considerably improved by implementing employee
wellbeing programmes such as mental health workshops or a fitness competition
across departments or teams.
Attractive employer branding
The competition for the greatest talent on the market is strong, and high-quality
candidates have a lot of options when it comes to choosing their next employment. If
the company want to recruit the greatest individuals who will ensure company's
success, the company must provide employee wellbeing benefits that are in line with
the future workforce.
Measures to Improve Employee Wellbeing
There are numerous techniques that a firm can adopt to promote the well-being of its
personnel. What matters most is that organisations are aware of all of the benefits of
employee wellbeing in the first place, and build employee wellbeing programmes to
target specific concerns in the organisation.
Health Screening
Giving the staff a health exam once a year is a wonderful method to address any health
issues they may have. It also improves the odds of preventing infections by allowing
them to be detected early on. Furthermore, scheduling multiple check-ups in a short
period of time will likely increase the likelihood of the employees visiting a doctor's
office and taking care of their health.
Health Insurance
Organisations should provide health insurance to the employees as a benefit. What
matters most is that employers offer employees a number of insurance options from
which they can choose the one that best meets their needs.
Gym Membership
A gym membership is an excellent employee benefit that will not only make more
appealing company, but will also help the employees keep in shape. Going to the gym
can also assist the staff relieve stress and is a fantastic way to keep them healthy.
Provide Healthy Meals
The bad health of many employees can be traced back to their eating habits. Many
employees choose fast food for lunch because preparing meals takes a long time.
Employers can assist the staff stay healthy and focused at work by providing healthier
meals in cafeteria or negotiating discounts for restaurants that serve healthy food.
Mental Wellbeing Apps
There are a variety of mindfulness and meditation apps that organisations can explore
and promote to their employees if they are effective. Helps staff learn about these
apps and how meditation and mindfulness may help them cope with stress in their
daily lives.
Psychological Counselling Services
Employers can send a message to employees that their mental health is a priority for
them as well by giving psychological care. Your employees will have access to mental
health professionals who can help them deal with their problems, and the stigma
associated with requesting psychological help will be reduced.
Flexible Work Options
When employer offer flexible working hours or remote work choices, it will help the
employees achieve a better work-life balance. Furthermore, given the growing
popularity of remote work, this is one of the simplest and most sought employee
wellness benefits a company might provide.
Financial Benefits
Many employees nowadays are looking for life insurance, pension plans, or ways to
pay off school loans. Assisting employees in making sound financial decisions for their
future might also make the employer more appealing.
Conclusion
Employee well-being is more vital than ever because organisations have finally
grasped the power it has to alter their employees' lives, cut absenteeism and
healthcare costs, and foster a healthy corporate culture. Employee well-being benefits
will become more diverse in the future. Employee disengagement, absenteeism, and
healthcare expenditures are far too large to be overlooked. As a result, businesses will
progressively see the value of employee well-being and begin to provide for their
emotional, physical, and financial well-being.
 Multi-generational workforces
The world’s population is growing older faster than at any time in human history.
Despite the pandemic, globally people ages 60 and older continue to outnumber
children ages 5 and younger, and the 60-plus population is growing at a rate four times
faster than the overall global population.1 Workers are living and working longer, with
four to five generations working side by side. Many aspects of the future of work remain
unclear, but the multigenerational workforce is a reality that’s here to stay.
The survey confirms that older workers are remaining in the workforce in larger
proportions, defying stereotypes, contributing to business growth—including higher
profit margins—and still fighting ageism and discrimination.
Helping global employers adapt their workplace practices to capitalize on the impact
of an aging population is imperative if we are to respond to employers’ needs and
unlock this future workforce potential. Doing so will help us build stronger communities
and enable people of all ages to live happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives.
AARP recently surveyed employers in 36 OECD countries, collecting data in two
waves, one in the fall of 2019 and again in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The
results illuminate how global employers are uniquely positioned to lead the changes
needed to support multigenerational, inclusive workforce ecosystems. Although
government can and should support the development of multigenerational, inclusive
workforce ecosystems, employers are experiencing the demographic shifts in real-
time and are already moving quickly to adapt.
Among the key findings, the survey confirms that older workers are remaining in the
workforce in larger proportions, defying stereotypes, contributing to business growth—
including higher profit margins—and still fighting ageism and discrimination. This
research is one component of the Living, Learning, and Earning Longer (LLEL)
initiative and the data supports the core tenets of the LLEL collaboration.
Employers around the world prosper when they focus on providing work environments
that cultivate a multigenerational workforce that maximizes diversity, equity, and
inclusion. Still, many employers are struggling to establish effective policies that
support workers living, learning, and earning into older age.
Global executives know a multigenerational workforce is key to business
growth and success.
The Living, Learning, and Earning Longer collaborative initiative of AARP, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World
Economic Forum (WEF) establishes that age diversity is a competitive advantage for
employers, a finding emerging from research showing that 83 percent of global
executives agree that multigenerational workforces are key to business growth and
success. Multigenerational teams perform better and provide a stronger pipeline of
talent. They provide continuity, stability, and retention of intellectual capital. Age-
diverse workforces also offer more insights into older consumers and the 50-plus
marketplace – a marketplace that generates $8.3 trillion in economic activity annually
in the United States alone.
The best way to service an age-diverse market is with an age-diverse workforce.
Consumers ages 50-plus are fueling a multi-trillion-dollar longevity economy, yet
discrimination exists in both the market and the workforce. Age discrimination against
those ages 50-plus cost the United States economy $850 billion in 2018.3 The OECD
calculates that giving workers, especially older workers, the best opportunities to work
(i.e., by eliminating such factors as age discrimination) would raise gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita across the OECD by 19 percent over the next 30 years,4
showing the value of full labor force participation on both workers and the economy.
Not only do multigenerational workforces make sense from a business perspective,
they also make sense from a human resources standpoint. Seven out of 10 workers
in the United States enjoy working with people from other generations. Older workers
appreciate the creativity of younger workers and younger workers appreciate the value
of older workers’ experience and wisdom.
Greater diversity supports higher innovation revenue and profit margins.
Companies with above-average diversity in age, gender, nationality, career path,
industry background, and education on their management teams report innovation
revenue that is 19 percentage higher and profit margins that are 9 percentage higher
than companies with below-average diversity.
Bridging the gap in creating multigenerational workforces
While global employers recognize the value in a multigenerational workforce, most are
not yet prepared to provide managers the critical information or training that fosters a
positive environment in which a multigenerational workforce can thrive. Nearly four in
five (78 percent) organizations reported that they currently have a multigenerational
workforce. Yet simply having such a workforce is not enough to maximize the benefit
for either employer or employee. Just 42 percent of these global employers provided
managers with training or support related to how to manage a multigenerational
workforce, with only 39 percent zeroing in on how to avoid age discrimination in
recruitment or hiring, and 38 percent focusing on how to avoid age discrimination in
access to training opportunities. Only an intentional approach to creating an inclusive
corporate culture, establishing policies and practices that resonate regardless of age
and life stage, and cultivating people within the organization to see age diversity as an
asset and competitive advantage will align systems to harness the potential for
purpose of the bottom-line. There are millions of workers across the globe working in
a multigenerational environment managed by someone without the training to
maximize these teams.
Employers want information and resources to guide them in building and sustaining a
multigenerational workforce. Topics they find useful include those that recognize not
only work lives but also home lives—such as lifelong learning, caregiving, financial
planning, and flexible work options.
 All-in-One HR tools
INTRODUCTION
We are witnessing an unprecedented proliferation of talent platforms, solutions, and
services (now complete with artificial intelligence and super-smart algorithms) which
means buying options in 2019 are more plentiful and powerful than ever. But that’s
exactly what makes life difficult when it comes to decision making.
Through our daily conversations with candidates and clients in the tech industry we
have identified a selection of HR tools that stand out in today’s crowded marketplace.
These tried and tested platforms can be relied upon to help drive functional and
organisational transformation.
HAVING THE RIGHT TOOLS MATTERS
When it comes to investing in the right HR tech it should always be about attracting,
hiring and managing employees (both permanent and contract) and giving time back
to your HR and recruiters. That saved time can be reinvested into building stronger
relationships with candidates and employees.
Whether it is saving time by streamlining processes, boosting profits through better
analysis of organisational data, or improving employee access to needed content
across different platforms, HR tech is a key enabler.
VIDEO INTERVIEWING TOOL
Integrating video interview technology can enhance your candidate search and
streamline the screening process, making top talent easier to spot. Through video
interviewing, employers and candidates alike can interact on a more meaningful level,
all while keeping costs down and freeing up valuable time for your HR department.
Example: Spark Hire
TIME TRACKING TOOL
Better time tracking means better task management. There are so many little tasks
involved in any business, and often, most of us don’t even realise just how many tasks
are being managed at once. Time tracking software ensures that nothing is ever
missed, and that everything gets done when it should.
Example: TimeDoctor
ONBOARDING TOOL
Employee onboarding tools organise, streamline, and automate the induction process
of an organisation. They take all of the tasks associated with onboarding, or arrange
them logically, so that the entire experience appears seamless. Each employee should
get the same consistent experience. This minimizes turnover and saves time and effort
without compromising on the quality of onboarding.
Example: Talmundo
SKILLS TESTING TOOL
Most companies use at least some form of pre-employment testing. However, some
tests are much more effective than others. Skills assessments do not focus on
knowledge or abstract personality traits. They measure actual skills, either soft skills
(e.g. attention to detail) or hard skills (e.g. computer literacy). Examples include data
checking tests, competency with software packages, or writing assignments.
Example: eSkill
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT TOOL
Internal employee communication tools provide a platform for employees to give
feedback, connect with one another, and share knowledge. Human resources
professionals have been using internal communication tools for decades, as they help
HR better understand their employees. But these tools have recently taken off,
harnessing the power of new technology to help organisations increase productivity,
engagement and recruitment.
Example: Smarp
VIDEO EMAIL TOOL
No other medium can communicate as quickly and effectively as video. Therefore,
using video in company emails makes a lot of sense if you want to try to stand out and
make a real impact on customers and employees alike. However, without the right
tool, sending video in email can be quite a tricky business that requires a lot of
technical know-how.
Example: covideo
RECOGNITION & REWARDS TOOL
Employee recognition apps and employee reward software are tools that improve
employee performance. They democratise employee feedback by letting staff give
praise to co-workers. Employers can then recognise those contributions in ways that
motivate their teams. This subsequently helps to enrich company culture and improves
employee engagement.
Example: Bonusly
EMPLOYEE REFERRAL TOOL
Referrals are the best way to hire. Referred candidates take less time to hire (29 days
as opposed to 39 for candidates hired through job posts). They tend get up to speed
more quickly than outside hires do, and they are 13 percent more likely to stick around
for the long term. That is why most companies run their own employee referral
programs - which can be optimised with the help of the right software.
Example: boon
RECRUITMENT MARKETING TOOL
Recruitment Marketing has become an inevitable part of recruiting and hiring
processes in today’s world of competition and high demand for talent. Having a well-
structured recruitment marketing strategy transforms the overall hiring process, and
makes it much more productive and efficient.
Example: TalentLyft