Minimize the Cost of Employee Turnover. Hire a Virtual Assistant.

Minimize the Cost of Employee Turnover. Hire a Virtual Assistant. Minimize the Cost of Employee Turnover. Hire a Virtual Assistant. There are many benefits to hiring an in-house employee, but cost isnttypically one of them. For small and midsize businesses, the costs associated with a full-time employee can be a deterrent to hiring, even when the current staffis stretched thin and business is growing.Unfortunately, its evenmora damaging to a businesss bottom line to lose an employee.The Cost of Employee Turnover Experts Weigh InChristina Merhar of Zane Benefitscites aSHMRstudy that found replacing a salaried employee costs 6-9 months worth of that employees salary on average. She also notlagees aCAP studythat found the average costs of replacing employees are16 percent of annual salary for high-turnover, low-paying jobs (earning under $30,000 a year). For example, the cost to replace a $10/hour retail employee would be $3,328.20 percent of annual salary for mid-range positions (ear ning $30,000-50,000 a year). For example, the cost to replace a $40,000 manager would be $8,000.Up to 213 percent of annual salary for highly educated executive positions. For example, the cost to replace a $100,000 CEO is $213,000.Karlyn Borysenko of Zen Workplace states,When you consider all of the costs associated with employee turnover including interviewing, hiring, training, reduced productivity, lost opportunity costs, etc. heres what it really costs an organizationFor entry-level employees, it costs between 30-50 percent of their annual salary to replace them.For mid-level employees, it costs upwards of 150 percent of their annual salary to replace them.For high-level or highly specialized employees, youre looking at 400 percent of their annual salary.Obviously, it pays to hire well and retain better.Sales Support In House vs. VirtualConsider the costs associated with hiring in-house sales support. If this hire is a mid-level employee, the totalcost will be about150 percen t of their salary. Costs for advertising, screening, interviewing, lost productivity (if the new hire is replacing someone), benefits, taxes, IT infrastructure and support, facility costs, work computers, and mora are all included in the price you must pay an in-house employee.Compare that to the cost of hiring a virtual assistant. When you hire a virtual assistant, all of their costs are rolled into one price, which is generally 50-75 percent of the in-house cost. Its perfectly feasible to hire a virtual assistant who can work remotely to build your sales pipeline for a competitive price. However, most virtual assistants who function in a sales capacity typically do so as remote sales assistants or sales development representatives who can prospect, update your CRM, manage your email inbox, schedule meetings and follow-ups, make and answer calls, and do more in direct support of an account executive (AE).Some companies hire internal sales development reps (SDRs), but this practice is inherently flawed for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is inefficiency due to competition between the SDR and the AE. The way this practice currently works is also inefficient because outside sales executives spend just 22 percent of their time actively selling due to their ongoing administrative needs. Offloading sales administrative work to a virtual assistant allows an account executive to focus on closing deals, which has a dramatic impact on a companys ROI.Aint Nobody Got Time for That Oversight vs. the Hands-Off ApproachAnotherin-house employee cost that often goes overlooked is management. When you hire an in-house employee, an in-house team or individual must be responsible for developing and guiding the processes for that employee, which can add an additional 20 percentto your annual in-house cost. These costs can be offset by hiring a virtual assistant through a managed service provider, which can take the following tasks off an employers plateRecruiting Man aged service providers identify, assess, screen, and hire candidates for the role.Training They ensure that their virtual assistants are experienced with the tools and processes needed to support your business.Personal Development They provide feedback, development coaching, and mentorship.Turnover They maintain trained backups and manage transitions.Bottom Line Strategic Benefits of Virtual HiresUsing a managed service provider to make a virtual hire gives you a number of strategic benefits, with process improvements providing a significant ROI even on their ownScalability You can scale more quickly and better match costs to business needs.Best Practices Managed service providersleverage insights from similar clients on processes and technology solutions.Process Documentation Managed service providersfocus on process to delegate the work. This ensures that you are documenting and improving processes that are otherwise generally deprioritized.Focus When you focus on core competencie s instead of hiring support, your company remains nimble and can execute more efficiently.The widespread use of virtual assistants has redefined the ecosystem of work and the boundaries of business. Technology is the happy culprit. Advances in tech have allowed members of the workforce to access each other remotely and collaborate using cutting-edge tools likevideo conferencing, group communication, and cloud-based storage.The best virtual assistants have clearly defined roles and know what is expected of them. Some argue that there are inherent company culture riskswhen hiring a virtual assistant, but this really depends on your business needs. When you hire virtual assistants from managed service providers, they are already employees embedded in a company culture. There should be no issue with them feeling like they arent a part of a team, because they are already.Deena Anreise is the marketing manager at Prialto, a Portland-based business that provides managed, dedicated virtual assistants to executives, entrepreneurs, and companies of all sizes.

What You Should Know About Unlimited Vacation Policy

What You Should Know About Unlimited Vacation PolicyWhat You Should Know About Unlimited Vacation PolicyIt has long been understood that employees do their best work when they are well rested and healthy. Therefore, having the option to take a few days off for vacation is an excellent benefit to extend to all employees. While its not a mandatory benefit, (unlike sick time) vacation time is the standard for most companies. However, a Center for Economic Policy and Research study revealed that American employees who are eligible only receive an average of 13 days of vacation time, and 8 paid holidays per year, as compared to 20 vacation days and 13 paid holidays a year that European workers get. Other studies have shown that around 65 percent of Americans dont use up all their paid time off. Are we a nation of workaholics? What if employers stopped putting a cap on employee vacation time? Interestingly enough, there are dozens of companies already doing this to make the workdistributi onspolitik better. Why Offer Unlimited Vacation to Employees? To attract high-performance candidates to work for them, more companies are starting to offer unlimited vacation as a way to bring more work-life balance into the mix. They also understand that its appealing to candidates who work and play hard. These companies are across all industries from accounting to warehouses, and they do this to enkoranvers that their employees have enough time to relax and recuperate from work stress and deal with lifes other responsibilities. In return, employees give their all when they are at work, and this produces a much happier and engaged workforce, capable of outstanding innovation and teamwork. How Do Policies Actually Operate? As an employer, you may be wondering how unlimited vacation policies actually work? There may be some concerns about offering this kind of benefit, including How can I know employees wont abuse the unlimited time off?What method will my organization use to track the vacation days used?Is the unlimited vacation policy effective on the first day of work, or offered after a year of service?Can unlimited vacation time ever be denied to an employee, for example, because of poor performance at work?How will managers deal with unlimited time off requests and potential staff shortages?What if an employee decides to not return to work, how is that managed?How are other employee benefits (health care, retirement savings, etc.) handled during extended vacation time off? If an employee is terminated, how much of this unlimited vacation time is the company required to pay the employee? These are all valid concerns that each company needs to address before implementing an unlimited vacation policy. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, there are some specific steps that any organization can take to ensure a smooth transition from a traditional vacation policy to an unlimited vacation policy. Give Ample Notice You will want to gather information and be prepared in advance of an unlimited vacation policy roll out. Give plenty of notice to employees that a new benefit type is coming and how it will become part of the overall culture of the company. Educate managers on the policy and how it will be managed. The last thing that your menschenwrdig resource department or management need is a stampede of employee panic on the day it goes into effect. Put It in Writing in the Employee Handbook If your company doesnt currently provide unlimited vacation time for employees, this can be very confusing to employees at first. Create a written policy that outlines the unlimited vacation benefit structure, including eligibility, how to request time off, and any rules around the use of this benefit. Make sure to state that such vacation requests are subject to the approval of management and availability of personnel, and no abuse of the policy will be tolerated. Also state that all employees must use up accrued time first and that once they leave the company, they do not get paid for any unlimited vacation days under the new plan. Clarify Vacation Day Use It is important to clarify the purpose of unlimited vacation days. The policy is not designed to allow employees to take weeks or months off work without proper notice and approval. It is also not designed to pad out holiday weekends or for extending sick, medical, FLSA, military training, or maternity leaves. Employees may not substitute unlimited vacation days for paid time off, as it is up to employers to decide how much of the vacation time is to be paid per employee length of service each year. Create a Self-Managed System for Documentation Every company that decides to use an unlimited vacation policy needs to have a reliable system for tracking requests, approvals, and absences. Make the system employee self-serve and managers assigned to approve requests. Run regular reports to ensure employees are taking advantage of this ben efit, but not abusing it. Be sure to delineate between vacation, sick, medical, and other forms of leave to comply with ERISA guidelines. Offer Alternatives to Vacation Time All employees should have other flexible options for finding work-life balance such as the ability to work from home or another remote location, so long as they are being productive. Performance can often be tied to how often employees take time off to pursue other dreams because they return to work happier and more optimistic about their jobs. Provide all employees with choices in how theyd like to work, including their shift check-in and punch out times. The Benefits of Unlimited Vacation Policies for Employers While much of the focus of unlimited vacation has been on employees, there are some unique benefits for employers too. Each year there are billions of dollars in liability for American companies due to unused vacation time. When a company doesnt have to track unused vacation time, this can save on the cost per employee. On top of this, if human resources and the payroll departments arent required to track accrued vacation time, this is one less administrative task they have on their plates. They also dont need to worry about paying out unused vacation time when an employee leaves the company. It provides more time to focus on other aspects of running a successful business, increasing employee engagement, and making the corporate culture better for all. Unlimited vacation supports greater wellness in employees and their dependents, which can indirectly reduce the cost of other benefits such as health insurance, disability insurance, and employee assistance programs. Employees can easily take time off they need for personal needs, such as heading to the doctor or dentist for routine care. They will be less likely to call out sick because they can take breaks when needed, and this helps increase productivity levels for the entire company. Vacation time can also be used to pur sue professional development and furthering educational levels. They can take time off to study for exams and complete class projects. If they have to travel for educational purposes, they can do so freely. It is especially appealing to career changers and the youngest generation of employees who place a great deal of value on learning and flexible schedules over working time. Whether your company chooses to introduce an unlimited vacation policy or not is dependent on your business objectives. But take heed, more companies are offering this employee benefit now, which could lure your employees away to competitors.

Kato.im Launches Corporate Chat Solution Integrated with Active Directory, Google Apps

Kato.im Launches Corporate Chat Solution Integrated with Active Directory, Google Apps Kato.im Launches Corporate Chat Solution Integrated with Active Directory, Google Apps Kato Enterprise provides live 1-to-1 and group messaging, file sharing and search. Kato Enterprise was designed with a user interface that supports simultaneous conversations without any of the restrictions associated with other chat providers, such as limitations on team members, message history stored, multi-team functionality, and third-party integrations.Kato Enterprise takes what has been successful with Kato Teams easy-to-manage user interface, side-by-side conversations, and eliminating multi-browser navigation and expands the platform to large enterprise with its third-party integrations and single sign-on solution, said Andrei Soroker, Founder and CEO of Kato. Where Kato Teams is so effective in allowing cross-company chat communication, Kato Enterprise allows companies to efficiently streamline comm unication across departments and offices in the same building or across the globe without disrupting its current operations. Its the first real chat solution for large-scale enterprises that also works for small and mid-sized companies.Additionally, Kato Enterprise provides generic support for Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) and System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM), which can be used with other single sign-on and provisioning providers and in-house integrations. Kato Enterprise also introduces the ability for companies to specify a company-specific Amazon S3 storage bucket, providing tighter access control to files shared in Kato.