2020 - Flare HR

How to manage five different generations in the workplace

Posted on December 17, 2020August 11, 2023 by Chris James

Companies are currently at a unique crossroads: for the first time ever, we’re seeing five generations represented in the workforce. While this certainly presents new challenges in the workplace, we also view this as an exciting opportunity to create a cohesive and collaborative multi-generational culture. We’ll explain how in this blog post.

An overview of the five generations in the workplace

Before we dive into our best practices, let’s get familiar with the generations that are currently represented in the workforce. We share a few key points to know about each group below. Keep in mind that these are general observations to help us understand every generation’s big-picture goals, motivations, and needs – and not necessarily an accurate representation of every individual within the demographic.

Generation Z

Employees in this generation, also more casually referred to as Gen-Z, were born between 1995 and 2012 and make up around 5% of the global workforce. Below are a few additional characteristics of this group:

Are digital natives, but they still tend to prefer face-to-face communication
Care deeply about doing meaningful work
Are invested in social issues, such as sustainability, diversity, and climate change
Has an entrepreneurial spirit and prefers independent work

Millennials

Millennials, also referred to as Generation Y, are comprised of people born between 1980 and 1994. This group currently makes up around 35% of the workforce. Here are a few other things to know about Millennials in the workplace:

Are very comfortable with technology and prefer to use it at work
Prefer collaboration and team-oriented companies
Place a lot of importance on recognition, mentorship, and feedback
Want to be challenged to grow and aren’t afraid to question authority

Generation X

People from this generation were born between 1965 and 1979 and are also more casually referred to as Gen-X. They currently make up around 33% of the workforce. Below are additional things to know about this generation of workers:

Prioritise work-life balance
Value resourcefulness and problem-solving
Weren’t raised with technology but are still adept at using it
Thrive in leadership positions and hold over 50% of them

Baby Boomers

This generation is defined by people who were born between 1946 and 1964 and represents around 25% of the workforce. Here are a few other things you should know about Baby Boomers in the workplace:

Motivated by prestige, promotions, and professional accomplishments
Value independence and self-reliance
Enjoy competition and thrive in challenging work environments
Tend to be goal-driven and disciplined

Silent generation

Employees in the Silent Generation, who are also commonly referred to as Traditionalists, were born between 1928 and 1945. They make up around 2% of the workplace. Below are a few additional characteristics of this group:

Loyal to their employees and respect authority
Value stability, security, and consistency
Hardworking and strong-willed

3 best practices for cross-generational collaboration

1. View differences as strengths, not setbacks

While it’s important to recognize differences between both individuals and groups, these dissimilarities don’t have to be viewed as a setback. Just as HR teams embrace racial and gender diversity, age diversity is something to be welcomed as well. Unfortunately, age isn’t considered among 92% of companies that actually do have diversity hiring strategies in place.

This ultimately impacts your business outcomes. A study found that being a part of a mixed-aged workplace group increased motivation for both older and younger colleagues and increased their intent to stay with the organization. Research also clearly demonstrates that age diversity can improve organizational performance. So whether you’re hosting a company-wide brainstorm or recruiting for new hires, don’t be afraid to cast your net wide.

2. Avoid making general assumptions

It’s easy for people to wave their hands and dismiss Millennials as being “entitled” or criticise the Silent Generation for being “old fashioned.” But these are harmful assumptions that can get in the way of employees forming meaningful relationships with each other. There’s an opportunity for HR teams to step in and steer people away from making these general assumptions.

For example, consider hosting training sessions on the harmful effects of ageism and other similar biases. Or host a group where employees can come together and have an open conversation about the challenges of working in a multi-generational workplace. This is a great way to normalise the topic of ageism instead of tiptoeing around the topic.

3. Encourage cross-generational engagement

It’s easy for employees of similar ages to split up into their own social groups. But you don’t want people getting left out of conversations or bonding time because of this natural tendency to gravitate toward people who look like us. As the HR team, you can encourage employees to connect with others who aren’t necessarily their peers in age.

Consider setting up randomised Donut dates to pair people together. Or host team-oriented activities – like a virtual scavenger hunt or group talent show – and assign people to groups that they likely wouldn’t choose for themselves. While it may take some time, these opportunities will eventually lead to meaningful cross-generational relationships being formed at your organisation.

Managing five generations in the workplace can seem daunting at first. But there are actually tons of benefits to having such a diverse range of ages, perspectives, and experiences represented at your company. Use our best practices to create a culture that embraces multi-generational differences.

To learn how Flare HR’s free onboarding software and employee benefits can strengthen your company culture, request a demo.

5 practices to build a strong workplace culture from the Best Places to Work winners

Posted on December 8, 2020August 11, 2023 by Chris James

Every year, a research institute called Great Place to Work Australia compiles a list of organisations that are considered to have the most desirable company cultures. This ranking is based on surveys of nearly 40,000 Australian employees, as well as an evaluation of the employers’ policies and procedures.

According to the research institute, a great place to work can be defined as one “where you trust the people you work with, have pride in what you do, and enjoy the people you work with.” But what exactly does this mean? We took a closer look at what these top-notch companies are doing to keep their employees happy and identified four best practices that you can put into action with your own workforce.

5 Best practices to build a strong workplace culture

Drawing inspiration from the 2020 Best Places To Work list, we’ve pulled out some of the best practices that these companies use to strengthen their workplace culture.

1. Take a purpose-driven approach to business

Purpose-driven organisations have clearly identified their reasons for existing – beyond just their profits, products, and services. And this purpose is infused into every aspect of their business, from the employee experience to the business strategy. These are the types of companies that people increasingly want to work for – especially Millennials, with 84% of this demographic believing that making a difference is more important than professional recognition.

This is a lesson that Interactive embodies well, and is the first step on Interactive’s five pillar wellbeing strategy, which is likely why it’s ranked first in this year’s Best Places To Work list. Director of People and Culture at Interactive, Merylee Crockett shares the other pillars on her list:

Start with purpose – A commitment to keeping your why at the core of every decision you make.
Safety – A commitment to keeping each other safe and investing in the physical and psychological wellbeing of our people.
Connection – A commitment to a connected and collaborative workplace.
Health – A commitment to nurturing your physical, mental and financial health.
Resilience – A commitment to learn from any adversity thrown your way.

At Interactive, building a resilient culture requires an integrated approach across all five pillars to succeed. Leaning on these pillars has allowed the workforce to stay resilient together by coping with adversity, continuing to build and adapt, and learning from their experiences.

2. Make your leaders accessible to employees

Employees want to hear from their leadership team regularly – especially during times like today when circumstances are constantly changing. In fact, this type of engagement is so important that 91% of employees say communication issues can drag executives down.

That’s likely why IT service provider Insentra, which has featured on the Best Places To Work list for five years running, is focused on opening up communication channels between its executive team and the rest of the organisation – especially after going fully remote during COVID-19. Insentra’s co-founder and CEO, Ronnie Altit, explains that he’s been making a more conscious effort to engage in conversations with employees across all levels – even if that’s just sending them a quick message to say hello.

He’s also trying to make himself as accessible by hosting weekly team calls that provide employees with an opportunity to ask questions, engage in conversations, or simply provide an update on how things are going across the rest of the organisation.

3. Care personally

One of the most common themes we identified on Australia’s 2020 Best Places To Work list is the importance of caring personally. In response to the global pandemic, employers have stepped up to provide their teams with the resources and support they need to stay healthy, productive, and optimistic during these challenging times.

For example, Terlya Hunt the People Experience Manager at SafetyCulture went above and beyond to keep their employee as happy and healthy as possible during the pandemic. The company launched a new EAP to help employees build mental fitness, provided education on how to hold space for vulnerable conversations, and set weekly themes for Mental Health Month in October to cover all aspects of wellness – such as finances and nutrition.

4. Listen to what your employees have to say

Companies with strong cultures always listen to what their employees have to say. Many times, HR teams and company leaders make assumptions about what their workforce wants – and it’s not always aligned with reality. To prevent this from happening, use tools like pulse checks and surveys to collect feedback from your employees.

These types of listening strategies are a huge part of what sets the best companies apart from the rest. SAP Australia, which is on the 2020 list for Best Places To Work, released a remote ‘pulse check’ this year so that their employees could regularly share how they’re feeling and what management could do to support them. Similarly, Insentra has been continuously surveying its workforce to identify any communication gaps.

5. Build a culture of resilience

Lucy Horne, a researcher from New Zealand, defines resilience as a trait that allows people to adapt to and learn from adversity. During the pandemic, HR analysts like Josh Bersin have been stressing the importance of building resilient organisations, cultures, and people. Not only does this allow companies to survive tough times, but it’s also integral to the wellbeing of employees.

Lucy Lithgow the General Manager of People and Culture at BPAY set up a various initiatives across her organisation to give her staff more autonomy and trust because this is something she believes is key in driving a resilient culture. During this time, BPAY went from a good employee engagement rate to a 92% engagement rate this year. Some of the initiatives Lucy implemented includes: removing the requirement for employees produce a medical certificate if need the day off, removing the company dress code and finally allowing all employees to be given access to the recognition budget so that they can now recognise and reward a colleague or a peer for going above and beyond. These things have really helped BPAY foster a resilient culture.

There’s so much we can learn from these inspiring companies and their HR teams – especially today, when workplace culture is more critical than ever before. Take these learnings from the organisations featured on the Best Places To Work list and put them into practice today. To learn how Flare HR’s free onboarding software and employee benefits can strengthen your company culture, request a demo.

5 ways to tell if someone is the right fit for the job

Posted on November 23, 2020August 11, 2023 by Chris James

Hiring new talent is a critical step in growing a business. But, as all HR leaders are aware, it’s not easy to do. Research shows that it takes an average of 68 days and $5,000 to fill a vacant position in Australia. Given the amount of investment required for every candidate, you want to make sure that you’re hiring the right person.

While there’s no way to guarantee you’ll pick the perfect candidate every time, there are steps you can take to ensure your chances are much higher. In this article, we’ll explore five ways to determine whether or not someone is the right fit for the job.

5 ways to determine if a candidate is the right fit for the job

At Flare, we have a thorough recruitment process to ensure the candidates we hire are the right fit for the role, the team, and the company. We share some of our most successful strategies below.

1. Start with the right job description

Even before you speak to a candidate, there’s a way to filter for individuals who are the right fit for your company. Your job description presents one of the best opportunities to share exactly what you’re looking for in a candidate, and what they can expect if they decide to join your team. Specifically, your job description should include:

Your company values, mission, and an overview of the culture
Your diversity statement
Your employee benefits offering
A list of preferred skills for the role (both negotiable and non-negotiable)
An overview of the responsibilities of the position

It’s important to write a job description that’s personalised specifically to what you’re looking for instead of copying and pasting a template. While it’s a bit more work, it’ll save your hiring managers a ton of time and energy down the road.

2. Understand their motivations

When engaging with a candidate, take the time to understand their motivations. In other words, why are they interested in this role? What drives them to be successful at their job? These types of questions can help you understand what that person needs to be successful at your company and whether that aligns with what you’re realistically able to provide.

For example, let’s say a candidate has historically worked at large corporations with competitive cultures. They prefer to work alone and are motivated by the idea of climbing the career ladder as quickly as possible. Your company, on the other hand, is built on a culture of collaboration and wellbeing and doesn’t offer as many opportunities for quick promotions. This may indicate that the candidate isn’t the best fit for your organisation.

3. Learn about their experience and way of thinking

Of course, you also want to make sure candidates are going to produce high-quality work in their roles. This is especially true for more technical positions, such as engineers or IT specialists. One way you can get a better sense of their scope of knowledge is to administer a technical challenge – like a coding test.

This type of assessment helps remove bias from the hiring decision and allows the team to observe how candidates approach the challenge. Do they perform well under pressure? Do they approach problems creatively? Do they ask for clarification when they don’t understand something? This test can also give candidates a solid understanding of the types of challenges they can expect to face in the role.

4. Look for cultural alignment

Even though a candidate might look perfect on paper, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be a good match in person. That’s why it’s important to assess their personality, values, and general attitude to see if it aligns with your company culture. Otherwise, you risk hiring someone who will butt heads with the other employees.

One important note: without the proper bias training, hiring managers may not be able to distinguish between actual cultural fit and their own personal preferences. To ensure this doesn’t happen, make sure to educate your team about the various biases that can emerge during interviews and how to mitigate them during the process.

5. Explore mutual fit

Don’t forget that interviewing is a two-way street. The last thing you want is to hire an awesome candidate who isn’t that excited about the work you’re doing. So use the interviewing process as a time to explore mutual fit. There are a few ways to accomplish this.

First, encourage candidates to ask as many questions as they want – and be honest when you answer them. Also, ask them if there’s anyone at the company that they want to speak to but haven’t had an opportunity to during the hiring process. For instance, maybe someone interviewing for a Product Marketing Manager role wants to chat with your Head of Engineering because their job will require them to work closely with that individual. Give candidates the chance to interact with as many people as possible so they can feel confident when accepting an offer from your company.

Want to make sure your new hires are set up for success? Flare offers a free onboarding software that can help you onboard new employees and give them the best onboarding experience and first days at your organisation. To learn more, please request a demo.

Workplace software Flare partners with SWEAT, the app founded by Kayla Itsines

Posted on November 17, 2020August 11, 2023 by Andrew Choueri

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday Nov 17, 2020

Sydney, NSW: Flare today announced a new partnership with SWEAT, the fitness app founded by world-renowned Australian fitness trainer Kayla Itsines. This partnership will enable Flare customers to access exclusive discounts to the SWEAT app within Flare Benefits & Discounts so they can bring physical health and fitness programs to women in the workplace.

“We are delighted to partner with SWEAT, the #1 leading fitness app for women, as a new wellness provider on the Flare benefits platform. SWEAT has created an ever expanding fitness community for women and we are excited to bring preferred pricing on subscriptions to the hundreds of thousands of employees, and women, in our growing network.”
– Janine Fry, Head of Customer Experience at Flare

Key takeaways for the partnership:

SWEAT is the leading fitness app for women across the world. This partnership enables working women to access exclusive discounts within Flare.
Members have access to hundreds of workouts including Kayla’s BBG Program (Bikini Body Guide), plus high intensity cardio, weight lifting, yoga and post-pregnancy
Members get access to hundreds of recipes that have been designed to help women achieve their health and fitness goals

To learn more about Flare x SWEAT, visit SWEAT x Flare to learn more or login to your Flare benefits portal.

About Flare

Flare is a workplace technology business offering market-leading digital workplace solutions, including onboarding, benefits, employee engagement and financial products designed to help Australians live their best financial lives. Over 2,500 companies use Flare’s technology to deliver solutions to their 650,000 employees, creating compliant, employee-centric journeys that automate traditional processes to save time, build culture and improve employee retention. In November 2020, Flare has raised $22 million in series C fundraising and will use this funding to expand beyond HR into a full suite financial wellness solution.

About SWEAT by Kayla Itsines

SWEAT is the leading fitness app for women across the world founded by Australian trainer Kayla Itsines. Since its launch in 2015, the SWEAT app has expanded to support and educate millions of women in their health and fitness journeys. SWEAT’s vision is to empower women through fitness. The app contains hundreds of workouts including Kayla’s BBG programs plus high intensity cardio, weight lifting, yoga & post-pregnancy.

For media enquiries contact Brittany Wong: [email protected]

Top team-building activities you can do to strengthen your company culture

Posted on November 10, 2020August 11, 2023 by Andrew Choueri

Good team building exercises allow employees to get to know each other on a more personal level – learn about their strengths, personality and passion. As they say, a team that works well together is more productive and successful! Team building can also play an important role in building a successful company culture, however, finding the best ones that suit your organisation can be a challenging task. That’s why we put together these six team building ideas which you can use to strengthen your company culture and to improve employees engagement and productivity.

Continue reading “Top team-building activities you can do to strengthen your company culture”

Flare raises $22 million in series C fundraising, and expands beyond HR into a full suite financial wellness solution

Posted on November 2, 2020October 17, 2023 by Daniel Cohen & James Windon

When we started Flare five years ago, we knew that technology could play a key role in reimagining the relationship between businesses and their teams. In 2020, over 2,500 businesses use our software to engage with their teams of more than 650,000 employees nationwide, and we’re integrated with over a dozen HR and payroll platforms. This means Flare is used by 1 in 20 Aussies in the workplace—and we’re just getting started.

Today, we’re announcing our Series C capital raise of $22 million, led by MYOB, one of Australia’s leading technology companies. The round also includes existing investors Point72 Ventures, Acorn Capital and David Fite, and Malcolm Turnbull joins as a new investor. Both Malcolm and David will join Flare as special advisors.

A partnership for scale

In addition to leading this round of funding, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with MYOB, to deliver world-class digital products and solutions to MYOB customers. Flare and MYOB share a similar ethos, in that we both exist to help businesses and their employees thrive. This partnership will see us continue to focus on our mission of making it easy for Australian businesses to onboard, pay, and engage with their teams—at work, and beyond. Our software will be available for MYOB SME customers by the end of the year, and Enterprise customers in 2021.

We’re excited to play an active role in the next stages of Flare’s growth and look forward to working together to unlock the potential of their unique software. Our purpose at MYOB is to help more businesses start, survive and succeed, and what better way to do this than by empowering them to more efficiently onboard and engage the lifeblood of their business – their employees.

Andrew Baines
General Manager Financial Services, MYOB

Fuel for our next chapter

The pandemic era with COVID-19 means workplaces will never be the same. Engaging and retaining a distributed or remote workforce is more important than ever, and more Australians are living with stress. 40% of us experienced some form of financial stress in 2020, and millions live payday to payday.

This capital raise allows us to improve our market-leading B2B solutions, and expand our growing suite of workplace financial products designed to help every Aussie get the most out of their money, no matter what they want to do with it, and help them achieve financial security. We are incredibly excited to roll these products out over the coming months.

Flare’s unique business model provides real value to Australian firms and their employees in equal measure, at a time when the future of work looks very different. I’m excited to join Dan, James and the entire Flare team in this next chapter of their journey.

Malcolm Turnbull
Former Prime Minister of Australia

And finally, we wouldn’t have reached this milestone without our talented team. From our very first office in Bondi (where running water was not always a thing), to co-working spaces and now our headquarters in Barangaroo, thank you to everyone who has walked these floors since 2015, and been part of the Flare story.

We are incredibly proud of the team we’ve built, and their tireless efforts to bring our vision to life. If you’re interested in joining us for this next ride, we’re hiring across product, engineering, marketing, and finance. You can check out our open roles here.

Dan and James

How to address mental health in the workplace

Posted on October 14, 2020August 9, 2023 by Chris James

Addressing mental health in the workplace is becoming increasingly important – for several reasons. First, employees can’t perform their best when they’re not mentally well. Work also tends to be a primary source of stress for many people, which means that companies have a responsibility to help alleviate some of that burden. Given this, it’s critical for HR teams to prioritise and support the mental health of their workforce. We’ll share ideas to help you accomplish this.

The importance of mental health in the workplace

Before we get into the recommendations, let’s take a closer look at how mental health issues are impacting your employees. According to the 2019 Thriving Workplace Survey National Report, which surveyed over 10,000 Australian workers in a broad range of industries and occupations, 50.6% of the Australian workforce had experienced a mental health condition.

Unfortunately, work was one of the top reasons for these mental health issues – with two in five employees reporting that their workplace either caused their condition or made it worse. This is largely due to factors like high-stress deadlines, unmanageable workloads, and demanding clients. As a result, these work-related mental health conditions cost approximately $543 million in workers compensation and $750 million in life insurance claims paid to Australians.

Despite these pervasive issues, more than half of Australian workers don’t believe their employers have taken any actions to improve their wellbeing. This demonstrates that there’s a clear gap between what employees need to perform their best and what companies are actually doing to support this need.

Ideas to help employees with mental health at work

If you truly want to address the mental health of your employees, there are various steps you can take as an HR team. Some of these recommendations come in the form of additional benefits, while others are behaviors you can start putting into action today. Choose whichever ideas are the most aligned with the needs of your workforce, and go from there.

1. Invest in mental health benefits

Now is a great time to update your benefits package and include offerings that improve emotional wellbeing. For example, we’re partnering with Headspace for Work to support Flare’s customers on their journey to bring mental health programs and wellbeing into their workplaces. Another idea is to cover the cost of counseling sessions or a virtual therapy app for your employees.

If you have a limited budget and can’t introduce significant programs like this right now, start small. Give employees designated “mental health” days to take time away from work and recharge. Or host a virtual series of employee-led wellness events to guide people through meditation or yoga sessions. There are many creative ways to incorporate more mental-health focused offerings into your employee benefits.

2. Create a culture of wellness

Aside from benefits, we encourage organisations to make wellness a foundation of their company culture. What exactly does this mean? This means making work a place where it’s normal and encouraged to be honest about topics related to mental health. There are several ways to achieve this type of culture.

First, invest in mental health training for the entire company. This will help everyone better navigate conversations about mental health and develop more compassion for those who are struggling. Also, consider introducing safe spaces for employees to discuss their own progress or hardships with their mental wellness – this can be in the form of an Employee Resource Group, Slack channel, or monthly meeting. Finally, encourage your executive team to lead by example. When the CEO is willing to speak openly about a tough topic, it’ll inspire the rest of the organisation to follow suit.

3. Commit to specific goals

It may be helpful to identify metrics when it comes to these mental health initiatives. Not only will it help you track progress, but it’ll also hold everyone accountable to these investments. So whether it’s aiming to reduce the stress levels of employees by 10% or having 90% of your employees feel that their mental health is supported at work, commit to specific goals.

From there, you can use regular wellness surveys, employee focus groups, or one-on-one conversations to gauge how your company is progressing. Collecting this type of feedback can also alert you to programs that aren’t performing as they should and give you an opportunity to iterate on them as needed.

Mental health plays such a huge role when it comes to the overall happiness, performance, and wellbeing of your employees. Don’t overlook this critical aspect of your HR strategy and make sure to introduce initiatives that support the mental health needs of your workfroce.

If you have any employees who need support, be sure to check out Wellness@Work, a free hub designed to support HR and Australian workers by giving them access to free content.

If you’re looking for an additional HR software to support your business, Flare offers a free onboarding software with employee management and benefits. To learn more, please request a demo.

How HR can help employees with financial wellbeing outside of salary

Posted on October 7, 2020August 11, 2023 by Chris James

A lack of financial wellbeing is costing Australian businesses an estimated $31.1 billion in lost revenue every year. But more importantly, it’s negatively impacting the overall health of employees, who are having to take more sick days and struggling to be productive at work as a result of their financial stress.

What can HR teams do to support workers who are having trouble with their finances? Clearly, simply providing employees with a paycheck isn’t enough. In this post, we’ll explore additional ideas to help your workforce achieve better financial health.

How HR can support employee financial wellbeing

While paying employees a fair salary is an important part of financial wellbeing, there are other components to take into consideration. For instance, even if an employee makes a high salary, a lack of basic money management skills won’t set them up for success in the future.

That’s why HR needs to find other ways to advocate for the financial wellbeing of their employees – outside of their salary. We encourage HR leaders to work closely with their C-suite and finance teams to support initiatives that can set employees up for success – not only in the present – but also in the future. We share recommendations in the next section.

Ideas to help employees with financial wellbeing

There are many modern solutions to choose from when it comes to helping employees with their financial wellbeing. We share some of our favorite ideas below:

1. Encourage savings

Whether it’s to their superannuation account or a separate retirement account, it’s important to encourage your employees to put aside as much money as possible. There are a few ways to motivate employees to save. One of the most effective ways is to set up a system that allows workers to automatically take a portion of their paycheck and deposit it into their savings accounts. This way, your employees don’t have to make the challenging decision to manually take money out of their paycheck – it just goes into their savings without them noticing and will accumulate over time.

The benefits:

Sets employees up for success in the future
Allows employees to save for major milestones, such as purchasing a house or starting a family
Serves as a financial safety net in case of emergency

2. Provide flexible payment options

More and more employers are opting for flexible payment options for their employees. It’s easy to see why. Flexible pay is a great option for employees who want to access their paychecks on their own time instead of following the standard payroll schedule. So instead of receiving a paycheck every two weeks, an employee can choose to cash out what they earned in real time.

The benefits:

Allows employees to choose a compensation schedule that works for their needs
Relieves the stress of having to worry about whether they’ll receive a paycheck in time to pay rent or cover their next bill

3. Support major expenses

Many times, what prevents employees from experiencing better financial wellbeing is the major recurring expenses in their lives. For example, monthly car payments. Having to budget for the mortgage – on top of taxes, gas, and maintenance costs – for several years can be financially burdensome. To relieve the stress of this expense, your company can either offer company car loans or set up a novated lease that allows employees to finance a new or used car with payments out of their salary package with pre-tax deductions.

The benefits:

Makes major expenses more manageable and easier to budget for
Saves employees money in the long run
Doesn’t require a long-term commitment and offers more flexibility in terms of options

4. Create financial education opportunities

A lack of financial literacy is a huge blocker when it comes to employees achieving financial wellbeing. In fact, a survey found that fewer than half of all Australians could answer five basic financial questions correctly. To improve financial literacy, we recommend introducing various educational opportunities for your workforce. This can include anything from hosting financial literacy workshops to offering free sessions with financial advisors as a company benefit.

The benefits:

Empowers employees to take their finances into their own hands
Arms employees with the knowledge to make smart financial decisions

There are many things HR teams can do to improve the financial wellbeing of their workforce – even beyond just paying a salary. Identify which of these recommendations align with the needs of your organisation and get started on them today.

If you have any employees who are in need of support, be sure to check out Wellness@Work, a free hub designed to support HR and Australian workers by giving them access to free content.

If you’re looking for an additional HR software to support your business, Flare offers a free onboarding software with employee management and benefits. To learn more, please request a demo.

10 free tools for remote working teams

Posted on September 16, 2020August 11, 2023 by Chris James

With COVID-19 keeping everyone away from the office, the need for tools that accommodate remote teams continues to grow. Unfortunately, many companies are also having to keep their budgets small and can’t afford to invest in pricey software to meet their needs. Thankfully, there are several free tools out there that HR teams can use to make their jobs a bit easier. We share our top recommendations in this post.

10 free tools for remote HR teams

While there are many great options to choose from, we selected some of our favourite tools to make remote work easier for HR teams and employers. To help put them into action faster, we also shared ideas on how to use them for HR-related projects and initiatives below.

1. Asana

Asana is a task management platform that makes it easy to collaborate on projects with other team members. This is a great tool for remote work since it allows people to keep tasks organised, communicate with one another, and keep track of progress – all in one virtual workspace. Below are a few ways HR teams can use Asana:

Create a to-do list for new hires that they can check items off as they go
Manage ongoing projects with other members of the HR team
Document processes (i.e. for onboarding and offboarding) that managers and leaders can easily reference

2. Slack

Communication is key – especially when it comes to remote work. Having a communication platform that can be used via desktop or mobile, such as Slack, makes the experience of working with decentralised teams much more seamless. Here are ideas on how HR teams can use Slack to their advantage:

Create a Slack channel specifically for new hires
Regularly check in on employees to make sure everyone is feeling supported
Set up reminders for upcoming virtual webinars, events, or meetings

3. Flare HR

At Flare, we offer multiple products that are free for companies to use – such as a remote onboarding software and an exclusive benefits and discount platform. These offerings can help streamline all your HR processes and provide a better overall experience for your employees. With Flare, you can:

Add new employees quickly and integrate with your ATS
Easily generate employment contracts and policy documents
Send new hires a link and have them enter information, sign contracts, upload certiﬁcates and more through a simple online interface
Give your workforce access to exclusive benefits and discounts with leading retailers like Woolworths, JB Hi-Fi, and Amazon

4. SurveyMonkey

Surveys are an incredibly important tool for all HR teams to have at their disposal. If you don’t have the budget to afford a more comprehensive surveying platform, you can always use a free version of SurveyMonkey to create your own. Here are a few types of surveys you may want to consider distributing to your workforce:

Employee engagement surveys
Pulse surveys
Onboarding and/or new hire surveys
Offboarding surveys
COVID-19-related surveys

5. Donut

When everyone is physically apart, it’s difficult to foster a sense of community. Donut is a great solution. This tool can help everyone – from people within your own team to other employees across the organisation – stay connected to one another by setting up virtual hangouts. Donut also integrates easily with Slack so you don’t have to download another platform to use it. There are lots of creative things you can do with this tool:

Set up randomised “Donut dates” to encourage relationship building across teams
Assign new hires a buddy through Donut to help them ramp up and onboard faster
Create learning opportunities by connecting employees looking to learn new skills with experts inside your organisation using Donut

6. Zoom

Video calls are essential for remote work. This technology gives us that face-to-face time we need but otherwise wouldn’t be able to access outside the office. We love Zoom because it offers a free version that can host up to 100 participants and unlimited 1:1’s. They also offer an array of fun, virtual backgrounds to make meetings a bit more interesting. HR teams can use Zoom for multiple use cases, such as:

Interviews with potential candidates
Training sessions (such as a financial literacy workshop or DEI session)
Company-wide meetings or celebrations
Virtual events like happy hours or costume contests

7. Chimp or Champ

Right now, employees are struggling with their wellbeing as a result of Covid-19. That means that it’s more important than ever to keep a finger on the pulse and check in with your workforce regularly. Chimp or Champ is a great tool that lets you send out an anonymous weekly employee happiness meter to see how everyone is doing. There are a few things you can do with the feedback you collect:

Develop initiatives according to the happiness levels of employees
Create a monthly report to keep track of overall employee wellbeing (and make sure to share it with your leadership team so they’re aware too!)

8. Dropbox

You likely work with lots of large documents in your job – such as contracts for new hires and legal documents for employees. Due to the file size, these documents are difficult to send through email. And we unfortunately don’t have the luxury of printing them out and handing directly to someone. In cases like this, Dropbox can be a huge help. It’s a platform where large files can be shared and downloaded. With this tool, you can:

Create a shared folder for new hires that contains their contracts, forms, and other benefits information
Upload recordings of past trainings or webinars that all employees can easily access

9. Loom

One of the challenges with remote work is finding the right time to host meetings and events. Since everyone is working across different time zones and schedules, it’s challenging to find a time that’s convenient for everyone. Loom can help by letting you record presentations or announcements in advance. The tool then gives you a link so you can easily share the recording and let employees catch up when they have time. Here are a few other ways you can use Loom:

Create videos that explain the onboarding and offboarding process
Pre-record training sessions so employees across all time zones can view it at their leisure
Have your CEO record messages or announcements to share with the organisation

10. Calendly

Being able to effectively schedule meetings is even more important in the remote world than it was in the office. Calendly is one of the best tools you can use to make the scheduling process a bit easier and more transparent. It integrates with popular calendar apps and shows people your availability so they can easily schedule a meeting or appointment with you. Some of the benefits of using Calendly includes:

Making scheduling easy for potential candidates who are interviewing
Simplifying the scheduling process across time zones
Reducing blockers to scheduling meetings for larger groups

Using the right tools can make the remote working experience so much easier. Make sure to take advantage of the free ones we mentioned above to create a better work experience for yourself and a better HR experience for your employees. To learn more about Flare HR’s free onboarding software and employee benefits, request a demo.

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