HR Management Archives

What is unconscious bias, and why does it matter in the workplace?

Posted on March 26, 2021August 11, 2023 by Chris James

Most people say they would never judge a person by how they look, their gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or age. But according to social psychologists at the University of Washington and Yale, 90-95% of people judge people unconsciously. This is known as unconscious bias.

What is unconscious bias?

Unconscious bias are thoughts or feelings we’re not directly aware of, that influence our judgement. They are the attitudes and stereotypes that affect our views, our actions, and our decision-making ability, which we’ve unconsciously created from our own background and experiences. It happens automatically, and is triggered by our brain making quick judgements and opinions of people and situations.

Why do we have unconscious bias?

Everyone has biases, whether we’re aware of them or not. It’s a fundamental aspect of being human. Scientists believe that these quick judgements and decisions can help us navigate the world without being overwhelmed, because the unconscious mind can process more information than our conscious minds. However, the downside of this is that prejudice occurs during important decisions such as recruitment, healthcare and criminal justice which can disadvantage people.

Why does unconscious bias matter in the workplace?

When unconscious bias is present in the workplace it can drive negative impact in the following ways:

talented people are left out of your workforce, or not allowed equal opportunity for development and career progression
diverse voices aren’t heard in meetings and decisions can be impaired
culture is not genuinely demonstrating inclusive workplace principles
employees are not able to fully contribute to your organisation
creativity and productivity of your team or organisation may be compromised.

Common types of bias at work

Introductions and first impressions

Foundations for first impressions come from our own experiences and sense of the world — what’s familiar to us. Our reactions to someone we don’t know may be positive, negative, or neutral depending on what’s visible or audible about them; depending on their race, perceived sexual orientation, accent or a number of other characteristics.

First impressions are powerful. We need to be aware of the impact that has on the assessment you have when you first meet them.

Stereotypes and performance bias

Performance bias occurs when people who are part of dominant groups, such as being white or male, are judged by their expected potential, while those who are part of less dominant groups such as people of colour or women are judged by their proven accomplishments.

Heidi vs Howard: Gender bias in success and likeability

In 2003 Frank Flinn, a Columbia Business School Professor and NYU Cameron Anderson ran an experiment to test perceptions of men and women in the workplace.

They started with a Harvard Business School case study about a real-life entrepreneur named Heidi Rosin. The case described how Heidi became a venture capitalist using her outgoing personality, and vast personal and professional network, that included many of the most powerful business leaders in the technology sector.

They gave the case study to two classes of students. One class read Heidi’s story and the other class read the same story but with one difference, they changed the name from Heidi to Howard. Then, they polled the students.

Students rated Heidi and Howard as equally competent, which made sense because their accomplishments were identical. Yet while students respected Heidi and Howard, Howard came across a more “appealing colleague” Heidi, on the other hand was seen as “selfish” and not the type of person you want to hire or work for.

The same data, with a single difference: Gender, created vastly different impressions. This experiment supports what research already has clearly shown which is that success and likeability are positively correlated for men, and negatively correlated for women. When a man is successful, he is liked by both men and women. When a woman is successful, people of both genders like her less.

Women are expected to be nurturing and care-taking, while men are expected to be assertive and action-oriented. Having to produce results and be liked makes it harder for women to get hired and promoted, negotiate on their own behalf, and exhibit leadership.

What can you do in your team, or at work?

Become mindful of your own unconscious bias and reflect on it.
Take the Harvard Implicit Assessment Test to see what your unconscious biases are.
Call out unconscious bias when you see it. If we can create an environment where we recognise bias, we can improve together.
Standardise processes like hiring by building a grading criteria, asking the same questions to candidates and setting the same tests.
During the hiring process, get managers to speak last. A manager’s perspective can influence a team’s input. See what more ideas can arise, if a manager listens and speaks last.

How to write a job description to get high-quality applicants

Posted on February 11, 2021August 11, 2023 by Chris James

Filling your talent pipeline with high-quality candidates isn’t easy – especially in such a crowded job market. In fact, research finds that it takes Australian companies an average of 68 days and $5,000 to fill a vacant position.

But there are ways to make your company stand out from the crowd. One way is by crafting a top-notch job description. In this post, we’ll explain how to write a job description that attracts great candidates to your company.

How to write a job description that attracts high-quality applicants

While it’s easy to slap together a job description and blast it across multiple job sites, attracting high-quality applicants requires a more thoughtful approach. Here are five of our best recommendations when it comes to writing a quality job description.

1. Conduct a job analysis

A job analysis is a process of collecting information about the specific role you’re hiring for. The purpose of conducting a job analysis is to ensure you’re representing the skills, knowledge, and background needed for the role as accurately as possible for applicants. While there are many ways to gather this data, here are a few ways to start:

Look at the job descriptions of competitors hiring for similar roles
Interview or observe employees who are in the same or similar role at your organisation
Review sites like Glassdoor to get a sense of the required skills, responsibilities, and salary of the role

2. Collect input from other employees

Another way to ensure your job description is as thorough as possible is to consult the employees within your own organisation. If you’re hiring for a Marketing Coordinator, for example, you may want to speak with other members on the marketing team – especially the manager that will be overseeing the new hire.

If you want to take this strategy a step further, have conversations with people from other teams who are likely to work closely with the new hire. So if your Marketing Coordinator is going to work alongside your sales team, interview a few of your Account Executives to understand their expectations and perspectives.

After you put the initial draft of the job description together, you may want to have these same people review it to ensure you’ve captured all their feedback accurately.

3. Provide all the key information up-front

Now that you have all this information collected, how do you write the official job description? The most important thing to keep in mind is that it’s better to share more details, rather than less. To help you format and prioritise all of your information, below are the basic sections you should include in the job description:

A description of the job and job title
A summary of the location, role responsibilities, and preferred qualifications
An overview of the company culture and benefits
The expected salary range
The company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement
Any additional information about potential travel requirements, work hours, etc.

The more information you provide up-front, the more likely it is that the applicant will be a good match for your organisation. When you don’t share key information, such as the salary range, you may end up wasting everyone’s time when it turns out that the compensation doesn’t align with the applicant’s expectations.

4. Review the job description for biases

Before hitting ‘publish’ on your job description, have a third party review your job description for any biases or non-inclusive language. It’s easy to let minor mistakes slip through without realising or intending to, which is why it’s helpful to have fresh eyes on your work!

Whoever reviews your job description should look for things like non-gender neutral pronouns or gender-coded words, internal jargon that might alienate applicants, or any other signs of implicit bias.

5. Identify the right channels to post your job description

Finally, you want to make sure you’re publishing your job description on high-quality job sites. While it might seem like the best strategy is to spam as many of them as possible, this will only end up wasting your valuable time and money.

Instead, we encourage HR teams to take a more targeted approach and select job sites that are known for attracting high-quality candidates. Below are a few of the websites, which are a mix of local and global, that we recommend starting with:

A thoughtful and well-written job description is the first step to bringing more high-quality candidates into your talent pipeline. Use our recommendations to get started on the right foot. Flare HR also provides free onboarding software that can help you onboard new employees and give them the best first days and the best onboarding experience. To learn more, please request a demo.

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.

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.

A guide on how to onboard new employees remotely

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

As COVID-19 continues to keep employees remote, companies have to start thinking about how to adapt their HR processes accordingly. One of the most important experiences to consider is employee onboarding. The type of onboarding program you have in place has a significant impact on factors like new hire retention and productivity. In fact, a study found that a structured onboarding experience resulted in 69% of employees being more likely to stay with a company for three years and 50% greater new-hire productivity.

While being remote does present some challenges to the onboarding process, we believe there are things you can do to make it just as strong as one that’s in person. Below, we outlined a five-step process to help you get your new hires onboarded remotely:

1. Start with preboarding

Many employers wait until the new hire’s first day to start the onboarding process. But there’s actually a step that comes before that called preboarding. The purpose of this step is to get your new hires up-to-speed before they start their new roles so they don’t feel overwhelmed on their first day. Preboarding activities have also been found to increase first-year retention by as much as 80 percent. These activities can include:

Filling out documents (employment contracts, super information, etc.)
Reviewing benefits options
Collecting personal information (employee’s favorite snack, personal hobbies, etc.)

To help companies manage this process remotely, Flare has a free digital onboarding software that lets you add new employees to your ATS, generate documents, and gives your new hires a seamless way to auto-sign contracts and share important information with the company.

Related article: 10 Ideas to help you boost your employee engagement

2. Create a warm welcome experience

Once you have all the preboarding logistics squared away, you can focus on creating a warm welcome experience for your new employee’s first day. Since your team won’t be able to take them out to a welcome lunch or greet them in person, it’s important to find other ways to make them feel excited about their new job. Below are a few ideas you can try:

Send a welcome card that’s been digitally signed by the CEO, their manager, and their new team members
Gift the new hire with a prepaid card to their neighbourhood cafe; They can grab a coffee and get to know their teammates through virtual hangout sessions
Host a virtual welcome party with the whole team
Ship a ‘welcome pack’ that contains the new employee’s favorite treats, movies, or board games

The last thing you want is for your new hire to feel isolated on their first day. These ideas will help your employees feel like they’re already part of the team and get them excited about their new company – even when they’re not physically at the office!

3. Establish a support system

Any employee’s first day can feel a bit scary – especially when they’re remote and don’t have the luxury of asking the person sitting next to them a question or getting to know people over lunch. To make sure they feel supported from day one, it’s important to establish a system that they can turn to if they have questions, need help, or simply want to feel more integrated into the company. Here’s how:

Set your new employee up with a designated buddy. This is their go-to person if they have any questions, need someone to chat with over a virtual lunch, or simply want to learn more about the company
Create a Slack channel for new hires. At Flare, we have one called #newbies that contains helpful resources and is a dedicated space where new employees can feel safe asking questions
Encourage the new hire’s manager check in with them frequently during the first 30 days to make sure the transition is going smoothly

Related article: 5 Ways to help your employees improve their financial wellbeing

4. Run induction sessions

In addition to helping your new hires feel socially integrated, you want to make sure they understand the various aspects of the business as well. This is where virtual induction sessions can be helpful. The purpose of these sessions is to meet with different leaders within the organisation – from the CEO to the Head of Engineering – so they can better understand how the business operates.

Not only that, but induction sessions can help new employees put faces to names and develop a clearer view of how their specific role contributes to the broader mission of your company. This allows new hires to recognise that they’re a valuable part of the organisation and helps them find a sense of meaning in their work.

5. Collect feedback

Finally, remember that your onboarding process doesn’t end after 30 or 60 days. There are ways to continuously iterate on and improve your program – especially if your remote onboarding process is brand new. The best way to do this is to distribute an onboarding survey to new hires after they go through the experience. This provides an opportunity for them to share feedback on what worked, what didn’t, and how they felt coming out of the onboarding process – all valuable input that you can use to strengthen your existing program.

As you can see, a powerful employee onboarding experience can have a significant impact on your business. Thankfully, there are ways to make sure this process is effective, welcoming, and informative – even when doing so remotely. Follow our recommendations to make sure your onboarding process goes as smoothly as possible for your new remote employees.

To learn more about Flare’s free digital onboarding software, and how it can save you on time and paperwork, request a demo here.

Understanding the finances of your international workforce

Posted on July 27, 2020September 7, 2023 by Chris James

For Australian employers there are many considerations to be taken into account when employing people from overseas. One that may not be so obvious is understanding the financial circumstances of these employees with international backgrounds.

For example, did you know that many international employees may have loved ones living overseas with a financial responsibility to regularly send a proportion of their earnings back home? This financial assistance, known as ‘remittances’ supports their loved ones with daily living expenses like paying for rent, utilities, groceries, health and education.

This following article outlines some of these considerations and the role you can play as an employer to support your employees.

Global Remittances

Remittances are an essential source of income for millions of families around the world and remitters play a key role in the social and economic development of their countries.

In 2019, global remittances reached a record US$554 billion and they are instrumental in many countries. For example, personal remittances received in Nepal made up over a quarter of the country’s GDP in 2019. In the Philippines, it is a well-established cultural practice to head overseas to work. In fact, 2.2 million, at any time, of these overseas Filipino workers are engaged in industries as diverse as healthcare to seafaring. From Australia, both India and China are also substantial recipients of remittances. Many remitters will see their remittance as a non-negotiable financial commitment, in the same vein as Australians might regard their mortgage payment. Behaviour varies, but many remitters will send money home as many as four times a month.

Financial Access

Like all employees, migrants working in Australia require an Australian bank account to receive their salary. Fortunately, unlike other countries, it is very easy to set up, with the ability to apply for one online regardless of location, with many free or low-cost options.

However, for recent arrivals to Australia, applying for credit cards is not as simple. Banks will usually require some credit history here in Australia before granting even a small credit limit. This can place a credit card off limits for new arrivals, which can be a source of frustration for migrants who have enjoyed well established financial affairs in their original home country.

Tax and Super

The rules relating to taxation and superannuation are complex, and vary according to the individual circumstances of your employees.

In general, many people from overseas who have worked and earned super while visiting Australia on a temporary visa, can apply to have their super paid to them as a departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) after they leave.

On tax, as long as foreign residents have earned more than $1 in Australia during the financial year they can choose to lodge a tax return. This lodgement can even be done online in your employees’ home countries after they depart. If your employees are leaving Australia permanently, they may be eligible to lodge an Australian tax return early. In this instance the process is offline and is known to take longer.

The monies received from a superannuation payment or a tax refund, regardless of amount, is highly valued as an extra boost of financial support for when your international employees are returning to their home country.

What can you do as an employer

Understanding the unique financial considerations of your international and migrant workforce is a great first step, but there are also a few practical ways you can help:

Sending money home: For remitters, maximising the amount their friends and family receive whilst ensuring the security of the transfers is paramount. Due to lack of awareness, many new arrivals will default to using their bank to transfer money home. However, the Australian Government (in the ACCC’s 2019 report) expressly highlighted that using digital non-bank alternatives, such as WorldRemit, can be a cheaper and faster way to send money home. Also, for employees who are working in remote locations, the fact that these services are fully digital means they can be accessed from a smartphone at any time (without having to visit a bank branch or agent location). Helping make your employees aware of these alternatives, can ensure their families and friends are receiving the greatest amount possible by way of remittances without delay.

Financial access: As employees establish themselves in Australia, you may find they come to you more frequently than others for proof of income or employment, as they navigate the likes of housing and credit applications. Bear in mind your company expenses policy, where they require employees to front large expenses before being reimbursed, may be unduly burdensome (or not possible) for new arrivals who don’t have a credit card.

Tax and Super: Each individual is different so the best thing you can do is direct your employees to the ATO website, which has extensive resources relating to international tax and access to superannuation. The ATO guidance suggests that employees check with their employer before they depart to make sure that all super contributions have been paid – so don’t be surprised if you receive these sorts of queries from your team.

WorldRemit is currently offering the first three transfers free to all Flare users. You can access WorldRemit through the Flare employee benefits portal.

How to build an effective human resource planning checklist

Posted on June 18, 2020August 11, 2023 by Andrew Choueri

Human resource planning comprises four comprehensive steps

When creating a human resources plan, these are the main considerations for any HR professional. Start with broader goals, narrow them down to strategies, evaluate your business, and build a workforce that will grow alongside your business.

Before getting results, businesses need not only a clear picture of their company but a good understanding of several other factors before they can put their plan into action. Think about this in actionable terms. If your company currently has fifty employees but you expect to double in size over the next five years, how will you maintain your culture? How will you encourage an atmosphere of learning and growth? Can your staff keep up with the technological changes and your company objectives of the future?

Step 1: Analyse company objectives and HR needs

What gives one company a record of success with human resources while others do not have a strong reputation? Much of this is due to a strategic planning effort on the part of the organisation.

Strategic aims within an organisation must be aligned to human resources practices in order to ensure that a human resources plan is as effective as it can possibly be. For example, FedEx is a corporation with a track record of success in their industry and among customers. They obtained this reputation with a clear focus on strategic aims. They even follow the philosophy “People-Service-Profit” for every employee, customer, and stakeholder. Employees are trained to follow this philosophy and their feedback is collecting annually for consideration.

Moving forward with analysing your company objectives next to HR needs involves asking yourself some questions. It also should include C-suite executives, managers, and HR team members. Questions to ask include what growth or decline is expected? How might this impact the workforce? What are predicted sales for the forthcoming year?

Goals need to be shared; CEOs should be on the same page as HR professionals so that the focus on human resources is fully embraced by all of the people involved in the planning.

Some ways to invest all people in the creation of the strategic plan include:

Incentivising staff members to give honest opinions
Allowing an open forum between staff members at different organisational levels
Reverting back to the mission statement or vision in all organisational goals
Focusing on the expected growth of the business

The human resources plan should cover every part of a businesses from sales to expansion, from recruitment to training. An excellent way to ensure that everyone is on the same page is to implement a strategic plan for human resources to utilise.

This plan should include factors such as upcoming retirements, staff who will be undertaking further training which will advance their skills and any other factors which will affect the future of your workforce.

ACTION – Create a strategic plan for HR and ensure it aligns with company objectives. Consider using cloud-based HR solutions to centralise and save valuable time.

Step 2: Determine recruiting strategy and evaluate current human resources

Recruitment strategy is a powerful tool when well implemented. Consider Starbucks; this is a company ranked at 120 on 2022’s Fortune 500 and with projected growth of global and U.S. comparable store sales between 7% and 9% year over year until 2025. How does a company this massive, even begin to successfully manage their human resource plans?

A vital aspect for Starbucks is their recruitment strategy which targets potential employees who are ‘on-brand’ and who pass a carefully structured interview process. Starbucks also puts a lot of energy into employees’ well-being and as a result, the company has an extremely low turnover in staff. Their somewhat unusual practices are working extraordinarily well and have been for many years.

Starbucks is a large company with operating goals that are a struggle to implement. Yet, they focus on their goals and design targeted programs which eventually lead to the desired result. By treating people as their biggest resource, Starbucks has lowered their employee turnover while building a booming brand.

You can begin by looking at the number of people currently employed, taking into account their skills and potential for future development, you should be able to determine which positions will need to be filled in future. Creating a profile for your ‘ideal employee’ which covers the gamut of openings within your business will also ensure your staff turnover is lowered.

Digitising employee onboarding can be a powerful way to not only cut the costs of recruitment, retention and management, but can also help your employees to feel more empowered and engaged.

Also consider which jobs will be created or phased out, how can the new positions best be filled? A performance evaluation strategy can help here as you review your employees’ performances. Cost-effectiveness of external hiring depends on the position you are filling, your current workforce, and required training costs for your team.

Once your plan is in place you can implement the best options for recruiting the best people for future gaps in the workforce. Hiring before the skills are highly sought out can get you ahead of the competition with employee selection. Always look internally at the potential growth of your current employees.

ACTION – Create a performance evaluation strategy and implement it across the organisation.

Step 3: Predict need

This is the practice of estimation. Looking at the potential numbers of future employees in an organisation and ensuring that they are of the best quality. The well documented worker shortage continues, and employers need to consider their recruitment strategy carefully.

It’s not an exact art. There is some estimation involved and because of this, it’s quite challenging. Gathering the data needed to predict the future of your workforce is tricky in itself and involves both statistical data and ordinary observation. Utilise data you already have access to including predicted sales and slumps. A few established ways to predict need would be to:

Check out industry trends
Track the economic forecast for your product and country
Assess company sales and historical growth numbers
Know the common trends that occur within your individual sales cycle

ACTION – Gather statistical data to predict the future staffing needs of the business

Step 4: Planning training and development

The previous steps will show you where, if at all, there are gaps. Will there be skills shortages within your workforce? Do you need to implement training for certain individuals now to ensure that you have the right workforce in place at the right time? Upcoming retirements for example can necessitate further training for individuals on lower rungs. This also serves as an opportunity to develop some of your more stellar, but lower-level staff members.

Some changes can’t be predicted; long-term illness for example and employees changing careers or the shifting needs of their families can all impact your team but there’s no effective way to predict these changes. You can however forecast some variables and these should be carried out with care.

Ensure that you keep records of the skills your workforce currently have and update them as the staff receive further training and development. It is also worth preparing for future skills needed in your sector. An aspect of Human Resource planning would be to invest in the proper training of staff, enabling your team to feel confident in spearheading programs, and building a business able to handle the future. Knowing the current gaps in your workforce can propel you toward a fully-prepared future.

ACTION – Carry out strategic forecasting to ensure that the company is well prepared for future changes.

Step 5: Build out your EVP

As the employment landscape becomes more competitive, and the fight to attract and retain workers is subject to a range of post-pandemic economic pressures, companies need to consider what matters most to their potential hires. Companies with a strong employee value proposition (EVP) seek to identify and align with their employees’ needs and values across workplace benefits including flexible working, career development opportunities, competitive salaries, and expanded benefits packages.

Using an EVP in job postings

At a time when digital portals are clogged with posts and offers, strategically including your EVP in your job ads can help you stand out from the competition. Begin with language that talks about your company’s unique culture, values, and benefits. This can help job seekers understand what makes the company different and why they should want to work there.

Mastering job ads

Structure, placement and guidelines that work Job boards don’t just randomly post ads on their platform — they consider many different factors when deciding where (and how far up the page) to place them. And, although there may be some differences from site to site, the following elements constitute best practice.

Syndicated content

Digital content syndication is a powerful way to get brand cut-through with your EVP. It involves distributing or republishing your own content like articles, blog posts, videos or infographics through third-party websites, social media platforms and other channels. Digital content syndication can expand your reach and attract new audiences, all while showcasing your unique value proposition and building brand awareness. Content syndication can also position your brand as a thought leader in your industry — something that can be leveraged for both sales and talent acquisition.

Novated leasing as a pay boost

Emerging businesses don’t necessarily have the budget to spend on meal services and other costly benefits that have traditionally acted as drawcards for employees at larger companies. But novated leases, FBT-exempt mobile phones, employee discounts at local stores and other in-kind benefits can increase pay packages for your employees and potentially save you money on payroll tax. These benefits are meaningful ways to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses of your employees, especially during times of inflation and financial stress. Novated leasing in particular allows employees to lease a car for private use, with payments deducted from their pre-tax salary. This helps employees save money on their private vehicle expenses while supporting their work-life balance. What’s more, employers can benefit from novated leasing by claiming GST on most associated running costs.

ACTION – Build out your EVP with our free cheat codes.

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