Posts in category: Business

Introduction

An employment agreement is a formal contract between the employer and employee that specifies the time of employment. These agreements are legally binding documents that have to be signed by the employer and employee agreeing to mutually acceptable terms and conditions related to employment.

The employment agreement is a covenant between the employer and employee that lays down the provisions of employment. This document governs all aspects of the job like the date of joining, designation, duties, and responsibilities, CTC, leave clause, termination rules, etc.  This article hopes to highlight the most important points that should find a place in an employment agreement.

What is the need for an employment agreement?

Though there is no legal mandate for the employers to have an employment agreement, it is recommended to define the terms of the contract to avoid further legal issues. Importantly, an agreement defines very clearly the relationship between the employer and employee. This avoids misunderstandings and smoothens the functioning of the business.

An agreement reduces the chances of a dispute between the employers and employees and assists in limiting the liabilities of the parties.

Features of an Employment Agreement

An employment agreement contains a formal Offer of Appointment and Acceptance. It also details the consideration which is the essential component of a valid contract. The competent parties in this case the employer and the employee are also clearly detailed in the agreement. The purpose of the contract is provided in the Legal Object. The free consent clause explains that the agreement has been entered into without any coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, or mistake.

Important points to be included in an Employment Agreement

1. Nature of Job

You should clearly define the role and responsibilities of the employee. This includes the Job Title, Job description, the department assigned to, the role and skill requirement, and educational qualification.

2.  Remuneration and benefits

The agreement should contain details of the Annual salary package and should also include raises, bonuses, and incentives.  The agreement should have details of Health benefits, Company stock options, if any, investments/retirement plans, and any other fringe benefits. The employer should adhere to the guidelines of the Equal Pay for Equal Work (Remuneration) Act and Minimum Wages Act while fixing the remuneration

3.  Leave Policy

This clause deals with the number of holidays allowed by the business and the types of leave that can be availed by the employee during the course of his employment. These include Earned Leave, Sick Leave, Casual Leave, Privilege Leave, Annual Leave, Maternity Leave, Compensatory time-off, etc.

4.  Non-disclosure Clause

An employer may include this provision to protect the confidentiality of important trade secrets of the organization. This provision may have an effect even after the employee has left the services of the services of the company and prevents the dissemination of propriety information of the organization.

5.  Termination of Contract

The condition for termination of the contract has to be specified. This includes the period of notice to be given on both side, and the remuneration to the employee on termination.

6.  Reimbursement of Expenses

A mention has to be made in the agreement that all expenses incurred by the employee on behalf of the company will be fully reimbursed to the employee.

7.  Social Security Benefit

This clause should specify the deduction from both the employer and employee side towards EPF and Insurance. The benefits that accrue to the employee should be explained as per the statutory rules and regulations.

8.  Probation Period

This is relevant when the employee is taken on probation. Normally the probation period is six months and the conditions during this period should be specified.

9.  Breach of Contract

This clause specifies the remedies for liability if the parties breach any of the terms of the contract. The remedies and actions to be followed for the resolution of the dispute have to be specified.

10.  Disability or Death

In the event of the death of an employee or if they suffer a serious disability, the kind of support that the family can get has to be mentioned. This could be in the form of monetary compensation or by providing a job opportunity to a family member of the deceased.

11.  Jurisdiction for resolving disputes

This comes into effect when a dispute arises out of an employment agreement. When a jurisdiction clause is included in the agreement this specifies that the dispute will be resolved through a judicial court or forum and will be governed by the governing laws of the state. Laws relating to employment vary from state to state; therefore, it is advisable to state the governing laws in the contract.

Conclusion

An employment agreement is an important document that is proof of the relationship between the employer and the employee. This is a legally binding document that needs to spell out all the terms and conditions of employment. The agreement must be carefully drafted after taking into consideration all the laws and employment rules and regulations in the country. This may differ from state to state so a lot of effort must go into framing the agreement. What we have detailed above are the more important points to be noted when preparing an employment agreement.  There are many more points that have to be included in such an agreement.  A talk with GetifyHR would bring more clarity on the subject.

GetifyHR has had vast experience in employment-related activities and have simplified the art of drafting highly effective employment agreements. Our clients spread across the county have benefitted from our expertise in this regard.  As one of the leading outsourcers, we have been providing excellent service through our platform that integrates Payroll management, HR management, Attendance & Leave management, Statutory Compliance and Task management.  Talk to us for more guidelines in creating an employment agreement that takes care of all the laws and statutory requirements.

Introduction

Fixing employee salaries and paying them on time is a critical operation in any business, whether big or small. The employer and the HR managers put their heads together to chalk out the salary structure of the employees based on designation, rank, performance, etc.  These decisions are crucial as they impact the performance of the company as a whole.

From the point of view of the employee, the real driving force is the salary they take home. This is what pushes him or her to put in their best efforts at the workplace and only when the employee works wholeheartedly does the business grow. Achieving higher productivity is closely linked to the performance of each employee.

Where the work atmosphere and culture are good the employee will show greater loyalty, but it also depends on whether or not you pay your salaries on time every time.

Let us now look at why you should pay your employees on time.

Why you should pay salaries on time, every time?

Paying salaries on time is an Employee Right!

Governments, whether Central or State have made it mandatory that the salaries of employees are disbursed at a fixed schedule. Companies may pay their salaries on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. Whatever the case, companies should pay according to their schedule without any delay.

In the event of non-payment or late payment, the employee can file a claim with the concerned department to seek redressal of their grievances. This would lead to a lawsuit against the employer which is not in the interest of the business. The company may end up paying fines or penalties to sort out this problem.

Loss in Productivity

When you delay payment of salaries you are creating unwanted tension within the workforce. This could lead to losing your efficient employees as they look for better paymasters or the performance of employees drop.  This will lead to productivity loss.

When you pay your employees promptly you are sending the message across that you appreciate their contribution and want them to remain loyal. The employees on the other hand become more loyal and wish to associate with the company for longer periods. This is a win-win situation for both. It improves productivity and generates loyalty.

Save on the Cost of Hiring

When you don’t pay your salaries on time your employees are more likely to be dissatisfied. This would entail greater expenses for the company as they have to pay for fresh hires. This would lead to:

– Loss of Productivity as the new employee may take a long time to be as productive as his predecessor.

– Impact the workplace culture due to high employee turnover.

– Increased hiring costs as you may have to spend on the job advertisement, interviewing, and screening the applicants.

– Spend more on Lawyer fees as non-payment or late payment may lead to litigation.

Non-payment or delayed payment of salaries greatly impacts your business. It is imperative that you pay your employees regularly if you are serious about the growth of the company. Companies normally process their payroll either manually using a readymade package like Excel or make use of a customized payroll package that is fully automated. Manual processing is a cumbersome process and is prone to errors. Making use of a customized payroll package is an ideal solution that can handle the process very efficiently. However, it does have its disadvantages.

How Outsourcing can promote business growth

One way to enable regular payment of salaries is by outsourcing your payroll to an efficient service provider. There is no doubt that this will go a long way in improving performance and creating a harmonious work atmosphere.

Payroll outsourcing is a process in which companies hire a service provider to manage all payroll functions. This includes generating accurate payslips, managing leave and attendance, keeping the company compliant with all the statutory rules and regulations, and also handling all recruitment needs. Outsourced payroll solutions have a few advantages and in the long run, they could help the business to grow. Let’s evaluate a few of these advantages and how they support business growth.

Reduce expenses by cutting down on time spent on payroll processing

When you outsource payroll to an efficient service provider, you not only save time but will also cut down on your expenses. Since professionals run the package, you will be able to save time when compared with manual or in-house payroll processing. This will conversely help you to cut down on your costs as you can do away with a dedicated team to handle payroll and also reduce on investment for costly hardware.

Improve capacity utilization to enhance productivity

Outsourcing to a professional service provider will enhance productivity. How does this happen? During manual or in-house processing you will have a dedicated team conducting the operations. The HR team would be on hand to confirm the outcome of the process and take further action.

However, when you outsource the service provider handles the entire operation and this releases the HR team and the other staff from handling this task. This would enable better capacity utilization as the HR team can apply their mind and effort to core business activities and are released from the pressures involved in a mundane activity. This would significantly enhance productivity.

Preventing Data theft and misappropriation of funds

Data security is a vital factor in payroll processing. The risks include data theft, data tampering for personal gains, and misappropriation of funds. When you outsource payroll you are assured of a high degree of security as all the critical data are stored in highly secure cloud-based servers that ensure the very best of data protection.

Keeping the Company Compliant

Being compliant with all the statutory rules and regulations is of utmost importance in any business.  Any business that employs 10 or more persons is liable to comply with these rules and regulations.

Outsourcing payroll to a service provider will ensure that the company is fully compliant with all rules and regulations. Any changes brought about by the Government will get immediately updated so that the company can be compliant always. By being compliant you are avoiding legal issues.

The functioning of the HR and accounting departments is fine-tuned.

Outsourcing frees the HR department to concentrate on core business activities. This will enable them to monitor the employees better, improve employee retention, attract better talent, and enhance the training process. This will improve the overall functioning of the company.

The accounting department would benefit from getting the required data at the end of the payroll process regularly. This will help them to reconcile the accounts and be ready with all the MIS reports required by the management.

Assist employees with an efficient ESS facility

One of the important features of outsourcing is the highly efficient ESS module that comes with the package. This module will be beneficial for both the employees and the employer. The employees can have access to all relevant information, especially about leave and attendance. The mobile app that is inbuilt gives them the required information on their smartphones.

Conclusion

Payroll processing is a highly critical function that directly affects the business. Whether you do it manually or through in-house automation or outsourcing, any inefficiency in the performance would adversely affect the business. However, outsourcing to a professional service provider will provide a platform that integrates Payroll management, HR management, Leave and Attendance Management, and Statutory Compliance.

GetifyHR offers an exceptional cloud-based payroll module that integrates all aspects of payroll processing. This package provides a high degree of integration of all modules that give the user highly accurate reports as and when required.

Human Capital plays a vital role in the growth of an organization. As organizations evolve, the role of the employee also grows and it becomes important for the company to keep its employees happy. To achieve this, companies have to ensure prompt and accurate payment of salaries always. Manual processing of payroll especially where there are a large number of employees is not only redundant but is also prone to inaccuracies. This will in no way help the organization.

Opt for full automation

Full automation of the Payroll process is one solution that companies can adopt to deliver the best results. A step higher would be to outsource the entire process to a professional service provider. Such automation packages or service providers utilize inbuilt algorithms that facilitate companies to process payroll with utmost accuracy and also ensure they stay compliant and are up-to-date in all statutory compliance requirements throughout different geographical locations. GetifyHR is one of the leading outsourcers of Payroll processing in the country. Their cloud based application uses the most robust technology available to offer the users a package that not only performs the payroll process but also handles Leave & Attendance, Statutory Compliance and Recruitment.

Strategic Payroll Integration

To ensure higher ROI you need to implement strategic payroll integration. The system offered by professional service providers is a fully automated package that integrates the payroll process with core human resources, time and attendance management, statutory compliance management, and talent acquisition. This helps companies to streamline their payroll process thus saving on costs. GetifyHR provides cloud-based applications that ensure seamless integration of the Payroll process with Statutory Compliance and Employee Leave and Attendance.  Our Bangalore office provides excellent support for this package in this region.

When you integrate payroll you enable companies to comply with all company-specific rules and regulations across locations. This will bring about standardization of the practices thus ensuring greater profit. The earnings, deductions, arrears, bonuses, attendance, and leave get streamlined and are in sync with the business goals of the company.

Manual processing is prone to errors; however, the risk is negligible when you opt for payroll automation or when you outsource the process. This can help you to perform even the most complex tasks with ease and within a short span of time. This enables the company to save time and effort. Where the need is to expand one’s footprint across the country, this is a much-needed transformation. This process need not depend on Excel sheets to calculate manually to arrive at the salaries.

Once all the relevant employee data has been input into the system, the payroll is processed with minimal complexity. This will enable the saving of money and can facilitate a smoother working environment thus optimizing human resources. GetifyHR provides a wholesome package that ensures timely and accurate processes through its technology-enabled cloud-based payroll module. With this you can handle all aspects of payroll processing that includes managing leave and attendance and also the mandatory deductions as per government rules and regulations. We have our office in Hyderabad to support and service our clients in Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.

Ensuring data accessibility

Strategic Payroll integration provides for easy accessibility of data in real-time and also keeps the data secure. Once human resources and payroll systems are successfully integrated, it enables maximizing profits. Moreover, the HR personnel can involve themselves in core business activities rather than be directly involved in the mundane activity of payroll processing. This will also ensure greater growth for the company.

Legacy-based human resource technologies used to be cumbersome as they relied on multiple file types and data sources. A large volume of critical data had to be input for each pay cycle and the further process takes place through another interface. This process requires more time and effort on the part of the HR team and burdened the system. Payroll integration helps to avoid the use of large, redundant databases for the process during each cycle. GetifyHR has seamlessly integrated all modules of Payroll Processing to provide the user with one of the kind solutions that handle all aspects of payroll and human capital management. Our Chennai office is at your call to support and service clients in this region.

The integrated payroll system helps clients to get better control of the payroll process. Providing hassle-free access to the records and increasing transparency is the hallmark of the system. There is scope for greater flexibility and a better understanding of the system paving the way for greater efficiency and accuracy.

The system is especially suited for organizations that have a workforce distributed across different locations in the country. It enables single-window accessibility to data at corporate or regional levels. Payroll integration helps organizations manage the workforce in a timely and secure manner. GetifyHR offers a high-end outsourced solution that provides excellent features that handles the entire gamut of payroll processing with ease.  Apart from generating accurate payslips, you will be able to perfectly manage leave & attendance, and statutory compliance requirements in a seamless manner.  This gives greater control within the organization. You can seek the support of our Delhi office for any issues regarding payroll processing.

Efficient Employee Self-service module

These specialized outsourced payroll packages help the employees across multiple locations to access a highly efficient Employee Self Service module. With the help of this module, the employees can get better access to the required information on the system or their mobiles. This will greatly enhance the transparency and trust within the organization and boost the confidence and morale of employees.

GetifyHR offers a highly efficient ESS module that is in-built within their payroll package.  Our Coimbatore office is always on call to handle any issues regarding payroll and related issues.

Conclusion

Payroll integration brings about business transformation on an enterprise-wide scale without the requirement of any additional investments. It gives the management access to relevant information in real-time at the click of a button. This will, in turn, enable quicker decision-making as all relevant information is at the fingertips.

Payroll integration across multiple locations is an innovation that enables companies to grow exponentially from within. This growth in turn will facilitate the development of an intelligent ecosystem of stakeholders, thus making it easier for companies to show quick results. The improvements can range from entering the market with innovative products, enhancing the services, or driving growth by engaging and retaining customers.

GetifyHR helps organizations to handle payroll and human capital across multiple locations and eye further horizons for growth. This will help the company set bigger goals while still focusing on its core strength – human capital. They have been in the industry for many years and have established a large client base across the country. Their payroll outsourcing module is technology-driven and cloud enhanced for great efficiency and accuracy. An association with GetifyHR is the ideal way to boost your ROI in Human Capital Management.

Payroll processing is a vital business function that requires proper application of mind, human resources, and technology. Human Resources Management professionals consider it a pain as it needs a huge amount of effort and time to successfully maintain this regular process. Surveys have shown that HRs are stressed while handling payroll. Badly managed payroll will bring a lot of employee frustration and the spectre of non-compliance. Both these will seriously affect the growth of the business. Let’s try to understand some of the pains associated with maintaining payroll and the ways to alleviate them.

1.  Being compliant with the Statutory rules and regulations

Being compliant is one of the most important requirements in any business. The statutory rules and regulations have been enacted to provide the best working conditions and support for employees in emergencies and after retirement. The onus is on the business to adhere to these rules and regulations without deviation.

That said, there is also a need to keep in touch with the changes in these rules and regulations when they are implemented.

These rules and regulations keep changing frequently and it is very easy for the HR team to fail in updating the changes. This would create a whole lot of problems for the management as they would have to be ready with their explanation for both the employees and the authorities.

Moreover, failure to update would also entail the imposition of a penalty which could be in the form of imprisonment or fines, or both.

The deductions towards EPF, ESI, and tax payments towards TDS have to be accurately maintained for a problem-free functioning of the organization. This requires a high degree of expertise and alertness to changes in the government rules. The best option is to outsource the entire payroll processing to an experienced service provider. This would enable reducing the pressure on the in-house team. GetifyHR has been providing excellent service from their Coimbatore location to a large number of clients in this region. Their cloud-based payroll processing module uses the latest technology to handle these processes simplistically and seamlessly.

2.  Accurate calculation of salaries

Calculating the employee salaries is a time-consuming and laborious process. The payslips differ from employee to employee and will keep changing from month to month due to various factors. All these aspects have to be implemented meticulously to get error-free payslips. Handling this process manually or through in-house software may not bring in the expected results and would become frustrating for both the management and the employees.

Outsourcing this operation to a service provider would enable error-free generation of the payslips thus avoiding tensions in the workplace. The Chennai branch of GetifyHR has been at the forefront of providing excellent service in this region with its high-end technology-based payroll processing package.

3.  Tracking Time and Attendance

Maintaining the leave entitlement of employees is a tedious task when handled manually or with in-house software. Especially in an organization employing a large workforce with different shifts and leave patterns, this would become more complicated and prone to errors. How do we overcome this problem? Well, the best solution is to outsource the entire payroll process to a qualified and experienced service provider.

This would ensure accurate tracking of time and attendance as these modules rely on the latest tracking technology. The chances of errors are greatly minimized and hence would enable error-free tracking of time and attendance. GetifyHR has been providing this service from their Madurai branch to a large number of satisfied clients.

4.  Maintaining the Payroll data

All payroll records have to be maintained for many years and should be available for retrieval as and when required. Maintaining this voluminous data and retrieving them may become cumbersome over time when handled manually or using in-house software. The best option is to outsource this process to a service provider.

The advantage lies in the technology used by such vendors. Most of them use cloud-based technology and this makes it easier for accessing data from any location. Moreover, it reduces the expenses of the purchase of extra hardware in the organization.

GetifyHR, Tiruchirapalli has been providing excellent service to its clients in this region. Their cloud-based payroll module provides the ideal solution to handle all aspects of payroll processing.

5.  Assists in the administrative process

One of the biggest headaches faced by organizations is in maintaining the administrative process related to employee activities. The HR team that normally handles this process is pushed to the limits in maintaining this process. Undertaking this process manually or through in-house software has a lot of shortcomings.

Organizing all the data and filling out the regular paperwork during each payroll cycle is not an easy task. These shortcomings can be overcome by associating with a qualified and experienced service provider that is capable of handling the complexity simply and seamlessly.

GetifyHR, Vellore has been a top-notch player in this field with their cloud-based payroll module that can handle all these needs with a great deal of simplicity and accuracy.

6.  Data Security and Confidentiality

Data security and confidentiality are vital factors concerning payroll processing. The most vital information about the employees is handled here. Therefore, the onus is on the organization and the HR team to handle the data in a highly secure and confidential manner.

Employees on the other hand expect their vital data to be fully secure and confidential. Any shortcomings here would increase the chance of data getting into the wrong hands. This will cost the company dearly. One of the ideal solutions to maintain a high level of data security and confidentiality is to outsource the payroll process to an experienced service provider. They offer a high degree of data security and confidentiality by way of password protection, access control and secure storage, and adherence to all data security norms.

GetifyHR is one of the top players in payroll process outsourcing with a huge number of clients throughout the country. They bring in vast experience and use of the latest technology to provide their clients with a sophisticated package that handles all aspects of payroll processing with simplicity. All their modules are seamlessly integrated so that the required information is available in real-time.

Conclusion

The pain points of payroll processing as briefed above can be overcome by outsourcing to a qualified and experienced service provider. The package that they offer makes use of high-end technology and is cloud-based. The solution that they offer not only ensures strict compliance with the statutory rules and regulations but also provides the user with a highly integrated module that can provide the required information at the click of a button.

GetifyHR, with its highly sophisticated, cloud-based package provides a stable platform to handle all aspects of payroll processing with a great deal of simplicity and in a user-friendly manner. Associating with GetifyHR is associating with the best in the industry.

Introduction

HR’s across industries have to be on their toes to effectively navigate and manage employee leave. Many a HR’s have been frustrated by the complexity of this task and this has adversely affected the performance of the company. However, you can overcome every challenge by using the right services. In this article, we shall address the ways by which you can overcome this frustrating problem for the better functioning of the company and its employees.

Before we go into the ways by which you can overcome the problems, let’s take a look at a few challenges in navigating and maintaining your leave management.

Challenge I – Tracking Employee Leave

Keeping track of your employees leave is one of the biggest challenges faced by an employer. In most cases, this is handled by using Spreadsheets or full-fledged Leave management software. Both these methods have their inherent disadvantages. Errors do creep in and this gives out inaccurate results.

When this happens it has a negative impact on the relationship between the employee and employer and this would adversely affect the business in the long run.

Challenge II – Employee Scheduling

HR’s has to have the full picture of employee scheduling to be in a position to allot leave. This may not be possible when using spreadsheets or even custom-built leave management software. This is true, especially in businesses that have a large volume of employees on their payroll. When there is confusion in scheduling it gets reflected in the allotment of leave and this would negatively affect the workplace. Effective leave scheduling will reduce the problem and this can be achieved only when you have an efficient leave management program in place.

Challenge III – Lack of clear Leave Policy

Having a clear leave policy is a must in handling leave more accurately and effectively. The Leave Policy of the company has to be properly framed as per the work culture of the company.

Once you establish a proper leave policy, you will be able to handle the leave of employees in an efficient and non-discriminatory manner. Once this system is in place, all the issues relating to employee leave will get simplified and effort-free.

Challenge IV – Inaccuracies in the Payroll

When you have a payroll system that is prone to errors, this is reflected in the leave records of employees.

When this happens, the HR team and the employees are affected. The HR team is hard-pressed to identify the actual leave status of the employees and the employees are troubled by the inaccurate marking of leave. This leaves them both frustrated and overall it affects the functioning of the company.

These challenges can be overcome by following the tips briefed hereunder.

1.  Formulate a clear Leave Policy

This is one of the first tasks you have to do when you plan your leave management. You have to outline the leave policies for your employees. This will be based on the work culture followed by the company.

The leave policy should have guidelines that clearly set out the entitlement of leave to its employees.

The leave policy should include:

– The list of official holidays

– The types of leave available to the employees

– The leave that can be accrued and carried forward

– The leave that lapses at the end of the year

– The leave that is paid time off or not

– All other leave benefits.

2.  Be aware of the laws about leave

Companies have to be aware of the laws about leave. This may differ from state to state. All the policies that you frame must fully comply with these laws. We live in a country with a diversity of religion, language, caste, community. We should take care to see that our policies are applied consistently without showing any discrimination against any of the employees. The HR team should be fully aware of these policies so that they can handle leave consistently without discrimination.

3.  Communicate these policies to your employees

Formulating a leave policy is the first step but if the employees are not aware of it, it becomes meaningless. You have to communicate these policies to all the employees within the company. This will give the employees a clear picture of their leave entitlement and their rights. To achieve this, the HR team should be fully aware of these policies and be in a position to communicate them to all the employees

4.  Get a fully automated Leave Management System

A fully automated Leave management System is one of the solutions to overcome all these challenges. Your choice of a system that can handle the inherent complexities of leave management should be perfect as otherwise, you will land yourself in more trouble.

Select a system that can fully update leave entitlement and balances on a real-time basis. This system should have the following features.

– Fully automated system

– User friendly

– Provide relevant employee-related reports and analysis

– Track the entire performance of each employee

– Be capable of handling employees across multiple locations

– Track leave and accrual details of each employee

– Address all compliance issues.

– Take care of data security and integrity

Conclusion

A Leave Management System that can handle the requirement of the company is not the only choice available. Companies can look forward to outsourcing the entire Payroll Process to an external agency. This by far is the most ideal choice as you have to look to only one agency to get all your processing done under the expert guidance of a single source. This would in effect enable the handling of Payroll Processing, Attendance and Leave Management, Statutory Compliance issues, and Recruitment. These systems are fully integrated and automated so that every entry gets reflected in all the relevant modules. In this way, you can avoid multiple entries.

GetifyHR, one of the leading outsources of Payroll Processing provides a cloud-based system that makes use of the most advanced technology. Their system is fully automated and integrated and offers a seamless operation that can handle Payroll Processing, Attendance and Leave management, Statutory Compliance issues, and Recruitment. They specialize in meeting the most stringent requirements in Payroll Processing and offer their clients high-end services at all times.

Employee happiness is of paramount importance for the growth of a company. Happy employees contribute to higher productivity and this positively affects the growth of the company. When employees are unhappy they become unmotivated and this has an adverse effect on the growth of the company.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the world into a deep crisis and slowly economies are recovering and stabilizing. The workplace has taken a serious hit forcing companies to seek alternative work arrangements. Thus work from home has become the new norm. Whatever may be the situation, keeping the employees happy and productive is vital for the growth of the company.

Why is employee happiness important?

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi. This is so very true of every workplace.

When the employees are happy, the workplace enlivens and becomes a place of harmony. Studies have shown that employees tend to perform better and make the right decisions when they are in a harmonious environment. A happy environment creates greater morale and this reflects on the performance of the employees. On the other hand, in a stressed and anxiety filled  workplace you can see the employees getting distracted and erring in the decision-making. Happy employees take decisions after careful thought.

When employees are happy, there are lesser chances of them quitting the job than when they are unhappy. In other words, employer retention is affected when employees are unhappy. This will create a faster turnover of employees, forcing you to keep hiring new employees instead of focusing on the existing workplace.

Happiness is an infectious emotion and is, therefore, likely to spread throughout the team. This will have a positive effect on the entire team and will boost the relationship among the employees. Happiness will increase the energy levels of the team and lead to better performance.

In general, happy employees are more loyal and committed to the company and help to motivate their colleagues to perform better. This would lead to greater productivity.

How to Keep Employees Happy and increase Productivity?

There are different ways to keep your employees happy and productive. In this article, we will look at 8 effective ways to keep your employees happy and productive.

1.  Create a flexible work environment

A flexible work schedule creates a vibrant workplace. When employees enjoy great flexibility at work, they are able to properly balance between their professional and personal lives.

The freedom to work in such an environment will lead to greater happiness and this, in turn, enhances productivity. The advantage of flexible work schedules is that employees are less stressed and more refreshed to perform their duties. This creates a happy work atmosphere.

2.  Provide for greater Career Mobility

Most employees look for career growth and lack of career mobility will discourage them from putting their best efforts at the workplace. The workplace should be a place that encourages career growth. If employees feel that their efforts will not enable them to move up the ladder, they may become demotivated.  This will force them to look for better opportunities elsewhere. No employee would be happy at a job that does not provide career growth.

Therefore, providing better opportunities for career growth is very important for most employees.  When you provide this opportunity they will work with greater freedom, take risks, come up with new ideas, seek the support of their mentors, and sharpen their skills to move up the ladder.

3.  Appreciate Employees and Reward them for their hard work

The hard work put in by an employee or their achievements have to be recognized and appreciated with a reward.  Whether big or small, the skills of an employee have to be appreciated and rewarded. This creates a sense of being wanted and motivates the employees to strive harder.

The appreciation can be handled in different ways:

– Have regular meetings to recognize and appreciate performers

– Hold reward functions to recognize this achievement

– Instruct Managers to recognize achievers irrespective of their ranks

– Team meetings should be a forum to recognize such achievers

4.  Enhance the Benefits to employees

This is a very effective way to keep the employees happy. When you instill the feeling that the company cares for its employees, they are more likely to feel comfortable and become productive. Serious thought has to be given to decide on the benefits that accrue to an employee. A strong communication has to be built with the employees to arrive at a benefit package that is comprehensive and beneficial to all employees. You can communicate with employees, hold surveys, get regular feedback and finally arrive at a benefit package that is wholesome and accepted by the employees.

5.  Don’t overwork the employees

This is very important. When you overwork your employees, you are inviting a stressful environment. Managers may find it easy to instruct their workers to stay late or skip lunch/dinner or eat at the desk to save time to complete a project. This is a counter-productive practice that would push the worker towards burnout.

So, what should you do?  The best solution is to encourage your employee to take a break from the work schedule. Managers may not accept this as they value time spent in the office as a measure of a job well done. But then if you need to create a happy workplace, you need to make such changes.

These breaks could include:

– Having a chat with a colleague

– Going out for a small walk

– Going out to the canteen for a bite.

Allowing frequent breaks may not be a good idea to follow. However, these breaks provide greater breathing space to the employees and this will refresh them and help them to work smarter and harder.  Productivity may increase due to such a change.

6.  Don’t micro-manage your employees

Micro-managing your employees will have a negative effect on their performance. No one likes to have someone keeping constant tabs on the progress of the work. Employees should be allowed to work at their own pace without constant prompting from the higher-ups. By doing so you indicate that you have no confidence in the ability of the employee to complete the task.

This will greatly demoralize the employee and ultimately productivity will suffer. When you show that you have full confidence in the ability of the employee to complete the task, you will get better results.

7.  Have a balanced work-home life

A balanced work-home life situation is primary for employee happiness. This is a very important factor in maintaining a healthy work environment.  Work-home life balance is the time one spends in the workplace and outside of work, at home with family.  This balance is crucial if you are to build a healthy environment and keep your employees happy.

Employees may experience continuous stress at the workplace and this may lead to health issues that affect the digestive system, induce psychosomatic pains, or even heart problems. This may affect the mental health of the employee in the form of depression, insomnia, or anxiety. The final verdict is burnout and when this happens employees may exhibit symptoms of fatigue, irritability, and mood swings. Burnouts do not affect the employee alone; it affects the entire team and consequently the working of the company. This may prove costly for the employee and employer by way of healthcare spending. So one area that you have to give top priority is the work-home life balance.

The imbalance in work-home life balance is contributed by:

1. Longer working days
2. Additional overtime hours.

You can off-set this can by instilling a comfortable work-home life balance within your company. You can try these options to better the situation:

– Create working hours that are highly flexible

– Measure the progress of projects not by the hours spent by employees but by actual completion of the project schedules

– Conduct a regular review to understand the workload of employees and how they are managing it

– Plan time-off policies to allow employees to de-stress

These activities will enable the employer to release the pressure of the job and contribute positively towards production.

8.  Pay salaries to employees promptly and accurately

This is a vital factor that contributes to the happiness of employees.  The most important driving force for an employee is the salary that he or she takes home and they expect this to paid to them as per schedule and without any mistakes.

Mistakes can happen not only in calculating the take home salary but also in calculating the contribution towards funds like EPF & ESI and deductions towards IT and Professional Tax.  Any inaccuracies here will have its effect on both the employees and the employer.  This would create ill-will and also put the company at loggerheads with the government bodies.  This is a sure way to create unhappiness and unpleasantness in the relationship between the employee and employer.

You can overcome this problem in two ways.  One, you can get access to a highly efficient software that can handle Payroll and Statutory Compliance in-house or two, outsource the entire payroll processing operations to an external agency.  Outsourcing the payroll to an external agency is by far the most ideal solution as it not only enables the company to disburse salaries promptly and accurately but will also handle all statutory compliance issues most efficiently and keep the company compliant, always.

By outsourcing you can:

• Save time and money
• Free your HR team from the mundane task of payroll processing and allow them to focus more on core business activities
• Generate payslips and other statutory reports with a great degree of accuracy
• Keep the company compliant of all the statutory requirements, always.

Conclusion

Companies can create happiness in the workplace by following these tips. The positivity that it creates will contribute greatly to the growth of the company. When the employees are happy they become more motivated and loyal and this, in turn, enhances their creativity and skills. The happiness of the employees is definitely the key to the growth of the company.

These 8 tips or ways to keep your employees happy and productive are all very important in varying degrees.  However, you can implement the 8^th tip only when you associate with an efficient and highly experienced outsourcer.  GetifyHR is one of the leading outsourcers of payroll processing in this region.  Their cloud-based, technology driven high-end modules offer a single point solution for all your Payroll, Statutory requirements and Employee related activities.  All their modules are seamlessly integrated and are capable of handling these operations in a simplified manner.