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3 Cybersecurity Trends: Greater and Wider Threats

Business leaders say cyberattacks are one of the most worrisome risks their organizations face, and it’s something companies of every size must deal with. A 2014 report by McKinsey and the World Economic Forum said that more than half of executives called cybersecurity a strategic risk for their companies. Proper security training and procedures can help, but oftentimes a company’s most vulnerable spot is its people. “On many occasions these attacks succeed because employees haven’t been properly trained to recognize and avoid suspicious links or email attachments,” says Adnan Raja of Atlantic.net, a global hosting provider. Here are some of the top cybersecurity trends businesses are facing. 1. Ransomware Is Increasingly Popular Ransomware is software that locks users’ computers and demands a payment for unlocking. The high-profile WannaCry version hit hundreds of thousands of computers in mid-May, disrupting business and communications around the world. The proliferation of ransomware kits has …

The Commute, Not the Job, May Cause Burnout

The term burnout, which describes a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress, is most often associated with a person’s job — but there may be another work-related trigger. A 2015 study from the University of Montreal found that workers who commute to their workplace every day, especially if the trip between home and the office is longer than 20 minutes, can have an increased risk for burnout. Annie Barreck of the University of Montreal’s School of Industrial Relations studied commuting patterns in rural and urban regions of Quebec. She analyzed a survey of almost 2,000 commuters between the ages of 17 and 69 who worked at 63 organizations to find out how they got to work — whether they drove a car, took a subway or bus, or walked or rode a bike. She also documented how long the trek from home to …

What HR Leaders Should Know About Encouraging Recognition

What are workers’ current attitudes concerning recognition and appreciation from their employers? And how important are these perspectives as driving factors behind employee engagement, job satisfaction and the motivation levels of the U.S. workforce? To answer these questions and compile benchmarks for successful employee recognition strategies, Globoforce® , an international provider of employee recognition solutions, conducts a semi-annual Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker survey. The survey delves into how often and in what ways employees are being recognized and how they feel about their jobs, the recognition they receive and their company’s culture. Survey data found a significant uptick in the importance of recognition over the previous year with an increasing number of organizations treating recognition as a critical way of engaging and unifying their global workforce as well as managing and growing their culture. Overall, more companies have recognition programs than a year ago (65% compared to 51% in late 2011). …

Onboarding Strategies Benefit Employers and Help New Employees Succeed

With the emphasis on growth and recovery in the current economic climate, strategies that help manage costs, increase productivity and retain employees are obviously important to an organization’s success. But one process that can help in all of these areas is sometimes under-utilized – onboarding. The term refers to the ways in which employers help new hires become engaged employees who are contributing to the company as quickly and efficiently as possible. While it may sound like simple common sense to welcome new workers, show them around and encourage them to ask questions, the specific approaches and tools an organization uses to facilitate the onboarding process can have a profound impact on the future of both new employees and employers. “‘You only get one chance to make a first impression’ is perhaps the most used phrase to introduce the concept of new employee onboarding. With onboarding, the initial experience with …

5 Ways to Retain High-Potential Millennials

The millennial generation is generally seen as people born between 1980 and the late 1990s, with some gradation on either side. The older ones have been in the workforce for a few years, and more are graduating from high school and college every year. They are tech savvy and flexible, but sometimes get a bad reputation for not feeling loyalty to a company, or for job-hopping too much. As more companies hire millennials, it’s important for HR managers to be familiar with retaining them. Here are 5 ways to retain high-potential millennial employees. 1. Provide Work-Life Flexibility A 2012 PricewaterhouseCoopers study done with the University of Southern California and the London School of Business found that 71% of millennials at PwC think work demands interfere with their personal lives. “They do want flexible hours, but not so they can screw around,” says Lisa Orrell, a San Jose, Calif.-based leadership coach, author …

Category Archives: SmartOffice

3 Cybersecurity Trends: Greater and Wider Threats

The Commute, Not the Job, May Cause Burnout

What HR Leaders Should Know About Encouraging Recognition

Onboarding Strategies Benefit Employers and Help New Employees Succeed

5 Ways to Retain High-Potential Millennials

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