Managing Remote Teams: How To Do It Like A Pro

February 26, 2021

You’re an entrepreneur or a business owner in general and you’re doing your absolute best. It’s been difficult in the last year, but you’re finally at a point where you are – or are about to be – managing a team. In a trend representative of the times and of growing popularity worldwide regardless, it’ll be all done remotely. Working from home will be standard.

You know that it’s difficult to keep people motivated at the best of times and you’re concerned about the wellbeing of your employees as they push through the months ahead while working remotely. What can you do to make things better? What tricks work and what don’t? What can you do on a budget?

Why, let’s take a look!

Understanding isolation

While we’re still amidst the present crisis, polls on how the workplace has reacted have started to come in. We’ve seen reports pinning as many as 55% of businesses planning to increase the amount of availability of remote working in 2021 and beyond. With the catalyst of the pandemic forcing people to work remotely, many companies will now be adopting a more flexible culture once things are ‘back to normal’.

And this isn’t all good. Isolation affects people differently, but it does so by tending to leave a person with the worst of themselves. Insecurities, bad habits and past or present addictions are all able to thrive more readily the more a person is cut off from regular contact with friends, peers and loved ones.

Because of this, it’s simply important for managers to first prioritise a sincere and continuing dialogue with their employees. It’s important to go a little deeper than you would have previously, doing your best to genuinely be there for the people you manage and work with.

Avoid micromanagement

One of the harder things managers have reported as embracing in remote teams is uncertainty. With so little oversight on their employees compared to working in an office, the mind can get to racing and worries about productivity can blossom.

The truth? Your teams will work consistently and they’re likely to get the job done. The key for managers to secure this result during the pandemic is to ensure they are there for their teams’ wellbeing, communicating with them regularly enough to make them comfortable and ready to continue work.

Ultimately, it’s about having confidence. And managers will find that if they are willing to give their team more of that, they’ll be rewarded in results and loyalty.

Embrace coaching

One trend in styles we’ve seen emerge during recent months is that of a more coaching-oriented management approach. Instead of guiding an employee strictly through their day and mandating specific productivity KPIs regularly, results have been observed in companies whose managers adopt a style that is focussed on empowering staff to get results alone. The key to this method is an approachable manager with a decent and regular engagement level with their teams – important in making them comfortable enough to come to the manager when they need help.

Coaching is a real opportunity to turn regular working time into an opportunity to develop your staff and their skills in a focussed manner. It can also help with productivity, wellbeing and staff retention by allowing them to uncover skills and goals that make them more engaged with their work – and happier with their environment.

You’ve got this!

If you’re a manager looking to do their best in the months ahead, we commend you. It’s daunting, worthwhile and valuable to be a leader for others – especially during tricky times. The Idea Financial team, who are here to help businesses secure a line of credit when they’re in need, wish you well.

Go to top

What Traits Do Successful Business Leaders Have In Common?

February 26, 2021

There’s no single formula that defines whether or not someone can be a successful business leader. However, many of the people at the top of their game do share certain traits that make them good at what they do.

If you’re hoping to emulate these leaders, you might want to consider adopting some of these qualities yourself.

Self-Awareness

Nobody’s perfect, and that includes the world’s most successful business leaders. While it might seem like nothing could touch them, they all have their weaknesses. What makes a lot of them stand out, though, is the fact that they’re aware of this and take the necessary actions to counteract them.

Self-awareness is an excellent trait to have because it helps you identify your strengths and limitations, and then work within those boundaries. Business leaders with this quality will hire those who succeed where they falter because this counteracts their weaknesses. That way, there’s always someone who can make up for their pitfalls, thereby covering all bases.

This isn’t to say that all business leaders are perfectly self-aware, especially as the prevalence of this trait is quite rare. However, the best out there are often willing to learn and improve because they understand its importance.

Philanthropic

Selflessness is a good trait for any person to have. It shows that you put value on other people’s lives, which can make them more inclined to take an interest in you.

For business leaders, this selflessness is often demonstrated in their philanthropic endeavours. Plenty of success stories like Tej Kohli, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates have all invested a lot of money into charitable organisations with the aim of helping the planet and its inhabitants. Tej Kohli, for instance, has done a great deal for treating poverty blindness, while the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been enhancing healthcare for years now.

Self-Control

What good is a business leader who reacts poorly under pressure or doesn’t take the time to think things through? There’s a reason that most successful people in this position don’t act this way, and that’s because they understand the value of self-control.

When you’re able to keep calm and focus, no matter what situation you’re in, you tend to find the best solutions more often than not. You don’t typically opt for quick fixes or fly off the handle because you know these will only make things worse. Instead, you take a step back and evaluate things thoroughly, never letting your emotions dictate what you say or do. These traits are exactly what executive recruiting firms look for in potential leadership roles.

Authenticity

In a world where angry people on social media can destroy a career, you have to be careful about how you behave. Treat people poorly and lie through your teeth, and eventually, it’ll come back to bite you.

That’s why many successful business leaders nowadays are often authentic and honest. They treat their employees with respect and act in the office the same way as they do in the media. Given that authentic leadership is believed to have a substantial impact on overall job satisfaction, it’s no wonder that employees celebrate those who have this quality. Plus, it’s not like leaders can afford to have their reputation tarnished in this current climate, especially not if they rely on investors.

You don’t have to be a carbon copy of the business leaders you admire if you want to succeed. However, it certainly pays to have these traits if you’re going to be at the top of your game.

Go to top

Is the Gender Pay Gap Real?

February 26, 2021

While it’s universally acknowledged women are paid less than men, there are a number of differing thoughts on why it happens. What’s more, some pundits have stated that doesn’t necessarily mean the gender pay gap really exists.

So, where does the truth lie?

Is the gender pay gap real?

Let’s take a look.

What is the Gender Pay Gap?

Simply put, the gender pay gap is the difference in pay between women and men. While there are many different ways to calculate the disparity, there does appear to be unanimity. Women are largely paid less than men.

Moreover, women of color experience an even broader gulf in compensation for their work. According to Census Bureau statistics, women earn on average 18 cents less than men. However, when broken down by ethnicity, it’s an average of 10 cents less for Asian women, 21 cents less for Caucasian women, 38 cents less for African American women, 43 cents for Indigenous women and 46 cents for Latinas.

However, some say looking at the numbers alone misses the point.

Why is it Disputed?

In a 2016 article for Forbes entitled, Don’t Buy into the Gender Gap Myth, Karin Agness Lips asserted the notion of the gender pay gap was nothing more than statistical manipulation designed to convince women they’re being victimized by discrimination.

She said the data fails to account for the different choices men and women make in terms of education and experience, as well as the number of hours worked by each gender.

To bolster her position, Ms. Lips quoted author Hanna Rosin as having stated the fact that statistics show women’s earnings are a certain percentage less than men’s, does not mean they are making a corresponding amount less for doing the same work. One must be careful to perform exact comparisons, lest the result be skewed.

On the Other Hand

Four years later, also in Forbes, in an article entitled On Equal Pay Day, What Is The Real Gender Pay Gap? Kim Elesser said while those choices do matter, that logic doesn’t hold up. Ms. Elesser’s position is that such comparisons ignore the role societal gender bias plays in women’s career choices, promotions and childcare.

In other words, simply running the numbers and saying, “it’s because men and women do different work,” fails to take into account the differences in opportunities for men and women. These can constrain the choices women can make before they ever negotiate a salary offer with an employer.

She says the only true way to accurately measure is to run a gender pay gap analysis in which an organization’s average male worker’s salary is measured against the average female’s. Where there is a discrepancy, there is also the likelihood of bias.

So, Who’s Right?

Whatever the cause, the gender pay gap is very real.

Moreover, it affects us all in a number of different ways. In households in which women are the sole breadwinner, or contribute significantly to the household income, the likelihood of poverty is greater because women are paid less. In fact, 56 percent of children living in poverty live in households headed by women.

When it comes to Social Security benefits, the pay gap means women receive lower payments each month. It also means they had less money to put toward retirement plans, so their post-career choices are often more restrictive than those of their male counterparts. As a result, more than twice as many women over the age of 65 live in poverty than men.

One more thing, closing the gender pay gap would add some $512 billion to the nation’s GDP.

So yes, the gender pay gap is very real — and we all suffer because of it.

Go to top

The Government has cancelled its review of workers’ rights – what does this mean for UK employment law after Brexit?

February 26, 2021

By Pia Sanchez

On 14 January 2021, barely 2 weeks after the UK and the EU signed the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) that covers the terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, the media reported that the UK government planned to ‘tear up’ EU employment law protections and that it had already started consulting with some business leaders. This was fiercely criticised by trade unions and opposition figures, which led to the Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, to confirm a week later that the review of employment rights would no longer take place. We can therefore assume no changes will be introduced, at least in the short-term.

The UK’s scope to reform employment law legislation post Brexit is fairly limited under the terms agreed under TCA in any event. The TCA specifically covers social and labour protections, setting an expectation that neither party will digress much in its legislation from the other.

The TCA contains a “non-regression” clause such that neither party can weaken or reduce its levels of social and labour protection below the levels in place at the end of the transition period (31 December 2020) in a manner that would affect trade or investment between the parties. The agreement is clear that it will also include a party failing to effectively enforce its law and standards. The purpose is to ensure that neither party waters down protections to undercut the other.

The UK will have some discretion to make minor amendments to employment law, but it is unlikely that Brussels will tolerate much deviation. Any dispute that threatens to affect “trade and investment” will be subject to the dispute resolution mechanism set out in the TCA – how this will be interpreted and evidenced in future remains to be seen. The government’s January announcement may have been an attempt to test the waters and used to appease calls within the Conservative party for the UK to show more independence from the EU.

Under the TCA, EU Directives and EU derived legislation in existence up to 31 December 2020 will continue to be retained by the UK. Decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) as at that date will also be binding. Employment tribunals will therefore continue to apply existing EU case law and to read domestic legislation in line with EU law. The UK Court of Appeal and Supreme Court will however be entitled to depart from CJEU decisions “if it seems right to do so”. In practice, we should expect little departure by the UK courts as any major departure risks breaching the non-regression clause and may lead to protracted appeals in cases.

In terms of future legislation, the UK will not be expected to transpose future EU Directives into domestic legislation. The non-regression clause includes a requirement for both the UK and the EU to strive to increase employment law protections, creating the expectation that the parties’ legislation will evolve in parallel with each other to avoid major differences. It will be interesting to see the approach adopted by the UK in future, particularly with new EU Directives in the pipeline.

What changes can we expect in future?

As part of its January announcement to review employment rights, the government had been expected to target the Working Time Regulations 1998 which serves to implement into domestic law the EU Working Time Directive. This Directive remains binding on the UK and it sets minimum standards on working practices such as rest breaks, weekly working hours and holiday pay.

Employer and employees alike would welcome greater clarity and a simpler system for calculating holiday pay and clear rules for the carry-over of holiday entitlement.

In recent years, case law interpreting the Directive has led to cumbersome requirements for employers. For example, a requirement that employers must keep detailed logs of their workers’ working time – an obligation which is often not followed by UK employers nor subject to strict enforcement. Holiday pay and how this should be calculated if workers receive additional pay entitlements such as allowances, commission payments and overtime pay is another area riddled with complexity. Employer and employees alike would welcome greater clarity and a simpler system for calculating holiday pay and clear rules for the carry-over of holiday entitlement.

Less popular would be a proposal to remove the average weekly 48-hour limit. Employees in certain sectors already “opt out” of this as part of their employment contracts, but the limit remains applicable in the vast majority of workers’ contracts.

A study by NordVPN Teams, suggests that since March 2020, UK home workers have increased their working week by almost 25% staying logged on to their computers for an average 11 hours a day compared to 9 before the pandemic started. New legislation could be introduced to protect workers and bolster existing rights, for example, to ensure that home workers can request adequate rest breaks, have a right to “clock off” from work after completing their contracted working hours, without an expectation that they should continue to check emails after hours and be contactable. A review could also include an evaluation of the adequacy of the current body of health and safety legislation to protect the wellbeing of home workers.

Collective consultation obligations applicable in redundancy situations is likely to be a target for reform. Many believe that collective consultation obligations should be triggered only when a higher number of employees are affected – a proposal unlikely to be welcomed by trade unions.

TUPE legislation (applicable when there is a transfer of the ownership of a business) may also be reviewed. Employers have long complained of the difficulties caused by the legislation’s prohibition to harmonise terms and conditions of employment if changes are related to the transfer – these are rendered null and void.

Other possible changes may include the reform to The Agency Worker Regulations 2010 – perceived to be cumbersome by employers, and a cap on discrimination awards similar to the cap that applies to unfair dismissal cases.

With unemployment figures already reaching 5% affecting 1.72 million people and expected to rise by 7.7% by the Bank of England by the middle of 2021 when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) comes to an end, any substantial reform that is perceived to water down workers’ rights is likely to prove extremely unpopular.

Calls to provide greater protection those highlighted to be the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as those with underlying health conditions, women, parents with caring responsibilities -who are most likely to be selected for redundancy, workers on zero hours and in the ‘gig’ economy must form part of any review to improve social and labour provisions in the current climate. An improvement to the working conditions of those who fall in these categories falls squarely under the TCA’s non-regression clause which requires the UK to strive to improve social and labour conditions.

Go to top

About the Author

Pia Sanchez is a Senior Consultant at CM Murray specialising in employment and partnership law. Pia advises multinationals, law firms, financial institutions and senior executives on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious HR issues, frequently with a cross-border element. Pia is a bilingual Spanish speaker, named ‘Consultant Lawyer’ by the Mexican Government to advise its diplomatic mission in the UK.

A Brief Look at Why the Not So Quick, Not So Rich Path to Success Works for Most People

February 25, 2021

You are familiar with schemes that suggest a person can become wealthy without much by way of process. We call it a get rich quick scheme. And such ideas are universally rejected as scams. One way you can recognize a scam without even knowing the details is by evaluating how little output and effort it requires to get the promised result of great wealth. If the effort is too small, the resources too little, and the reward too great, it’s a scam. Run away!

Effort, investment, and wealth make up a classic “three things” conundrum. You have to pick two. You can get rich quickly, but it isn’t easy. You can get rich easily, but not quickly. Or you can go the quick and easy route, but not get rich. This is why the compromise of hard work, but not too hard, paired with investment, but not too much investment, gets you financially stable, even comfortable, but not rich. We call it the middle class. Put a little more time or investment into the mix and you can get to wealth. You just have to decide how much wealth you are after. Here are a few things to consider if you want to do better than average:

Risk

The stock market is a great place to learn how money works. It is also a great place to learn how to leverage risk and reward. You don’t have to be wealthy to participate in the markets. You might find it helpful to start with penny stock news. Information is the key to sound investing. You can strike it big with only a moderate investment of money. But you still need to put in the effort. Most of that effort comes in the form of research.

Striking it big is an allusion to finding gold. Relatively few people got rich that way. Most didn’t put in the research to know where to dig. Others didn’t invest in the necessary equipment and manpower to make it happen. They were willing to risk a lot for an uncertain and statistically improbable reward. Don’t allow the bulk of your investments to fall in the category of the statistically improbable. Investing isn’t gambling. It is leveraging information, effort, and resources for maximum efficiency in performance. Start with information and you will have a better chance of ending with reward.

Education

Whether it be in finance or the arts, education is the best gift you can give your child. It is also one of the best methods available to speed up the get rich equation. A great education takes time. So you can’t get rich quickly and have a complete education. Take the time to learn what you need to know, and you will have a fighting chance at whatever you desire.

Great wealth is not even the goal for most people. The path of an educator is not great wealth, but life satisfaction. Some would say that is more valuable than material wealth. Whatever profession you decide to follow, it is certain that you will make more money when you take the time to maximize your education.

Buying Happiness

It sounds weird. But money actually can buy happiness. Just try getting rid of all your resources a little at a time. You will notice yourself getting less happy by the day. The real question is how much does happiness cost. There has been a lot of research in this area. What we learn is that happiness can be measured in time as well as money.

People found that things like not having to do chores were worth about $18,000. It is a way of expressing time-affluent activities in terms of money. Would you rather have an extra $4,000, or an extra week of vacation? Happiness is not always about the pursuit of more money. It is about the things that are more important than money that money can help you achieve. You need enough money for those things, and little more. At some point, the pursuit of money detracts from the things that really matter to you and make you the happiest.

Getting rich quick isn’t all it is cracked up to be, even if you could do it. Take things a little slower and you can do a better job balancing risk vs. reward. Complete your education and ensure you can do work that is meaningful to you. And evaluate what makes you truly happy so you don’t let the pursuit of more money decrease your ultimate joy. There is a reason they say slow and steady wins the race.

Go to top

How To Upgrade Your IT Infrastructure & When Should You Do it

February 25, 2021

Adding a virtual server, Hyper-Converged Infrastructure, or cloud service can be viable options for an IT infrastructure upgrade.

A business that focuses entirely on IT-based works or services needs a timely upgrade to keep up with today’s fast-paced companies.

Most companies stick to their outdated, slow IT technologies. Therefore, they cannot satisfy customer needs & eventually lose potential clients. If you haven’t changed outdated networks, use slow-paced networks, you are still in the Bronze Age. Within a few years, the number of online devices will exceed the earth’s total human population.

So if you aim to beat your competition & provide the best user-friendly services to the customers, upgrading your IT infrastructure is of optimum importance.

Signs That Tell You That You Need An Upgrade

Stats show that, on average, most IT companies spend most of their time maintaining service quality rather than working on innovating. That happens when you use backdated, old, slow-paced networks.

The following signs are the red flags that tell you to take a look at your IT infrastructure-

1. Backdated Software

Software is the oil that keeps your IT infrastructure running. If you still like to stick to the saying, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” then that’s not going to work.

An almost dead software is too slow & puts your entire system at risk. You can never tell when the software will shut down as it is approaching its end.

So, update your software’s security patches regularly & if it’s closing to the end of life, upgrade it. Using up-to-date software can guarantee you improved productivity & better cybersecurity. By minimizing the long-term costs, you can achieve better efficiency. Moreover, the employees can enjoy hassle-free service.

You can hire professionals like Real Computer Solutions to upgrade your software and provide many other services like software and IT management, development, and maintenance. You can visit https://www.realcomputersolutions.com to know more about their services.

2. Slow System

Nothing is more frustrating than seeing the loading sign blinking for eternity on your computer’s screen. A slow system is worse than a nuisance. It affects your employees’ productivity & willingness badly.

Moreover, the whole company comes to a standstill, not to mention your service’s image to the clients.

If you regularly face slow system issues, the problem is severe & needs immediate attention. However, the underlying issues can be storage shortage, limited bandwidth, or low processing power.

3. Regular Server Crashing

If you experience server crashing issues more randomly, it’s a red flag. The problem may be more severe than you think. The primary reasons for server crashing are low airflow to the server room, low processing power, or storage shortage.

In the worst-case scenario, your server may get attacked by malware infection or corrupted disks. If the server remains down for a while, your business can be affected badly.

4. No Cloud Service

In today’s fast-paced IT industry, the importance of cloud service is known to everyone. If your company isn’t using cloud computing, you are lagging in the IT sector’s revolution.

With the assurance of higher collaboration, scalability & flexibility, cloud computing can keep all your employees on the same software level.

Migrating to the cloud service will help the employees achieve flexibility, improved collaboration with others & overall consistency. Cloud service increases processing power & storage facilities, too.

5. No Reliable Backups

A reliable backup is pivotal for conducting any IT-based business. Sadly, most companies do not pay attention to a solid backup plan.

That said, in terms of emergency or breach, your company may get destroyed. With no solid recovery plan or backup, you may suffer from vital data loss & in large quantities.

That said, investing in a solid backup is important. Implementing a system for data recovery & establishing that process is crucial. Cloud hosting can be a viable option in this regard.

6. IT Solutions Cost Too Much

The older the technology, the more the cost for the upgrade & repair. This situation is more like the nickel & dime effect as costs build up alarmingly over the long haul.

However, your cost shouldn’t balloon out of control just to make sure your technology is up & running.

Instead of using the stopgap strategy to address the issues close to hand, focus on the existing technology’s long-term upgrade.

7. System Breach

It is the final & the worst-case scenario that reminds you to upgrade the infrastructure. No matter how minor the breach is, it’s a reminder of your service’s vulnerabilities.

That said, you should do a complete upgrading of the technology, starting from changing your old hardware, updating security and software, and implementing a devops platform as a service to better manage cloud infrastructure.

System breach can affect your reputation badly. So, take caution of the situation before it happens.

Possible Solutions To Updating Your IT Infrastructure

If you want to upgrade the pre-existing IT infrastructure, the methods discussed here can come in handy:

1. Adopting Virtual Server

Server virtualization is an excellent deal if you want to transfer to a new platform of data analyzing, sorting & sharing. Surprisingly, making this recent transition move is relatively easy & straightforward.

However, you also have to consider the limitations too. Sometimes it becomes tough to make changes & accommodate accordingly in comparison to the traditional infrastructure.

2. Hyper-Converged Infrastructure

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) is one of the most recent technologies for updating IT infrastructure. Here you move on from hardware-based services & adopt new form factor node technologies.

These small nodes work as storage providers to RAM, CPU & Storage with little complexity. However, to avail of this service, you need to give up the traditional infrastructure. HCI also offers many intricate services like disaster data recovery, reduplication & backup.

But this method isn’t flawless either. You become dependent on one sole provider for such services as this technology is still developing & uncommon. That said, it raises substantial financial risks.

3. Cloud Computing Services

As mentioned earlier, cloud computing services can be a viable option. It mitigates the issues with traditional IT infrastructure by allowing greater agility, performance & flexibility.

However, it’s not a cost-saving approach. You need to pay a hefty amount to keep the cloud running.

Final Thoughts

Upgrading your IT infrastructure can be daunting as there is no universal solution. You need to select one based on your suitability & convenience. However, it’s better to consult with a specialist before undertaking any upgrade for his unbiased opinion.

Go to top

9 Email Types To Start Sending For SaaS Customer Success

February 25, 2021

Selling software as a service (SaaS), particularly in a business to business (B2B) setting requires a nuanced approach in order to achieve customer success, which in turn is vital to the success of your business. Smooth on-boarding of new customers is crucial to growth in the field of SaaS as customers expect fast and easy set-up and immediate results. Effective communication with your existing clients also ensures that they become loyal lifetime customers and maintaining retention of their interest in your software will also lead to recommendations as they refer other clients to your product. Paying close attention to the type of emails your marketing and customer support departments send out to both clients and potential leads is vital. The message that your emails get across to your audience can make or break your company; with consumer email inboxes being inundated with hundreds of sales pitches daily, striking the right balance between simplistic efficiency and personalized attention to detail is paramount. There are a number of tried and tested strategies here to utilise best practices for customer success, and we have researched the nine most important emails you can send out to your clients for effective communication that achieves results all round.

1. The Welcome Email

One of the most important emails your team must send out, is a carefully worded welcome email to new customers. You will need to familiarise them with your brand and your product, set the tone for your relationship and make them feel good about their initial interaction with you. First impressions really do count here, so make sure your initial point of contact is swiftly executed and personalised to make the customer feel special. This email needs to build momentum with your client so that they feel motivated to follow through with their initial decision, and the ideal way to go about this is to include a boldly worded call to action or clickable button that sets the customer a goal to proceed with for their next step in setting up their software package.

2. The Support Email

Many clients struggle with the initial set-up of software that they are not familiar with. In order to avoid frustrations surfacing with respect to this, it is good practice to follow up your welcome email with a support email outlining answers to frequent problems, providing links to extra guidance and offering friendly, approachable, tailored help options via your software customer support team. A positive introductory tone from your support team in this type of email can make a significant difference to customer perception of the product. Most of the interactions that your customers will make over the lifetime of their product plan will be with your customer support team should any issues with the software arise, so this is a really important area in which to build a trustworthy rapport. To go the extra mile, use what data analysis you have at your disposal to check up on your client’s usage, and pre-empt any potential glitches or bugs ahead of time.

3. The Thank You Email

All consumers respond positively to good manners and gratitude from businesses that they have chosen to invest their time and money into. While recipients of the “Thank You” email are unlikely to spend much time responding and may only briefly scan this follow-up message, it will nevertheless score you brownie points in their general perception of your brand and keep your company at the forefront of their mind. While it may seem like a small gesture, you can make additional use of this type of email by politely requesting customer feedback. This is a good opportunity to engage further with your clients and develop a lasting relationship, by troubleshooting early and responding to their opinions.

4. The Product Changes Email

All software services require fundamental fixes and updates from time to time. This is a necessary aspect of an industry that relies on current behavioural trends and technology. However, humans are often innately resistant to change and as such, when surprised by unexpected software updates can feel alienated. Ensure that your clients are aware in advance of any changes you intend to make to your software in order to prevent any frustration in this area, and list how it will affect their usage.

5. The Advertorial Email

Many software service users do not make full use of the potential capabilities of the product they invest in, and as a result can end up dissatisfied with it’s productivity. Wise words from our tame tech blogger, Jonathan Saunders at Big Assignments and Paper Fellows, are to “keep your clientele up to date with creative new ways to utilise your product by sending them handy how-to tutorials.”

6. The Incentivised Plan Email

Generating a new lead is always great for growth, but so is building on existing leads. Encourage existing clients to upgrade their plan by up-selling or cross-selling them your premium packages. You can incentivise this type of action by marketing a discounted deal for new or loyal customers, or by offering a free trial period during which they can experience the benefits for themselves.

7. The Business Blog Email

When it comes to engaging with new clients, publishing free content is one of the most effective tools. Consumers have been shown to respond best to businesses that provide the most accessible information, so circulating a regular company blog is a real winner. This type of content can make good use of positive testimonials and also provide helpful guidance from software experts. You can also use customer success story templates to show your previous clientele.

8. The Milestones Email

Finally, we have a great piece of advice from a professional email writer at Essay Help and Boomessays. Eva Santiago stresses the importance of “give[ing] your clients something to celebrate. Mark important milestones in your customer- relationship with a personalised email and share your business achievements with them too.” Success breeds success, so ensuring your customers are aware of your progress as a competitive company will likely encourage lifetime value from them.

Armed with these nine varieties of emails to send to your clients, your software service business is certain to prosper. Keep your content simple and friendly, with personalised touches where possible, and that all important consumer relationship will ensure your clients stay on board, wherever your business is headed.

Go to top

About the Author

E-learning consultant, Lauren Groff, writes at Essay Writing Service and Paper Writing. Lauren’s also contributes to State Of Writing.

Saving the Philippines’ Overseas Workers

February 25, 2021

By Maria Pilar Lorenzo

Mobility regimes have for a long time enabled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to harness new capital and boost development back home. But amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the precarity of these workers’ lives has been made all too clear. Both land-based and sea-based OFWs are among the hardest hit by this tide of unemployment.

While 323,537 OFWs lost their jobs from February to May 2020, this number is estimated to reach over one million by the end of 2021. Over 200,000 OFWs had already returned home by August 2020 — 102,652 land-based repatriates and 101,048 sea-based — and this figure may reach 400,000 by the end of 2020.

For the Filipino labour migrants who remain abroad, many of them suffer from income loss due to the ‘no work, no pay’ scheme. Border closures and lockdowns are common, resulting in restrictions on movements that affect labour schemes. Although the direct effects of these restrictions — foremost being the loss of income — may be temporary, the employment gap can generate secondary impacts that could outlast the pandemic and create various forms of insecurity.

A job loss not only affects an OFW but also their family. The First Quarter 2020 Consumer Expectations Surveyindicates that 94 per cent of OFW households allotted remittances to food and other household needs, 67 per cent to education, 51 per cent to medical expenses, 45 per cent to savings, 23 per cent to consumer durables and 17 per cent to debt payments.

Looming prospects for repatriation compounded with the possibility of contracting the virus is also a source of depression for OFWs. Undocumented and irregular migrants — and those who work in informal sectors — are more vulnerable to the risks of COVID-19 due to inadequate access to healthcare and already crowded living conditions. Many are entangled in poor working conditions.

Only a limited number of labour migrants from developing countries are equipped with social protection coverage as most hail from the lower bracket of society. Research shows that 23 per cent of international migrants have either legal status but no access to social protection in their host country or live as undocumented migrants with limited access to social security.

More explicit provisions of employment protection and social safety nets need to be offered in both migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries. Previous crisis situations — especially the Gulf War experience that resulted in the biggest repatriation of OFWs prior to COVID-19 — caused the Philippine government to craft a crisis framework. This includes the mandated foreign employers and companies’ contingency plan for OFWs in times of crisis, repatriation assistance as enshrined in the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, and the Joint Manual of Operations in Providing Assistance to Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos produced by various Philippine government agencies.

But unlike previous epidemics such as SARS, Ebola and MERS where the impact was geographically contained, the Philippine government is confronted with the formidable challenge of assisting OFWs scattered across the world. The pandemic requires not only a whole-of-government approach but also of a whole-of-nation approach. It is within this ambit that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte raised the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program in his 2020 State of the Nation Address.

The Philippine government has already extended some financial assistance to displaced OFWs through the DOLE-AKAP initiative. But at US$200 per worker, this aid may prove to be insufficient in the long-term considering that the lockdown has spanned for months and prospects for employment are uncertain given the economic recession. Other long-term means of relief — such as the Department of Labor and Employment’s Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) program — need to be maximised, as such programs target employment generation and not merely cash assistance.

In migrant-receiving countries, the Commission on Human Rights has urged Philippine diplomatic missions to provide unconditional opportunities for OFWs to register their grievances, especially before they are repatriated. Policies encouraging OFWs to undergo retraining and reskilling instead of repatriation have to be promoted. The Philippine government needs to leverage its diplomacy to attract the best deal for OFWs and avoid resorting right away to providing livelihood programs for repatriated OFWs.

In better days, OFWs have been lauded for the economic boost they inject into the Philippine economy despite the social costs they endure abroad. Effective and swift labour migration policies and programs could be the best demonstration of a renewed appreciation towards these worker heroes. Long-term recovery measures show that the migration-development nexus is not only about seeing migrants as instruments and objects for development, but first and foremost as human beings in need of protection amid the crisis.

This article was first published on East Asia Forum and is part of an EAF special feature series on the novel coronavirus crisis and its impact.

Go to top

About the Author

Maria Pilar Lorenzo is a PhD candidate of Social Sciences at Ghent University.

Healthcare Trends in 2021: Innovation through eHealth Startups

February 25, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic did more than just highlight certain vulnerabilities and shortcomings within the existing healthcare model, it also presented opportunities for healthcare startups to innovate their services to better adapt with the overwhelming demands of the industry.

Introduction

It is safe to say 2020 has more than pushed the healthcare sector to new heights, with its startup economy being a key player in essentially remoulding the entire landscape of medicine and remote health. The concept of virtual care delivery has been widely accessible, the transformation to go fully digital being accelerated at a faster pace, and more technologies have been adapted to cater to the demands of a changing society as we knew it.

With human tragedy sometimes being mutually exclusive with human ingenuity and innovation, the biological need to evolve and adapt was borne out of people’s desires to not let COVID-19 put a damper on their plans. This type of evolution can be seen with the healthcare sector rushing to rapidly advance their digitalisation efforts, especially within digihealth startups. The pandemic has then nudged the direction of the industry into more technology-based platforms and a proliferation of digital health ventures.

In 2020, the healthcare startup economy saw great feedback and support from investors all over the world. It experienced a record-shattering funding of $15.3 billion, from its previous years’ already generous $10.6 billion. With this level of support, it will most likely grow in the coming year as more importance on personal health is being widely encouraged.

As we get whiff of the COVID19 vaccine being in its last manufacturing stages, 2021 will also be seeing health and wellness being one of the major driving forces for the year’s success, with these startups helping it get there.

1. Maru Health

As the pandemic forced people into isolation for prolonged periods of time, you can expect more people seeking out solutions to cope with the mental strain it has put on their lives. Meru Health offers a virtual 12-week program to address anxiety, depression, and burnout to provide the best treatment plan for their clients. Patients can receive detailed reports and support for their situations, including licensed therapists, psychiatrists, anonymous peer support, biofeedback, and mindfulness practices.

2. Babylon Health

This digital health startup focuses on providing accessible healthcare for millions, whether it’s the flu or pneumonia. Babylon Health connects patients with doctors through a video appointment or digital consultation around the clock, 24/7 every day, making the platform accessible to even international clients. The company currently has employees from over 60 countries and have established protocols for the UK, US, Canada, Rwanda, and APAC.

3. LivNao

This digihealth startup, LivNao, uses this mindset as the foundation for its business model. It passively tracks every user for early indications of changes in their mental health state, and by doing so being able to deliver interventions just in time before the symptoms progress. Primarily utilised to prevent burnout in the workforce, LivNao also enables organisations, insurers, and healthcare systems to make better data-backed decisions for their patients dealing with mental stress.

4. VillageMD

Value-based primary care health tech startup, VillageMD, pioneered a 3-step model to address medical concerns. Their VillageModel Clinic allows them to gain access to physicians, setting up virtual visits through the web, and then finally home visits, where medical professionals can get a more in-depth look at the condition of patients and then assess accordingly. VillageMD’s proprietary operating system connects thousands of clinical source systems with patient data to make sure all their information is updated in real-time and physicians can make informed decisions for their patients whenever.

5. HealX

Putting a spotlight on rare diseases, HealX is a British digital health startup making an active effort to expedite treatments for such rarities. They work towards making drug discovery faster for patients with more than unusual medical conditions. HealX’s Rare Treatment Accelerator program also acts as a bridge between patients who suffer similar rare diseases as a form of support group, with their clinicians also being able to exchange data that might aid each other’s treatment plans.

6. Novoic

Novoic makes use of a comprehensive speech analytics tool to detect neurological disease decades earlier than current diagnostic methods. By identifying and monitoring subtle changes in speech patterns with AI, clinicians can intervene sooner to support the best health outcomes for patients.

7. Hyfe

An unorthodox cough detection and analysis platform, Hyfe makes fast and affordable virtual diagnostics. Vocal biomaking technology for this relies on people’s cell phones, as it tracks organic, naturally occurring coughs from the in-tracking technology of the app to make for more reliable data. They record frequency, time of day, context, and amplitude. This startup especially comes in handy during flu season.

8. Alector

Alector, founded in 2013, has made a name for themselves as one of the pioneers for neurodegeneration through immuno-neurology. They have since identified 40 novel targets and set up 4 clinical programmes. Alector operates around the brain’s immune system to combat diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, making the portfolio of their programs very specific to the elderly or special cases of neurological complications.

9. Freenome

Freenome is a biotechnology health startup that works at the junction of biology, machine learning, and medicine. Along with a spectacular team of programmers, ML experts, computational biologists and clinicians, Freenome helps with the detection of early-onset cancer with only a simple blood test. This startup from California is on its way to radically transforming the management of cancer patients through knowledge, tools, and expertise to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

10. HealthCrowd

HealthCrowd is a SaaS platform for healthcare communications. Founded in California, this health tech startup combines domain expertise in healthcare with ad analytics and machine learning. Through their process, they are able to help organisations deliver business results, even going so far as being one of the top mobile health messaging markets in the United States. Their platform engages text, voice, email, and nanosites all working in conjunction to provide informed results regarding various medical concerns.

Conclusion

The technology embedded in healthcare startups has no doubt taken a central role in society’s collective effort to mitigate the risks posed by COVID-19. As much of the world grapples with this ‘new normal’, medical startups have opened the door for more discussion regarding how modern-day health solutions should look.

Go to top

Bucket List Travel On The Cards For Many In 2022

February 24, 2021

With lockdown life having become the new normal in recent months, many imprisoned Brits resorted to daydreaming about a return to the good old days – as in the days where we could sit in a public place with others we know – long ago. Beyond lingering questions around what our first drink will be when the pubs reopen, one of the biggest things, if not the biggest, people have been thinking about is their next holiday.

With virtually all of 2020 taken away from us, and in all likelihood the nice hot part of 2021 off the cards, too, the rise of true “bucket list” holidays in 2022 is set to be huge. But how has a global pandemic encouraged a universal wanderlust among us?

The return of YOLO

Remember “you only live once…” – AKA “YOLO”? What about the fear of missing out, otherwise known as “FOMO”? Well, thanks to coronavirus, both are back with a vengeance, and that nationwide desire to get back out there and “live” is likely to manifest itself largely in our holidays when we’re allowed to go away again.

If 2020 and lockdown gave us anything, it was an abundance of time to reflect on life and the things that matter most to us. The severity of the crisis has led to a “life is too short” mindset in many, and that – combined with a pent-up desire to do something fun and some surplus funds lying around waiting to be spent – has caused a spree of once in a lifetime holiday bookings.

Book now to avoid disappointment

As early as late summer 2020, it appears that many British holidaymakers saw the writing on the wall for a longer-than-anticipated lockdown. Towards the back of last year, luxury travel companies saw a substantial rise in long-term bookings – those that extended beyond the typical booking range of six months – as customers looked past 2021 and to 2022 and beyond to secure a guaranteed holiday of a lifetime.

Right now, holidaymakers are booking trips that are longer, more diverse and multiple in nature. Thus, if you are yet to plan your own big adventure away, you might be surprised, and indeed disappointed, to find schedules of many travel providers already chock-a-block. Most importantly, in the US, packing bags and carrying them all through your trip might cause trouble in exploring more options around you. Rather you can choose short term luggage storage services nearby landmarks like luggage storage Penn station. You can leave bags at Vertoe safely and enjoy your trip.

Generational affairs with a longing for adventure

There are two predominant themes to the influx of future bucket list holidays. The first is to make any getaway a generational matter – a grand scale event that includes family from multiple generations from far and wide. This ties into the aforementioned YOLO attitude going forward, with grand villas being booked in the likes of the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius or the Caribbean as people try to reconnect.

The other theme, again based off of similar YOLO/FOMO motives, looks to be adventure heavy, as travellers look to regain what it feels like to live life at its best. Seeing the furthest corners of the world, taking on new challenges and pushing things to the extreme will all be popular approaches, so we can expect to see friends and family return from cross country road trips, far-reaching cycling holidays and remote explorations on masse.

The travel industry, like any other, is influenced massively by supply and demand. With a surge in demand for epic holidays away over the next 18 months, expect to hear about plenty of pricey trips, and find getaways in the near future come at a premium as UK holidaymakers, along with the rest of the world, look to start enjoying themselves again.

Go to top

1...925926927...1,128 Page 926 of 1,128

FOLLOW US!

EDITOR'S PICK OF THE WEEK

CFO's new mandate. CFO explaining the presentation

The Performance and Transformation Orchestrator: The CFO’s New Mandate in the Age of AI

Anglea 0

By Terence Tse CFOs are evolving into AI-driven transformation orchestrators, balancing finance, technology, and strategy while upskilling teams, managing risks, and driving measurable business value. A key insight from this year’s AI for CFOs event, organized...