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Remote Innovation: Overcoming the Challenges of Distance and Disconnection

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Remote Innovation: Overcoming the Challenges of Distance and Disconnection

Innovation knows no boundaries, not even those of a home office. But inspiring creativity in a remote team requires a new approach.

In this article, we explore the strategies that successful leaders are using to foster a culture of innovation, encourage collaboration, and drive groundbreaking ideas, even when their teams are miles apart.

Read on!

Colleen Lerro Gallagher
President & CEO, OnWrd & UpWrd

At OnWrd & UpWrd, fostering a culture of innovation, especially in a remote environment, revolves around continuous learning and open communication. One specific strategy we’ve implemented is our weekly “AI Conversation” during team calls.

Each team member is encouraged to share their experiences with AI tools—what they’ve tried, what’s worked, and importantly, what hasn’t. These discussions not only demystify AI but also normalize the learning curve associated with adopting new technologies.

Additionally, we maintain a dedicated AI-focused Slack channel where the team posts articles, discusses different uses of AI, and shares updates on the latest developments in the field. This ongoing dialogue keeps everyone engaged and encourages a proactive approach to experimentation and learning.

The objective is clear: inspire every team member to embrace and explore new technologies, ensuring that experimentation and innovation become routine aspects of our work culture even when we’re spread across the country. We believe that understanding both successes and setbacks in AI applications is invaluable, as it drives improvement and sparks further innovation.

Burak Özdemir
Founder, Character Calculator

One effective strategy for encouraging innovation in a remote work environment is promoting collaboration between different departments.

By allowing team members from various areas to work together on projects or brainstorming sessions, you can bring different ideas and skills to the table, which leads to more creative solutions.

For example, pairing a developer with a marketing specialist on a project can lead to new ideas that neither would have thought of alone.

This teamwork not only sparks creativity but also helps break down barriers that can happen in remote work.

In our company, this approach has resulted in a 25% increase in new project initiatives over the past year.

Regularly switching team members into cross-department projects helps keep new ideas coming, which boosts innovation and improves overall productivity.

Gauri Manglik
CEO and Co-Founder, Instrumentl

In my experience, fostering innovation in a distributed team requires intention and effort. The spontaneous water cooler conversations that spark new ideas don’t happen when people aren’t together physically.
That’s why I make it a priority to create spaces for people to connect and collaborate across locations.

We have random virtual coffee chats, ideation sessions, and informal gatherings that are social but also spark that creative magic. I encourage remote brainstorming in small groups, using tools like Miro or Mural to capture ideas in real time.

It’s also key to promote a culture where speaking up and sharing ideas is welcomed, not just from the extroverts but from the quieter voices too. I consciously draw people out and make sure remote folks don’t get drowned out by the louder in-office crowd.

At the end of the day, innovation is unleashed when people feel empowered to think boldly and work creatively, no matter where they are. That’s the culture I aim to build.

Gary Collins
Managing Director, B2B News

To foster a culture of innovation in a remote setting, I recommend implementing a “Virtual Innovation Lab” program.

This initiative creates a dedicated space and time for employees to explore creative ideas outside their regular responsibilities. The program schedules monthly “Innovation Days” where team members step away from usual tasks to focus on innovative projects.

A digital platform, such as a dedicated Slack channel or Miro board, serves as a hub for idea sharing, collaboration, and voting on promising concepts. Cross-functional teams are formed to work on selected ideas, ensuring diverse perspectives and skill sets. Senior leaders provide resources and mentorship to help develop these ideas.

At the end of each Innovation Day, teams present their concepts to the entire company in virtual showcases. A reward system recognizes the most innovative ideas through acknowledgment, bonuses, or the opportunity to lead project implementation.

This approach fosters innovation by dedicating time for creative thinking, encouraging cross-departmental collaboration, providing a structured process for idea development, creating a safe space for risk-taking and experimentation, and recognizing innovative efforts.

This can be implemented by:

  • Utilizing collaborative tools and platforms like Slack, Miro, or custom virtual brainstorming spaces to facilitate easy sharing of ideas.
  • Scheduling regular virtual brainstorming sessions or “innovation days” where team members can step outside their regular duties to explore new concepts.
  • Creating a psychologically safe environment where employees feel comfortable sharing unconventional ideas without fear of criticism.
  • Implementing an “open door” policy for digital communication, where team members can easily reach out to leadership with new ideas.
  • Recognizing and rewarding innovative contributions through virtual “shout-outs” or other forms of public acknowledgment.

By making innovation a regular, structured part of the remote work environment, this strategy helps maintain creativity and forward-thinking, even when teams are physically apart, ultimately driving the company’s growth and adaptability in a rapidly changing business landscape.

Hayley Gillman
CEO of BOTI

A practical way to encourage innovation in a remote team is by setting up regular virtual brainstorming sessions using tools like Miro or Microsoft Teams. These sessions help break down barriers between departments and promote teamwork across different areas, often leading to new and creative ideas.

Using structured methods like mind mapping or SCAMPER keeps these sessions focused and engaging, giving everyone a chance to share their thoughts without feeling restricted by traditional office hierarchies.

Equally important is creating a space where employees feel safe to express their ideas without fear of judgment. Promoting open conversations and viewing mistakes as learning opportunities can help team members feel more comfortable taking risks and trying new things.

This supportive environment allows teams to explore new ideas and make continuous improvements, even when working remotely.

Nick Valentino
VP of Market Operations, Bellhop Atlanta Movers

If we want our remote teams to innovate, we need to give them time and resources to do it.

We keep a to-do list of innovation tasks: pain points in our business model, open-ended questions, and software platforms to try out. Our employees can spend up to 10% of their working hours each week tackling anything on this to-do list, and we offer performance bonuses for any problems solved or new platforms adopted.

This provides just enough structure to keep things on track, and lets employees display their creativity and versatility.

Warner Quiroga
President & Owner, Prestige Home Buyers

I would say first and foremost, be a great listener, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

Listen to your team members’ concerns, listen to what their needs are, listen to how they act, how they do their work, how they come into work.

If it’s virtual, how you see them on zoom, how they interact with other people on the team.

Listen and see because that tells you a lot about it.

Take it into consideration and who knows, you’d be surprised and in some cases their advice or the collective advice of a big group of team members talking and just debating ideas could result in a better idea than the one you might have initially had.

That’s why it’s also important to know and make sure you hire people that are willing to be coachable and to grow with you.

As the company grows this way, nobody gets left behind and everybody can stay ahead and continue growing because as the years go on, there’s gonna be more and more obstacles and competition that will arise.

So we need to stay ahead of the curve to be able to continue succeeding and having a prosperous future.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

Recent Posts

Hiring a Fractional CMO: 11 Leaders Share Insights

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Hiring a Fractional CMO: 11 Leaders Share Insights

The HR Spotlight team reached out to industry leaders and experts for their take on hiring a Fractional CMO. We enquired if they were in on the idea or against it and asked them to elaborate on the elements that influenced their decision as well as the pros and cons on the ground. Here, we share with you some of the most revealing insights. Read on!

Celeste Levitt
Project Manager, ECA Partners

At ECA Partners, we’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that hiring a fractional CMO can have on a company’s overall marketing strategy and long-term growth.

Hiring part-time C-suite talent in general is an economical solution for companies navigating rapid change, managing major projects, or filling a leadership gap. But cost-efficiency is far from the most persuasive reason to hire a fractional CMO.

Instead, companies should consider how these executives offer a unique blend of agility and specific expertise that can be tailored to their particular needs and challenges in the moment.

Companies can opt to hire fractional CMOs not solely for their general experience, but for their specialized knowledge, niche industry connections, and expertise in field-specific data analytics.

This hiring strategy can therefore allow marketing teams to maximize the potential benefits of a CMO.

Jim Kreinbrink
CEO, Hyper Dog Media

As the president of an SEO agency, I understand the value of a fractional CMO, especially for businesses operating on a tight budget or in their growth phase. Hiring a fractional CMO provides the benefit of gaining high-level expertise without the long-term commitment or cost of a full-time executive.

However, the primary drawback rests in their lesser involvement in daily operations compared to an in-house CMO. This means a potential lack of understanding of the company’s vision, culture, and team dynamics. I believe the decision to hire a fractional CMO needs to be influenced by company size, business growth phase, and most significantly, the specific marketing needs of the business.

Anna Parvatova
Brand Manager and Creative Director, SNS Nails

I can see how a fractional CMO can be valuable in specific cases. In particular, it would make so much sense in a startup that’s starting to dip its toes into scaling and expansion but doesn’t have the resources yet to hyper-specialize. A fractional CMO can fill in the void left by a non-existent marketing team to make sure the organization’s marketing goals are strategized and delivered.

However, I don’t think of a fractional CMO as a permanent solution. Eventually, the organization will have to think of building its internal marketing team that’s fully committed to the organization’s goals and voice. Any company that gets stuck with a fractional CMO for an indefinite time is either not growing or getting itself stuck in a bottleneck.

That doesn’t take away from the immense value that a CMO brings to the table, however. As is the case with the fractional CFO, a fractional CMO allows an organization to leverage industry-leading expertise for a fraction of the cost of hiring an internal team.

Ryan Keiffer
CEO, Track 2 Consulting

Most smaller companies (less than $20M) and non-profits of all sizes don’t have the budget to hire a full time CMO. But they’re at a distinct disadvantage to larger competitors if they have no C-level marketing insight to guide them. A fractional CMO engagement gives them that critical strategic leadership, whether the need is for 10% or 75% of a full time CMO.

Our Fractional CMO clients get tremendous value from our work leading their strategy, optimizing their marketing staff and vendors, avoiding costly missteps, and maintaining focus and energy on the bigger picture: purpose, effectiveness and results.

And, as a Fractional CMO, our clients can trust that we are focused purely on their best interests because we have no interest in encouraging them to spend more money on marketing. We receive no financial incentives or kickbacks from any vendors or other marketing expenditures.

Joy Bian
Sales and Marketing Manager, RELYIR

As the Marketing Manager for a globally recognized artificial grass manufacturer, I see the potential value in hiring a Fractional CMO. The strongest influence on this perspective is the potential for obtaining high-level guidance and expertise without the full-time investment.

For instance, in the dynamic and competitive artificial turf market, having a Fractional CMO ensures we benefit from top-tier marketing strategies and innovation, while also maintaining financial prudence. Plus, it holds the possibility of bringing an external view into existing processes, which can prove beneficial in identifying improvement areas or untapped opportunities.

Therefore, in scenarios where the company is expanding or transitioning, this hire could provide key strategic insights with the flexibility to scale back when necessary.

Lens Watson
Public Relations Manager, ELEHEAR

The idea of hiring a fractional CMO can be highly beneficial for businesses like ours at ELEHEAR, where innovation drives us. When we deal with niche technology like hearing aids, the need for specialized marketing insight is paramount.

A fractional CMO brings diverse industry experiences to the table, contributing to a fresh perspective that helps in strategizing our marketing efforts. They offer tailored advice, focusing exclusively on areas that need improvement. That being said, businesses need to be ready for a high degree of adaptability that this position demands, due to its very nature of offering fractional time and attention.

Saugat Adhikari
Co-Founder, Magical Nepal

Drawing from my digital marketing background, I’d assert that hiring a Fractional CMO can be an excellent strategy depending on a company’s needs.

The most significant advantage is the wealth of experience brought to the table. Fractional CMOs often come with years of diverse experience across industries, enabling them to develop and execute versatile strategies effectively. They provide startups and SMEs access to top-tier marketing expertise that may be financially unviable to maintain full-time.

Conversely, the critical drawback is the lack of full-time availability. This limited engagement may result in less commitment and fewer contributions to the culture and inner workings of the organization.

Therefore, whether or not a Fractional CMO is a good fit largely depends on the specific needs, budget, and long-term goals of the company.

Greta Maiocchi
Head of Marketing & Admissions, OPIT

As the Head of Marketing and Recruitment at OPIT, I see significant advantages in hiring a Fractional CMO, especially for start-ups and mid-sized companies.

The most compelling point in favor is access to top-tier marketing expertise at a fraction of the cost. A fractional CMO can bring industry insights, strategic direction, and a vast network without the full-time commitment. This means companies benefit from the strategist’s knowledge and experience, which can efficiently drive marketing efforts and facilitate growth.

However, it’s important to ensure the CMO understands the company’s vision and culture, as alignment here is crucial for success.

So, while the cost efficiency is a major pro, the potential lack of cultural understanding could be a con to consider.

Sarah Mitchell
Marketing Director, Relyir

From my perspective, one key factor shaping my view is the access to high-level expertise that may otherwise be financially strenuous for small to mid-sized businesses.

By hiring a Fractional CMO, companies can tap into a wealth of knowledge and experience to implement strategic marketing goals without having to bear the full-time executive salary.

However, the potential downside could be a lack of deep understanding of the company’s unique culture and objectives because of their divided attention between multiple clients.

It’s essentially a balancing act between acquiring top-tier expertise and maintaining an in-depth understanding of your business.

Peter Lewis
CEO, Strategic Pete

One thing they often appreciate is the ability to get high-level marketing expertise right when they need it, without the full-time commitment.

For example, a client of mine needed to overhaul their go-to-market strategy for a product launch but didn’t have the budget or need for a full-time CMO. We worked together for six months, nailed the launch, and then they scaled back once they were on solid ground.

On the flip side, a potential downside is ensuring everyone’s on the same page. If the company’s goals aren’t crystal clear, or if the team’s not aligned, it can create some disconnect.

I’ve seen this happen when the objectives aren’t well-defined—suddenly, you’re not sure if you’re rowing in the same direction. That’s why upfront clarity and regular check-ins are non-negotiable.

David Sides
PR Marketing, Gori Law Firm

In my experience, the strongest pro for hiring a Fractional CMO is the access to high-level marketing expertise without the full-time cost. As a law firm, we need sophisticated marketing strategies, but we don’t always need (or can’t always afford) a full-time CMO. A Fractional CMO brings a wealth of experience from various industries, which can lead to fresh, innovative ideas for our firm’s marketing.

They can help us stay current with digital marketing trends and provide strategic guidance on our overall marketing approach. This is especially valuable in the competitive legal field where standing out is challenging. We’ve found that a Fractional CMO can give us the strategic oversight we need while allowing our in-house team to handle day-to-day execution.

However, it’s important to find someone who can truly understand the unique aspects of legal marketing and our firm’s specific needs. The right Fractional CMO can significantly boost a law firm’s marketing efforts, providing expert guidance without the need to hire a full-time executive.

This approach offers flexibility and specialized knowledge that can really make a difference in how we reach and engage potential clients.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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5 Effective Ways to Motivate Your HR Team

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Tim Toterhi, CHRO, Plotline Leadership
Yongming Song, CEO, Live Poll for Slides
Amer Hasovic, Content Writer, Love & Lavender
Luciano Colos, Founder & CEO, PitchGrade
Lindsey Hight - Terkel for HR Spotlight

5 Effective Ways to Motivate Your HR Team

Here are 5 ways to motivate your HR team:

  • Spotlight the Impact of Your Team’s Work
  • Increase Interaction With Employees to Put a Human Face to Your Work
  • Create Opportunities for HR Team Members to Get Together Outside of Work
  • Give Your Team a Sense of Purpose by Recognizing Their Impact on the Company Culture
  • Encourage Teamwork as Well as Having Fun Together as a Team

Spotlight the Impact of Your Team’s Work

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when your department’s to-do list reads like a copy of War and Peace. That is why it’s important to pause and appreciate the breadth and depth of the impact their work has on the company.

Tim Toterhi, CHRO, Plotline Leadership

As an HR pro, what you do saves money, reduces risks, and propels the organization to increase both top-line value and bottom-line results. Want to motivate your HR team?  Hand them a mirror.”

Tim Toterhi, CHRO, Plotline Leadership

Let’s face it. HR isn’t just HR anymore. It’s also marketing and communications and digital strategy with elements of IT, Legal, Finance, and Big Data-management sprinkled in. As an HR pro, what you do saves money, reduces risks, and propels the organization to increase both top-line value and bottom-line results. Want to motivate your HR team?  Hand them a mirror.

Tim Toterhi, CHRO, Plotline Leadership

Increase Interaction With Employees to Put a Human Face to Your Work

HR teams deal with people. While their work involves analyzing multiple processes and reporting HR data, the human resource department experiences an unfair reputation as the majority of employees do not trust their HR. Putting a human face on the data they report daily through improved internal employee communication gives the HR team the motivation to keep going. Rather than spending time analyzing complex data, HR can spend more time interacting with employees and putting a human face into the work that they do.

Yongming Song, CEO, Live Poll for Slides

I motivate my HR team to keep delivering its best by involving them in strategic plans. I ensure that the HR team plays an integral part in strategic workforce planning and recognizing their efforts when there is a good performance.

Yongming Song, CEO, Live Poll for Slides

I motivate my HR team to keep delivering its best by involving them in strategic plans. I ensure that the HR team plays an integral part in strategic workforce planning and recognizing their efforts when there is a good performance. I also encourage them to communicate with the workforce and have healthy professional relationships.

Yongming Song, CEO, Live Poll for Slides

Create Opportunities for HR Team Members to Get Together Outside of Work

How does an HR team find the motivation to keep going? One of our biggest challenges is staying motivated as a team. We work hard and long hours, but we also want to make sure we’re not taking advantage of our employees’ goodwill, and that means finding ways to stay focused on building our relationships with them.

Amer Hasovic, Content Writer, Love & Lavender

We work hard and long hours, but we also want to make sure we’re not taking advantage of our employees’ goodwill, and that means finding ways to stay focused on building our relationships with them.

Amer Hasovic, Content Writer, Love & Lavender

One way we do this is by creating opportunities for our team members to get together outside of work. For example, every year, we host a holiday party in which employees bring food from their home countries and share stories about what makes them feel most at home. It’s a great way for us all to get out of the office and into a space where we can relax – and bond over shared experiences. Another way we stay motivated is through training sessions on topics like communication skills and conflict resolution. These are important topics because they help everyone feel like they have an equal voice in the company – which can be especially challenging when you’re working remotely.

Amer Hasovic, Content Writer, Love & Lavender

Give Your Team a Sense of Purpose by Recognizing Their Impact on the Company Culture

There is no better feeling than when you’ve been involved in a project that you’re proud of and when you lead a team that’s been able to deliver and make a difference.
It’s the reason that a lot of people end up in HR, and it’s what keeps them going.
HR professionals want to have that impact, and they want to be able to feel that they’re making a difference. That’s an important thing to keep in mind when you’re building your HR team and when you’re building your company culture.

Luciano Colos, Founder & CEO, PitchGrade

HR professionals want to have that impact, and they want to be able to feel that they’re making a difference. That’s an important thing to keep in mind when you’re building your HR team and when you’re building your company culture.

Luciano Colos, Founder & CEO, PitchGrade

You need to give people that sense of purpose and sense of impact. It’s going to drive their performance, and it’s going to drive their feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction. If you can’t do that, then you may not be able to get the best out of your workforce. To get the best out of your workforce, you need to give them a sense of purpose, a sense of impact, and a sense of meaning. I think that HR is the most important group within a company because they influence the company culture.

Luciano Colos, Founder & CEO, PitchGrade

Encourage Teamwork as Well as Having Fun Together as a Team

Our HR Team finds the motivation to keep going by having a good team that works well together and has fun at work. We take our work seriously, but we also find the time to have fun every once in a while.

Lindsey Hight - Terkel for HR Spotlight

Our HR Team finds the motivation to keep going by having a good team that works well together and has fun at work. We take our work seriously, but we also find the time to have fun every once in a while.

Lindsey Hight, HR Professional, Sporting Smiles

This could be as simple as decorating our office and dressing up for Halloween or getting employees together to do a tour of our company while learning the history around it.

Lindsey Hight, HR Professional, Sporting Smiles

A Motivated HR Team Equals Overall Performance and Productivity

When your HR team is motivated and working at optimal levels, this energy helps them bring to the floor various resources and solutions that drive the overall performance and productivity of the company. The positive and go-getter attitude of the HR team is where it all begins, and it is this energy that trickles down to the rest of the workforce too. All this makes a motivated HR team one of the most essential components in an organization that aims for growth and success. 

As lone rangers driving entire organizations, how does your HR team find the motivation to keep its own clan going? What is one thing that motivates (or how do you motivate) your HR team to keep delivering its best?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

13 Factors Impacting Your Team Productivity

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13 Factors Impacting Your Team Productivity

HR teams around the world fight the productivity fight each day, within their own teams and out on the work floor of the businesses they serve.

What is team productivity, and why is your team productivity nosediving?

The HR Spotlight team set out to find answers to these questions, and here we are to provide you with a list that helps you identify shortcomings and shows you where you might be going wrong.

What is Team Productivity?

To shed more light on what team productivity is all about, let’s consider workers A and B contributing to the productivity charts of the company they work for with their own set of tasks and responsibilities.

Employee A is doing wonderfully well at the workplace and has all the traits from self-motivation to work ethics that keep delivery and performance 100%.

On the other hand, Employee B suffers from low morale and a general dislike for every task placed at their desk each day, which means that the delivery and performance B brings to the table is only 50%. Put the two together, draw out an average, and you know your team productivity stands at 75%.

But is this team productivity number of 75% only because of the high performance that A delivers and the low performance of B? Or are there other factors at play behind the scenes? Is this even the right method to derive team productivity? Or does this method take the spotlight away from other prevalent factors at the workplace and beyond?

Of course, employee contribution does drive productivity, but will the resolution of the problem on an individual level provide all the answers?

Factors Impacting Your Team Productivity

Well, as it turns out, team productivity has to do with a lot more than employee productivity, and here’s the list that tells you why your team productivity is nosediving.

#1: Recruitment

Your recruitment process is where it all begins, so yes, the recruitment strategies you have in place do have an impact. After all, it is your recruitment process that determines the percentage of As and Bs in your organization. It also determines the overall commitment you’re able to derive from your employees through all that you offer them right from the recruitment stages. If your recruitment isn’t being done right, it has a direct adverse impact on team productivity.

#2: Onboarding

Your onboarding process determines the commitment you derive from your employees. When an employee meets a highly driven HR team and is introduced to managers who are heartily sharing stories of how they lead a workplace that is all about performance and productivity, this approach rubs off on employees.

On the other hand, when new employees are met with a lethargic onboarding process and interact with a team that is not very willing to inspire or lead from the front, chances are they witness this same attitude playing out on the work floor too. Under these circumstances, even the most productive employees will find it challenging to keep up their drive to perform well.

#3: Managers and leaders

Are the managers and leaders at your workplace an inspirational lot? Or do they suffer from performance and productivity issues too? When the ones who lead are lost, how can they lead their teams toward optimal performance?

In the absence of managers and leaders who believe in leading from the front, no team can even create a team productivity roadmap, to begin with. If your managers are uninspiring, do little to trace the negatives in your team, do even less to inspire, and are just not committed to their roles, your team productivity is bound to nosedive.

#4: Productivity roadmap

No matter how self-driven, self-motivated, and well-trained, every employee requires a productivity roadmap that clearly references their tasks and responsibilities and shows them exactly how they can contribute to the team’s productivity. When this roadmap is unclear, when it is vague enough to confuse employees, or when it doesn’t even exist, team productivity will undoubtedly take a hit. After all, even the best workers need direction and know at least the basics of their production schedule to deliver their best. Without this roadmap, even the best efforts of an outstanding workforce are wasted.

#5: Learning and development

Every workplace requires a set of learning and development practices that help employees do better. When your workplace does not commit to learning and development and has a workforce that isn’t learning anything new or even forgetting what they’ve learned until now, you will soon have a team that just isn’t as capable as their peers who are exposed to regular learning opportunities.

In addition to affecting team productivity, the lack of learning also leaves employees less capable. They learn nothing new, have nothing to show for all the months or years they’ve spent at your company, and soon enough, will realize that all they’ve done is work without learning anything worthwhile. And one look at the productivity numbers will show that they haven’t contributed a lot on that front either.

#6: Remuneration, perks, and benefits

Different factors drive every employee in your team, and it is up to you as a leader to provide the right balance. When you fail to do so, employee performance will face a negative impact too. The remuneration your employees receive on a regular basis and the perks and benefits that add up to this fixed amount are major influential factors on this list.

Suppose you do not offer suitable remuneration, and the perks and benefits in line do little to drive employees to give their best. In that case, there is a strong chance that your productivity numbers will reflect this lack of motivation.

#7: Growth opportunities

Promotions to the next seat in the hierarchy, better positions within the team, or even a full-fledged bump to the post of a manager are all key influencers that inspire employee productivity. Employees are driven hard by the motivation to grow within the team and even more by opportunities that lead them to managerial positions. In the absence of these opportunities, employees have little to work towards, and this means that your productivity will nosedive too.

#8: Ownership issues

When employees know they are being held responsible for certain productivity factors, they also plan their input accordingly. In the absence of ownership, employees find it difficult to peg responsibilities on themselves. This means that the onus of performing well at the workplace seldom finds its way to them. If your team hierarchy lacks this critical element of ownership and creates a rather vague ownership structure, it can affect productivity negatively too. After all, when employees don’t even know what they’re responsible for, how can they measure the effort required to accomplish them?

#9: Work distribution

Every employee has unique strengths and weaknesses, and when the work they do matches this unique list, the output is of the same caliber too. For example, if your employees are being allotted tasks that they’re not really good at, it would be a joke to expect high team productivity. On the other hand, when you’re able to identify each employee’s strengths and prepare a work list that makes the most of these strengths, productivity is bound to spike. Not paying enough attention to the work distribution process is, therefore, one factor affecting team productivity.

#10: Project management

A solid project management system helps managers define every work process and distribute responsibilities to the right members of their team and enables real-time tracking of every function. It shows managers as well as employees where they stand at any given point of the project in terms of schedule and output.

When your team does not have a robust project management system in place, there is no way to measure output against the requirements of the project, and even the timeline goes haywire. So if the project management system your team relies on isn’t the right one, you can be sure that this factor is draining your team’s productivity too.

#11: Employee freedom

Employee freedom is a rather delicate subject, and every manager who heads a team knows how tough it is to create the right balance when it comes to allowing certain employees freedoms and disallowing others. When the balance is right, team productivity is hardly an issue; when it’s wrong, the direct adverse impact on productivity is quite evident. So what is employee freedom in this context?

Suppose your managers are micro-managing the entire workflow and not giving employees the freedom to make even the most minor decisions. In that case, your employees do not have enough space to give their best and work freely. On the other hand, if your managers are not paying enough attention to their employees’ work patterns and it’s all haywire from a team’s point of view, this approach contributes to a productivity nosedive too.

#12: Teamwork

You can have 10 of the world’s best players on your team and still lose the easiest of games if there is a lack of teamwork and camaraderie among the players. This is how it is at the workplace too. If the employees on your team do not get along with each other, if there is a dearth of collaboration and communication, and even worse, if there are employees who make deliberate attempts to sabotage the performance of others, there’s no way your team productivity can stay away from the damage caused by such an environment.

The lack of teamwork contributes to a drop in productivity in more ways than you think, and even the ease of projects and simplicity of work schedules will cease to matter under these circumstances.

#13: Health and wellness

The health and wellness of your individual employees add up to the health and wellness of your team. And while encouraging your workforce to pay attention to their physical and mental health is always a good thing, ensuring that this is a thing at the workplace is crucial too. After all, your employees easily spend the most waking hours of their day at the workplace, and what they do here regarding their health is also influential to their well-being. In the absence of company commitment to employees’ health and wellness, team productivity is sure to bear the brunt.

Pulling Your Team Up from a Productivity Nosedive

Now that you know the possible reasons behind the nosediving productivity of your team, you can lay out the plans to tackle each problem too. At HR Spotlight, we have all the answers you need to latch on to high-productivity models at your workplace and enable the HR team to do more than they ever thought they would.

Do you have any more factors you think we can add to this list? Or is there something else you’d like to share with us?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

12 Insightful Leaders Tell You Why an HR Team is Important

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Greg Sloan - Chief Purpose Officer & Co-Founder, Go Beyond
Michelle Hague, HR Manager, Solar Panels Network USA
Julia Voloshchenko, PR Manager, Usetech
Maureen Cawley, VP, People, Saatva
Robert H. Johnson Jr. - Founder, Principal, RHJ Consulting Group
Eduardo Binda Zane
Bill Catlette
Steve Saville
Michael Alexis
Lorena-Perez
Jordan Cullen
Jared Pope

12 Insightful Leaders Tell You Why an HR Team is Important

Your organization has its share of operations and processes, each one contributing to the productivity of your company and proving its relevance to your brand’s success, each day, every day. Their contribution to every inch of growth is right there on paper in the form of numbers, and there’s no denying that each one of these departments are crucial to the stability of your company. 

Using the same parameters, however, it would be difficult to put down on paper the contributions of your HR team, especially in terms of numbers. Yes, you have your recruiting numbers. Yes, you have your engagement targets. And how can we even forget the all-important retention figures to round up an HR team’s efforts. But do these numbers truly tell us of the many roles an HR team plays in your organization? Do they even come close to the overall efforts that an HR team puts into the daily workings of your company? 

They really don’t. 

To let you in on why an HR team is important to every organization big and small, even if it’s a one-person team, we bring to you 12 insights from leaders who know just why an HR engine is a crucial addition to your company’s operations. Some of these insights are detailed, some succinct, but each of them drive home the point we all know only too well — an HR team is indeed the glue that holds it all together.

Concertmaster to the Organizational Symphony

We can think of a small or mid-sized business as a beautifully conducted symphony of well-trained musicians. A successful small business with well-oiled operations and processes can produce great customer results, just like a symphony of 20-30 musicians can create beautiful music for its listeners. 

Music orchestration

While there are many parts, instruments, and musicians in the symphony, there is only one conductor and only one concertmaster. It’s easy to see the conductor as the CEO, leading the entire orchestra (organization) through the symphony. But who is the concertmaster, and what role does she play? 

The concertmaster is the “first chair” in the violin section and is the chief intermediary between the conductor and the musicians. Not only does she need to be an expert in the symphony itself, but she must also be an expert in the skills and capabilities of her musicians. Without the CEO, there is no vision, and without people, there is no one to execute that mission. 

Greg Sloan - Chief Purpose Officer & Co-Founder, Go Beyond

A successful small business with well-oiled operations and processes can produce great customer results, just like a symphony of 20-30 musicians can create beautiful music for its listeners.

Greg Sloan
Chief Purpose Officer & Co-Founder, GoBeyond

Without an HR leader, no one is serving the CEO to get the right people in the right seats playing their roles at the right time. Smart CEOs know this and often see their HR partner as their right-hand person, particularly when they are a one-person HR team.

Greg Sloan – Chief Purpose Officer & Co-Founder, Go Beyond

Change Management Gurus

Workplaces are in a constant state of change. HR functions are the backdrop to maintain calm in chaos as everyone adjusts to new regulations and schedules. They can be the source of reason and support through change management.

Steve Saville – President, SkillGigs, Inc

People Strategy

The HR team is super important as it’s the team that provides the People Strategy – not just defining the strategy but implementing it as well. Without attracting and recruiting the appropriate talent and motivating and developing them, a business could never reach its business goals. 

Companies are made of People, and if companies don’t have the right people performing at their best, they will fail. The HR team is responsible for ensuring the strategies and tools are in place to allow people to perform at their best. This is why HR is fundamental to any business.

Lorena Perez – Chief People Officer, Novakid

Compliance, Recruitment and Retention, Handling Communication and Conflict, Policymaking

An HR team ensures that your company complies with all employment laws. Having a dedicated HR team ensures that your company is up-to-date on all employment laws and regulations. This includes things like equal employment opportunity, wage and hour laws, and health and safety regulations.

An HR team can help you attract and retain the best employees. A good HR team will work to recruit the best talent for your company. They will also work to create a positive work environment that employees want to be a part of. This can help you reduce turnover and save money in the long.

Michelle Hague, HR Manager, Solar Panels Network USA

An HR team can help you develop policies and procedures that encourage open communication between employees and management. They can also help you resolve conflict before it escalates and becomes a bigger problem.

Michelle Hague
HR Manager, Solar Panels Network USA

An HR team can help you improve communication and resolve conflict. Good communication is essential for any business. An HR team can help you develop policies and procedures that encourage open communication between employees and management. They can also help you resolve conflict before it escalates and becomes a bigger problem.

They also help to create and enforce policies that keep your employees safe and productive. This includes things like developing anti-harassment policies, creating drug-free workplace policies, and setting up safety procedures.

Michelle Hague – HR Manager, Solar Panels Network USA

Crucial Component of a Growing Workplace

Human Resources is often considered one of the essential components of an organization, and for a good reason. This definitely applies to us at Cullen Jewellery. In the day-to-day operations of our business, people are the single most important asset. 

It is the responsibility of Human Resources to ensure that employees are hired and managed in a way that maximizes their potential and contributes to the overall success of the organization. From developing and implementing policies and procedures to managing payroll and benefits, Human Resources plays a vital role in keeping an organization running smoothly, especially when the organization is growing fast as we are. 

In addition, Human Resources is often the first point of contact for employees with questions or concerns, making it an essential part of maintaining a positive workplace culture.

Jordan Cullen – Founder & Director, Cullen Jewellery

The Heart of an Organization

If you were to personify a company, HR is the heart. The human resources department is connected, or should be connected, to every other part of the organization. HR is also the lifeblood, creating and supporting healthy company culture. In practical terms, HR supports all of the people that make an organization possible. Payroll? Check. Benefits? Check. Employee happiness? Check. If you don’t have a strong HR department, you may just be in trouble!

Michael Alexis – CEO, TeamBuilding

The Two-pronged Approach – HR and Recruitment

Working as a team and working alone are two topics that have long been debated. When it comes to HR, I believe that teamwork is important here. This includes support, brainstorming, and joint meetings.

In our company, we have two Human Resources departments – recruitment and HR itself. Recruitment is a hiring specialty that involves finding “future” employees with the help of job platforms, initial meetings, and guiding the candidate through the process of getting to the top, inside the companyMic

Julia Voloshchenko, PR Manager, Usetech

Working as a team and working alone are two topics that have long been debated. When it comes to HR, I believe that teamwork is important here. This includes support, brainstorming, and joint meetings.

Julia Voloshchenko
PR Manager, Usetech

HR, on the other hand, solves the internal human resources issue. As a rule, the tasks of such a specialist are focused on issues of employee retention in the company and specialist development.

If all functions are concentrated in one person, efficiency will suffer. Therefore, it will be better to work together as a team. It is also handy when someone goes on holiday, and you can hand over tasks to a colleague.

Julia Voloshchenko – PR Manager, Usetech

Process, Interface, and Psychological Safety

Human resources (HR) is an important department in any organization. Even if it’s just one person doing the job, there are at least three reasons why an HR team is key:

First, it deals with processes. At its core functional level, human resources departments often deal with policies and procedures that help the organization run smoothly. For example, they may oversee the hiring process so that applicants are screened properly and then hired by the right people for the right positions.

Second, it serves as the interface between management’s requests and the team’s needs. Human resources is also a communication hub between management and staff. It handles requests from management and relays them to staff members who need to act on them. These requests may be about scheduling or pay issues or anything else related to their jobs.

Third and most important, an HR team is a source of psychological safety because it’s responsible for protecting employees’ rights and interests and helping them address workplace issues that they might feel uncomfortable bringing up with their direct supervisors or anyone else. This not only creates an environment where employees feel safe speaking up about their needs and concerns but also fosters trust between management and employees — which is crucial for creating a work environment where people feel comfortable taking risks, experimenting with new ideas, and stepping outside of their comfort zones.

Edoardo Binda Zane – Founder, Emotional Intelligence Test

Workforce Engagement and More

A competent, adequately staffed, and properly funded HR department reflects that a company values its team. At the most basic level, an HR department is charged with maintaining compliance with legislation that protects employees and ensuring consistent application of company policy. These two functions make up the basic foundation of fairness within an organization.

Maureen Cawley, VP, People, Saatva

It is well-documented that an engaged workforce delivers the best results, and the best way for a company to ensure the engagement of its workforce is to support its HR team so that they can lead the way!

Maureen Cawley
SVP, People, Saatva

With that sound foundation in place, companies can depend on their HR departments to drive continuous improvements in the employer value proposition. These improvements may include enhancing employee benefits to be more competitive in the market, providing training and development opportunities, or building a best-in-class talent acquisition function. 

While all of these HR functions directly benefit employee experience, they also benefit the organization as a whole. It is well-documented that an engaged workforce delivers the best results, and the best way for a company to ensure the engagement of its workforce is to support its HR team so that they can lead the way!

Maureen Cawley – SVP, People, Saatva

Investing in Employee Well-being

An effective HR strategy is the only proven way to keep employees included, engaged, and fulfilled within their workplace. With efficient HR tools to effectively report misconduct, harassment, and discrimination, employees will never have to question their safety again. As a result, employee loyalty to their company increases, productivity increases, and both the employee and the employer are satisfied. 

More than benefits and payroll, even if an HR department is a one-person team, it is an essential element to all company operations and processes. By investing in your employee’s well-being, you can build a great company, not just a good company.

Jared Pope – Founder & CEO, Work Shield

Competitive Advantage

A professional HR team creates a competitive advantage for any labor-intensive organization when well-led, constituted, and well-supported. That’s right, competitive advantage. 

First things first, HR must be an amalgam of people who have a deep understanding of and commitment to the organization’s purpose or business. People who “do HR” but don’t understand the business are of little to no use to an organization.

Shortly after graduating from the University of Miami’s school of business, I found myself employed as the HR Manager of Genuine Parts Company’s Miami distribution center. Within a few weeks of starting, I had the occasion to meet briefly with one of the company’s EVPs who had flown in from HQ.

After listening to a summary of my initial priorities, he interrupted me with words to the effect that: You seem like a smart, nice fellow who will likely do well here, but I’m bothered that “you don’t know jacks*&t about this business.” Thud.

He asked for my business cards, and I quickly retrieved one from my shirt pocket. He asked me to produce the full box of cards which I did. He explained that he was taking them from me until such time as I had spent at least a month working the counter in some of our parts stores and done an equal amount of time in the cavernous warehouse, not ten yards from where we were sitting. “Then, and only then, do you get to be known as an HR professional.” That man did me a huge favor at a critical moment in my career, and I’ve never forgotten it.

HR “pros,” a word not taken lightly, helps secure, deploy, and sustain talent, the right talent, when and where needed. They see that the organization’s systems, methods, policies, and procedures support (and incentivize) people doing their best work every day. Frequently calling balls and strikes on people matters, HR pros are neither employee advocates nor manager adversaries or the other way around. They exist to provide tangible value to the business via its human assets because, in today’s economy, competitive advantage means that my people can out-hustle and out-execute yours.

Bill Catlette – Partner, Contented Cow Partners

Protect, Serve, and Support

An HR partner is critical to successfully leading and growing an organization. The role and responsibility of an HR business partner is much more complex than hiring and firing.

Robert H. Johnson Jr. - Founder, Principal, RHJ Consulting Group

An HR partner is critical to successfully leading and growing an organization. The role and responsibility of an HR business partner is much more complex than hiring and firing.

Robert H. Johnson Jr.
Founder, Principal, RHJ Consulting Group

In fact, a great HRBP helps business leaders make important people and organizational decisions. They are key to creating and sustaining a strong psychological and physically safe culture. HR Partners are what Robin is to Batman. They protect, serve, support, and are quite often the unsung heroes within an organization.

Robert H. Johnson Jr. – Founder, Principal, RHJ Consulting Group

HR – The Engine that Drives Organizations 

Each of these insights from industry leaders tells us the one thing that anyone who has ever worked in an organization knows only too well — no matter what its size, the HR department is indeed the engine that drives an organization. 

Do you have a take on why an HR team is important, even if it’s a one-person team? Or is there another insight you’d like to share with readers across the globe? 

Write to us at contribute@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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