MSPNetworks Blog

Lots of businesses are facing a financial crunch as the margins they operate under continue to shrink. This unfortunate trend has led a lot of businesses to outsource elements of their operations to try and cut costs. One part of the business that is either outsourced or cut out entirely has been the human resources department. 

What Does the Human Resources Department Do?

HR is responsible for recruiting employees, their training and progress, and handling records. Many organizations have their HR department handling other administrative tasks, payroll, and benefits as well. These are crucial parts to running a business, so when there aren’t resources for an HR department, there is a giant hole left in an organization.

Businesses Getting Value out of Outsourcing HR

When a member of your organization doesn’t present obvious revenue generation, that position is apt to be outsourced. Many businesses are now getting immense value out of outsourced HR plans. Today’s outsourced HR platform can do about anything that an internal HR professional can do, but it will be done much less formally. 

The change isn’t just for cost savings. Studies have shown that HR departments are guilty of the following:

• Reports of toxic work environments
• Lazy and underwhelming recruiting
• A total lack of employee development
• No dedication to building a positive company culture
• A complete lack of coordination between business leaders and HR

This is why many decision makers have looked to get out from under their HR staff. Today, Human Resources-as-a-Service (HRaaS) platforms make it easy to get value out of outsourced HR.

About HRaaS

Since HR departments have very specific things they need to do, and do well, HRaaS platforms have been built around those things. They give business managers the ability to track their HR progress through a dedicated dashboard. Many more expensive options have expansive features that allow a company to integrate payroll, benefits, and more. HRaaS can help your business get a budgetable platform that can help you:

• Attract and develop talent
• Maintain regulatory compliance
• Provide benefits and payroll administration
• Provide necessary employee training platforms

At MSPNetworks, we can help your business be more successful through the use of technology. If you would like to have a conversation about any of the technology platforms that we can recommend, or talk to one of our IT experts about systems like HRaaS, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001. 

We all know the importance of IT maintenance and management when it comes to effectively running a business, but it’s really hard to ensure that your technology is being properly maintained when your staff have one foot out the door. A new survey from Gartner suggests that IT employees are more likely to leave your business than other non-IT employees, and this puts a heavier burden on you to make sure technology is properly taken care of.

What Do the Numbers Say?

Gartner’s latest Global Labor Market Survey indicates that only 29.1 percent of IT employees have solid plans to remain with their current employers. This number seems to be quite low, especially considering the important role that technology plays in most businesses. Depending on where you are looking, the numbers can get even more dire. According to the survey, only 19.6 percent of IT workers in Asia plan to stick with their current jobs. Other numbers include New Zealand and Australia at 23.6 percent, Latin America at 26.9 percent, and Europe at 38.8 percent.

So, as you can see, even the most optimistic numbers are still quite high, with the global average of 10.2 percent of IT staff being less likely to stay at their current job compared to non-IT employees. It’s thought that these numbers have come about as a result of employees reassessing their career choices and priorities in the post-pandemic world. Naturally, they should not be faulted for doing so, but it does put your organization in a bit of a bind, especially if your organization relies heavily on IT, as many do.

Why Does This Matter for Your Business?

Simply put, considering the higher rate of turnover for IT workers within businesses, it makes sense that you would want to eliminate as much of the unpredictability as possible. Therefore, we recommend that you work with a managed service provider like MSPNetworks to ensure that you are not left without the IT talent to keep your business running effectively.

When you work with MSPNetworks, you get several benefits. For one, you remove the task of recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding IT staff, meaning that you basically get all of that time back to be productive with your own tasks in the workplace. You also remove the time you might spend without a technician should your current staff decide it is time to jump ship and move on to greener pastures. A lot can happen while you are working to replace a missing employee, and you want as little turnover time as possible. Essentially, what you get is predictability and the reassurance that there will always be someone there to help your organization with IT, no matter what happens in this crazy, chaotic world we live in.

To learn more about our services or how you stand to benefit by working with us, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Generation Y (or Millennials, as they are more commonly known) have a rough reputation in the business world. Whether they’re being blamed for the death of entire industries or mocked for their fondness for avocado toast, it isn’t often that millennials are taken seriously - especially in the workplace. However, if nurtured correctly, this group has the potential to produce some of your top performers. Here, we’ll get into how to do so.

Millennials are swiftly becoming the majority of today’s workforce. As such, there has been plenty said and written about the differences between them and the other workers that you have employed. Generally speaking, the millennials you have on staff will be the ones with the most education, and as a result, will also be under considerable (if not ludicrous) debt. The degrees that cost these millennials years of their lives and tens of thousands of dollars will often only qualify them for an entry-level job.

While this might not sound like the ideal situation for a millennial, it can be just as much of a problem for a business. Generally speaking, millennials are known for seeking challenges in the workplace, striving for rapid vertical movement. If this isn’t the environment that their workplace offers, a millennial typically isn’t afraid to seek opportunities elsewhere, and can sometimes become disengaged with their current employment and create operational wastes.

Why Millennials Can Be Difficult

While the negative characteristics of millennial employees have been written about extensively, they aren’t inherently a massive issue for employers. Having said that, some behaviors that are fairly typical of this group are often frowned upon by employers. For instance:

1. Millennials are notoriously connected. While some level of connection can be beneficial to a business’ operations, there is definitely the opportunity for this connection to become a distraction. Whether its social media, some interest-based website, or the news, millennials can certainly be susceptible to the distractions of the Internet.
2. Millennials can be overconfident to the point of entitlement. As referenced above, millennials are enthusiastic about vertical movement within their organization. It isn’t unusual for these employees to overestimate their value to the business, at least early on, and expect unrealistic perks from their employer.
3. Millennials are opportunistic, sometimes to your disadvantage. Generation Y is notorious for seeking upward mobility, and if that isn’t something that you can offer them, they likely won’t have an issue seeking employment somewhere that can - assuming that they ever stopped seeking other opportunities in the first place.
4. Millennials demand a healthy work/life balance. In addition to finding fulfillment with their employment, Generation Y also needs the opportunity to step back and recharge through their own interests - and “needs” is the right word. One of the most important considerations for a millennial is finding someplace that enables them to exercise this balance.
5. Millennials expect to use technology. As the first age group with Internet access for the majority of their lives, constant access to information through their smartphones, and automation to make many of their processes easier (if not effortless), millennials have come to take this access to technology for granted. Lacking access to this technology in the workplace can easily be enough to send Generation Y elsewhere in their search.

How to Better Leverage Your Millennials

Business owners need to find employees that are committed to the company’s goals, without bringing in potential issues. There are enough examples of overconfident (dare we say arrogant) and uppity millennials out there that many of the stereotypes associated with the generation are at least founded in truth. Having said that, there are just as many - if not more - examples of millennial workers who want to contribute to your business and its team.

If you find yourself needing to manage this group, we’ve provided a few tips to help you do so:

• Give them a culture to get behind.  Millennials tend to be purpose-driven employees, who want to see their work contribute to something. Creating a company culture that acknowledges their efforts and hard work will help to show them just that.
• Be flexible in work and life. While millennials may be known for committing to leisure activities, they are just as willing to commit time to work as well. Offering remote connectivity, integrations, and other forward-focused solutions allows your staff to work as they do best.
• Be a leader. Millennials need more than just a boss to bark orders at them… they are looking for a mentor to guide them. Instead of micromanaging them and making them feel as though their efforts are unappreciated, give them some autonomy in their workday.
• Provide them with technology. Millennials are used to working with technology - since they were raised with it, it’s their preferred method. If you aren’t giving them the tools they work best with, they’re apt to find someone who will.
• Give their work purpose and transparency. With the right leadership, millennials will work tirelessly to build a better organization… all they want to see is that they have a place in this organization moving forward in their career. Remaining open with them is crucial to building trust.

Millennials are making up more of the workforce all the time. Understanding these workers will only help your business adapt to working with them, and adopting the opportunities that Generation Y has to offer.

What are your workplace experiences with millennials? Share them in the comments!