Tasmanian IT Blog   •   February 21, 2019

Each week, we post a “Take 5” article to our website with tips, tricks, thoughts and actions we’ve come across during the week that we feel you may benefit from too.

It’s designed to be short and sharp that you can read when you need to “Take 5”.

Grab a drink, give yourself a (productive) break and check out our latest 5 below.

1. Feed the brain – A little book of Big Ideas

Employee Engagement – A little book of Big Ideas by Jasmine Gartner

In the current business climate, it is becoming increasingly clear that engaging your workforce is an essential component of productivity and profitability. This relatively new book published in 2015 outlines best practice, as well as the pitfalls of engagement and how to address them. But to start you will have to truly understand the question of ‘what exactly is engagement?’

We hope you will enjoy this read.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Employee-Engagement-little-book-Ideas/dp/0993136621

2. Step up your screen captures with Greenshot

Whether it be referencing a document, or creating user guides, the quality and ease of taking screen shots on a PC can be difficult.

Well, it’s time we let you in on a secret tool in our bag – Greenshot!

Yep, it takes a mighty fine screen grab, just like your standard Print Screen function.  But then you can take it a step further – once installed, pressing the Print Screen key launches the app, allowing you to select a screen capture region.  Then, there are multiple options for saving the image file and sharing in many formats.

The holy grail however is the Greenshot image editor – from marking up the screen capture to the “Obfuscate” tool that allows you to blur areas of the image that contain sensitive information, this app makes creating great captures effortless.

Do yourself a favour and download Greenshot – it’s free!

Link: https://getgreenshot.org/

3. How the Digital Age has Transformed Employee Engagement

Some of us are old enough to remember when the hailing of the digital age was going to result in more leisure time for employees, less time bound to the desk and in the dreaded commute. There is no doubt technology has forever changed how companies and its employees function. But with a ping there, a text here, and a slack notification on top of that, how do employees stay focused on their work?

Renown McKinsey Global Institute found that employees with higher engagement levels are 20-25% more productive. Yet this same report found distracted employees are often less engaged, and much less productive. In fact, 60% or less of work time is spent productively.

That doesn’t leave much of the day to fully immerse oneself with work.

Time and time again, research shows how valuable high employee engagement is, and companies are striving to keep their workers engaged in the hopes that they stay longer and do better work. The Digital Age has undoubtedly brought with it a swarm of technological advancements, but how has all of this technology impacted employee engagement?  The full McKinsey report can be found here.

Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/the-social-economy?utm_source=hrt&utm_campaign=1599&utm_term=michellekiss

4. Do You Care About Your Employees Wellbeing?

Should employers be concerned with the well-being of their employees?

The answer, of course, is yes. A workforce that is “well” leads to increased productivity. But research has uncovered a startling disconnect between employer and employee perceptions of workforce well-being.

More than half of employers (56%) believe their well-being programs have encouraged employees to live healthier lifestyles, but less than one in three employees (32%) agrees, according to the Global Benefits Attitudes Survey. We found this article which is part of the world economic forum annual general meeting very interesting. It discusses four dimensions of employee well-being – physical, financial, emotional and social – which the survey has found to be the key to creating greater employee engagement.

Link: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/ensure-your-company-has-employee-wellbeing/

5. Quote of the week

“There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow… It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of GE

Have a great week from the Tasmanian IT Team