We discuss automation quite a bit, because it is the way business is going. More tasks can now be completed without the need for human interaction. This trend isn?t going away. In HR, where humans are a big part of it, automation is helping organizational HR directors avoid the litany of mundane tasks they were once responsible for, and now focus on the more pressing side of business relationships. This does have its detrimental effects, as well. Let?s unpack how technology is affecting the human resources department.  Recruiting Automation The Internet is a great tool for job seekers and recruiters, alike. New technologies are pushing the recruitment of talent off of the plate of human resources professionals by automating much of the process. Instead of having to coordinate with multiple periodicals, and sift through loads of paper applications, much of this process can be done online through third-party recruiters. Automating this process has freed up a lot of time for HR professionals; and, while it can be a hindrance if online forms are standardized for specific recruitment needs, it is wholly beneficial for businesses.  Communication HR?s core responsibility internally is to coordinate business initiatives. Today, there are communication tools used for collaboration that can keep employees in the know, while also saving the HR department?s time. Company-wide instant messaging, email, and other tools helps HR coordinate with employees better than ever. Employee Performance Reviews Another of HR?s mountain of responsibilities is to keep up with employee reviews. Analyzing employee performance was once a difficult task that required a lot of time and effort from HR professionals. Today, technology is in place that makes it easier for HR professionals to gather and process information to get an overall picture of performance.  Enhancing Security Formerly, the HR department would hold paper files on all employees, vendors, and other people that interact with the business. This was secure, but slow and expensive. Innovations in HR technology have pushed these records to digital storage, so tools need to be used to secure this information, as digitizing it and keeping it offline takes away the speed and effectiveness of digital systems.  Policy Creation Technology has changed the way that HR is able to disseminate information. So much so that many organizations rely on their HR department to put together policies and procedures that are available online. Working with IT, the HR department can assign and remove access and ensure that a business doesn?t have any loose ends that could potentially harm it.  Human resources is changing. Today, there are tools that can save a business? HR department a lot of time and grief, but also require HR professionals to be proficient with many types of technology. If you would like to talk about how to innovate your HR department through software or cloud-based HR-as-a-Service platforms, reach out to the IT experts at White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.

Gmail Templates in a Nutshell Gmail templates are a built-in capability that enables a user to compose a boilerplate email to draw upon and edit as required, greatly reducing the time needed to prepare certain messages. As a result, your team members can be much more efficient in their use of Gmail. Using Gmail Templates The first step is to enable templates in the first place. Go to Settings > See All Settings > Advanced > Templates and make sure that it is set to Enable. Save Changes once you?ve done so, and you?ll be able to start building your own library of email boilerplate to use in all appropriate correspondence. Creating Gmail Templates, and Selecting Which to Use Once your templates are enabled, you?re ready to build some and put them to use: Start a new message and create your template as you want it. In the message, access the three-dot menu to find Templates. This option will open a sub-menu, where you?ll find the options to Save draft as a template, along with the templates you?ve already saved and the option to Delete template. From there, you can create a new template or revise the one you?ve already created. Hopefully, this will be useful to you moving forward. For more tips, keep checking back here!

Let?s consider why this may not be what you want for your business, and how to help your team members continue to socialize amongst themselves. What Happens When Your Employees Feel Isolated? Here?s the thing: when your employees buy into your business, it isn?t necessarily because of a mission you?ve established or a philosophy you subscribe to?much more likely, it?s because they?ve grown attached to working with each other. The community that a business forms can be a very powerful thing. So-called ?water-cooler chats” are what generally lead to more collaborative behaviors overall. Therefore, when your workforce is kept apart without the means or opportunity to have these casual interactions, the common theme is that they simply won?t have them. This has led to an interesting dissonance in office workers working outside the office. While remote work has largely been embraced as a concept, most workers want to see the office remain as a means of collaboration. The kind of interaction that a shared work environment can support leads to a litany of benefits in terms of teamwork?increased trust, improved performance, and maintained productivity. However, without that shared work environment to encourage such interactions, these relationships become difficult to sustain. How to Improve Remote Socialization Fortunately, this problem can potentially be minimized considerably by using the very collaboration solutions that enabled it. Encourage your team members to chat a little more idly throughout their day via their professional tools, or perhaps investigate some tools that have popped up in response to this very problem. Many teams have taken to tools like Discord?a platform designed to make online gaming more communicative and social?to enable a means of persistent communication throughout the day. Regardless of what is added to your business? toolkit, the culture shift also must be in place to ensure that your team utilizes the tools at their disposal. Without this buy-in, any efforts you make may not be accepted by your workers. While we?ll leave your company culture in your hands, White Mountain IT Services can help ensure that your team members have access to all of the tools they need to work productively, no matter if they?re in your office or cooped up at home. Find out more about what we can do to support them through our managed IT services by giving us a call at (603) 889-0800 today.

Technology is no different. There are technology holidays all throughout the year. These include National Technology Day on January 6, Data Privacy Day on January 28, and National Clean Out Your Computer Day on February 8. In March, however, there are three technology-inspired ?holidays? that we thought were important enough to point out. The First Weekend in March ? National Day of Unplugging (March 4th, 2021 to March 5th, 2021) It may not seem like us to tell you to take a step away from your technology, but for years people?s exposure to technology has had people (parents and doctors mostly) concerned about the effects of too much screen time. On a National Day of Unplugging, it is suggested that you limit the amount of time you spend on your technology, just to get away and to get some perspective. Doing this regularly can actually give you a better perspective about how you interact with all the technology that is constantly around you. The National Day of Unplugging was formed from a project that grew from a Jewish arts and culture nonprofit?s small gatherings for technology-free Shabbat dinners to an international campaign to help slow down our normally fast-paced lives. It has expanded to support digital wellness initiatives around the world, growing in scope every year. At White Mountain IT Services, we understand that part of having a healthy work-life balance is finding a balance between your downtime and your screen time. Try putting your phone away (they still make paperbacks) on March 4th and support the National Day of Unplugging. March 16th ? National Freedom of Information Day Since 1966, the Freedom of Information Act has provided an avenue for U.S. citizens to review public information. The National Freedom of Information Day; every March 16th, coincides with one of the founding fathers of the Republic?s birthday, the fourth president of the U.S., James Madison. Madison, who is often referred to as the Father of the Constitution, was a major proponent of transparency in government. In choosing his birthday for the National Freedom of Information Day, open-government advocates such as the National Freedom of Information Coalition have combined Madison?s spirit with a celebration of the accessibility of information in the republic.  March 31st ? World Backup Day Being advocates of backing up your data is not selfless, it makes our jobs easier, but that doesn?t mean that it doesn?t come from a good place. Nowadays, we have World Backup Day, which was created in 2011 by Ismail Jadun. He wanted to get the word out about how important it was for businesses to back up their data. He figured that the day before April Fool?s Day was the best time to spread the word about having a data backup. Today, data is more valuable than ever and data breaches routinely destroy businesses. Keeping a secure backup can help any organization keep operations going after a major data-loss event that can be triggered by about anything: Disasters, system failure, negligence; you name it, it can cause data loss. Having a strong backup and recovery strategy in place will ensure that your business won?t be caught off-guard. Today, World Backup Day works to promote the implementation of data backup, and should be observed by individuals and businesses, alike.  If you want to celebrate these technology […]

Today, we thought we would identify some phrases that we hear from people all the time either in improper context or simply just as an attempt to relate with us, and what they really mean.  ?Disruptive Technologies? What it means: Any technology that undermines the effectiveness of the existing technology used in any scenario.How it is used: Any new technology. The fact of the matter is that any truly disruptive technology, will sufficiently disrupt the market in which it is prevalent. it?s not just a new technology that disrupts people?s view of technology. When it is used improperly, it suggests that the technology just appeared and took over what was a static existence beforehand. Today, we hear the phrase ?disruptive technology? far too much, and almost always out of context. Innovation takes time, and most technologies evolve to become the useful tech we use each day. Calling something disruptive when it has been in the pipeline for some time is incorrect.   ?Digital Transformation? What is intended: When an analog system is transitioned into a digital system.How it is used: Adding more IT. One of the most overutilized terms we hear is ?digital transformation?. This is because a true digital transformation happens when moving from an antiquated analog system to a digital one. Unnecessary upgrades to digital systems, isn’t a digital transformation. A lot of the time, it?s just a waste of organizational resources. Technology is a tool, not the rule. Be sure that you have a specific strategy before transitioning any of your internal processes to digital. That way you can avoid the shortcomings that many businesses see when hastily?or unnecessarily?implementing new IT. ?5G? What is intended: The fifth generation of wireless that brings impressive gigabit data speeds and extremely low latency.How it is used: The technology that is going to save the world.  ?5G? is the buzziest of buzzwords. That?s because it is legitimately exciting. However, many people are taking the features and benefits of 5G way too far. In fact, a lot of the wireless carriers that are claiming 5G connectivity, don?t let potential customers in on the secret that 5G is only available in a very limited number of places. It?s actually just being used to boost their phone sales. Marketing a technology that you won?t have access to in the life of the device you are about to buy may seem shady, but that?s where we are.  5G is also already a term related to the 5 GHz wireless band on modern Wi-Fi router. The 5 GHz on a router tends to have a faster speed, but a smaller coverage area, and has a harder time passing through walls in your home or office. Older devices might not support connecting to a 5 GHz wireless router, but for those that do, that faster speed can make a big difference. ?Machine Learning? What is intended: A form of artificial intelligence that is able to compute huge data sets and handle them efficiently.How it is used: A tool uses basic automation to complete a predefined task. Automation is the future of many businesses, and your business should be looking for ways to automate some of your tasks, but many places people use the term ?machine learning? to describe any algorithmic approach to automation. This isn?t true.  Machine learning […]