Outsourcing HR The human resources department, like any other job that is difficult to track, has been under fire. Traditionally, they handle seven core functions in a business. They are: Recruitment Payroll Administration Benefits Administration Training and Professional Development Performance Reviews Labor Relations Managing Compliance Over the past several years, the company human resources department, especially at small and medium-sized businesses, has been outsourced to vendors that can help the business reduce costs by replacing a dedicated HR staff with a whole team of HR professionals. This service uses software as the intermediary between the business and their HR professionals. The Relationship Between Automation and HR Technology changes things. Does it make it better? That?s a matter of opinion, but for the business owner, it can work quickly to reduce overhead costs, making it advantageous. The benefits of automating HR tasks is the same as automating any other part of your business. It allows for a reduction of human work, which reduces business costs and improves efficiency. Some benefits of HR automation include: Reduced employee turnover through improved employee engagement Reduced storage and printing costs Improved risk management and properly managed compliance Improved document management Enhanced business decision making with comprehensive reports Optimized business growth through efficient onboarding Of course, there are many software titles that work to help build a more productive and efficient business, but the act of automating human resources is taking humanity out of it. Most HR automation platforms are moving away from traditional HR administration and moving to something called human capital management. What is Human Capital Management? Human capital management is a strategy that encourages business owners and managers to look at their staff as they would look at any other asset they have. The core thesis behind the strategy is: since the goal of most businesses is to get their human staff to work as effectively and efficiently as possible, spending time on the individual needs and motivations of workers is not going to help the bottom line. Human capital management looks for metrics that can be quantifiable and strategically improved upon, that?s all. It doesn?t matter how people feel or what is going on in their lives. None of that is the business? responsibility. It basically aims to change an organization?s view of their workforce from a commodity to an investment. What Strategy Is Best for Your Business? There are multiple ways that automation can be implemented in the HR/HCM process, but depending on your staff, the strategy that is used will make all the difference. Basing your business? HR decisions solely on inhuman productivity metrics may actually have the opposite effect than you may expect. HR is always a balancing act. If you would like to talk about technology for your business reach out to us at (603) 889-0800 today.
As with most subjects we discuss in this blog, there is a right way of doing things, and a very wrong way of doing things. This case is no different. That?s why we?re going to take you through the how (and why) of properly disposing of an old desktop or laptop. Deal with Your Data While you want to replace the piece of hardware that you use on a daily basis, you probably don?t want to lose the data you have saved on it, right? Therefore, you are going to want to be sure that all your data is properly backed up and protected before you remove it from your old device. Why remove it at all? That?s simple enough–once your old hardware leaves your hands to be disposed of, you have no guarantee that it will be secured throughout this process. As a result, you can’t be sure that one of its storage components won?t be taken and your data extracted. Of course, just deleting your data isn?t going to cut it. You should instead use a special software solution to delete and overwrite all stored data, preventing any potential data recovery efforts. Then you will need to encrypt the drive, deauthorize your computer from any accounts, delete any and all browsing history, and uninstall any programs on the device. A quick factory reset at the end will ensure your data is good and gone. Of course, you also have the option to remove your hard drive and either physically destroy it or securely store it as an archive. What If The Computer Won?t Turn On? I?m Safe, Right? Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that your dead computer no longer has any data on it. In fact, your data is likely still in there, as the majority of issues that ?kill? the computer leave the hard drive untouched. This means there?s good and bad news for you? the good news being that your data can likely be saved by someone who knows what they?re doing, the bad news being that hackers tend to know that they?re doing as well. Getting Rid of the Computer Once you are confident that your old system no longer contains any data, you can get rid of it–but you do have to be careful of how you do so. Leaving it on the curb like a couch from a college apartment isn?t an option. You may not have known this, but your computer and other electronics contain heavy metals and materials that can cause serious harm to the environment, so just dumping it into a landfill is dangerous and irresponsible. Therefore, it is better to recycle it? but even then, you have to be cautious. Some recycling companies will take your machine and send it to a developing nation, where children will pick through the hazardous materials we mentioned to extract valuable materials from its components, thereby poisoning groundwater. Make sure you find a resource that will only leverage recyclers that operate ethically. Finally, you could also donate your system once you?ve wiped or replaced the hard drive. Many good causes could use computers, but don?t always have the means to procure them. White Mountain IT Services can help with this process from start to finish. Reach out to us at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.
How to Minimize General Exposure in the Office Based on what is currently known about the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have some recommendations as to how to keep the potential impact of coronavirus to a minimum: Encourage employees who are ill to stay home. This will help to minimize the spread of infection within your business. Make sure that your employees are aware of this policy by reiterating it verbally, and by posting notices around the office encouraging them to stay home if under the weather. Emphasize hygiene and etiquette. Properly stifling coughs and sneezes and keeping hands clean are surprisingly effective ways to keep your workplace healthier. Rather than using their hands to catch a cough or sneeze, your employees should use a tissue or–if unable to do so–use the upper part of their sleeve. The CDC recommends that tissues and alcohol-based hand sanitizer should be made readily available. Make sure your employees are washing their hands with soap and water for the recommended 20 seconds. Engage in keeping the workplace clean. There is a chance that coronavirus (and other illnesses) could be spread via infected surfaces. Make sure that all surfaces that are touched frequently, like desks, workstations, and doorknobs, are kept sanitized. Provide your employees with disposable wipes so they can proactively disinfect these surfaces before use. If you find that one of your employees is confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus, make sure that you inform their coworkers of their possible exposure while still maintaining the confidentiality that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires. These employees and those who are living with a sick family member should assess their risk of exposure using the CDC?s guidelines. Coronavirus as a Cyberthreat Unfortunately, coronavirus will also require you to also keep an eye on your network security, particularly if you operate within the healthcare industry. Hackers and cybercriminals have taken advantage of the widespread concern that the disease has caused. For example: Scammers have phished healthcare providers with updates that appear to have come from the World Health Organization or hospitals local to their area, but actually introduce keyloggers into their systems. Those involved in the medical supply chain have been targeted with emails referencing the coronavirus that install malware to steal information. Ransomware has been introduced into consumer systems by promising recipients of an email information about COVID-19?s spread. While the current climate may not make it easy, these emails and other threat vectors can be overcome through the same best practices that foil other cyberthreats. In addition to comprehensive digital protections, training your employees to spot these threats will be crucial. Of course, you should also maintain a comprehensive backup in case you need to recover from a successful attack. How to Maintain Productivity with Your Team at Home With today?s technology, sending an employee home sick doesn?t necessarily mean that you will be sacrificing that employee?s productivity. We now have many ways that your team can work effectively from home, still contributing to your organizational agenda without exposing their coworkers to their illness. Equipping Your Employees Remote access solutions, paired with virtual private networking technology, can allow your employees to securely continue their work from home, safely accessing the applications and data their tasks require through an encrypted connection. As […]
Find the Right Apps If you are like most of the rest of the world, you have all manners of apps that you?ve downloaded on your phone. There are the normal apps like the email app, the browser, the app store app, and the messaging app. Then there are social media apps, games, productivity apps, dating apps, retail apps, and a slew of other apps that you don?t remember downloading as they have no purpose for you. To use your smartphone as a productivity tool you will want to eliminate most of the distractions. Sure, you can still spend hours scrolling through the app stores looking for the right apps, but we?re guessing if you are making a conscious effort to use your smartphone for productivity, that you won?t be doing that. By eliminating a lot of the extra apps you currently have, you will be able to focus on the apps that remain, the ones that allow you to be productive. Additionally, once you have the apps you want on the device, you then will want to arrange the apps in a manner that makes it simple for you to navigate to the apps that you need. For example, you can group social media apps together to keep them in one place rather than have them strewn about the device. This organization will come in handy when you are looking for the apps you need. Disable Certain Notifications Notifications are super useful, until they are a horrible distraction. Turning some of the more useless notifications off won?t hurt you, but leaving them on will hurt your ability to be productive. Turning off mobile notifications for your social media accounts (unless you need them for work) and your remaining mobile games is a solid practice that will cut down on distractions. Update Software Regularly The smartphone is increasingly being targeted as an attack vector to get onto business networks. For this reason you will want to ensure that your mobile OS is updated regularly and that the applications you depend on get their patches and updates. Typically, this process is handled automatically, but it?s smart to be sure to check. If you don?t use the app anymore, just get rid of it! Smartphones will just become a bigger part of business in the future. For more great tips and tricks subscribe to our blog.
It sounds ludicrous, but turning your computer off doesn?t accomplish the same thing as restarting it does, at least not anymore. Let?s take a look at the differences. What?s the Difference Between the Shut Down and Restart Processes? In older versions of Windows, up until Windows 7, shutting your computer down and restarting it resulted in the same process. The computer would shut down, RAM would be reset, and once you started the computer back up, you?d start with no elective processes running. With the introduction of Microsoft?s first ?metro? OS, Windows 8, this process changed. In these OSs, Microsoft has a new startup process called Fast Startup. With this feature, shutting down a device and restarting a device have two separate processes. Shut Down The presence of Fast Startup shortens the process of starting up your machine, it does this for shutting down as well. When a user commands the computer to shut down, their programs and files are shut down, but their OS is placed in standby mode. This shuts the computer down, unlike the hibernate and standby options, but it also makes Windows faster to reactivate. Since most of the computer?s processes aren?t stopped in their tracks, the issues that got you to shut it down in the first place will still be there when it is rebooted. Restart When a user selects to restart, however, the devices puts a stop to all processes. This is why it takes a little longer to restart than it would to just shut down. It is a fresh boot at the motherboard level. The difference is in the shutdown process. Funny enough, by ?shutting down? a computer, it actually leaves more components active than a restart does, making a restart the recommended process to use when troubleshooting an issue. Next time you hear ?turn your computer off and on again,? or ?reboot,? you?ll know that restarting your computer is the way to go. If you would like more information about how your operating system works, or any other technology issue you always wondered about, subscribe to our blog.
