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Some more statistics of the research include the following: 86 percent of companies suffer from an inadequate leadership pipeline. 79 percent have retention and engagement troubles (i.e. high turnover rate). 75 percent have significant trouble attracting the employees they need. In other words, these problems stem from poor leadership, or at the very least, a poor leadership system. Why is this Happening?To put it simply, today?s workers want more out of their jobs. They don?t want a position where they sit around and do meaningless work for eight or more hours a day. They want their work to mean something to someone, somewhere. They want an experience. They, just like clients, are demanding and know what they want. If they can?t get it at one place, they leave and try somewhere else, hence the low retention rate. Overwhelming OddsPerhaps one of the prime reasons why there is a 26 percent turnover rate in the US workforce is that two-thirds of the 21st-century workforce feel as if they are overworked. That?s right – two out of three of your employees feel like they are doing too much for too little. To put it in economic terms, the costs outweigh the benefits, and they feel like they are sacrificing too much of their home life for their workplace. 40 percent of them work more than fifty hours a week, and the majority of them would like to work fewer hours. There are too many distractions at work that can hinder performance, and realistically, people can?t do as much without being weighed down by emails or conference calls. A lot of people find themselves working outside of work via their smartphones or other mobile devices. Not-so-Simple SolutionsThis is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed, lest companies lose a quarter of their employees annually simply due to boredom and poor leadership conditions. This shouldn?t happen, and there are ways to correct this imbalance of engagement. Some companies have well-established work practices that have been around for years, and aren?t so sure they want to make any drastic changes. Some might be concerned that if they give the leash some slack, the dog will run free. Their problem in this situation is that part of building a great business is using trust as a foundation. If everyone gets along and trusts each other, relationships will flourish and take the company to greater heights. Tips on How You Can Be an Engaging LeaderWhen it comes down to it, how engaged a worker is with their job is dependent upon their manager finding ways to motivate them. To that end, here are six tips from Forbes on what ?Wise Leaders Can Do to Engage Their Employees.? Stop unknowingly creating tension by expecting them to behave a certain way, rather than allowing them to be their authentic selves. Detect the most positive capabilities in people. Stop micromanaging and start empowering them to discover their full potential. Put employees in a position of influence and allow them to discover their own potential. Share your success to build their momentum. Be consistent and have their backs. We would add to this list the necessity of having working technology. Nothing causes an employee to disengage with their work quite like a painfully-slow workstation and unreliable network connection. Of course, reliable […]

For employers, what?s the best way to approach monitoring? There Should Be an Understanding of Company PolicyAs the business owner, you have complete legal authority to go through your employees? internal emails and instant messages. After all, you own the network. While acting on this right opens up a ton of insight into who might be wasting away their workday, it doesn?t necessarily mean that you should read every message that?s been written. If you do, you might find a couple of messages that will get you hot and bothered. Furthermore, if your employees are unaware that you?re reading their every message, they may find it unfair when you judge them based on opinions which they thought were expressed in private. If you foresee a future where you?ll need to dig through company messages, then it?s your responsibility to communicate to your employees that their messages are being monitored. This is best for everybody and will help keep the peace in the workplace. Objectivity is a NecessityFor example, one issue that you, as an employer, might encounter when investigating employee messages is the office trash-talker. For the purpose of ascertaining the extent of the damage done to the company culture, you may decide to go through their messages. In the worst case scenario, this rogue employee might have messaged everyone in the office (even your most loyal workers), spreading their negativity. When you review internal messages like this, it?s important to remember that there are two sides to every conversation. In the aforementioned scenario, a loyal worker might find themselves hesitant to respond to their fellow employee?s trash talking messages; yet, they might feel it rude to not respond at all. From your perspective, it?s important to identify when an employee is participating in an attack, versus when they?re responding with neutral language for the sake of being polite. Take for example this hypothetical IM conversation between two employees; a loyal employee (LE), and a disgruntled employee (DE). DE: I?m so sick of this policy, it?s unfair and the boss is a tyrant with a bad hairpiece!LE: There are some policies here that can be improved upon.DE: This isn?t the first time the boss has messed with me like this, he?s a jerk and I?m sick of everything.LE: The boss can be strict. After reading this exchange, the employer (who may be offended and biased prior to the investigation) is now in a difficult position. Without a proper understanding of context, it would be easy to come down on both employees for this conversation. However, a more careful and objective reading of this hypothetical conversation shows that LE didn?t say anything wrong; rather, LE responded to DE in a way which appeased his/her feelings while preventing the problem from spreading. This subtle peacekeeping strategy might be overlooked by an employer who?s on a witch hunt. Everyone Needs an OutletEveryone needs a monitor-free place where they can vent about their day-to-day frustrations. Venting can be therapeutic, and it?s important that workers dealing with stress have a way to express their thoughts and opinions without worrying about losing their jobs for being too vocal. Sound familiar? This used to be the role of the office water cooler; but now, since today?s society is comfortable expressing itself through digital mediums, people have no […]

This is why any managed IT provider worth their salt offers remote IT maintenance and support services. Naturally, it?s more cost-effective to provide remote assistance than traveling for an on-site visit, and you get the benefit of immediate service. Small and medium-sized businesses will find that remote IT services are one of the many benefits of working with White Mountain IT Services. Here are four reasons why remote IT service is crucial. Many Problems Can Be Resolved RemotelyLet?s face it; sometimes it?s more convenient to have us fix any problems you might have with your technology remotely. This coincides with the fact that most problems related to IT can be resolved without an on-site visit from our professional technicians. With our remote monitoring and maintenance tool, we can diagnose and resolve problems easily. Of course, there are some hardware problems that require a physical touch, but for those pesky, lesser issues, remote service will get the job done. Fast, Efficient IT ServiceMany of the problems you might face with your IT infrastructure are minor and can be resolved very quickly, but other times you might have a serious problem on your hands. Remote maintenance lets us immediately look into the problem without a lengthy trip to your office. Since you aren?t waiting for us to arrive on-site to fix the issue, you?re saving valuable time that can be better used for other aspects of the work day. Remote IT is Cost-EffectiveMany tech support businesses will charge by the hour for any on-site technology maintenance. This often includes the time spent traveling to and from your office. Instead of letting your budget eat these charges, it?s better to get a remote diagnosis of the problem before committing to an on-site visit. This way, you don?t shell out more than you need to when the problem can easily be fixed remotely. Minimal Distractions in Your WorkplaceIs your entire office distracted when there?s a visitor? If so, you know that anything out of the ordinary is enough to send productivity packing. We don?t want to be in your hair when you?re going for maximum productivity, so the ideal choice for getting the most work done is to have us remotely access your systems and perform maintenance that way. Keep in mind that White Mountain IT Services isn?t opposed to making on-site visits. We?re happy to do what?s necessary to help your office achieve maximum efficiency, but when you can achieve the same level of service remotely, why not do what?s most convenient? For more information about remote IT services, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Some businesses go about their day-to-day duties without a solid business continuity plan. As explained in the above scenario, an external backup is paramount to the survival of your organization, should you face circumstances that threaten to uproot your operations. This generally entails taking snapshots of your business?s data using some sort of backup method. One of the most common methods of doing so is using tape to store data. The problem with tape is that, in physical form, it can easily be destroyed if accidentally left on-site during a flood, fire, earthquake, or another equally devastating disaster. Furthermore, tape backups can be time-consuming, so they?re generally performed after hours; even then, they?re usually only performed once every 24 hours or so, which means that you run the risk of losing that much data in the face of a disaster. Since tape backups often need to be run manually, they?re also more prone to user error than other automated systems. These are just a few reasons why it?s important that you consider your backup and disaster recovery solution carefully. There?s nothing wrong with using tape, but it?s an outdated system that pales in comparison to other, more modern solutions. You want a solution that stores your data in a secure, off-site data center. Unlike data backup, data recovery is the act of restoring from the backups stored in a data center in order to offset data loss caused by any number of variables, like the destruction of hardware, or even user error. The quality of data recovery is generally based on how quickly it can restore your data; therefore, the faster a solution can get you back in action following a major loss of data, the better an asset it is to your business. Of course, data backup and disaster recovery are two very different things that often go hand-in-hand. Take, for instance, our Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution. It?s a backup solution that takes multiple snapshots of your business?s data, which is then stored off-site and in the cloud for later access, combined with rapid data recovery that helps your business get back in action in a moment?s notice. Unlike our BDR, tape backups can be time-consuming, and when time is of the essence, it can be difficult. BDR ensures that your data is always backed up and readily available when you need it most. It should also be mentioned that our BDR solution has the ability to temporarily take the place of your server in the event of a hardware failure. This adds to the value of your investment, and can help you get the ball rolling again while you decide how to replace your hardware. If you?re ready to start taking proactive measures to ensure the continuity of your business and its data, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.