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Overcoming Data Silos In Healthcare For Better Outcomes

March 28, 2023

Data silos in healthcare are a pressing problem for healthcare providers, hospitals, and industry stakeholders due to diverse reasons. Healthcare players now have to contend with big data silos while working out a fine balance between tapping opportunities that arise with more actionable intelligence and insights, while managing increasing technical complexities. The healthcare sector is known for the sheer depth of these data silos, presenting multifarious challenges or obstacles for providers. It begins with medicine R&D patient records and more. Eliminating data silos will contribute towards a win-win proposition for all stakeholders including patients, healthcare service providers, policymakers, and so on. There are however concerns relating to data security with a more complicated data landscape and rapidly evolving threats. The need of the hour is proper healthcare analytics with an emphasis on accompanying privacy-by-design framework, security analytics, encryption, multi-factor authentication, and other techniques. Interoperability is another aspect worth considering. This is the scope of data exchange and interpretation across various IT software applications, systems, and devices. Without proper guiding frameworks for interoperability, data exchange may turn confusing, time-consuming, and complex, hindering information flow and patient care alike. Data complexity has to be reduced by eliminating silos for service providers, doctors, and patients. Challenges for Interoperability There are several hurdles towards interoperability though. While eliminating data silos is possible with big data in healthcare analytics, there are several issues for providers even today. The present interoperability framework is a makeshift system for most healthcare industry players. 93% of hospitals and other healthcare systems make records available online for patients and this has increased from 27% in 2012, as per the Sharing Data, Saving Lives: The Hospital Agenda for Interoperability report in 2019. 88% of hospitals also share their data with ambulatory care as per these reports. However, the critical challenges include the fact that while 90% of hospitals are deploying certified IT solutions, several out-of-the-box options are muddling data exchange owing to silos. Other issues include concerns relating to privacy and security along with restrictions pertaining to the present HIEs (health information exchanges) and also the absence of any compatible linguistic or technical standards for making sure that shared data stays intact and relevant. The Need to Develop Superior Infrastructure A key hurdle towards extensive interoperability is the absence of suitable technology-driven infrastructure. While most providers use EHR (electronic health records) platforms, many of these were not developed keeping data exchange at the forefront. At the same time, health information exchanges were implemented for electronic leveraging of healthcare data and also in a secure manner. Yet, many of them cannot finish total data exchange in a reliable manner through varying source technologies or healthcare systems. A few HIEs also do not facilitate access to patient data which is counterproductive to the actual reasons for their implementation. This report also mentioned how 97% of hospitals were already using certified EHRs, thereby making the case stronger for doing away with data silos. There is a need for proper systemic infrastructure for recording and transferring vital information securely throughout the ecosystem. Other aspects like APIs (application programming interfaces) are also vital for health data sharing. Accessible, open and FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards-based APIs are seen as some of the best ways to quickly scale up interoperability. More than half of developers of technological solutions will have to ensure access to electronic health data via public and standard APIs in the near future. This should rise further in the current decade. At the same time, big data in healthcare analytics is steadily attaining higher sophistication and refinement en route towards fusing with better governance and regulatory systems to tap better intelligence and operational efficiencies, along with keeping data silos at bay. Ensuring Greater Security Across The Ecosystem There have to be mechanisms in place for healthcare stakeholders with regard to relying on the accuracy and relevance of the shared healthcare data along with ensuring compliance and security at multiple levels. Privacy issues are still a concern in this space. IT developers and vendors should be able to integrate privacy and security protocols and needs for each infrastructural layer including APIs and third-party applications. This technological infrastructure should have verification methods for information requests and their authorisation, while each entity which has access to patient information will have responsibility for securing and using data respectively. With more connected health IT systems, there will be growing cyber-security threats and one system’s vulnerabilities may lead to all connected systems getting exposed as a result. This will be an ongoing resolution for healthcare players, with regard to building data privacy and security standards, while complying with regulatory aspects seamlessly. Third-party security layers may also be possible through testing, identifying threats, and evaluation of technological upgrades. In the end, eliminating silos is a vital task for the global healthcare industry today. Developing big data analytics techniques for penetrating deeper into available data is a key priority for several healthcare players. They are using these technologies for understanding the connections between applications, SSL certificate installation, server functions, and more. Machine and wire data is being analysed and gathered for insights while helping organisations zero in on blockage points which lead to these data silos. Integration of disparate systems across the sector is also vital for accomplishing interoperability at a bigger scale. FAQs What are data silos in healthcare? Data silos naturally form across several data categories and departments have stored information. These make information inaccurate and inaccessible while hindering effective sharing due to blockages. What are the challenges of data silos in healthcare? The challenges include barriers to sharing critical patient and healthcare data across systems, providers, and the entire network. This impedes quicker decisions and end-consumer fulfilment at multiple levels. At the same time, silos prevent a holistic view of the entire framework for providers. What are the benefits of overcoming data silos in healthcare? The benefits include more accessible and usable data throughout multiple systems and stakeholders along with better collaboration across departments and improved decision-making.

AI – The Winner of Attracting Top Talents

May 5, 2022

Aside from being the biggest game-changer in multiple segments, it is undeniable that AI (Artificial Intelligence) has unearthed multiple use cases and possibilities today. Thinking along those lines, how would AI fare for recruitment? Let the discussion begin. Is it really what it’s cracked up to be? Job markets have been reeling globally in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the industry has been confronted with a surprising exodus of workers in the quest for something more meaningful in life. However, the shift hasn’t opened up a wealth of opportunities for aspirants. They’re finding it harder to crack jobs today. What could be the reason? Many organisations have been fine-tuning recruitment processes via artificial intelligence. By automating pre-screening for qualifications, checking credentials/certifications and scheduling interviews, employers are hoping to make recruitment procedures more efficient. In reality, these systems filter applications by screening CVs and cover letters for particular sets of keywords. The absence of the same in these documents is leading to the instant elimination of otherwise-skilled candidates. In short, if resumes aren’t being seen by human recruiters, then it poses an issue. With machines rejecting candidates on such grounds, companies face risks of missing skilled talent. Some AI systems even scrutinize gaps in resumes which could otherwise be explained by candidates. A Harvard Business School and Accenture report outlines how in 2021, 27 million people were hindered from finding jobs in their preferred sectors due to AI tools. The only probable solution is an expansion of candidate pools via algorithms, along with deploying lookalike matching based on the highest-performing talent. Humans are still indispensable in examining resumes and determining the best fit. How do candidates feel about faceless hiring? It is more than a mixed bag in reality; most candidates feel anxious about being able to find an audience with employers in the face of being scanned by AI tools. Many of them, however, testify to faster and more streamlined methods of recruitment for those with stronger CVs. AI capabilities can considerably fast-track communication, getting stronger applicants directly before potential employers. Other tools also help in accelerating onboarding, training, orientation and tech set-ups. Are automated hiring systems ‘hiding’ candidates from recruiters? As mentioned earlier, millions of workers are being instantly rejected or filtered out by AI tools owing to reasons such as the absence of specific keywords, gaps and so on. Automated hiring mechanisms sometimes reject genuine and skilled candidates as per several reports. These are hidden workers who desire employment but are being rejected regularly through processes emphasizing more on what they lack instead of their intrinsic value to an organisation. Immigrants, those with disabilities, caregivers, veterans, those who served prison sentences and those with relocating spouses are bearing the brunt of these mechanisms along with people in more categories. While the problem is clear, the solution lies only in a shift towards more positive or affirmative job filters by companies from negative filters when scanning resumes. These include the skills to be brought by candidates to any job position instead of focusing on not having experience, degrees and so on. Experts also recommend easier application procedures for drawing skilled talent along with clarity for applicants on when the company will respond. Use AI in recruitment but responsibly While AI usage in hiring procedures has accelerated over the last few years, responsible usage is the need of the hour. Companies are relying on AI for automated screening and evaluation, data analytics and virtual interviews. Yet, AI can hinder their access to skilled and genuine talent if they are not careful enough with their strategy. In the absence of historical data for training and equipping AI-based algorithms, recruitment tools will carry biases more predominantly than before. However, with efficient and responsible usage, AI can help in creating a wider, fairer and easier recruitment procedure as per industry watchers. Companies have to stop seeing AI as a quick fix while implementing it in a half-baked manner which does more harm than good. The onus lies on recruiters to ensure ethical, widespread and diverse usage of AI for hiring. It is a common perception that since HR departments do not directly garner revenues, leaders are more amenable to automation for cutting costs. However, at this point, there is a need to align human and technological resources for ensuring the best results. There are anxieties regarding the data collected by AI on candidates and regulations on management of the same. While addressing these concerns, companies should go all out to responsibly deploy AI tools. Some are taking the right steps by using the technology to find problematic content in JDs and other briefs, ensuring inclusivity and gender neutrality. AI is also being used by many companies to help new employees get access to swift onboarding systems and organisational information. Instead of replacing human beings entirely, AI can be a potent tool for helping them work more efficiently, thereby saving on costs and time in the long run. Some companies, for instance, are looking at AI tools to only identify applicants based on specific skill sets, without looking at conventional education, name, gender, etc. A double-checking mechanism may also work as a hand-holding measure till AI algorithms also evolve in response to multi-faceted requirements. As can be seen, AI in recruitment is still a mixed bag with a lot of fine-tuning and streamlining needed. Going forward, one can remain hopeful about the responsible, ethical and efficient usage of AI to transform recruitment procedures but not in a chalk-and-cheese manner that leaves little scope for understanding, interpretation and opportunities in many cases.

How Dedicated Hiring Is Helping Our Canadian Customers Scale Their Business

March 21, 2018

Canada’s burgeoning corporate scene is often cited as an example of how businesses can function smoothly while also ensuring the rights and interests of employees. Most Canadian businesses depend on outsourcing to reduce costs, focus on core business activities, and access talent locally unavailable, among many other reasons. Yet, outsourcing is a topic that often raises eyebrows in this famously polite and civil country. Let us take a look at how outsourcing evolved in Canada, and what businesses across this northern giant are currently doing to scale and multiply their profits. Evolution of outsourcing in Canada in the last decade Like in most developed countries, Canadian businesses began to seek cost-effective solutions across the world to meet growing IT and HR demands, since the 1990s. Companies have often depended on India, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Poland, and other offshoring destinations to meet their business targets. In the last few years, Canadian banks have sometimes received bad press for embracing outsourcing as a business strategy, with critics pointing out that Canadian employees aren’t adequately compensated for the loss of their jobs. Yet, IDC Canada revealed that its survey found an increase of 45% in outsourcing contracts signed, especially in the area of infrastructure support tasks. IT offshoring is a $3 billion business in Canada and a strategy that has proved to work in the last 10 years. Early last year, CIBC was criticized for offshoring its jobs. However, companies often save between 30% and 40%, when they outsource maintenance and development tasks to India. A Deloitte report suggests that outsourcing is going to witness growth in all areas surveyed such as HR, IT and finance. To find a middle ground and appeal to both sides, Canadian companies are increasingly depending on the dedicated hiring model to access talent, reduce expenditure, and scale quickly. Dedicated hiring offers Canadian companies the proverbial cake that can not only be had but can also be eaten. How the dedicated hiring model is helping organizations meet HR Challenges specific to Canada Much like everywhere else in the world, Canadian companies have had to face growing HR challenges such as attrition, higher compensation demands, the inability to find the right talent and changing employee attitudes. An interesting observation that has been made is that top-level executives have been leaving jobs too, increasing attrition levels among C-level executives. As Canada faces an immense shortage of manpower and as immigration does not suffice HR requirements for more manpower, dedicated hiring has come to be a palatable solution. Dedicated hiring has also impressed the critics of outsourcing as this model does not actually lead to job losses in Canada. Instead, it allows corporations to hire external employees on demand, for a specific duration of time. Currently, Canada faces a number of HR challenges such as: Inability to find required talent within Canada Inability to provide the compensation that local employees demand A growing realization that it is not necessary to hire full-time employees for short-term projects Young Canadians often switch jobs quickly, leading to a state of uncertainty among businesses Inability to scale, because enough budget can’t be allocated for marketing A negative attitude towards a traditional model of outsourcing All these problems can be addressed with a dedicated hiring model, as it enhances the profitability of companies while ensuring existing employees’ jobs aren’t threatened. Dedicated hiring model allows Canadian businesses to sign contracts only for a limited number of hours or for the duration of a project. Such a contract gives them access to full-time employees employed by vendor companies, at a fraction of the cost. Most importantly, dedicated hiring ensures that short-term tasks and projects which need specialized skills can be completed seamlessly. Finally, dedicated hiring offers a sustainable model to scale for businesses that are driven. There are a number of examples of how dedicated hiring is helping Canadian companies to succeed and grow. Let us take a look at some examples. Digital Marketing Agencies: While every company needs some sort of digital marketing assistance, dedicated hiring ensures that there is always a digital marketing team on the standby to address all requirements related to social media and digital platforms, without ever having to hire a full-time team. A trucker based in Ottawa hired our digital marketing services to provide social customer service to his clients on Twitter. In addition, the client also used Indus Net technologies’ dedicated explainer video production team to publish corporate videos on YouTube, which the client later used as sales collateral as well. IT Service Partners: There is nothing more panic-triggering than having to hire a developer who knows an exotic programming language, but his skills are required only for a few days or months. Many of our clients have hired our development teams for all kinds of short and long-term projects, without ever having to hire anyone full time. A Nova Scotia-based eCommerce store hired our Kotlin language programmers to build and maintain their website. Our dedicated hiring model helped the client finish the project quickly, and do what they are best at doing: selling online. Startups: Startups often have very little money to spare on development, social media, HR and other functions. In fact, many startups are run by just one person alone, and it simply is not possible for one person to execute so many roles. A dedicated hiring model allows fledgling startups to offload their burden on vendors, while they can focus on building and marketing their business. Many Canadian startups hire our dedicated hiring solutions for various reasons. An Ottawa-based public relations startup hired our app development services to launch a time-specific application for their own clients. Our dedicated hiring model ensured that app development was completed in a short time, without having to hire anybody full time. What to expect next? In 1964, Bob Dylan wrote and sang “The Times They Are a Changin”, and we must admit they will continue to change in the future too. To ensure businesses are well-equipped to face the demands

Attribution Metrics and Performance Marketing in Mobile

February 26, 2018

Are you reading this article on a mobile device? Going by statistics, insights and the scene at any dining table or college cafeteria, you most likely are. We live in a mobile-first world. In an average day, at least one out of four people with access to the internet, only use a smart phone. Moreover, we freely move back and forth between devices to get things done: Over half of this demographic rely on more than one type of device in an average day, with 1/5 of them using another device while concurrently using a computer (Google Insights). Due to the stupendous role mobile phones play in our lives enabling us today to conduct all operations on the move, consumers now have the flexibility to develop curiosity, interest, attraction, and craving for a product, even compare it with similar products and place the order, within moments of viewing its ad on Instagram! But, there is an acute dearth of conclusive data on what determines online consumption today. With the advent of Marketing Attribution, we are closer to solving the mystery of what makes up effective digital marketing. Attribution Metrics is the way in which marketers assess ROI of the strategies/channels that connect them to potential customers. These tools simplify the retailer’s understanding of what it takes to make their products marketable, in the absence of any direct communication between the consumer and the seller (save for review forms and online surveys). To learn which marketing strategy is paying off, which chess piece needs to be moved around to generate better results, Marketing Attribution brings you the best system to standardize and monitor consumer behaviour. Why is accurate attribution so important for your business? The holy grail of media measurement is to analyze the impact and business value of all company-generated marketing interactions across the complex customer journey. Settling to remain in the dark—or worse, working under wrong assumptions—is akin to driving without a navigator. Inaccurate attribution will not only hamper your growth rate, it can also throw you off the right track by generating false impression or sketchy information about the complexities involved in online retail. Various marketing channels combine and permute to convert leads to sales, and the number of such channels is increasing every day with each new feature getting added to social media-verse. Facebook Explore, Instagram Live, Snapchat stories, Twitter buttons and Pinterest redirects are constantly revamping themselves to make it easy for businesses to attract and improve their presence for prospective buyers. This also makes it more difficult for these businesses to generate an actionable analysis of which channel is ultimately responsible for their success or the lack of it. With new agents (for mobile online payment like PayTm or Apple Wallet) being constantly introduced to the cycle reaffirms how important it is for marketing attribution to be constantly vigilant about the newest developments in the field. According to Matt Voda writing for The Make Good, “With accurate attribution comes not just more confidence in the strategies and tactics in place today, but most importantly, better decision-making, improved efficiency and effectiveness, and higher ROI. Accurate attribution helps you confidently zero in on your next best moves.” Attribution will be the biggest challenge marketers face this year Besides facing the perennial challenges of piecing together the product’s lifecycle complicated by dynamic ads, there are privacy and customer trust issues which makes tracking every step of the way difficult, unethical, unprofitable and counterproductive. One aspect that attribution metrics have not yet been able to solve is how offline advertising affects the online purchase. This offline to online transition has made one thing difficult for sure: it is now much harder to estimate the impact of your campaign, especially when it comes to mobile marketing. Developers are still struggling to come up with ways in which cross-channel influencers affect the performance of online ads. The rapidly changing scene today demands granular ad-level analytics to drive day-to-day activities of branding and marketing teams. Different Types of Attribution Models : 1. Single Source Attribution: First or last touch-based attribution takes into account only the channels engaging target audience with the product in the very beginning or the end. Upper Funnel Distribution registers the beginning of a customer’s purchase journey as in the case of programmatic display ads, while Bottom Funnel Attribution makes note of an ad’s ability to close the deal, like run search ads. 2. Multisource attribution: Since both touch points work together in driving conversions, most businesses prefer a model that generates insights on all levels of lead engaging. Multisource attribution credits each channel for their contribution to the final conversion; it includes everything from ads and social posts to webinars and e-newsletters. Also known as equal attribution, this accounts for every involvement in attaining a final sale. “It brings a sense of equality to the process, but at the same time doesn’t take into consideration the idea that certain aspects of the conversion have more weight than others – for example, the first time an ad is shown could arguably have played more of a role in the final conversion than duplicate impressions.” In such cases, weighted attribution proves to be more effective because it facilitates and substantiates these insights with by filing the hierarchy of the roles played by each channel in converting leads to sales. 3. Post-view attribution gives conversion credit to the visibility, reach of the ad. However, this is highly unreliable and quite useless at the end of the day, because while a lot of ads are shown to users, not all of them are necessarily seen. This is why post-click attribution is more useful in eliminating unnecessary data, taking into account only those ads which have generated clicks or redirects to the next stage of purchase (to the company’s website or shopping portal, for example). After the initial touch and before the final touch point before the sale, it doesn’t account for any prior website visits and is thus unable to shed little

How to overcome the challenges of Managing Time: One Question, Many Approaches

December 27, 2017

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” —Albert Einstein While the struggle against time has existed since the beginning of time, tackling it requires a new approach today. We are all so well-connected now that we often disregard the notion and value of productive hours, which varies from person to person. This timeless conundrum has intrigued economists and sociologists alike. So we as an organization, which harps on productivity, tried to understand how people around the world manage their time. In a small social media poll conducted by us, an open call for suggestions from experts yielded a number of valuable insights and solutions. CEO Abhishek Rungta’s question—What’s your best time management and/or productivity tip?—was met with voluble replies across social media forums like Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #mytip. Here’s a compilation of what the savants have had to say about the matter. The importance of spacing your work out Serial entrepreneur Mr. Prashant Pansare’s take on the issue involves compartmentalizing chores and prioritizing while planning in order to achieve the immediate goals you’ve set for yourself. He suggests : Slice the workload into smaller tasks based on different focus/methods Keep two uninterrupted hours for the most important work that you can do by yourself Keep an hour aside for unplanned activities that can’t be rescheduled, like important phone calls In case of business meetings, define the outcome expected along with agenda. It is best to avoid email clutter, for eg. asking to be CC’ed Pansare (@PrashantPansare) addresses the unfortunate customer/client trend in India, where the outcome is generally demanded immediately; he adds that expediency must sometimes be sacrificed for priority and time management. Besides maintaining a weekly planner, he also advocates making a note of the amount of work done, work left, time spent, and time wasted over the last week to get a clear idea on the aspect of time management that needs to be worked upon. UNmultitask: Delegating is the key to perfection Nirupam Chaudhuri of NASSCOM and Srish Agrawal of A1 Future share the same opinion about multitasking and urge everyone to pick and focus on one thing at a time. Agrawal (@srishagrawal) says, “Multitasking sounds great but not a great idea for most serious jobs. Delegate, and delegate more as you grow.” He also advises against ad-hoc meetings, encouraging young professionals to have a fixed time and agenda for every meeting. Regional Director at NASSCOM, Chaudhuri rightly adjudges, “Smart working is the need of the time. Rather than finishing all jobs at hand perfectly and thus perhaps not doing justice to all which require parallel processing, it’s perhaps more important to optimise and stick to timelines for jobs at hand.” Give yourself credit for small targets Andy Vale sends pearls of wisdom and motivation all the way from Spain, asking beginners to face each day and each task at a time: “Just pick one thing every day that you will definitely get done. Doesn’t have to be massive, but it makes sure you’ve done something.” (@AndyVale) Keep your work hours free of social media Kuntal Chandra, Senior Software Engineer at Stockopedia (@kuntalchandra) gives voice to the problems of distraction and lack of sustained focus that internet and technology have brought in its wake. Offering a valuable hack from his personal experience, he has found that turning the mobile internet off while coding has helped him prevent distractions and thus “become more productive”. Students who often face this problem especially before examinations have also fallen back on methods like keeping a particular time of day aside exclusively for social media networking and other internet-driven distractions like games and films. For professionals who need complete silence and isolation to get their creative juices flowing, don’t think twice before turning the WiFi off. It will cut the flow of excess information which at times can be a major deterrent. Conquering time as an economical construct comes with great patience and perseverance, as is evident from these pro-tips brought to you, straight from the horses’ mouths. It takes active willingness and effort on your part to make the ticking hands work in your favour. Each person has their own way of dealing with inertia at work and means to fuel one’s productivity. “We will reinvent productivity to empower every person and every organization on the planet to do more and achieve more.” —Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO Today, the productivity industry is faced with overcoming new challenges and assisting students, young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs in this brave, new world. Large organizations have pulled up their socks, geared to help achieve new heights and set new standards in terms of time manageability. App and office suite developers are harnessing this demand for structured and strategic means to use productive hours based on individual needs. In order to track, analyze and manage time more effectively, iPhone has recently launched a productivity tool called Time which claims to help you “stay focused and crush procrastination”. Most timers like this use the Pomodoro technique (which enables users to break their work hours into intervals of 25 minutes separated by short breaks). Apps like Slack, WeTransfer, and Germ make working from different parts of the world a piece of cake. Task management tools like Journmail are easily accessible for teaching yourself consistency by writing every day. There are also apps like Slite to help you take down notes on the go faster; Feather is a daily management goal tracker that helps maintain a to-do list. There are customised music apps with ambient playlists like Noisli and ASoftMurmur which cause a visible jump in the concentration level. An endless number of apps are available to designers and illustrators with pitch decks, icon templates, UI kits and layouts in place, thus saving a lot of time. Popular among these are Crello, Sans Francisco, SpeedFont, Emblem, Animista. There are plenty of similar applications and patches that could prove effective for young professionals. Can

How to Turn Negative Online Reviews into Positive Customer Experiences

December 20, 2017

Businesses grapple with negative reviews every so often, that they are often left wondering how to effectively manage them. Those working in the digital marketing field will agree that negative reviews can actually help grow businesses, provide valuable insights into customer behavior, create new opportunities to build relationships, and improve brand reputation. Before you begin to clench your teeth at the very mention of “negative review”, try to put your worries to rest and learn how to turn negative online reviews into positive customer experiences. 1. Acknowledge the reviewer If there is anything that is more hurtful than feeling you’ve been wronged, it is not being acknowledged when you voice your concerns. When a customer leaves a negative review, it’s disrespectful and borderline-callous to simply ignore it. The first step one needs to take is to acknowledge the reviewer and their review. Merely knowing that you’ve been acknowledged feels like a balm to an aching muscle, and that can have deep implications to the positive customer experience you create. 2. Admit to the lapse, if any Once you acknowledge the reviewer respectfully, admit to the lapse, if there is any. Consider the customer’s perspective, and try to walk in the reviewer’s shoes. What may seem like a minor lapse to you may be a huge deal for them and not acknowledging to the lapse that has occurred could be a bigger mistake than the one that has already occurred. If you feel you have been unfairly targeted, deliberate on why the customer might have chosen to make an effort to go ahead and type a review, negative or not. Most likely, there probably was a lapse that missed your attention. 3. Offer your side of the story If there is a genuine reason for the lapse, explain your situation and narrate what actually went wrong. Owning up to one’s mistakes elevates one’s position in the eyes of the customer, rather than the contrary. However, make sure that your explanation does not come across as an excuse, as that diminishes your image. When you own up to the shortcoming, your customer will feel like they have been heard, and that has been given the importance they deserve to be. 4. Ask how you can make up for the oversight Ask the customer what you can do to make up for the lapse that took place, and provides the reviewer with a few options to make them feel better. Being given options to undo the damage that’s been done is a great way to create a positive customer experience. If you start doing this often, you will begin to see a pattern in the kind of fixes that customers want, and you can straight away offer these fixes to make your customers happy when they write negative reviews. For example, if you are an eCommerce business and have noticed that people repeatedly ask for shipping fee waivers when deliveries have been delayed, you can simply offer that as the default fix for shipping delays. 5. Explain the root cause, if any This is not always possible but if you think there is a root cause to the problem that occurred, thank the customer for providing an opportunity to recognize its existence. Explain the circumstances under which the root cause of the problem has festered, and what action you plan to take to address it. Doing this makes your customer feel more confident about your business in general, and future customers who read your response to the negative review will appreciate your genuine approach towards doing business. 6. State the action you plan to take Whether there was a root cause to the issue the customer stated, or it is a one-time lapse, make sure that you describe what action you will be taking to rectify the problem. Being as explicit as possible about your action plan imbibes a sense of honesty and dedication, and helps you gain respect from customers. Being vague or uttering cliches such as “we will do everything to fix the issue” can further infuriate an already irate customer. 7. Ask the reviewer how you can fix the issue If you are unable to decide how you are going to fix an issue, ask the customer themselves what you can do to fix the issue. Most of the times, customers may simply acknowledge that they have been heard, and that’s more than enough for them, as mistakes are committed by everyone. Sometimes, customers may ask for minor favors, and very rarely, they may try to take advantage of you. However, that will not look bad on you. 8. Display proactiveness and empathy Displaying empathy, or a genuine concern for the situation the customer finds themselves in, is more valuable than anything you will ever do to build positive customer experiences. Alongside empathy, you will also need to be proactive about fixing issues, making amends, and improve customer experiences. Most research studies point towards empathy and proactive behaviors enhancing customer experiences. Your priority should be to build positive customer experiences, regardless of reviews In short, regardless of the kind of online review you receive, your focus should be on building positive customer experiences. Begin to acknowledge the reviewer and their experiences, and work towards admitting to the lapses that might have occurred. Offer a genuine explanation, without it seeming like an excuse, and find out how you can fix the issue. Describe your situation, and explain how you will fix the problem, and ask the reviewer if there is anything else you can do to make up for their bad experiences. Underneath it all, ensure that you display empathy and proactiveness at all times.

Top 5 Reasons Why Startups Should Choose WordPress

November 30, 2016

Though not as glamorous as some of the new technologies, WordPress as a CMS platform has been one of the most trusted in business circles. Why? It is not as complex or robust as some of its peers such as Joomla, Drupal and others. Yet, WordPress brings a special kind of simplicity to the table that is hard to ignore. This is precisely why WordPress-hosted websites continue to remain popular among not only startups but also major news websites and publishing companies. WordPress as a content management system has already proved itself, with more than a decade of empirical evidence of its efficacy. Today, WordPress continues to be one of the most popular CMS and it will remain so even in the future. In this article, let us discuss a few more reasons why startups should focus more on WordPress-built websites than anything else. Easy to Install Most people who start businesses do not have technical skills. This means, they will often have to rely upon expensive developers and coders to get their websites up and running. However, choosing WordPress has its own benefits. All one needs to do is buy a domain, host it under a plan, and then do an automatic install of WordPress from the CPanel. The next step is to install a theme that one may like. And the website is already hosted! All these things will not take more than an hour or two, and there is no technical skill required to install WordPress. Moreover, future updates are regularly sent to the website’s dashboard, and all that one needs to do is just click on the ‘update now’ button, and the website gets updated. There is nothing that is remotely difficult in installing a WordPress website. This is probably why it is important for startups to use WordPress. By using WordPress, startups will avoid unnecessary installation costs that they will otherwise have to pay, if they go ahead with full-scale web development. Very SEO-friendly One of the biggest problems that new businesses face is lack of visibility. In a world that is hugely dominated by content, search engine optimization has not lost its importance. Instead, it has taken on a new level of importance. SEO tactics are no more shady practices involving keywords. Instead, search engine optimization is built on using the best keywords that suit a business and building great content around it. WordPress helps startups to key in meta-data, keywords and other such information while also ensuring that blog posts and articles are search engine optimized. Moreover, the way WordPress is built is quite SEO friendly. This helps websites that run on WordPress to appear more frequently in Google search results. This is something that new businesses desperately need. If they receive even a small push to becoming visible in search results, they will gain quite a lot. Certainly, WordPress and its SEO-friendly build helps startups to gain new leads, drive more traffic and ultimately, increase profits and revenue. No need for technical or coding skills Usually, startups do not have a big budget for hiring developers or professional designers. They usually prefer to build a website on their own. This is great if the startup owner knows a little bit of coding or if he or she is a coder. However, a majority of startup owners are not coders and they simply do not have the resources to hire professional web developers. WordPress comes to the rescue of these people as you simply do not need to have any HTML or PHP knowledge to set up the website. All you need to do is simply install the website, and start publishing posts or filling up content. As there are tutorials available on YouTube and elsewhere, anyone can simply start setting up a WordPress website that looks as professional as any other. This is one of the reasons why WordPress is so popular among startup owners. Customer support is always available Though WordPress is open source, it has a network of hundreds of thousands of developers on its forums and groups, many of whom provide free advice and support. While it may take some time to get the help that is needed, free support is always available to those who are looking for it. For those who prefer custom solutions, there is always the option of custom WordPress development, which comes with customer support, maintenance and other features. Startups can go this route as even this will cost a lot less than building an entire website from the scratch. Used all over the world WordPress is used all over the world, and your freelance writer probably needs no introduction to it. If you are planning to set up a website and have someone fill up the content, WordPress is one of the best tools around. Almost every content writer knows how to use WordPress, and you simply have to give them your tasks and your blog or website will be updated with content regularly. WordPress is a universally used content management system (CMS), and if your website ever runs into trouble, you will always find a developer who will be able to fix it for you for a very low price. This is one of the reasons why WordPress continues to be popular among startup owners. WordPress is one of the best solutions for those on a budget If you have recently started a company and are looking for setting up a website, WordPress is a great option if you are on a budget. WordPress is not only cost-effective, it is quite robust too. Firstly, it is easy to install and you will not need to deploy expensive software programs. Second, it is SEO-friendly, which means, you will be discovered easily. Third, you do not need to learn HTML or coding in order to use WordPress. Fourth, it is always easy to find customer support for a small cost. Finally, WordPress is universally used even by large companies. If you need customization

5 Ways to Strike a Balance between HR Automation and Human Interaction

October 24, 2016

There is a lot of discussion these days about automating anything that can be automated. Not surprisingly, human resource management systems (HRMS) are some of the most popular automation tools purchased by clients from cloud vendors. HRMS automates a number of tasks that are often repetitive and unnecessary for manual application. Some of these include hiring, payment of salaries, employee self-service, maintaining employee records, and a host of other HR-related tasks that can be easily automated. Even training programs are being automated, as employees can take courses on their own, while sitting by a computer. In fact, there is no job that cannot be done by an HRMS, except for face-to-face contact and superior analysis for which human judgment is required. Yet, human interaction is very important in an organization. If we get rid of all our HR managers and replace them with an HRMS, employees will not be happy, whether they realize it or not. HRMS can only automate repetitive tasks, but for the rest of other HR department tasks, a real living breathing human being is required. [php snippet=1] In this article, let us take a look at why this is so. Do not automate everything We should remember that an organization is firstly made of employees, who are human beings with a need to communicate. Secondly, automating every task may not lead to an increased productivity. IT may lead to disenchantment among employees, and cause boredom. It might be in your best interest to not automate everything and instead, automate only the repetitive tasks that are boring. You can also automate tasks that are prone to human error. Whatever is going to eliminate the need for using paper can also be automated. Most importantly, we need to keep certain tasks that are enjoyable available to employees, even if they can be automated. Encourage your HR managers to interact with employees HR managers often believe their tasks are clerical in nature, always filling up forms, typing reports and sending out appraisals. However, this is not what an HR manager should be limiting oneself to. An HR manager should ensure that employees are happy and content. This requires managers to interact with employees regularly and seek their well being. If we automate repetitive tasks, managers will actually have time to socialize and interact with employees. This is an important part of human resources. What matters at the end of the day is that you should save money with HRMS, but you should boost employee relationships and morale with the help of HR managers. Encourage employees to socialize with other teams Employees often spend hours together on the computer and do not talk to each other. This si increasingly becoming a trend in IT companies. The only breaks are during the lunch or for coffee, but there isn’t much socializing that is happening. While cubicles are often arranged in such a manner that people can talk to each other, it still doesn’t help that they are not socializing in an old-fashioned way. To bridge the gap, you can organize activities which will encourage employees to socialize with other teams and thus discover new friends and relationships. This helps to break the monotony of job, which often leads to stress and low productivity. Automating certain tasks may be a bad idea While it is a good thing that everything can be automated, certain things like counseling and addressing employee grievances can never be automated. A distressed employee always needs a senior manager who can help him or her. If an employee has a personal crisis, managers are one of the first individuals they can seek advice from. This helps in speedy solutions and happy employees, which translate to increased productivity. In other words, face-to-face interaction between managers and employees will always be a need or requirement. So, do not try to automate everything, including employee counseling, which though can be done by a computer or through instant messaging, will not replace face-to-face interaction. Do not turn your office into a robot HRMS is a great tool and is almost indispensable in an organization. It ensures that money is saved, records are kept, analyses are drawn and that employees are managed better. Yet, automating everything is not a good idea. This will lead to a robotic atmosphere which is scientifically known to cause stress and anxiety in employees. Thus, while you must install and implement HRMS, you should also ensure that you don’t turn your office into a robotic space. By doing so, you are going to alienate your employees and that is never a good thing for productivity. Encourage healthy human interaction and integrate HRMS in subtle manners. This ensures to strike a balance between automation and human interaction. Strike a balance between human interaction and automation As we can see, it is not such a good idea to automate everything. It will lead to alienation and isolation among employees, which may lead to reduced productivity. Automating everything is not an answer. If everything is automated, you will still need someone to take decisions and ideally, a computer should not be making those decisions. As automation can reduce human interaction, encourage your HR managers to regularly interact with employees. An important aspect of human resource management is to be able to dispense counseling when it is required. Employees when they are on their own may feel isolated and bored. Encourage team building activities and ask your employees to interact with people from other teams. While automation sounds like a great idea, it may not be in the best interest of your company to automate everything. When it comes to legal matters, it is best handled by a human employee who can be held responsible. An HRMS cannot be held legally responsible. Certain highly critical tasks should be left to human employees. Finally, no one wants to work i a robotic atmosphere. This leads to alienation and confusion. By encouraging human interaction and balancing HRMS with face-to-face contact, we can strike

Things to Say and Do When Negotiations Turn Sour

September 30, 2016

We have all been there before. We think the other party is about to agree to our terms and conditions, or that they are conceding that we have compromised to many of their demands, so they will agree on certain things. Yet, negotiations fail. More heartbreakingly, negotiations may turn hostile enough to leave you wondering what really went wrong when you tried every negotiation trick they taught you. Unfortunately, negotiations need not always work the way you want them to, and sometimes, they do go awfully wrong. Walk out of talks with grace When negotiations turn sour, there are a number of things you can do to extricate yourself gracefully. Negotiating requires skills, practice, patience and leaving one’s ego outside the negotiation room. One can’t be all high and mighty and expect to win an argument. Whether you are negotiating terms with your legal counsel, your employee, your hostile partner or a difficult client, negotiations can sometimes go wrong even if you are great at it. However, most people make the mistake of lunging forward with various other tricks in order to win arguments. They forget that the first rule of negotiating is to not argue, and to be assertive. When negotiations turn sour, and you are still at it, trying to prove your point or trying to convince your opinion, do not go forward with whatever you are doing, even if you feel you are right. Even if by all accounts the other side is acting irrationally, you sometimes just have to leave the negotiation table. It is no longer a negotiation if it has gone sour. It is like trying to put curdled milk together. It is a very bad idea. By walking out when negotiations turn sour, you will rise above your opponents and that is always a good thing. [php snippet=1] In this article, let us take a look at how we can walk out gracefully from a negotiation that has gone sour. These tips and tricks will apply to all kinds of negotiations and not just the kind that you see in boardrooms. These tips to leave a negotiation situation gracefully will work in your own house too, while working very well at a client’s meeting. Here are four things to say to the other party: “I Can Imagine How You Feel” When you say you can imagine how the other person is feeling, you are basically expressing empathy. When you express empathy, the other person feels understood and negotiations have lesser chances of getting uglier. Remember, the goal is not to make the negotiation process a success, but to walk out of it with grace. You do not want to leave the talks looking like a curmudgeon who left discussions because it didn’t suit him. Just expressing empathy goes a long way when it comes to helping you stall talks. “I Understand We Are Going Nowhere” Do not beat around the bush. Instead, be frank and assertive, and most importantly be honest that talks are going nowhere. You will help save time on both sides, and if not anything, the other party will respect you for making it easy to quit talks. Probably they are not as assertive as you are, and two submissive groups rarely achieve anything, other than engaging in passive aggressiveness. We know what that leads to: pure and unadulterated unpleasantness. “Maybe We Can Call This Off” Suggest to the negotiators that both the parties may be in a better position if they called off the talks. Tell them honestly that the negotiations are futile and it does not look like it is going anywhere. When you communicate your wish to end the talks, you can take steps that actually need to be taken to think of alternatives that might bring the results you want. Do not look for solutions where you can’t find them. A negotiation that has gone sour is one such place. “No Hard Feelings, Really” Finally, wind up your negotiations by saying that there are no hard feelings between the two of you. Express the fact that one does not have to reach an agreement at the end of every negotiation. Negotiations can fail, and they are allowed to fail. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be called negotiations in the first place. If the talks are not helping, there are no hard feelings. Here are four things to do when negotiations fail: Maintain your composure. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is to lose patience and express anger or other unpleasant emotions. Emotions and feelings only come in the way of rational and objective talks, which is the crux of negotiations. If you lose your temper or if you express any sort of negative emotions, you will come across as a weak individual who is not able to deal with the fact that the talks have already failed. Keep calm and call off the talks. Back off. It doesn’t mean you are accepting defeat. It means you are protecting what you still have. When you call off the talks, it does not mean that you failed at negotiations. It just means that you know when to draw a line and when to call it quits, instead of wasting everyone’s time. So, do not think that you are accepting defeat by calling off negotiations. You are just protecting what you still have and that is always a good thing to do. It reveals a basic sense of internal sense to accept adverse conditions and move away from adversities gracefully. Make peace with failed negotiations. It was just not meant to be. Once you walk out of talks, you might feel despondent and mourn the loss of lost opportunities. Always remember that lost opportunities are always lost. They were never yours to begin with, and you did try to make them yours. Instead of wallowing in self pity and ruing over a failed negotiation, look at the brighter side: you will not have to deal with hostile negotiators

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