by Brenna Miles for TechRepublic Premium on Dec. 2021
The past year has been nothing short of a whirlwind, especially for businesses. Things have changed. Businesses must now work to support a hybrid workforce, employees are being more selective about where they choose to work and consumers are demanding that pandemic-era services become the norm.
These new business challenges aren’t going away any time soon. The only way to meet them head-on is by preparing now for what may lie ahead in 2022. For management, end-of-the-year planning is a serious and overwhelming task. After all, budgets must be planned, employees must feel supported and business productivity must be ensured.
To help you get a jump on your end-of-the-year planning, we’ve compiled some of our best resources, brought to you by TechRepublic Premium. Below, you’ll find everything from employee goal-setting advice to budget planning tools. Here’s to a safe and successful new year!
Employee Objectives Policy
According to a recent Gallup survey, 51% of workers are disengaged, completely unattached to their work and employer. And according to PwC, 65% of employees are looking for a better job. How can you, as a manager, help increase employee morale? Motivating employees by helping them set and achieve both business and personal goals is a great start.
Defining clear objectives and celebrating with your employees as they succeed is a surefire way to motivate. With each goal reached, your employees can have tangible proof of their progress and contributions to your organization.
Our Employee Objectives Policy offers a simple outline of what may qualify as acceptable goals and how you can work with your employees to develop plans for reaching them. It also includes a basic tracking worksheet to help you document the objectives assigned to each member of your team.
Employee Performance Review Policy
Another way of improving employee job satisfaction is by recognizing when they complete great work. According to a recent survey by O.C. Tanner, 37% of respondents stated that more personal recognition would encourage them to produce better work more often.
The employee performance review is an excellent tool for delivering the recognition your employees deserve. Beyond that, it gives you the opportunity to listen to their concerns and provide feedback on how they could improve their performance.
Unfortunately, many managers find it difficult to deliver a useful performance review. They often experience difficulty when defining evaluation criteria and keeping track of individual employee goals. After all, with numerous employees, each with their own responsibilities, no two reviews can be the same.
Our Employee Performance Review Policy and the accompanying review template can help you develop fair and effective review processes that deliver the recognition your employees desire.
Budget Planning Tool
The uncertainty of COVID-19 continues to impact how businesses spend their budget dollars, especially when it comes to IT. According to TechRepublic’s 2022 IT Budget Research Report, 43% of survey respondents will tighten their budgets because of COVID-19.
However, 20% of respondents anticipate that their organization’s fiscal/calendar year 2022 IT budget will be less than $50,000, up 16% from last year. And around 18% predict budgets of $1 million to $9.9 million.
Whether you’re tightening your department’s budget or expanding to make room for future growth, you need the right tools to plan accordingly.
Our Budget Planning Tool includes an Excel template and related guide to help you set up your budget template and fill in the appropriate fields. Plus, the Excel file is completely customizable to fit your needs. Whether you’re a seasoned budget planning pro or new to the process, you can use this template successfully.
Vendor Contract Renewal Planner
Vendor contract renewals can be an overwhelming undertaking. Not only do you need to keep track of your vendors, but you also need to track when renewals must be paid and how much is spent for proper budget planning.
During end-of-the-year planning, it’s common for managers to spend time assessing vendor contracts, obtaining quotes and completing purchase orders. Unfortunately, this can lead to more questions than answers.
When is the best time to renew? Should you renew everything at the first of the year? Or would it make more sense to spread out your payments over the course of a calendar year?
Our Vendor Contract Renewal Planner can help you hammer out your renewals so you’ll know exactly what’s due, how much to pay and when to pay it. Plus, you can filter the planner by vendors, the tech involved or the internal staff responsible for each product.
Collected at: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/end-of-the-year-tools-for-managers/?ftag=TRE684d531&bhid=28661667330046703151587428339455&mid=13631324&cid=2156135067