In a digitally-oriented era, traditional marketing channels aren’t as impactful as they once were. Social media has taken over, and brands need to know how to stay culturally relevant in a place where millions of new content is posted daily. Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to do that, and using a talent management agency means you can be connected with influencers who are relevant to your brand and audience.

Talent management agencies are beneficial to all parties involved—brands, influencers and the agencies themselves. In the context of social media, talent management refers to an agency or team that connects influencers to relevant brands for partnerships and sponsorships. Talent management agencies strive to ensure all influencer and brand collaborations are well-suited in terms of values, messaging, content style and audience demographics.

So, what should you consider when deciding to work with a talent management agency?

The first step to deciding on a talent management agency is to see their recent work portfolio. Which brands have they recently provided influencers for? What industries and niches do they most frequently work with? Do these align with yours? How many influencers are they able to provide for each project? Brands will want to work with influencers that produce high quality content. By viewing content created by influencers, you can determine whether the influencers within the talent management are skilled enough to provide the quality you need.

The second step is to figure out a talent management agency’s personality. Do they mentor influencers that want to produce good content? Do they make sure their influencers produce content on time and that is relevant to the brief? Do they have the resources to maintain consistent communication with you? If a talent management agency doesn’t align with your brand’s own values and work ethos, you should continue your search elsewhere.

You need to consider the budget you have available when working with talent management agencies. Often there is an additional fee when working with influencers from an agency, but if the content creates enough engagement and ROI, then this isn’t an issue. Talent management agencies also benefit from good pairings for influencer projects, so they will go above and beyond to ensure everything is perfect from the get-go. You should still make sure their fees are within the budget for your campaign.

Talent management agencies can save your brand time searching for and vetting influencers to work with. This can often be the longest task when completing an influencer campaign. Talent management agencies have access to an influencer’s metrics and audience data. Knowing this, they are able to accurately pair influencers to suitable campaign and brand demographics.

Using a talent management agency can save you countless hours. Instead of having to spend time finding, vetting and briefing influencers, talent management agencies can work through their own roster of talent (from all sorts of follower backgrounds, sizes, niches and industries) to hand-pick the best influencers possible. This will guarantee high engagement, reach and audience response to partnerships.

When working with influencers, brands are able to reach audiences they may have been unable to previously. Influencer content is perceived as relatable and engaging online, so when paired with an appropriate brand, the content is still viewed as authentic, rather than just an ad. Talent management agencies will understand who your brand is and understand that influencers chosen must uphold brand values and messaging.

Talent management agencies also refresh their roster of influencers frequently, so you can be sure that new, popular influencers will be available to work with you.

The comprehensive immigration reform has been a popular topic for 2021. This is because of the anticipation of President Joe Biden’s U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. This is an immigration reform bill promised quite a while ago.

Many consider the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 as a progressive bill. It seeks to improve the immigration system and to make it more humane. This gives plenty of hope and opportunity for negotiations with Republicans. The bill is also a signal that President Biden remains true to his words during the campaign.

The real question is, will the bill pass through the current congress? Will any type of comprehensive immigration proposals be in any consideration? Is this bill bringing in a good sign?

What Do You Need to Know About the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021?

First off, it’s essential to know what are the key points the bill plans to address. This is a bill that was born from the Biden administration. It also includes the Democratic sponsors found in the senate. The House of Representatives is part of it as well.

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 aims to:

• Provide an earned path towards citizenship
• Reformation of the immigrant visa system
• Manage the southern border
• Addressing root causes in regards to immigration

The bill will further amend, no longer using the term “alien.” The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services pushes to use inclusive language. The proposed term to use is “noncitizen” as it is less demeaning.

Will This Bill Likely Pass?

The biggest question in everyone’s mind now is, will it even make it? In a sense, it can still pass through, but not throughout. Like many other bills, it could break down into pieces. Some parts of the bill might push through, while others might go separate ways or moved elsewhere.

The important thing is, the majority of what the bill aims to do will pass through. One of the major topics that the bill touches on is the humanitarian response for asylum seekers. This also includes refugees and hopes to strengthen the initiative for repatriation.

Expanding programs and addressing court backlogs is also part of the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. Pinpointing the cause of migration is also part of the bill. The bill is stressing responsibility and proper management of the border.

What Can the Presence of This Bill Fulfill?

A lot of administrations in the past have addressed immigration issues. A lot could change with help from an enforcement priorities memo. This can help immigration judges to decide better when it comes to individual cases. 

What is there to decide? It’s things like granting administrative closure or pausing deportation proceedings. People are looking at the Biden administration and seeing it as a return to the normal times.

Plenty of bans and borders have arisen in the past year that has had the nation divided. With a new administration, it almost feels like a breath of fresh air. As everything happening is under a microscope, many are waiting for what’s next to come. For more information, ask an immigration lawyer in Houston or anywhere near you.

The response to COVID-19 has led to one of the fastest reorganizations of the modern workforce and working from home has become the new normal for many.

Even months after the pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization, the future still looks uncertain. Millions upon millions of people have survived through the lockdowns and we still do not know when, or if ever, our life will go back to normal.

This article will look at how the pandemic has changed the workforce, for many, in positive ways. With remote work and working from home taking over, we see how the value of employees has increased. Along with that change, we peek into how meetings will evolve and the potential for this to be permanent.

It is not great for everyone. There are many whose jobs require them to leave their homes, and in that group there are many who depended on those who used to go into work, but are now staying home.

The Shift from Office to Home

Research has found that the majority of remote workers never want to go back to their old ways. If they have to, many request a hybrid-remote office version. Slightly more than 10% want to return to full time. While we still are unsure about what is going to stay and what is going to change, we can be certain that it will not be completely the same.

For many work-from-home (WFH) employees, this shift is substantial. They now have the freedom in choices that involve where they live, when they work and their working conditions. They can stay in contact easily with their company through software such as video sdk that allows one-to-one or small-group video chats as well as having the freedom bought to them from working at home. With this possibility, it is no wonder that many are providing a higher quality of work.

This sudden change has provided businesses an opportunity to reorganize their workforce structure. Those that do it the best will inspire workers, increase engagement and generate successful frameworks. They will be given a competitive advantage as times change. Although this change was never going to be easy, as high-flyers like Randy Pitchford (co-founder of Gearbox Software) has said, stating that it has been an adjustment to him and the workforce to work-from-home but it is necessary to keep producing content for their consumers, who will definitely be struggling during this time.

Being able to maneuver past the old ways of 9-5 office life will allow companies to remove the bad habits and inefficient processes. This gives the opportunity for leaders who want to do things better and faster, the chance to do so. It is up to them to capitalize on this once in a lifetime occurrence.

Permanence

Around five million people knew what working from home was like before the pandemic. After the pandemic, nearly 61% of the workforce has joined them. This has led to increased levels of communication and productivity, which is why working from home may become more permanent in society.

The reality seems more like an in between for many. Employees would be given the flexible lifestyle that WFH offers, but would visit the office for meetings or events. There are a few big named companies, such as twitter, that announced employees would be allowed to work from home permanently.

Some research has shown that businesses have expectations of keeping employees performing remote work. More than 40% are believed to be allowed to keep their work from home status. The one takeaway is, 9-5 work life is not going to be the norm.

Meetings

Virtual meetings are an aspect of remote work that carries negativity. This is because video calls take a lot more work to get organized. There are now webcams and microphones that need to be working and they are in their own home, which could be loud or distracting. Virtual meetings demand more structure and time in comparison to in person.

While virtual meetings are becoming more prevalent, they come with an added benefit too. They prevent travel costs for some employers. During the pandemic, this is great.

We believe everyone has been a part of a meeting that had no information. It was just a grouping to talk about nonsense. This is why some businesses are removing meetings entirely. Using email and instant messaging allows the point to get across without all the technical parts of a virtual meeting.

Employees Time and Health

At the start of the pandemic, many employers were “stalking” their employees – following their keystrokes and monitoring their webpages. This backfired for some when privacy issues started to get announced.

These actions also lead to a lack of trust between the two parties, which leads to a decrease in productivity and motivation – two traits that tend to increase in remote work environments. It is important to check-in to ensure that work is being completed, but do not stand over their shoulder.

At the end of the day, it is about the quality of the work that gets done, not how long it takes. We believe that there will be a shift in how employees’ productivity is measured.

For those that are going into work, there is a positive change in how your employer values you. Several of the largest companies have not implemented mandatory temperature screenings. Every business now has sanitation stations. Your health now matters more than ever as an employee, compared to the past view of “come to work sick or get fired”. There is now rightly an expectation that employers have a responsibility to look after employee health. More responsibility has been placed on employers already, with compulsory swab testing required in the workplace every week. As an employer, you may need to use centrifuges similar to those found in medical practices to accurately test swabs, meaning the lines have increasingly blurred between healthcare and work.

When we mention health, we must start to include mental health as well. There are big changes happening, which can cause serious stress for individuals. They may not know of proper methods to cope with this new stress. Some employees may be experiencing this secretly. They should really seek help from professionals or by visiting a dispensary denver, or wherever they are located, to find some cannabis to reduce this stress. This should improve their mental health.

As a business owner, it is of your best interest to show empathy to all health issues and do your part to reduce any stigma around mental health. One of the best actions to take would be to include therapy visits in your insurance plan.

Some individuals are experiencing post-traumatic growth. This is the positive change that negative stress can create. As individuals, we know that we did not have control of this catastrophic event. It is about adapting and overcoming these difficult times and finding new meanings of life.

New Workspaces

Many office workspaces are going to change as we move forward. Some of the new layouts include open areas with a more casual feel that may include couches. An open layout also allows for better social distancing to help workplace health.

Since many will be coming in to work to be a part of meetings, we can expect conference rooms to be a key feature. This may mean that your new office location is solely a conference room with a few offices for storage use and technological infrastructure.

Non-Remote Workers

These individuals are going to feel the biggest impact. There are roughly 60% of workers who simply cannot work from home. Many of them have jobs that rely on offices or the daily commuters that are not commuting any more.

With many places moving to delivery only and offering in-store shoppers, there is no need for some other positions anymore.

Individuals with these jobs are starting to see hours cut or even their jobs disappear completely. It is essential that we provide them alternative ways to invest their skills. They make up such a large part of the workforce that without them, we will not be able to function as a society.

Sources:

How Covid-19-could Impact Workplace Design

Debt Relief Program

The Pandemic is Changing the Workplace for Good

To understand the benefits of a hosted phone system, you must understand the cloud. Many people have heard of this in IT, but most don’t know what it is. It is basically a service which operates over the Internet, your company doesn’t need as much physical hardware on-site to benefit from using cloud-based software. Continue reading “Can a Hosted Phone System Benefit My Company?” →

B2B service providers in particular are very quick to quote and highlight stats of how many businesses fail within the first 3-5 years, perhaps even quicker to highlight how the failure of those businesses is likely due to the fact that they don’t use the services which are offered by them to better their prospects. While this may or may not be true, what is definitely true is the fact that most new businesses miss one of the basic fundamentals for success in the modern day business environment. Continue reading “Why It’s Important to Find Your Market First” →

In order to have a well-rounded organization, CEOs and line managers have to put in a lot of efforts to make sure that all the employees work well with each other. Today, the work force is made up of different types of people, so it is a task to manage the generation gap. Let’s have a look at some of the ways in which you can understand the generational needs of the employees.

Try to Understand Them Better

If you are making millennials and baby boomers work together, you will have to understand the fact that both the generations have different sets of needs. For example, it is a known fact that millennials like to think outside the box, whereas baby boomers or Gen X tend to follow their old ways. What you need to do is have an open mind and accept things as they come.

Reward Them

Your employee may have different ways of working, but their intrinsic need is the same, which is to be appreciated and recognized. How do you do this? By having reward and recognition programmes for all the high performers.

Establish a Mentor-Mentee Program

One great way to make different generations work with each other is by giving them chance to learn from each other. Facilitate cross generational learning and provide the people a balanced platform because it will help them to build strong interpersonal relationships.

Have a Supportive Attitude

You need to have a supportive attitude if you want your employees to work efficiently. If you will approach the staff members with positivity, there are more chances of you connecting with them.

Get Rid of “One-size-fits-all” Approach

One of the worst mistakes that you can make in an organization that has a diverse workforce is having a “One-size-fits-all” approach. You know that different generations have different styles of working, so why do you think that one management style can be used for them? If you seek organizational success, learn to tailor your management style as per the situation. You may also need to make sure that your employees are provided with the best flexible benefits that meet their needs. This could ensure that they don’t leave your organization at any cost.

Have Reasonable Expectations

As a manager or CEO, you will have certain expectations from your employees, but make sure that you are reasonable and are taking the generation gap into account when you are asking them to do something for you.

Communicate Well

Organizations that have an open-door policy tend to so better than organizations that don’t. One of the best ways to communicate with people from different generations is to have a roundtable meeting with all of them, so that all the ideas can be discussed in front of all the employees.

The truth is that age gap in the work force has an impact on productivity in a work place. However, instead of being fearful of such situations, it is a good practice to have embrace and have effective strategies to deal with them.