March 2022 - RSI Concepts - Top IT Solution Provider Company in Dubai, UAE

March 31, 2022

What is Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)?

Businesses are always seeking ways to improve their performance and operational capabilities while also trying to minimize the expenses and resource consumption and getting themselves ready to respond to a disruption or unprecedented situation. The only solution to that challenge is to improve the performance of the entire enterprise including both the human and non-human resources and keep a close eye on the performance all across the entire enterprise.In order to improve the performance a business needs to identify the hurdles and obstacles that are causing reduction in performance and poor resource management. For that businesses rely on Enterprise Performance Management or EPM which is a process and mechanism to closely monitor the performance of the entire organization and then identify the obstacles, challenges, problems and barriers which are preventing the business to achieve the higher performance and higher efficiency.

The enterprise performance management or EPM process is a very complex and sophisticated process which requires a robust framework and rapid data analysis that is why a dedicated Enterprise Performance Management Software is used to aid the performance management process. The enterprise performance management process enables the management to take timely actions and respond to a disruption in a rightful manner with agility. This help businesses to achieve their goals and objectives.

Introduction to Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

The Enterprise Performance Management is not a modern day phenomenon, in fact even before adopting to computers and IT the enterprises and organizations were doing performance management via discussions, meetings, surveys, calls, etc. With the passage of time especially in past two decades the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software have evolved from a basic desktop application to a highly powerful framework with internet access and online connectivity. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE most of the time businesses often confuse the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions because most of the modern ERP systems comes with in-built data analytical and reporting modules that can provide some very basic features of the performance management. However, in order to outperform your competition and be ready to respond effectively and efficiently to internal and external disruptions, a dedicated Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) solution is absolutely necessary.

The world in general and the UAE in particular has become a very vibrant and dynamic business landscape these days. That is why a business needs a very flexible strategic approach and planning to achieve their goals and to effectively handle the disruptions. The disruption could be an internal factor such as a poor performing employee, a team member left in the middle of a project, lack of communication, any other problem that can slow the progress, or the disruption could be an external factor such as some products/services went viral, some flops, a competitor replaced your most valued product/service share in the market and so on. Such disruptions can deviate the business from its course which it sets to achieve its high-level goals and objectives. An enterprise performance management system not only keep a track on on-going progress but it also provide accurate projections and gather valuable data in real-time which increase the readiness of the management and enables them to make quick and informed decision.

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Offers Great Business Value

The measure of success of every business is the measurement of their progress towards their goals and objectives. Each successful business knows that very well that there are two major challenges that a business face during their journey to success. First is the disruption and the second is difficulties in aligning the human and non-human resource with their high-level organizational goals and objectives. An Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) can effectively solve these two problems. The key to obtain higher performance efficiency needed to achieve strategic and financial business goal is to make each individual employee and all business processes aligned with those goals. Everyone should know their required contribution towards the high-level goals, hence individual goals are set. The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system also highlight the areas of improvement in the business processes and is quite capable of detecting hurdles and obstacles your employee might be facing.

Furthermore the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system also increase and enhance the readiness and capabilities to respond to disruptions. Whether the disruption caused due to outside force, inside events, or due to the market changes the key to surviving it and staying ahead of the curve is the flexibility and agility. The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System helps businesses to fulfill their data gathering and reporting needs which can improve the performance of various internal processes such as Financial Close, Reconciliations, Strategic Plan Implementation, Profitability and Expense Management, Production Efficiency, and all other operational and administrative processes. On top of that an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software help improving employee performance all across the enterprise which automatically helps improving efficiency and performance of each business process and function.

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System (Software/Tools)

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is a very sophisticated and complex process. In the modern era of digitalization and IT integration there are simply too many data streams and processing them manually is almost impossible. That is why an automated and intuitive software or system is required which should be equipped with relevant tools and features to allow the management to effectively monitor and improve the performance of the entire business. The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software is an integrated tool which is linked with various other enterprise solutions and business tools to collect data and matrices. It is also connected to the central information center and it can provide two-way data synchronization and data sharing features. The software can be deployed both in cloud and in-premises data centers as well. Although business always struggle with taking this decision, but it is better to keep the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software online so the management and employees can also access it remotely and off-campus.

Here are key features of an Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System:

The user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) should be simple and easy-to-understand
The personalization options should be available to customize user dashboard to let user arrange and add widgets and sections as per their priority and convenience
The software should provide automation with configurable control panel to customize the operation
Flexible integration features should be included to let the software synchronize and integrate with other business tools and systems
Pre-built template should be added to aid the planning and strategy implementation process along with facility to add new templates
Facility to set goals and objectives and ability to blend goals along with real-time monitoring for day-to-day task and along term evaluation
Features for top-down approach to effectively implement strategic and planning tactics
Customizable review cycle timings and scheduling features to allow management to decide who should conduct reviews, when the review should be conducted and frequency of the reviews
Ability to allow management to implement SMART and 5As goals for both high-level and individual levels
Dedicated module for managing one-on-one sessions and conduct feedbacks and surveys
Administrative features for managers to plan and schedule session from their dashboard
Features to allow downward, upward and peer to peer feedbacks
User feedback facility to let employees provide feedback at any time
Robust alerts and notification engine to automate the notification process along with facility to set priority and importance for each alert
Configurable and automatic data sharing features along with facility to allow users to share selective data, feeds and reports
Configurable reporting module to allow users to generate different types of reports
In-built data processing and advanced analytical tools to simplify the reporting process
Facility to do comparative analysis with historic analytical data
Flexible infrastructure to support future upgrades, customization and scalability

These are some of the most important features a good Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System should have. Businesses should also explore the customized software development possibilities rather than going for a commercial off-the-shelf solution (COTS). The customized solution allow business to easily customize the software as per their performance management methods and doesn’t require them to make any change in their ongoing business processes. It also provide easier integration and reduce the cost in the long term. The future upgrades and scalability is also relatively cheaper comparing to the commercial off-the-shelf solutions.

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Process

The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) process is a not as that complicated, it is a simple process which starts with setting up and assigning goals and objectives to employees, keep track of their performance make adjustments and course correction during the performance management cycle and then on the bases of final evaluation execute reward and personal development schemes. Here is the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) process’s steps:

Step 1: Set up goals and communicate the high-level organizational and individual goals clearly to the employees
Step 2: Continuously monitor employees, their KPIs and their goals and make course adjustments
Step 3: Identify the challenges and area of improvements, take actions and provide training, mentoring, and guidance to the employees
Step 4: Rate and Evaluate the employees and performance matrices, make sure the rating criteria is clearly communicated to the employees beforehand
Step 5:The final step is to implement reward schemes and offer financial benefits and recognition to the employees, teams and departments if they performed well

For any performance management process the main objective is to keep your employees motivated, encourage them and make sure employees and all other resources are performing in the right direction with the maximum efficiency. This will help lifting-up each and every aspect of the business and will also keep your employees engaged and loyal to the business.

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Best Practices

The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is a cycle and it should keep going on all the time. There are no hard and fast rule for doing it in a particular way. Each business find different methods and techniques more effective than the others. Acquiring a top-notch Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System or developing a customized solution is not enough, a business must have to be able to utilize the system correctly and that can only be done if certain aspects of the performance management should be done correctly.However, there are certain best practices that if done correctly could help businesses get maximum out of their performance management efforts:

Set Goals and Objectives

Setting up goals and objectives for a performance management process is the most crucial part. On the bases of these goals the objectives the managers will build strategies and make plans. If the goals and objectives are not clear and practical then it would have negative effect rather improving anything. There are two most commonly used frameworks to set goals and objectives:

SMART: The smart goals are Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.
5As: The 5As are Assessable, Aspirational, Agile, Aligned and Accountable.

The SMART framework is one of the most widely used framework to set goals and objectives not only in Dubai, UAE but all around the world. Earlier the framework was designed for annual and bi-annual evaluation, but now a days businesses are using the same methods to evaluate and manage performance for a particular time-frame or a project as well. The 5As is a relatively new and a bit more modernized framework for setting up goals and objectives with less timeframe, usually from one to four months. This is the major difference between the two frameworks, however, some businesses are also using a blend of the two to evaluate for short term and long terms or from totally two different prospective.

Build a Strategy and Make a Plan

Once the goals are set the next step is to make a strategy and plan about how those goals can be and should be achieved. This is very important. Only communicating the high-level organizational goals and objectives to the individual employees along with their individual goals and objectives is not enough unless and until the manager also tell them how they can achieve these goals and what the business is expecting from them. That is why having a very comprehensive plan and a strategy is a key to achieve desirable results. The employees knows their job roles already, communicating what the business is expecting from them and how they should behave is very important. Most of the time businesses treat goals and objective in a similar fashion. However both are different, the major difference is the objectives are measureable and the goals aren’t.

For example if the goal is to become the market leader in providing maintenance service in Dubai, the objective would be to increase the sales by 20%, reduce customer churn rate by 40%, improve customer satisfaction by 15%, increase online leads by 30% and so on. In order to increase the sales by 20% the sales teams might have to put extra efforts, the manager should have to tell them where to put extra efforts and what to achieve and how. That is why the goals and objectives should be clearly communicated and each employee should know what their contribution would be in those high-level goals and objectives if they will achieve their individual goals. Hence the KPIs and other performance matrices should be set in accordance with the individual and high-level goals and objectives.

Setup Performance Matrices

Once the goals and respective objectives are defined, the next important thing is to setup appropriate performance matrices. The performance matrices will monitor the employee performance and the overall performance of the business. The performance matrices will also tell employees that what would be the measure of success and when the evaluation should be done, hence they can easily prioritize their tasks and efforts to achieve the required objectives within the given time frame. It is very crucial to keep monitoring the performance and progress continuously throughout the performance cycle, this will provide managers and employees a chance to keep improving their efforts. The managers can also immediately take actions to resolve problems and sort out challenges that employees are facing and they can also make course adjustments or iterations in the individual goals to make sure by the end of performance cycle the high-level organizational goals and objectives will be achieved.

Here are some popular performance matrices that can be implemented to make the performance management more effective, convenient and fruitful:

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):The key performance indicators or KPIs are set to measure the performance of the individual employee, teams, departments and the overall organization as well. They measures the quantifiable value of the performance and success.
Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs): The key responsibility areas or KRAs are the matrices to measure the performance of individual employee or set of employee or teams and departments in terms of the output or value of work they have produced.
Objective and Key Results (OKRs):The objective and key results or OKRs are the not a performance measuring tools, in fact the OKRs are the matrices used to measure the progress towards the high-level organizational goals and objectives.
Balanced Score Cards (BSCs):The balance score cards or BSCs are not used to track performance in fact they are used to identify the areas of improvements. A BSC includes the data from current past cycles covering four major aspects, learning & growth, business processes, customers and financial data in a single report which could quickly provide essential information to the managers and help them making decisions and setting up strategies more effectively.

Continuous Feedback

Continuous feedback is vital for achieving both individual goals and the high-level organizational goals and objectives. It provides a deeper understanding and evaluation data for individual employees as well as it also provide performance data that can be used to evaluate and assess business processes and strategies. With the continuous feedback the manager can increase employee engagements, encourage them to perform better and help them overcoming the challenges they are facing. The data is also used to reevaluate the goals and objective to align the employees and resources with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. The one-on-one sessions, discussions and coaching is very important to boost employee efficiency and it also provide them a chance to get connected with the organization and let them evaluate themselves. Which also help improving employee efficiency.

Conclusion

It is extremely important for the long term success and growth that a business achieve its goals and objectives each year. The vision of a business dictates its goals and the goals drive the objectives and strategy. In order to be successful the business must have a mechanism in place to continuously monitor its performance and the performance of its employees. That is why business use Enterprise Performance Management (EPM). The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is not just a tool or a process in fact it is considered to be the core of any business’s strategy. The performance management increase employee engagements, help them develop and grow and provide necessary tools to the managers and the top management to improve their performance and working capabilities. RSI Concepts is a leading name in providing Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System and Solutions in Dubai, UAE . If you need more help on the subject or if you want us to help you with your performance management needs, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: What is the difference between employee KPI and KRA?

March 29, 2022

Best Performance Management Tools and Techniques to Boost Efficiency

The HR department of any business faced multiple challenges, one of the biggest challenge is to keep the workforce productive and ensure the maximum efficiency of the employees. The performance management tools and techniques are used to overcome a variety of challenges and help HR department to be able to produce a highly productive and most efficient workforce for the business. The overall business’s productivity and profitability is very much dependent on the employee’s well-being, their work-life balance, happiness & satisfaction, and their performance. That is why the performance management is considered to be one of the most important function of the HR. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are rigorously investing resources in performance management and appraisal activities. However, many don’t realize that the true performance management is not just annual reviews and appraisals. In fact the performance management is a kind of continuous process throughout the entire year not just at the end of every year. Some businesses do interim reviews after each six months, but that is also not enough.

There are two main classifications of performance management process or framework, one is manual performance management which is totally based on old-school techniques, which are also manual and done by hands on papers. The second performance management framework is digitalized, automated and based on software tools and techniques involving digital data processing and analysis. The manual performance management is getting obsolete now and businesses whether small or large are adopting digital and modernized tools and techniques for their performance management needs. That is why in this blog we will only discuss about the modern and most effective performance management tools, techniques and frameworks.

What is Performance Management? (The Definition)

By definition the performance management is a process of communication on particular topics and subjects, by which an organization’s employees and managers work together to make plans and set strategies to achieve individual and large-scale goals (team, departments, and project based goals) and monitor their progress and contribution in the overall high-level organizational goals and objectives. The performance management is a very collaborative communication process which is designed to encourage employees to produce the maximum outcome while keeping them happy, healthy, and passionate about what they do. Several studies have shown that almost 80% of the employees can boost their performance if they are motivated, encouraged and passionate about their work. The performance management is not only about motivating and encouraging the employees, in fact the performance management is more focused on highlighting the challenges and obstacles that are hurting employee’s performance and productivity. The business and organizations also use performance management data for better resource planning and HR purposes.

Features of a Best Performance Management Tool

A business needs a tool to manage the performance and to accurately collect the performance data. There are several performance management tools and software that can be very helpful however, we always suggest going for a customized solution which is tailor-made for your requirements. RSI Enterprise Performance Management System is a ready-made performance management system which also allows deeper levels of customization and integration with other business tools or central information center. If you are confused in choosing between and customized or ready-made performance management system then just check if the tool that you are planning to implement have the following features:

User Interface: The UI or user interface is one of the most important part of any software or tool. It is crucial to have an intuitive and easy-to-understand user interface.
Costing and Support: Cost comparison is also critical, the performance management system’s cost and its maintenance and support should be easily affordable. The cost alone doesn’t determine the usability, in fact it is the features that matters the most.
Automation: The purpose of performance management system is to boost employee performance, this means the system itself should have to offer ultimate level of usability. The performance management tool should be able to automate various aspects of performance management process to save the workload of the employees and the management.
Integration:Integration is one of the key feature of any performance management tool, it allow the software to communicate with existing software and systems and also with the central information center and it also aid automation. The integration simplify the use of tool and add value to user experience.
Feedback and Reviews:The feedback and review features should be flexible and totally customizable with pre-built templates to aid the managers to easily and quickly implement their strategic plans for the reviews.
User Engagement: The performance management tool or software must have features to increase user’s engagement and involvement in the process. The software should be able to let users set alerts and notification and also allow them to trigger a particular action on the bases of the data inputs it is receiving. The actions should be able propagate all across the network and connected systems and tools.
Data Sharing: A performance management software or tool is incomplete with automated data sharing features. The system administrator should have facility to implement data sharing protocols to automate the process. This will make sure everyone gets all the relevant updates on time without any delay or interruption.
Improvements and Updates: Everything doesn’t always goes as planned, the performance management tools should be able to allow the managers, employees and system administrators to update the strategy, make changes, make course corrections and amend any existing performance matrices or on-going strategy.
Personal Development: Personal development for employees is crucial to improve their performance, the performance management system should be able to allow the managers and administrators to plan and implement employee personal development strategies.
In-Built Analytical Tools: For any performance management system, the in-built analytical tools and data processing features are absolutely necessary. It allows the managers and the system administrator to extract actionable reports which can help businesses to improve future strategies.

These are some of the most important features a performance management tool should have. The purpose of enlisting them here was to give you an overview of how some basic features can be helpful in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the performance management tool. It is not necessary that you only go with the most expensive option which other multinational businesses are using. Instead acquiring the service of a customized software developer in Dubai, UAE to make a customized performance management tool could help you achieve your strategic and performance goals.

Best Performance Management Techniques

Now that we have already discussed the important features of a performance management tool it is important to understand that only acquiring a high-end software is not enough, a businesses must have a great strategy and should implement market proven techniques to be able to leverage the performance management tool and the entire process. Here is a step by step guide for implementing various performance management techniques which will help you achieving the highest performance goals and satisfied employees:

Set Goals and Objectives

Setting up goals and objectives for is extremely important. Unrealistic goals and objectives will not only lead to a poor performance but it will also impact on the employees and they will think that they could never achieve those high-level goals hence most of them will never even try to achieve them. That is why it is important to consider taking employee’s feedback and suggestions on this stage and consider that as well. The management should not only clearly communicate the goals and objective to the employees, but they should also have a clear and definable plan-of-action on how to achieve those goals and objectives. That is the only way to boost employee interest and encourage them to put efforts in the right direction.

The main difference between goals and objectives is the measurability. For example the goal could be “to become the leading customer service provider in the industry” and the objectives to achieve that goal could be “reduction in customer churn rate by 10%, increase in sales by 5%, increase customer happiness by 15%, etc.” that is the major difference between the goals and objectives. There are two major frameworks for the goals and objectives which are considered to be the industry standard:

1. SMART Goals and Objectives

Setting up organization’s performance goals with SMART framework is one of the most popular method not only in Dubai, UAE but all around the world. It is considered to be the most effective method and almost all major government departments and large organizations are using SMART framework to set their goals and objectives:

S – Specific:The objective should be stated in a very clear and to-the-point manner, means the objectives should be very specific so the employees can understand them without any ambiguity.
M – Measureable:The objectives should be quantifiable and measureable as per the set pattern, so the employee and the managers both know clearly how the success would be measured and what is expected from them.
A – Achievable:Communication between the employee and the managers is a key to set goals and objectives. Forced objectives are far less likely to be achieved. The managers and the employees both should be agree on a certain level of progress or performance that they can deliver hence the objective and goals should be achievable.
R – Realistic:For any performance management technique it is crucial to clearly communicate the high-level organization goals and objectives to the individual employee. Everyone should know what the ultimate goal is and how they can contribute to achieve it. Hence the objective and goals should be realistic and can be achieved with using the available skills and resources.
T – Time-Bound:Each goal and objective should have a time limit, so everyone knows when the results should be delivered and when the final performance evaluation will be done. The time could be based on a project completion or either it could be the fiscal year end whatever the case is the objective and goals must have to be time-bound.

2. The 5As Goal Setting Framework

The modern day businesses and organizations are getting very sophisticated and the internal environment have becoming more complex than ever before. On top of that the markets are evolving on an unprecedented pace. New trends are replacing older ones and innovation is making its way to the very core of the organization structure and culture. This is why the SMART Framework is getting older, although it is a great framework but it is not absolutely perfect anymore. The 5As goal setting framework is a relatively new and modern technique and businesses all around the world are embracing it. Here is how the 5As goal setting framework works:

Assessable:The goals and objectives must have a defined structure, hence they can be measured easily and accurately.
Aspirational: The goal and objective should be able to make your employees passionate and encourage them to test their limits to perform better as much so as they can. This is done so the employees know when an objective is achieved.
Agile:The agile goals and objectives are usually set for short terms, such as 1 month to 3 months and in some cases for the 4 months also. The progress against the set goals and objectives is monitored on continuous bases.
Accountable:Each and every employee has been assigned with their individual goals, hence the success or failure should be measured as the success or failure in achieving that goal or objective. Some businesses also apply this to small teams or project teams as well.
Aligned:All the goals should be able to contribute to the high-level organizational goals and objectives. All small organizational goals should be aligned to the broader vision of the business.

3. SMART and 5As Hybrid Goal and Objective Framework for Performance Management

There is another framework for setting goals and objectives which is a blend of the above two. By hybrid it means the mixture of both SMART and 5As goals and objectives framework. Although this phenomenon is relatively new and is not particularly popular among large and multinational businesses and organizations, however, some small businesses tried to adopt a blend of both SMART and 5As goal setting framework. This phenomenon is still in its infancy, so we don’t advice implementing it. The main objective is to make a blend of all the positive or benefits of both the frameworks, splice them together to minimize the challenges and deficiencies of both goal setting frameworks. However, most of the businesses who have implemented it on experimental bases found it more challenging and difficult to achieve the desired performance results and execute the strategies. The biggest challenge is that sometime some activities had to be done in parallel, which is quite confusing for the employees as well as for the managers. The purpose of mentioning it was just to give our audience an introduction of the hybrid framework.

Make a Plan of Action

Once the goals are set now the next step is to make a plan and strategy to achieve the goals. No matter what framework you chose, the SMART or the 5As, the performance relies on the plan and strategy. Each business regardless of size have limited resources, every top level management wants to manage their resources efficiency and smartly to ensure maximum profitability and high quality of work. That is why the goals are set to be realistic and achievable. For example if the goal is to generate more leads from online channels, the plan of action would be to allocate resources for the marketing team to work on the online channels such as social media, display & search advertisements, SEO, website, etc. Same is applicable to the goals for the production department, or customer service or any other business function. The businesses should have a realistic and workable strategy and plan of action in order to achieve their goals.

Each individual employee should be communicated clearly on what they have to do to achieve their individual goals and how their contribution will be added to the high-level organization goals and objectives. Each employee knows their job role very well. Apart from that their individual goals and the high-level organizational goals and objectives also demand them to prioritize their work and focus. Some employees might be reassigned to different teams some might remain on their current positions, whatever the case is every individual employee should know what they will have to do and how they can do that. That is the reason the personal development and training programs are also part of the performance management tool. The managers should have to be very clear on what is expected from the employees and how they should be able to do that. That plan of action will determine the success or failure of the performance goals.

Setup Performance Matrices

For any performance management tool or system it is crucial to track the performance in real-time. That is the benefit of using a digital tool. The high-level organizational goals are set by the high-level management and stakeholders. Then the goals propagate throughout the organization through the heads of departments, senior managers, line managers, supervisors, team leads and even the individual employees. The top-down approach is considered to be the most effective and efficient approach. However, in order to achieve the desired performance it is important to track the progress and make sure all the resources and employees are aligned with the high-level organizational goals. Here are some most commonly used performance measuring matrices:

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The goals and objectives flows in a top-down manner, the high-level organizational goals and objectives dictates the goals and objectives at each and every hierarchal level. Each upper level determine the goals for the next level lower to that until the individual level. The KPIs or key performance indicators are set to measure the progress in terms of each objective at each level. The performance and progressed is measured for a particular time frame. Usually the evaluation and assessment is done several times during the performance period and the overall or final performance evaluation is done at the end of the performance period (such as by the end of the year). The KPIs are also associated with rewards and recognition to encourage employees, teams and managers to perform better.

Key Result/Responsibility Area (KRA)

The Key Result/Responsibility Area or also known as Key Performance Area (KPA) is a general area of performance, outcome or output, for which an employee or set of employee are expected to perform and are also responsible for. These are the areas and outcomes for which a job role or set of job role is responsible for and is also accountable for. Basically the KRA or key result/responsibility area matric is a measurement of performance and progress of employees and set of employees and their contribution in the overall high-level organization goals and objectives and their impact on profitability with evaluations of the financial aspects of the performance of the job role or set of job roles. The KRA are designed to clearly communicate the expectations of a job role to the employees and it also define the expectations from their job role which encourage them to perform well and induce passion and engagement.

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Objectives and Key Results or OKRs are not a performance evaluation tool, in fact it is a measurement of the progress and performance towards the high-level organizational goals and objectives and how each individual employee or a team contributes to those goals and objectives. OKR is a management tool which help organizations to achieve the goals and outcomes they need or aimed for and it is not an employee evaluation tool. The OKRs are more focused on the adoptive performance rather tactical performance. The other performance indicators deals with targets, numbers, budgets, etc. while the OKR deals with the wider aspects of the goals and the ability to deal with the failures. The OKRs are used to support innovation and encourage ambitious ideas and let the teams and employees perform well in problem solving and challenging environment without discouraging or demoralizing them.

Balanced Score Cards (BSCs)

A Balanced Score Card or BSC is a strategic performance management tool. It is used to identify the challenges and it help businesses to improve their internal processes to achieve the desired outcome and efficiency as per their high-level organizational goals and objectives. The balanced score card cover four major areas, learning and growth, business process, customer point of view or prospective, and evaluating the financial data. It incorporate data from past performances and let the business easily identify the areas of improvement. This also save a lot of effort and time as it provide all the data in a single report and provide broader, wider and deeper understanding and comparison of the performance which helps management o easily evaluate various internal and external performance aspects.

Real-time Feedback

Performance feedback is a very collaborative communication process. Frequent, constructive communications and regular information sharing between the manager and the employees let them take actions very quickly, set and adjust course and encourage them to improve their performance. The real-time feedback and communication can motivate employees which drive the right behavior and deliver better results. Coaching and constructive discussions are very important and help employees evaluate themselves and understand the performance of the others as well which let them make changes, boost efforts and prioritize things differently and more effectively. The performance management system and other tools allow businesses to provide their employees with means and channels to communicate instantly with each other and give their feedback which help improving the performance and business processes during the evaluation period.

Furthermore the studies have shown that real-time feedback in performance management help increase employee retention, satisfaction and also raise their ability to handle challenges and difficult situations which impact on the overall performance of the business.The employee feedback includes, manager to employee feedback, employee to manager feedback and also allow peer to peer feedbacks. Which provide a deeper understanding of the organizational culture and help businesses improve it. The employee can also provide feedback and share their opinion about their seniors, supervisors, managers and the overall business and its mission, vision, activities, and various other things. Which can provide a lot of constructive suggestions and businesses can improve their strategies and policies in order to maximize their performance and employee satisfaction.

Reward and Recognition

For any performance management system the reward and recognition is a must to have tool. Studies have shown that almost 80% of the employees perform well when they are awarded and their contribution is acknowledged properly. Almost half of them said they are not only interested in monetary benefits, in fact a proper appreciation and recognition of their effort is enough to motivate them to perform better. The main objective is to reward and recognize the individual employees and teams with exceptional performance with some additional monetary and non-monetary benefits to encourage them to perform well in future and to also motivate the others to perform well. A good reward and recognition tool always link the performance with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. The reward and recognition schemes are also a great tool to inspire employee to perform well and it also tell them what the business is expecting from them and what they will get if they meet those expectations. That is why reward and recognition schemes and tools are great to improve performance.

Personal Development Plans (PDPs)

A performance management process is incomplete without incorporating Personal Development Plan (PDP) tools. The Personal Development Plan (PDP) tools is not a performance measuring tool, in fact it is a strategy to improve employee performance. According to several studies the Personal Development Plans and opportunities are the most attractive aspect for more than 85% of the employees. When employees see they can develop their skills and they can excel in an organization they tend to perform better. On top of that it is good for employee retention and it also help businesses in building a strong workforce. PDPs are not regular evaluation, in fact it is done on quarterly bases and after each quarter the managers and employees both learn about their strengths and weaknesses, it gives managers a chance to groom their sub-ordinates and it also provide employees a prospective and career oriented direction which is better for them in long term. This encourages employee to perform well and learn new things, acquire new knowledge and improve their professional capabilities which eventually impact on their performance and the overall efficiency of the organization.

Conclusion

Any business’s success is heavily dependent on its employees, it doesn’t matter how much the business invest in their production facility, or acquiring the equipment or upgrading IT infrastructure, if the employees are not performing up to the mark the business couldn’t achieve its financial and strategic goals. That is why every good business have a performance management process. For that businesses use a variety of tools and make strategies. For any performance management process it is important to keep employees motivated, engaged and satisfied. A performance management process provide businesses a chance to clearly communicate their high-level organizational goals with each individual employee. By leveraging various performance management tools and techniques business can monitor and track employee performance in real-time. That sort of monitoring allow businesses to take timely actions, reset course and make adjustment in their strategies throughout the period so that by the end of the performance management cycle the business could achieve their goals and objectives.

There are tons of performance management tools and software available in Dubai and all around the UAE. In this blog we have also listed key features of a good performance management tool. However, the best approach is to go with a customized solution, such as RSI Enterprise Performance Management System. If you want to learn more about the topic or if you want to enquire about our performance management tool, please feel free to reach us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Qualities of a Good Mobile App for Queue Management System

March 28, 2022

How to Develop a Custom Software in Dubai?

Many businesses and organizations in Dubai and all around the UAE are using customized software solutions. There are a few reason why a business decides to go for a customized software development instead of acquiring a ready-made off-the-shelf software solution. The biggest reason is the untraditional needs and requirements, the second reason is the other challenges such as cots, maintenance, and longevity. For off-the-shelf solutions usually the software solution provider offers a subscription base model, which means that there will be some monthly, quarterly or annual fee. Along with that the biggest problem is with the customization, integration and other data security issues are also big concerns.However, with the customized software development a lot of such issues can be avoided. The customization help businesses to implement their innovative ideas and get very specific solutions for their untraditional and very unique needs.

The customized software development also offers proprietary rights to the customer which means that there is no regular subscription fee. With the ownership of the application the business is free to acquire any other third-party company to do the customization and modifications in the future and such approach makes it all very convenient and cost-effective. On top of that the custom software development doesn’t require any change or adjustment in the on-going business processes and practices, in fact it aids them and help businesses perform well. The custom software development allow businesses to leverage the full potential of the software solution or application. There is another most compelling reason to go for a custom software development which is the innovation, as the markets are evolving very rapidly, trends are changing more frequently and there are other such factors which compelled businesses to prefer custom software development over traditional off-the-shelf or ready-made software solutions.

In this blog we will cover how a business should execute a great custom software development project to get an efficient and good quality solution:

What is Custom Software Development?
The Benefits of Bespoke Custom Software Development
How to Execute a Custom Software Development Project?
What are the Custom Software Development Methodologies?
How to Choose Right Software Development Company in Dubai?
What is a Customer Software Development Agreement?

What is Custom Software Development?

Around two decades ago the software development market was dominated by the COTS or Commercial Off-the-Shelf solutions. Now a day’s the businesses have liberty to have a customized tailor-made software solutions as well along with COTS software solutions. By definition a custom software is a software or tool that is designed to be used by a particular group of people or a company.Businesses usually go for an off-the-shelf software solution for their day-to-day needs however, in the every changing dynamic market like Dubai, UAE the businesses need to evolve very quickly if they want to stand out of the crowed the need higher maneuverability which is only possible with a custom software development solutions. That is why more and more businesses are considered replacing traditional off-the-shelf or COTS solutions with custom software solutions and tools.

The Benefits of Bespoke Custom Software Development

In the recent few years in Dubai and all around the UAE the custom software solutions are proving to be more robust, agile, future compatible and budget friendly. However, there are still a lot of businesses who are reluctant to start any custom software development project. That is why we are listing here some key benefits of bespoke custom software development:

Higher Efficiency: The custom software are developed according to the needs of the business, hence the tailor-made solution is completely aligned with the existing business processes and business functions, which means it aids the existing business processes and doesn’t demand from business to make adjustments and changes in their processes and functions, which significantly increase the performance of the business.
Easier & Quicker Adaptation:Since the custom software is designed for a particular business and it builds the UIs as per the need and requirements of the users so, a wider, organization wise adaptation requires less efforts and less training and learning time. The employees or users doesn’t have to make any change or adjustments in fact the custom software is already programmed as per their current working methods, which also make adaptation easier, quicker and comparatively less costly.
Very Flexible Integration:The COTS (Commercial Off-the-shelf Software) solutions are very rigid towards data integration and in some cases they don’t even allow integration. However, a customer software is very flexible towards the integration and there is absolutely no limit or restriction. The business have full control over integration and it is also less expensive comparing to the COTS solutions.
Scalability: The custom software development provides more control over the application and its source code, which enable businesses to keep adding new features and enhancing existing as and when the need arises. With the growth of the business the custom software also grow hence the lifecycle of a customer software is also extended which results in higher ROIs. Business don’t need to replace the entire software for a long time, in fact they can update and upgrade the custom software to keep it relevant for a lot many years in future.
Better Competitive Advantage: A customer software is solely developed for a business or organization and that business have full ownership rights over the software, it means that none of your competitor would ever be able to acquire the same software. Furthermore the features and functionalities that you might be utilizing would remain confidential, all your business processes and a lot many other details will remain private.
Vendor Independence: The business or organization who is acquiring a software development company to build a custom application for them have full ownership rights and will get all the source codes, resources, and material and they can anytime shift to a new vendor to get support or customize the application further. Businesses can even utilize their in-house teams for maintenance and customization as well.
Cost-Effective: The custom software development is a one-time cost. There is no licensing fees or annual fees or anything like that. Business can add more users, features and do the customization without paying any licensing fees or getting into new agreements or something like that which makes customer software development more cost-effective and usually the custom software and tools tend to offer better ROIs in the long term.
Resale & Profitability:Since the custom software is exclusively developed and designed for the business, the business have full ownership rights to sale, distribution, trademarks, and also the entire software and all its source code, IP, resources, etc. The businesses can start selling the same application to their partners, subsidiaries and even in the open market as well to generate profits.

How to Execute a Custom Software Development Project?

There are several project execution methods that a business and customer software development company can choose with mutual agreement. However, there are certain stages of a software development project that should be done in a proper manner to ensure the final product will be able to fulfill the expectations and needs of the business.

Phase I – Requirement Gathering:This is the most important phase of any project and it is also called discovery phase. During the requirement gathering phase the business’s owner or top management identify the need and challenges employees are facing and what would be the best solution to rectify them. Firstly the feedback and opinions are taken from the employees, managers and relevant stakeholders, then the vendor get involved and many meetings or sessions are held to finalize the requirement for the customer software application.
Phase II – Formulation of the Scope Charter and Project Plan: The next phase is to put all the requirements in a bit more technical manner in a single document or set of document and those documents will serve as the scope of the work for the software application. This document includes detailed information about all the features and functionalities that are required along with the technologies that can be used, prerequisites and also dependencies and inputs required from the business in order to complete the project. A complete project plan with milestones and respective completion dates is laid down and both parties should agree on that.
Phase III – Wireframe and UIs: The next phase is to prepare wireframes and design the UI/UX or user interface and user experience. The wireframes provide a detailed layout and flow of all the functionalities whereas the UI and UX provide the actual look and feel of the final product. These two phases are very important and it is better to share the wireframes and UI/UX designs with the users and stakeholders to get their opinion.Thispractice make the software more intuitive and user-friendly and ensure a better user experience which is a key to better performance.
Phase IV – Development: This is the actual development phase where the software development company develop the source codes, algorithms and logics into the application. This phase can be done in a single go or in multiple phases where each phase is marked as a milestone in the project plan. At this stage the programmers do the actual programming of the software by adding and connecting the fragments of the software to form a single functioning application.
Phase V – Technical Testing: The technical testing is usually done by the software development company and its internal teams, such as quality control, project manager, business analysts and other relevant personals/teams. In some cases the software development company also involve the business’s technical team as well to ensure everything is as per the plan. Security and penetration testing can also be done at this stage.
Phase VI – UAT: The UAT or User Acceptance Test is the final stage when the customer software is migrated to a real-life environment from the production environment and the custom software is made available for the selective teams from the business who test each and every functionality and feature of the customer software and formal approval and sign-offs are also done.
Phase VII – Beta Launch: The beta launch or soft-launch is the pre-launch phase where the customized software is made available for the selective users such as managers, supervisors, selective employees and their feedback is taken about the user experience and technical aspects of the software. Sometimes the user training is also done at this stage which is good.
Phase VIII – Launch:Once the software made through the beta launch it is time for the full launch. In the full launch the customer software application is deployed on the commercial server or the real environment where it is intended to host and it is made available for all users all across the organization.

What are the Custom Software Development Methodologies?

There are different methodologies all across the world, some are using them and some aren’t. It really doesn’t matter much if you acquired a good software development company, as they will be able to guide you with that. Sometimes the businesses can also demand to follow a particular methodology from the customer software development company. Here are the most popular software development project execution methodologies:

Agile:It is a purely iterative method of developing customized software and applications. The software application is done in several different phases. And at the end of each milestone there is a collaborative discussion to evaluate the outcome and to align it with the project objectives and desired features.
Waterfall: The waterfall project execution approach is a very simpler, linear and sequential model for customize software development project. If a business doesn’t have sufficient project management team or the team is not much familiar with the process, the Waterfall method is great to make things easier and more convenient.
DevOps: The DevOps stands for development and operations, the method involves more aggressive communication tactics which ensure a maximized collaborative communication process between the Operation Managers and technology experts/developers. Hence the final outcome is far superiors.
Scrum:The scrum is also an extension of the Agile methods, it involves regular communication between the engineers and technology experts. A detailed project plan is formed beforehand, deadlines are set and the project is complex but need to be completed at as soon as possible. It is the easier way for the businesses to get a highly productive software development applications.

How to Choose Right Software Development Company in Dubai?

When it comes to selecting a vendor or service provider for the custom software development project, the business in Dubai and all around the UAE faces one big challenge, which is that there are too many vendor and software development service providers. In such case, it is very difficult to choose the right customer software development company in Dubai, UAE. Here is a list of some key features that you should look to evaluate a customer software development company in Dubai:

Location: The customer software development company should be located within the Dubai or any other emirate of UAE.
Company Size: The company size also matters, a lot, make sure the company have enough resources to and skilled staff to be able to deliver the project in timely manners.
Relevant Experience: If a company have experience in developing the similar software application then they would be able to deliver high quality work.
History & Performance: Since when the company has been established and whether they have delivered the projects bigger than that of you need or not is a very important factor to consider.
References & Testimonials: The software development company must be able to provide you reference of the previous customers and they must have some testimonials published on their website or blog.
Security & Compliance: Make sure the software development company in Dubai must have the experience in security and is fully compliance with the local law and relevant bodies.
Support: Make sure the customer software development company should be able to offer adequate technical and general support.
Avoid Freelancers: Avoid freelancers and off-shore custom software development companies.

What is a Customer Software Development Agreement?

In Dubai and all around the UAE each business who seeks to acquire services or want to purchase a product from other businesses is bound to get into a legal agreement. The agreement between the businesses and custom software development companies/agencies is known as the Software Development Agreement. The agreement provides a comprehensive roadmap of the terms and conditions and rights in case of any dispute in the future. Basically there are two types or sub-categories of software development agreement, the Project Agreement and the NDA or Non-disclosure Agreement.

Here are a few things that a business should include and clearly specify in the project agreement:

Project Requirement, Objectives and Goals
Comprehensive Scope of the Project
Business/Customer Rights & Intellectual Property Rights
Data Protection, Privacy and Confidentiality Terms
Agreement Limitation and Liabilities
Penalties, Damage and Data Breach Terms
Terms of Arbitration in SLA and Otherwise
Employee Solicitation and Fraudulent or Attentional Harm
Terms to Prevent Service Provider form Using your Name in Marketing and Publication Materials
Mentioning of Applicable Local Law and Governing Body in Case of Dispute

Here are a few things that a business should include and clearly specify in the non-disclosure agreement:

Clear and Accurate Introduction to Both Parties, their Background and Role
Clear Definition of the Confidential and Proprietary Information
Define the Needs of Barricading the Information from Public Exposure
The Timeframe of the Agreement and Limitations
Clear Definition of the Project for Which the NDA is Being Signed
Clear Definition of the Repercussions and Actions to be Taken in Case of Breach of the NDA
List of All which is Included of Excluded from this Agreement
Clear Definition of the Mediums/Channels by Which the Confidential Information should be Shared/Transferred

It is better to go for a Unilateral Non-disclosure Agreement. As in case of customer software development project most of the time the business is the sole owner of the confidential information which they have to share with the custom software development company. In case if both parties are require to share confidential information with each other than the Mutual Non-disclosure Agreement can also be done. The sole purpose of the NDA is to preserve the rights of the involved parties and maintain the integrity of the confidential information which may harm the other party in case of leak, breach or amendment.

See More: How to Develop Customized Software and Business Tools

Conclusion

The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very diverse, vibrant and dynamic market with businesses and investors coming from all around the world the market has become very competitive. The customers trends are also rapidly changing hence the businesses also need to evolve on a rapid pace. In such scenarios each business needs to implement unorthodox methodologies and bring innovation to stay ahead of the peers. For that sometimes the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions or COTS couldn’t provide enough support that is why businesses need to rely on custom software development. A custom software development project in Dubai or any other part of UAE could be very challenging due to a variety of factors. That is why in this blog we have covered all the nitty-gritty of the custom software development and provided all the basic instructions and know-how to let our audience be able to execute a successful custom software development project. If you need more help on the subject or if you want us to help you with your next custom software development project, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Importance of Custom Software Development in Dubai

March 22, 2022

Qualities of a Good Mobile App for Queue Management System

A queue management system has become an essential part of the businesses who require from their customers to visit their offices, branches, stores or customer service centers to avail their services. No matter which industry you belongs to, if you are operating in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE and your customers will have to visit you for certain business transactions, then you must be aware of the queue management challenges. Here in UAE the technology have penetrated far deeper in our daily lifestyle than anywhere else in the region. For instance think of the smartphones, almost a decade ago when the smartphones where in their infancy, most of the people were still using regular mobile phones with button based keyboard and a small digital screen. At that time the maximum one can do was to access the emails, or browse websites, however, the experience was not so good, the amount of available mobile apps were also very limited. However, with the passage of time, the smartphone have become a necessity, for many of us the smartphones are the primary medium to access to the internet, do online shopping, communication and social networks. This revolution compelled many businesses all around the world to seriously consider the mobile apps to enhance their customer experience, journey and communication.

Now a days businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are proactively exploring the ways to magnify the gains of the mobile and digital mediums. Businesses are offering services that can be accessed and availed from the smartphones. Your entire personal bank is available on the smartphone as a mobile app. People tend to surf internet over their smartphone, in fact the mobile searches have already surpassed the regular desktop/laptop searches. This had a profound impact on customer and business relationships. Now a day’s, the customer also expect from their favorite brand or service provider to offer mobile applications, in fact having a mobile app can add value to a business’s credibility. That is why most of the modern queuing solution such as RSI Queue Management System have in-built integration available for the mobile apps. Businesses can gain a variety of benefits from utilizing the smartphones and offering mobile apps to their customers. In this blog we will discuss how a queue management system can leverage a good quality mobile app to maximize customer’s experience and satisfaction.

A Good Queue Management System Mobile App Minimize the Wait Time

For any queuing solution the primary and most important task is to reduce the customer wait time and improve their experience throughout the entire customer journey. The studies have shown that an average customer can happily wait for just a few minutes, any waiting time longer than that would start impacting the customer experience and will eventually led to unsatisfied customers. No matter what else you do if your wait time is too long, it would be extremely difficult to deliver a happy and satisfactory customer experience. The very first thing your customers will going to notice is the wait time, if the wait time is too long or waiting experience is bad the customer will arrive annoyed or stressed already, which makes it extremely difficult for the service agent to switch their mood and make them happy within the limited time they have. That is why the wait time and waiting experience are crucial for customer happiness and customer satisfaction.

A mobile app integrated with queue management system can offers a variety of features which can be used to reduce the customer wait time and to improve their experience. The problem with crowded waiting areas is that they add to the anxiety and stress of the customers, however the queue management system mobile app allows the customer to sign-up remotely for virtual queues. This enables them to virtually enroll in the waiting lines, way before they physically arrive at the business. It also allows customers and visitors to manage their schedule in a way to minimize the in-premises wait time. Hence the actual waiting time could be a lot less than the estimated wait time. Moreover the mobile app also allow the customer to keep getting updates and feeds of the on-going queues and keep them reminded of their number in the queue. So, they don’t forget or get late. This is a huge leap. It can significantly reduce the wait time, and it can prevent crowd formation in the waiting areas.It also improves the waiting experience as well. The reduced wait time is a key to happy customer experience and stress free customer journey.

Mobile App Improves Waiting Experience and Reduce Perceived Wait Time

The queue management system mobile app can enhance waiting experience and it can also help reducing the both the actual and the perceived wait time. Most of the time when we are in a long queue, we might think that the queue next to us is moving faster than us, if we somehow manage to jump into the ‘faster’ queue, almost in a few minutes we realize that now the previous queue is moving a bit faster, this is just a trick of the mind, in reality, both queues are on the same pace. Usually the perception under stressful environment and circumstances is just the amplified version of the reality. That is also applicable when people are waiting in long queues. So the perceived wait time is always higher than the actual wait time. The mentioning of estimated wait time is another most important aspect of customer waiting time which most businesses often neglect.

We human react differently to the things we know and to the things we don’t know, we have something called “fear of unknown” embedded in our DNA. Whenever such situation arises when we are not aware or certain of the outcome we fear it, and it puts our body and mind into a kind of defensive mode, which generates stress. Same is applicable to the waiting experience, when the customers don’t know how much time they will have to wait, it stressed them out. People start feeling the pressure and it affects their experience. However, with a mobile app, the business can provide all necessary queuing details including live updates, estimated wait time, any changes or even communication can be enabled between the service agents/staff and the customer. Which can provide a great relief and it can help ease down the stress of the waiting.

This also allow the customers to manage their visits more efficiently and resultantly they have to wait very less, in fact in some cases there is literally no wait time, the customers can instantly get served as soon as they arrived at the business. This enhances the customer experience and raise customer satisfaction and customer happiness.

The Mobile App Simplifies the Sign-up By Introducing Unconventional Methods and Mediums

One of the biggest advantage of queue management system mobile app is the simplified sign-up process. In any traditional queuing setup the customers will have to physically arrive at the branch to sign-up for the queue. The sign-up is usually done via an interactive ticket dispensing kiosk. However, with the queue management system mobile app, the customers and visitors can sign-up right through the mobile app, without requiring them to physically be present at the business. The queue management system mobile app can issue electronic tickets or token numbers, and sign them up for the virtual queues. The customers can leverage the virtual queues and wait outside or plan their visit in a way that they reach only at time when their turn came. This can prevent long waiting time and even it can also completely eliminate the wait time. Which is great to improve customer experience and customer journey.

Moreover the businesses can also allow customers and visitors to make changes to their visit if in case they are late or got caught up in something, this also allow the staff to easily fit them in the next available slot and prevent any inconvenience. The customers can also signup for the queues, using SMS, WhatsApp, Email or other alternative methods which also improve their experience and make the process more convenient and user-friendly which is a key to customer happiness and customer satisfaction.

Enable a Direct Communication Channel with Individual Customer via Mobile App

Businesses can enable a direct communication channel with the individual customer via mobile app. The queue management system mobile app can host a bunch of features such as in-app messaging, on-screen notifications, push notifications, alerts and much more. This allow the businesses to keep the customers up-to-date and it also help them improve customer experience by providing them human interaction and live support. For example, in case if any unpredictable scenario arises which could cause delays to the customer’s estimated time in the system, the customer agent can immediately communicate it with the customers and visitors and they can also give them instructions to reschedule or share updates with them with the new schedule, etc. Moreover the customer support agents can also contact customers and visitors to ask them to bring any documents that they might need, or give them reminders of important things, etc. Such communication improve customer experience, increase their level of trust and help businesses build a stronger relationship with them which is a key to long term success.

See More: What are the Key Features of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)?

Offer Additional Features with Queue Management System Mobile App

The smartphone are becoming more powerful day by day. This allowed the mobile app developer to introduce a lot of innovative features. The modern mobile app development technologies have become very advanced and cost-efficient, adding more user-friendly features in a mobile app is not expensive at all. That is why the queue management system mobile app can be used to offer a variety of innovative and technologically advanced features which can help both businesses and the customers. For example, if a service required to upload documents or ID of the customers, the customers can be asked to scan or upload these document via their mobile app even before arriving at the business. This will expedite the service delivery process and it make it a lot easier for the customer support agent to deliver good quality service more quickly with less efforts.

Another great feature that a queue management system can offer is businesses locator and branch locator. The locator functionality uses the GPS to learn about the customer’s location, then it pull up the nearest location or multiple locations in the close proximity. The mobile app can also integrate navigation maps, to let the customer navigate to the desired branch/location. Moreover the locator module also provide the live queuing info with the estimated wait time at each branch, which help customers to easily select the branch with shorter wait time. The mobile app can also be integrated with the appointment booking module or it can also have an in-built appointment booking module to let the customers and visitors schedule their appointment at their convenient time and date. The live queuing information, continuous alerts, notifications and reminders can help improving the customer experience.

See More: Efficient Queue Management System Qualities

Collect Customer Feedback via Mobile App

Customer feedback is a very valuable data for any business. Collecting customer feedback help businesses understand various aspects of customer relationship and the customer journey. Businesses can easily identify the areas of improvements, new market trends, their customer’s needs and even businesses can evaluate and assess various business processes and employees who are involved in customer journey. The biggest problem with the customer feedback data is the quality and quantity of the data. In order quantify the customer feedbacks and to be able to produce actionable reports, the customer feedback data must have certain qualities and should also have enough quantity to remove ambiguities and confusions. The mobile apps are one of the most effective customer feedback collection channels. There are two main reasons, first the businesses can easily push customer feedback surveys to the targeted audience at the right place and time, which increases the quality and quantity of the customer feedback data.

See More: Impacts of Queue Management System on Employee’s KPIs

A queue management system mobile app can collect various different types of customer feedback data such as NPS (Net Promoter Score), CES (Customer Effort Score), CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Survey), General customer happiness meter/scale and much more. This data can provide a deeper and much accurate understanding of all aspects of customer journey and customer experience. Businesses can channel the customer feedback data into decision making and policy making process and they can make informed decisions on the bases of the customer feedback data and they can set up future strategies that are more in-line with their customers. This can maximize the customer happiness and customer satisfaction and also give them a sense of importance and connecting with the business.

Gather Business Intelligence Data

A queue management system is a great source of business intelligence data, with the help of the mobile app the data quality can be refined and businesses can collect more details which can help them to improve customer journey, customer experience and customer satisfaction. Businesses can easily collect demographic and geographic data of the customer which help them to understand their customer’s persona and it is also very helpful in providing personalized customer experience on the bases of the preferences, their purchase habits and much more. Moreover the mobile app can also collect various system usage stats and other data which can be used to evaluate and assess the current business processes. Businesses can utilize the queue management system mobile app data to improve their communication, identify the areas of improvement in the customer journey and it also help them identify the causes and reasons that are impacting customer experience and customer happiness.

See More: Virtual Queuing and Digital Customer Experience

Conclusion

For businesses maintaining a certain level of customer happiness while managing long queues is a very challenging task. Studies have shown that the customer don’t like to wait for extended period of time. There is a threshold limit of waiting time, if that exceeds the customer start feeling anxious and stressed which could have devastated effects on customer happiness and customer satisfaction. For each industry the threshold time limit is different, however, it is usually taken as around 10 to 13 minutes. Any time longer than that will going to impact the customer happiness and customer satisfaction. That is why the queue management systems are absolutely necessary for the businesses who need their customer to visit them for certain business transaction. The queue management system mobile app comes with various benefits which can be utilized to enhance customer journey and customer experience. Businesses can also use the mobile apps to collect customer feedback and to gather valuable business intelligence data. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system and mobile apps provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to develop a queue management system mobile app or if you want to learn more about the subject, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

March 15, 2022

How to Develop Customized Software and Business Tools

For any business the digital assets and infrastructure is very crucial for success and profitability. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have a very deeply integrated IT and digital infrastructure. No matter how big or small a business is it must be using some kind of software solution and business tools, to maximize the efficiency and quality of work for various business processes and functions. In the modern age of digitalization and modernization, the entire country is rapidly adopting to innovative digital technologies. Whether you are a B2B business model or a B2C, your customers would be very familiar with the use of digital channels, hence the digital customer experience can provide you an added advantage over your competitors. Moreover, the business tools and software offers innovation and automation, which help businesses significantly improving efficiency of their resources and also help them minimize the consumption of the resources as well. This have great effect on profitability and growth.

That is why businesses implement various types of software solutions and business tools to improve their production, product development, services, customer relations, supply chain, HR department and each and every business process. The digital integration, software and business tools provide management more grip, easy control and in-depth monitoring of each and every moving part which allow them to improve the business strategies, plans and methodologies. Hence software and business tools plays a crucial role in business’s success. When it comes to acquiring software, business tools and IT services for your business, the first thing that came to mind is whether you should chose an off-the-shelf solution or a tailor-made customized software tool? In this blog we will discuss why the customized software and business tools development is better and how a business should develop those tools and software.

Off-the-shelf Solution VS Customized Software and Business Tools Development

Whenever a need arises for a software or business tool the businesses thinks of two possibilities, one is off-the-shelf solution which is quick, easy to commission, not much efforts are needed, and the consultant or the service provider usually suggest an appropriate solution. However, when a business thinks about going for a tailor-made customized software or business tool the very first thing that came to their mind is why should they go through all this hustle to acquiring a software development company in Dubai or UAE and then intensive requirement gathering, production and testing cycles. Well, here is the answer why the customized software development is much better than the off-the-shelf software solution or a ready-made business tool:

Why Off-the-shelf Software and Business Tools?

It is quicker to deploy, usually it take only a day or two to get the system up and running.
The upfront cost is lower, the business can have an operation software or business tool very quickly at a lower commissioning cost.
Off-the-shelf software and business tools already have all the standard options, features and tools necessary to cater average needs of your industry.
The system management and maintenance is the responsibility of the service provider, hence no hustle or additional resource needed for the management of the tool.

Why Not Off-the-shelf Software and Business Tools?

The user interface, structure of the software and the work flow is very rigid and is hard or expensive to customize.
The off-the-shelf solution could not help you with your very unique or specific needs.
Its rigid structure might require you to make adjustments to your existing business processes and methods. Which makes them hard to use for the employees and could have counterproductive effects on them.
The operational or running and upgrading cost is too high. The maintenance is also expensive.
Integration with existing or other software and business tools is very difficult and problematic. If a business already have an ecosystem of corporate software and business tools, the full level of integration is very hard to achieve and in some cases it is impossible.
Scalability is expensive and difficult, the evolution is very slow and unpredicted.
The features and tools of the software came as a bundle, you will have to pay for all of them no matter you use them all or you utilize just a few.
Sometimes the support and problem solving is difficult too.

Why Customized Software and Business Tools?

The customized software and business tools are intuitive and tailor-made for your needs, hence the UI and the structure is very friendly.
Customization allow you to build solutions for your very specific and unique needs.
You only pay for the features and tools that you actually need. No unwanted tools or features are bundled with the customized software and business tools.
The customized software and business tools are designed to magnify the efficiency of your existing business processes and methods, hence they don’t push anything and are completely aligned with your existing internal work flows and management policies.
The business can have proprietary rights which allow them full access to the source code and the core of the software and makes it a lot easier to further scale, customize or manage the software.
Customized solutions can be molded as per the needs and requirements, which makes them ideal for the integration and data synchronization with existing and other software and tools.
The future scalability, upgrade and further customization is relatively easier, cheaper and convenient.
The operational or running cost is very low and the maintenance is also very cost-effective.
There is no dependency on a single service provider, hence getting support or making iterations is more convenient and cost-effective.
The software lifecycle is relatively extended than the off-the-shelf solutions, hence it provides better ROIs in the long term.

Why Not Customized Software and Business Tools?

If you have average needs that can be easily full-filed by any off-the-shelf solution.
If you don’t have time to go through the customized software development process and need an urgent solution.
The long term ROI of customized software and business tools is excellent but the initial/commissioning cost is high.
Initially a lot of time investment is required from the business and its relevant stakeholders.

Here is how you can Develop Customized Software and Business Tools

Now that it is very clear that the customized software and business tool development is much superior in terms of long-term ROI, operational efficiency and effectiveness of the solution as comparing to any off-the-shelf solution. Let us discuss how a business can and should develop a completely customized software and business tools to maximize their operational efficiency, employee performance and profitability in the long terms.

Discovery Phase – Identify Challenges& Set Objectives

The very common reason why most software projects failed is due to inadequate requirement gathering and problem identification process. This is very important that you are absolutely sure that you need a customized software and a business tool. The very first step is to observe the performance of the employees and the managers who are working in the relevant area or for whom the software is intended to support. For example if you need a new supply chain management tool or a full-on production management software, the very first step is to monitor the performance of those sections, then consult with the relevant managers and ask them to identify the problems within the existing system or methods that are being utilized by those departments. Then ask the employees and try to understand their point of view and identify the challenges that they are facing and how their efficiency can be improved.

This will provide you a complete blue print of your customized software or business tool. There is no programing or source code or any such frightening thing involved in this phase, all you need is to observe and then discuss the problems with the beneficiaries of the software or business tool that you are planning to develop. Then enlist all the objectives of the customized software or business tool development project and also enlist all the challenges that you want to eliminate from your business process to make your employee’s life easier and to boost their efficiency. At this point also consider the impact of the new software or business tool on the expenses and cost of the relevant business process and set goals and targets to achieve by the implementation of the new tool or software.

See More: What are the Key Features of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)?

Acquire the Services of a Software Development Team/Company (In-house/Outsource)

Some large businesses do have in-house software development teams and IT resources who can support them with a certain level of expertise and software needs. However, that is very rare and only large enterprises and multinational businesses can manage such teams in-house. In most cases the businesses acquires the services of a professional software development company. Here are a few steps that will help you selecting a good software development company for your customized software or business tools development project:

Step 1: Prepare a comprehensive RFP (Request for Proposal) or business requirements document. The document should have all basic ingredients such as:
1. Your business’s introduction
2. Project Introduction
3. Your Goals and Objectives
4. All challenges that you are currently facing
5. Technical and Financial limitations and Expectations
6. Your future plans for this Software or Business Tool
Step 2: Short list at least 10 software development companies in Dubai, UAE (avoid off-shore service providers) and ask them to Sign the NDAs (Non-disclosure Agreements)
Step 3: Share the RFP with the service providers and ask them to submit their proposals
Step 4:Analyze the proposals carefully and short list at least 5 best of them all
Step 5: Evaluate the software development company by analyzing its portfolio, testimonials, customer references, overall profile and experience in the relevant projects
Step 6: Schedule meetings with short listed software development companies and help open discussions, ask them for their inputs and recommendation on the solution
Step 7: Finalize at least 3 who you determined as the best among the others and ask them for their support matrices and their project execution methods
Step 8:Discuss your financial and time limitations and see which one would be able to comply
Step 9:Held interactive sessions and requirement gathering meetings with relevant staff and the vendor/service provider
Step 10:Finalize the agreements and do the project sign-off with the finalized service provider

Obviously that is just a general guideline to select a better software development company in Dubai or anywhere in UAE where the market is full of such service providers and it is hard to identify the best service provider who can deliver as per your expectations. Businesses always have their own methods, techniques and policies to outsource a project. The point here is to make sure that the software development company you are selecting should be able to deliver the project as per the expectations.

See More: How to Develop Customized Supply Chain Software?

Held Requirement Gathering Meetings and Formulate the Scope of Work (SOW)

Before kick starting the project it is crucial to held interactive sessions with the software development service provider’s team and your team. Involve all key employees in the requirement gathering sessions and let the service provider gather the requirements in more details. This will help them to formulate a technical scope of work document which is also called SOW. This document will be the road map of the software that you will going to get. Make sure that the SOW document is also analyzed and agreed by all relevant managers, stakeholders and key employees. The SOW document makes the project execution a lot easier and prevent a lot of unwanted problems and disputes during and even after the software development phase. The SOW document enlists all the technical details, features, software development technologies and prerequisites and it provides you a crystal clear picture of what to expect from the project.

See More: Key Features of an Enterprise Application Software (EAS)

Have a Detailed Project Plan

Having a project plan is extremely crucial for all types of projects, especially for customized software development projects it is very important to have a proper project plan that enlists all the milestones, such as designing the UI (User Interface) and visuals, Revision Time, Development Phase with all milestones and key points to track the progress, testing, UAT (User Acceptance Test), Soft Launch, Full Launch and post launch steps, etc. These all details are important for a successful and hustle free customized software development project. The project plan is usually designed by the software development company or vendor, but it has to be shared with the client before the actual project execution begins. The project plan not only help businesses to track the on-going progress but also ensures that the project will be completed in the timely manners and within the set budgets.

Wireframes and GUI Designing

The wireframes are the drawings and mockups of the features and functionalities. They used to represent how the actual software or application will look when it will be developed. The wireframe also explains the work flow and various processes which are very hard to understand by textual descriptions or explanations. That is why the software development companies provide wireframes to let the users understand the functionalities and provide them a chance to input their remarks and suggestions to make the final product more desirable and user friendly. Once the wireframes are finalized, then the GUI or graphical user interfaces are designed on the bases of the final wireframes. The UI designs are the actual visual looks of the software tool. Later the actual software or application will look exactly like the GUI or UI designs and the functionality and work flow will be like the wireframes. That is why this is a very important part of the software development and it can prevent a lot of hustle and repetitive work after the project completion or launch.

See More: What is the difference in Software Development and Web Development?

Development Phase

After finalizing the wireframes and the UIs the customized software development projects enters into the development phase, the development phase is the programming phase where the software development team write source code, build algorithms and logics and develop the actual functionalities by creating data base and information structures. Some project plans include various milestones which are used to track the development progress. However, some software development is done on a modular approach where the milestones are used to identify the completion of each module. Whatever the development method or approach is it is important to keep track of each milestone and make sure the project is proceeding as per the project plan. Another reason to track the progress and sharing the developed module with customer is to minimize the risk to revision after the completion. In case if the customer wants to change something, it is easier to do during the development phase rather after completion. Such changes become difficult, time taking and can also effect cost if done after the full completion. That is why the development phase is divided into different milestones.

See More: What is custom software development?

UAT, Soft Launch and Full Launch

The UAT, Soft Launch and the Full Launch are all the stages of a software project launch. The UAT means User Acceptance Test. The UAT is done after the development company, business’s in-house IT team, security testing team or third-party consultant have already finished their testing processes. The UAT is done while the customized software is hosted in a real-life environment but it is still at production servers. It means that only a limited number of people will be able to access the software or business tool. These people are usually the business management, stakeholders, key employees, and the vendor’s team who perform combined or separate testing on the software and check each and everything if it is as per the scope of the work and the project outlines or not. Once the customized software or business tool passed the UAT it is being moved to the live environment or at production server and is finally made available for all of the users and that is called the full launch.

Maintenance and Post Launch Activities

Since the customized software or business tool is exclusively developed for the business and the business owns the ownership rights to the software, they are no longer dependent of the software development company who have developed this software or business tool for them. That is why businesses are free to choose any maintenance policy they want. Businesses who have sufficient IT resources available can also take the matters in their own hands and do the maintenance in-house, absolutely free of any additional charges. Or businesses can also sign the AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) with the customized software development company which could make it easier and convenient. Furthermore after the launch the businesses should also consider monitoring the effects of the newly deployed customized software or business tool. Businesses can also collect feedbacks and suggestion and measure several KPIs to track and monitor the actual impact of the customized software on their business processes, employee performance, and overall profitability and productivity.

See More: Customized Software Development for the Startups

Conclusion

Businesses need digital solutions, systems software and business tools in order to maximize their operational efficiency, capabilities, productivity and employee performance to be able to compete within the highly competitive market of Dubai, UAE. Whenever a new challenge arises or a problem occurs, businesses try to find a solution that can fix it and also prevent it from happening again in future. When a software need arises, businesses often got confused between the off-the-shelf and customized software solutions. In this blog we have clearly discussed, why customized software and business tool development is superior to the off-the-shelf software solutions. The purpose of this blog was to provide our readers a comparative analysis of both off-the-shelf and customized software development solutions and help them to guide them through the customized software development process. If you need any more help on the subject or want to discuss the requirements of your new software needs, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Importance of Custom Software Development in Dubai

March 8, 2022

What is the difference between employee KPI and KRA?

For any business it is extremely important to align its employees, resources, digital systems, and business processes with high-level strategic and financial goals. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are proactively managing their performance through a variety of different tools and mechanisms. The overall market in UAE is very competitive, the economy is enormous comparing to the size of the country and it is growing exponentially. The success relies on better efficiency and intelligent strategies. Making formidable strategies is relatively easier but executing those strategies and making sure the entire enterprise performs as per the expectations is extremely difficult. Businesses mostly use performance management systems and frameworks to maximize the operational efficiency and to improve employee performance.A performance management system is a digital tool which is linked with the central information center of the organization, it fetch data from almost all systems and tools and produce performance data which can be analyzed to assess and evaluate the progress of the employees, departments, and different business functions towards the high-level organization goals.

The performance management system also works as an early warning system which can highlight the problems as soon as they occurs and even it can predict an upcoming disruption or problem and provide the management enough time to take decisive actions and preventive measures. Another benefit of a performance management system is that it provides a real-time performance data which enables the management to make adjustments, reset course and improve their strategies to make sure the employees and resources are aligned with the high-level organizational goal and objectives. The KPIs and KRAs are two major component of performance management. The KPI means Key Performance Indicators while KRA means Key Result/Responsibility Areas.

The KPI and KRA are two most important matrices which let businesses communicate their high-level goals and strategic needs and it also help them measure the progress, growth and success. Although the both may sound somewhat similar, but they are not. In this blog we will discuss how KPI and KRA are different and what a business can get from implementing these two performance management frameworks.

See More: Boost Employee Efficiency with a Performance Management System

What is a KPI (Key Performance Indicator)?

The KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator and it is sued to measure the high-level performance or achievement in fulfilling any objective. The high-level organizational goals and objectives are set which later divided into individual level goals and objectives and the KPIs are created or established for each objective. The business performance is measured or assessed on a particular time interval, usually it is one year, and it could also be on the bases of projects (given a project has a completion date) or lesser or more time period. It entirely depends on the business’s needs and business model. Once the KPIs are set the management or business owner can accurately track the performance. Usually the evaluation is done several time during the performance period and the final evaluation is done by the end of the performance period.

See More: Importance of KPIs to Improve Employee Performance in Dubai, UAE

The KPIs provides management with a better monitoring framework which not only enables them to boost the employee performance but also allow them to keep making adjustments and corrections during the performance period to make sure the objectives will be achieved by the end.

What is a KRA (Key Result/Responsibility Area)?

The KRA stands for Key Result/Responsibility Area and it is used to measure the results which are mainly based on the expectations from a particular job role. The KRA may also involve a direct evaluation of the contribution of the employee from portability or financial prospective as well. Basically each job role is defined clearly with a certain set of tasks and responsibilities that are expected from it. The KRA help businesses to accurately measure the progress and achievements with regard to those expectations. The biggest advantage of using KRA framework is that it clearly communicates the job role and responsibilities to the employees and also outline the expectations from them which induce passion and encourage employees to meet the demand of their job role. The KRA is a broad subject or topic where each individual should focus during their performance period.

As it is based on the job role, so for a manager from a production the KRA would be entirely different than the manager from customer service center and so on. Mostly the KRA track those areas where the employee have full ownership and is fully responsible although some job roles also have dependencies but majorly the employee is fully responsible and accountable for that task.

See More: Appraisal Methods in Performance Management System

The Difference between KPIs and KRAs

The KPI and KRA are intertwined and work side by side by aiding each other. The KPI is used to measure the performance while the KRA is sued to communicate the business goals and objectives more effectively and it explains the job role and expectations of the employee, which help them to perform better and their performance is measured with the KPI matrices. When the employees get a better understanding of their job role and responsibilities with the KRA they can perform well to achieve their targeted KPIs. Here are some key differences between the KPI and KRA:

The KRA focus on the responsibilities and results and it covers the area of concern where an employee is put in-charge of
The KPI is a quantifiable data which measures the progress towards the individual or organizational goals and objectives
The KRA is used to define a job role or setup an areas of responsibility which is necessary to achieve the organizational goals
The KPI is used to evaluate and assess the employee performance as per their job roles, and their contribution in achieving the organizational and individual goals
The KRA is a qualitative matric and it is used to explain the range of the areas of interest where the employee’s performance is required to produce the desired results
The KPI is quantitative matric which checks how successful or unsuccessful an employee was in performing in their designated areas or performance
The KRA defines the areas where employee’s performance is needed
The KPI measures the performance of the employees in the areas where it was needed

Businesses and organizations use both KPI and KRA to maximize their performance and to ensure they will achieve their organizational goals and objectives. The key difference between the KPI and KRA is that the both are used for different purposes, one is used with the aim of quality and the other with the aim of work efficiency. The primary goal is to maximize employee’s work efficiency and capabilities without compromising the quality, in fact the KRA instead help improving the work quality as well as the work efficiency. Although the KPIs are more widely used by businesses and businesses are producing almost same results with the KPIs as well, but with the additional aid from KRA framework implementation, the businesses can ensure they will get desired results all the time. Mostly the KRA are used when the ultimate quality of work is absolutely necessary. Some businesses also use KPIs in a much broader prospective while using KRA for only particular departments or employees.

See More: How Performance Management System helps in Customer Journey improvement?

How KPI and KRA can be used to Achieve Organizational Goals?

For any business success is achieving their high-level organizational goals. These goals are set for a certain time period, after that time the final evaluation is done and the success or failure is measured and quantified. This is done to identify the strengths and weaknesses of any business and its assets, practices, methodologies, employees, infrastructure and everything in between. When a business or enterprise sets a high-level goal the next step is to prepare formidable strategy which can ensure your success in achieving these goals and objectives. For example, if a business has a goal to increase its profit by 5% by the end of next year. The strategy would include various factors that can and will produce the desired outcome which is 5% increase in the company profits. There are some constant factors such as tax, price of raw material, operational expenses and such which are difficult to change.

See More: Employee Performance Management is a small part of Performance Management System

However, by improving the efficiency of the sales teams the profit can be increased, or by simple cost reduction the profits can also be increased, usually the strategic plans doesn’t work like that, in fact it involves each and everything, such as improvement in the supply chain, marketing, sales, cost cuts and a combination of whole bunch of activities which could lead to a 5% increase in the profits goal. In order to ensure all departments, business functions and resources are aligned to the high-level organizational goals, both the KPI and KRA are used. The strategy leads to plans which define goals and targets for different hierarchy levels up to the individual employees following a top-down approach. The KRA help communicating the job roles and expectations from an individual employee which are necessary for critical success factors and key drivers for the success. The KPI are used to measure the employee performance and progress towards their individual goals, departmental and also organizational goals. That is how the KPI and KRA are used together to ensure the business performs well and achieve its strategic and financial goals which are critical for growth and profitability.

Advantage of a Digital Performance Management System for KPI and KRA

A digital performance management system is a software tool that provides a performance dashboard which allow the management to have a clear view of everything. The KPI and KRA are two performance matrices or frameworks, both are different and are usually used side by side. Implementing a performance management framework manually could make is extremely sophisticated, sloppy, complex and very ineffective. There are several challenges with manual performance management, such as the simplest and fundamental tasks of data collection, data analysis, flow of information and data sharing could become so time consuming and very difficult. The chances are either the information will reach too late or the data would contain discrepancies, errors and incomplete information. However, with a digital performance management software all these tasks can be automated from data collection to data analysis and preparing reports, everything can be automated. The real-time data can be made available for the managers and stakeholders.

See More: Why Performance Management System is a Necessity for Companies in Dubai

The performance management software also allow integration with central information center and various other business tools and enterprise solutions which enables it to automatically pull performance data from various feeds. The digital aspects speed up communication and increase employee engagements. Businesses can create their goals and implement strategies with a very flexible approach and can emend or update them at any given time during the performance management period. The enterprise performance management software usually comes with a tons of in-built templates along with customization features which allow management to prepare goals, implement strategies setup KPI, KRA, and/or OKR within no time. The data is highly accurate and in-built analytical tools allow the management to generate customized reports and visual and graphical presentations. The management can get all the data in a very intuitive and simple dashboard which allow them to continuously monitor everything and take timely actions to ensure everything and everyone remained aligned with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. Hence maximum performance can be achieved.

Conclusion

For any business the performance management is very crucial. Especially in the very competitive markets such as Dubai or in fact the entire UAE is a very competitive rapidly growing market. The high-level organizational goals are vital for any business’s success and growth. A performance management framework ensures that the higher management or business owners can view a full picture of what is going on in the organization. The performance management is a very complex and sophisticated task which can be made simpler and much more effective with a digital enterprise performance management software. The businesses can effectively communicate their high-level goals, increase employee engagements and boost their morale to achieve higher performance results. The business can reset course, make adjustments and update their strategies on a very micro level during the performance period to ensure that the organization will achieve its strategic and financial goals by the end of the performance period. The digital aspects can boost the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance management framework.

RSI Concepts is a leading performance management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you have an enquiry please contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Customized Software Development for the Startups

March 7, 2022

Customized Software Development for the Startups

The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is considered to be the heaven for new startups and entrepreneurs. Thousands of new startups got registered every year in the country, thanks to its infrastructure, government policies, free zones and many favorable policies that attract investors from all around the world. In the modern digital age, every business wants to leverage the technology and digital solutions to boost their operational efficiency and to optimize their expenses which will eventually magnify the revenue and profits. For startups there are certain challenges which mostly established business and organizations doesn’t face, such as limited budget, limited human resource, and infant IT infrastructure and not so well organized and optimized business processes. That is why startups need a solid software solution to maximize the outcome of their limited resources. The software and business tools can help startups to optimize various business processes, it can also help them to integrate various independent systems to work in coherence.

See More: What is custom software development?

The modern business practices and methodologies heavily relayon the digital data, it is crucial to maintain the data flow and information sharing within different functions of the business. For that different software are used. Businesses also establish a central information center which is linked with all independent software and main software app modules. The data and information can be leverage to simplify various business processes, avoid repetition of work, and to magnify the work efficiency and performance of relevant business processes and employees as well. For startup the business processes are much simpler comparing to established business and enterprises. That is why most off-the-shelf solutions doesn’t suit them. The off-the-shelf software and solutions are designed for generic requirements and sometime for a particular industry sector. That means they have a standard work flow and structure for each process, function or tasks. However for startups following these protocols could be very time consuming and require much more resources. That is why a customized software is the best solution for startups’ needs and specific requirements.

The customized software doesn’t require them to follow unwanted or unnecessary protocols, in fact it just help them to boost the efficiency of whatever they are doing and however they are doing it. This could provide them a greater edge. Here are some key advantages of customized software development for the startups:

Customized Software Development: Perfectly Match Your Business Requirements

Startups are small businesses in fact sometimes only with a few employees. Sometimes a single employee is managing multiple tasks, sometimes some tasks are managed in a very unorthodox way, and sometimes the startups develop a completely different culture or methodology to achieve certain tasks. Their main aim is to improve the quality of their products and services. They have limited resources so they must have to utilize them efficiently and effectively otherwise they won’t be able to satisfy their customers. That is why most of the startups develop new ways and new methods to perform certain tasks and they also build innovative strategies to achieve their goals. An off-the-shelf or ready-made software solution is not designed to support such needs, in fact it is designed to follow industry standards and popular trends. However, the customized software development let startups customize each and every aspect of their software and its features. The tailor-made solutions are also less bulky and more user friendly.

Moreover the customized software development also enable the startups to easily adopt to the most convenient trends and practices. For example, going online and providing mobile interfaces for employee portals and dashboards can be done easily. These days the mobile access and remote access to the company data is crucial for employees. It can be enabled easily with customized software development. For growth the data flow and easy access to the company’s central information center is crucial. It enables employees to perform their job roles and daily tasks with more efficiency and efficacy. With off-the-shelf or ready-made solution achieving such traits is not impossible, but it is very difficult and way too expensive. On top of that the digital eco-system is built by integrating several software and tools, integrating them and synchronizing data in a critical task. With off-the-shelf solutions, there are several limitations, and the process is lengthier, however, with the customized software development it is very quick, easy and cost-efficient. This enables startups to develop innovative features and support them with their modernized and untraditional methodologies.

See More: Importance of Custom Software Development in Dubai

Customized Software Development: Better and Efficient Scalability

The startups grows rapidly, with growth and expansion of the operations the daily tasks, regular business processes and business processes become more complex and sophisticated. Which require upgrades in the software and digital infrastructure as well. Every startup business wants to grow as quickly as possible, they want to generate more revenue in a short time to support their growth and expansion. However, that growth can be halted or slowed down if the IT infrastructure and software tools that the business is using are not able to keep up the pace. With growth more employees got hired, more teams are forms and more departments and business functions are established. The off-the-shelf or ready-made software solutions are not designed to support that kind of growth, in fact they are counterproductive in such scenarios. Only a customized software development solution can help startups and businesses with such needs and specific requirements.

Another big advantage of the customized software development is that it is designed for a business hence the business also got the ownership of the software, its source code and resources as well. Which help them on later stages when they will need further customization or when they will need to add more modules or features in the system. The business is not dependent on a single vendor or solution provider, hence they can also manage in-house team to customize the software or they can chose another vendor to do the customization. This provide them a greater advantage on terms of cost and make the entire system much more cost-efficient and future ready. Furthermore there is no limitation or licensing fees, or any such additional costs, which means that they can add more employees at any given point of time without purchasing additional license or permissions from the system provider. The customized software development is the best approach to produce a long term solution and such software remain relevant and useful for several years.

Customized Software Development: Easy and Cost-Effective Integration

The biggest drawback of an off-the-shelf or ready-made software solution is that the integration capabilities are limited and are very expensive. Most of the time businesses end up having a poorly optimized work flow or business process due to such limitation. However, with a customized software development since the entire application is designed as per the business needs, the required integrations can be added while the development process and even on later stages the startups and businesses can request the system provider or the development team to provide integration functionalities as per the demand and needs. These is no technical limitation. This allow the startups to simplify the tasks and reduce the workload of the employees. Even employees can be provided a single dashboard or user interface to perform their regular tasks while all the data synchronization and processing is done on the background by two or more separate software programs.

See More: What is the difference in Software Development and Web Development?

The software integration is an essential part of any IT infrastructure. A business needs various digital systems and solutions to work in harmony to achieve the maximum work and operational efficiency. If these systems work in isolation or doesn’t share same data definitions, there could be confusion among the employees, the data can only be shared by manual means, which also slow down the operational processes and require more human efforts. The integration on the other hand connect all the systems and tools to a single centralized information center, which automatically updates all the information and data on each and every relevant system. All employees receive same data and information and everything is updated in real-time. This also reduce the development work while developing those integrations thus the integration cost is also very low. The integration protocols can also be customized to further simplify the work and this also make startups and businesses able to design innovative features and methods.

Customized Software Development: Online and Cloud Compatibility

For any system or IT infrastructure, commissioning the hardware, especially servers and data centers is very expensive task. It also require in-house team to manage those data centers which makes it extremely expensive. For a new startup or a small business investing in such areas is most likely not doable. The biggest problem with off-the-shelf or ready-made solutions is that they have very particular needs of the IT infrastructure which is expensive and if maintained in-house requires additional human resource and skilled team to manage it and keep it running and secure. However, the customized software development is a more flexible and user friendly when it comes to hosting the software. The customized software can easily be hosted on the online hosting and cloud servers which costs just a fraction of the investment required for the in-house data center or IT infrastructure. The cloud and online also enables the businesses to provide online and remote access to their employees. Which can make them more productive and can help employees to instantly access anything and everything whenever they want and from wherever they want to access it. That also improve employee experience and satisfaction.

See More: Key Features of an Enterprise Application Software (EAS)

Customized Software Development: Security

For startups or for that matter for any business the data security and privacy is its top priority. It is not only important to protect the business but it is important to protect its customers as well. The data security and protection directly relates to the brand image, reputation and credibility. Think from the customer’s point of view, if you are a customer and you know in past a business’s data got breached, will you be confident to doing business with such organization? No. That is the reason the data security and privacy is extremely important for any software tool. In case of off-the-shelf solutions as the system is being provided to hundreds or thousands and even in some cases millions of users. This means that such software’s structure and source code could be available for thousands of people, that means they are more vulnerable and need higher security. For a startup higher security means more expenses.

However, with the customized software development since the application is designed particularly for a specific business and the business also holds the ownership rights, the source code or structure of such software might not be exposed that much, which means the security requirements would also be less hence the cost would also be less. Moreover the customized software development also enables the startups and businesses to integrate more security features in their system and they can also host them on online hosting and cloud which can also improve the security of the system and its data. These aspects makes the customized software more secure and less expensive to manage and maintain.

Customized Software Development: Budget Friendly

For any startup business the biggest constraint is the budget. Almost all off-the-shelf solutions come in a full package, sometimes different packages are also there, but ultimately it is a full package with a loads of unwanted or irrelevant features and modules. All these additional or unwanted modules not only cause additional cost but also makes the user experience more difficult. However, the customized software development is very flexible and budget friendly. Startups and small businesses only purchase what they need, they don’t have to pay a fix price or a subscription for a certain plan, and they only pay for what they need. That is what make the customized software development more budget friendly. Moreover the off-the-shelf solutions and software also have annual fees, subscription fees, renewal fees, maintenance fees and several other fees, which in some cases could be just a simple rip-off. However, with a customized software development there is no such fees or any hidden charges, the startup business owns the software and they don’t have to pay for any licensing fee or any other such charges.

See More: How to Develop Customized Supply Chain Software?

Moreover the biggest advantage of the customized software development is that the startups can start with a few modules due to their budget limitation at the beginnings, then later on they can keep adding more modules and eventually they end up purchasing in chunks which doesn’t put any load on their budget and even make it more easier without compromising the quality and features of the software. For example, a startup needs to have only a few modules to start, such as accounting, sales, and CRM, however after sometimes they felt the need to have an HR tool, and after let say a year they might require a supply chain management tool, and so on. As the startup keep growing so does their needs and on the bases of those needs they can keep adding new features and modules to their customized software. Hence they don’t have to bear large expenses at the initial stage like the off-the-shelf or ready-made software solutions. As most of the ready-made software includes many modules that are important but at the beginning a startup can function without them and only at later stages it might need them. Hence the initial cost is also very high for off-the-shelf solutions.

Customized Software Development: Low Operational and Maintenance Cost

For a startup business the commissioning cost is not the only worry, they should also consider the operational and maintenance cost. For the off-the-shelf solutions the operational cost could be higher, such as whenever a new employee on-boarded there could be a licensing fee, even monthly subscription fees and or annual maintenance fees are also there. On top of that if the system is hosted online or cloud, the access and control to the source of the software is restricted. The customization and system integrations are also very expensive comparing to a customized software. The customized software development provide more freedom and doesn’t require any monthly or regular fees, the business can add as many employees they want without paying any additional fee. The upgrades and customization is also relatively cheaper. The customized software can easily be hosted on cloud or online hosting, which is very cost-effective and it costs just a fraction of the cost for the off-the-shelf solution.

Moreover the maintenance is also not as that expensive, as it can be availed from the vendor as well as in-house team or person can take care of the maintenance. However, for the off-the-shelf solutions the maintenance and hosting, etc. everything is already included in the package. That is why the customized software are very less costly comparing to an off-the-shelf or ready-made software.

See More: What are the Key Features of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)?

Conclusion

For startup businesses there are several factors that makes customized software development much better than the off-the-shelf or ready-made software solutions. One thing that every startup wants to do is to grow rapidly, they want to maximize the efficiency of their resources and employees to achieve their ambitious goals. For that software are needed, in fact in the modern era any business can’t function without relying on software and tools. The startup businesses have limited budget, limited resources, untraditional work flows and business processes, and very specific needs. The customized software development is very budget friendly and is far better on providing desired features and customization. The off-the-shelf solution have huge initial cost, followed by big maintenance fees and other charges. The tools always remain the property of the vendor and businesses are just renting it.

However, with the customized software development the startups and small businesses get full ownership right which make them free to dependence of a particular vendor and even allow them to manage, maintain and upgrade the custom software by in-house team or any other software development company. For startups the customized software solutions are the best in terms of budget, work efficiency, user friendliness and operational and customization cost as well. RSI Concepts is a leading customized software development agency in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more on the subject or if you have an enquiry please feel free to reach us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Boost Employee Efficiency with a Performance Management System

March 4, 2022

Boost Employee Efficiency with a Performance Management System

The businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are using some kind of methods and techniques to evaluate the performance of their employees. Mostly use manual reviews and traditional appraisal methodologies. However, the biggest problem with manual methods is that you will end up with biased reviews, incomplete forms, or unquantifiable evaluation data, mainly based on assumptions. Such reviews are usually made on the bases of events that occurs very recently, for example in case of annual reviews, a supervisor will have more impact of a negative event or poor performance in last month comparing to an excellent performance in the second or third month of the year. Hence the moderation for manual reviews is extremely difficult. That is why businesses are now turning over to the digital performance management systems. The modern day employee appraisal systems or employee performance systems are very accurate, produce quantifiable results and help management processing the data into actionable reports.

For any business’s success it is crucial to utilize its resources efficiently and more effectively to maximize the outcome. That is not just a matter of implementing a performance management system or making a strategy, in fact it is a continuous process, enabling all business functions at their maximum potential and achieving maximum efficiency is a long journey, it could take years. That is why a business needs an employee performance management system which collect and analyze business intelligence data and performance matrices. Such data is very helpful in making decisions, and making improvements. In this blog we will cover how an enterprise performance management system can help boosting the efficiency of the employees.

See More: What is the difference between employee KPI and KRA?

Set SMART Goals and Objectives

The very first step of performance management is setting up goals and objectives. The goal could be anything, for example, if a customer service center wants to reduce the complaints by 30% in the year 2022. That could be the goal. It is quantifiable and it is clear. Then the business can built strategies to achieve that goal, for example, the business can plan to hire more technical staff, or they can also held training program for existing staff to boost their performance, or they can simply create KPIs, to monitor employee performance, this will encourage them to perform well hence their quality of work will be improved which will result in less complaints. Similarly a business can set various types of goals, such as cost reduction by 5%, improving conversion rate by 10%, generating 30% more leads, etc.

There are high-level goals which are organizational goals and objectives. Then the department heads and managers sit together to set their goals in accordance with the high-level organizational goals. Then these managers and head of departments sit with their department’s managers, supervisors, team leaders, etc. to set their goals and objectives to achieve the goal of the department which will ultimately contribute to the organizational goal and objectives. Similarly individual goals are also set. That is how the goals and objectives are defined. The goals and objectives should not only state ‘what’ has to be achieved but they should also provide a guideline or strategy to ‘how’ the objectives can be achieved or should be achieved. For that a standard is widely used which is called SMART. The SMART criteria is basically a framework to set goals and objectives:

S – Specific: The objectives should be very specific, clear and to the point.
M – Measurable: The objectives should be measureable, so the employees and management both know what the success is and what is expected from each employee.
A – Achievable: The objectives should be achievable and both the employee and managers should be agreed on the objectives. Forced objectives are less likely to be achieved.
R – Realistic: The objectives should be realistic, the high-level objectives should be communicated with employees, so they know what and how their contribution will add up to the high-level goals. The employee should be able to achieve those objectives with their existing skills and resources.
T – Time-Bound:All the objectives should be time-bound so the employees and managers both know when the result should be delivered. Each objective should have a target date or time frame.

The goals must be clearly communicated to each individual, then the employee goals are set in a way that the employee understand and agrees that they will be able to achieve them. Forced objectives tend to negatively affect employee performance. Unrealistic objectives or too much expectations from the employees will build a sense of distrust, employee will lose self-confidence and they can easily give-up by thinking that they won’t be able to match those high expectations. However, the clear, quantifiable, and achievable objectives not only boost employees’ morale but will also encourage them to perform well and will definitely boost their performance. Some businesses also set milestones in between the start and end date of the objective. Which is also very helpful to keep track and continuous monitoring of the employee performance and also help businesses to take actions to do corrections to improve employee performance.

See More: Importance of KPIs to Improve Employee Performance in Dubai, UAE

Prepare a Performance Plan and Strategy

The performance plan is a very collaborative process it help businesses build strategies and set a plan of action for the next year. As the goals and objectives are already set. The planning stage involves communicating the high-level organizational goals and objectives to different business departments, teams, individual employees. The employee performance management system aid businesses in implementing a top-down strategy which is important to effectively communicate the goals and objectives to each management and administrative level. At this stage the employee engagement is very important. When employees have their say in the planning and strategy formation process they get motivated and passionate about their goals and achievements. Here the employee performance management system can be very helpful in setting up KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and other evaluation matrices.

Which will later measure and evaluate the performance of each employee and key-player with regards to their goals and their achievements. The performance management system can also measure and evaluate the contribution of each employee, team, department, or manager in achieving the high-level organizational goals and objectives. There are several other behavioral and technical competencies that can impact employee performance, which can also be accurately measured and monitored with the performance management system. However, there are certain external factors which the business cannot control such as employee’s personal problems, health issues and any other private matter, so such parameters are also excluded. The review and feedback can be used to account such problems, which can then be taken forward as per the company policy.

The performance plan and strategy covers each and every minute detail which could hinder employee performance. Hence the business can get a deeper insight regarding all action points which are quantifiable along with other non-measureable factors such as behavioral, environmental and cultural aspects of the organization with the help of reviews, feedbacks and improved communication between the employees and their supervisors or managers. The performance management system is capable or recording all these quantifiable and non-quantifiable aspects of the employee performance which can help the management to improve their strategies, plans and organizational culture to ensure better performance for the next year.

See More: Employee Performance Management is a small part of Performance Management System

User Friendly Design and Intuitive UIs

With user friendly tools and intuitive UIs (user interfaces) the performance management become as simple as it can be. The management and individual employees both gets their own set of tools and features which help them track and assess their performance and the performance of their subordinates. The biggest advantage of the performance management system is that it can automatically collect, organize and even analyze the performance data and make everything available on fingertips. The visual and graphical interfaces allow the management and employees to easily and quickly understand their performance data. The performance management system also provide a tons of tools which simplify the performance management process, such as sharing questionnaires digitally, getting responses and data in digital formats and customized reporting and analytical tools to simplify the data. Comparison tools, reminders, communication tools, and automatic data sharing and integration makes everything much simpler and easier for the management as well as for the employees.

More Flexibility and Convenience in Performance Management Process

A performance management system provides more flexibility, control, and bring convenience to the employee performance management process. A good quality performance management system includes a wide range of tools and templates that help the management to easily build and implement their strategies and plans. The primary goal of the performance management system is to adopt to the on-going changes within the organization and let the management take full control of the process by effectively integrating the strategic changes with the existing strategy and plan. The performance management system allow the businesses to adopt to a more flexible approach towards reviews and communication or one-on-one sessions with the employees. The review cycle and timing can be configured for the entire year with flexibility to make changes at any time during the year. The managers have simple dashboard where they can set a discussion within a few clicks. The entire performance management process requires a lot of data collection which involves a lot repetitive tasks as well, the performance management system can automate such tasks and make the process more simple and convenient for the management as well as for the employees.

See More: Appraisal Methods in Performance Management System

Effective 360 Degree Feedback Tools

The 360 degree feedback is always at the core of any performance management technique. It is a bit more traditional kind of appraisal framework but it is very effective. The performance management system makes it more effective by simplifying the feedback collection process. The 360 degree feedback include the feedback from the management, supervisors, peers and other people who work around an employee. Mostly the feedback is taken anonymously and the data is shared with the management. The performance management system enables the businesses to improve the data quality of the feedback. It provides a variety of pre-defined questions with quantifiable feedbacks, such as rating scales and happiness meter and much more. This allow the business to evaluate each employee and generate measureable results which can be later used to assess the performance of the employee. The performance management system can also minimize the biased reviews and make the process more transparent. Furthermore the reports can be extracted in a user friendly format which can later help the management to plan employee development plans and the same data is also very useful for the HR department.

Employee Engagement and Self-Evaluation Tools

The performance management system allow businesses to program an alert and reminder configuration in the system which keeps reminding employees about the goals and objectives on a frequent pattern. Furthermore the employee performance management system also allow the managers to keep modifying the employee goals and objectives at any time they want. This features help aligning the employee performance with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. Employee often lose the sight of their goals and objectives while focusing only on their job roles and primary targets or what they believe is more important so constant reminders are very good at increasing employee engagements. The performance management system also allow the management to get real-time performance data which enables them to improve the communication with the employees. Once the employee start achieving their short-term goals, they become more passionate about their long term goals.

Monitoring employee performance towards the milestones and sharing the data with them can boost their morale and encourage them to perform well. The real-time feedback and better communication allow the management to address any problem as soon as it arises and also help them satisfying the employees. Which further increase employee engagements and help improving their overall performance and work efficiency. The self-evaluation tools also help employee to critically think about their goals, objectives, their performance and their contribution in the high-level organizational goals. This enables the employees to take more control and ownership of their performance and help them understand where they are lagging or where they need to improve. These tools also help employee to improve their personal development and give them a sense of importance which encourages them to perform better.

Improve Employee’s Personal Development Programs

For any business having a skilled, experienced and highly efficient workforce is critical for growth and success. That is why every business have employee development or personal development strategies and programs. Mostly the managers rely on the reviews to plan and arrange trainings for the employees. However, a performance management system provides a deeper insight to employee strength and weaknesses. By analyzing the employee performance data, the feedback and reviews, the managers can have a better and more effective performance meeting and discussions with their employees, which help them to make more effective personal development plans. Furthermore the business can also asses and evaluate the training programs and their effectiveness by simply continuously monitoring employee performance. When the employee have a better chance to communicate their personal development needs, and when they feel more productive by tapping into the development programs their performance and engagement increases. Several researches have shown that the employee’s personal development and learning is the key driver of employee performance, and retention.

Setup a Better Reward and Recognition System

Everyone like when they are appreciated. Employee perform very well when they know they will get adequate appreciation, recognition and reward. Only a paycheck is not enough to motivate your employees to deliver their best work. It is not only just the financial incentives, in fact the rewards, recognition of the hard work and appreciation by the management is more effective than the monetary rewards. An employee performance management system enable businesses to effectively implement their reward and recognition strategy by proving the continuous performance data, in-built analytical and comparison tools and other such features. The main objective is to establish a system or scheme to effectively deliver all the rewards, recognitions and appreciations in terms of monetary, non-monetary and psychological payments when the certain level of competence and performance is detected. These reward and recognition system help aligning the employee goals with the high-level organizational goals to encourage them to focus on the areas which are more effective and helpful in achieving their individual and also high-level goals.

Improve Team Collaborations

Any business knows that the most effective behavioral trait an employee can have is their team collaboration and support for the collective goals. Whether it is a high-level organizational goal or a departmental goal or even the goal of a team or individual employee, the team collaboration is extremely important to achieve that. The team collaboration ensures seamless workflow and increase the bond and communication between the relevant team members. Hence it help improving the overall performance of the entire business. The performance management system integrate various communication tools and track various behavioral competencies which can provide data about the team collaboration and it can also include feedbacks and reviews which are directed toward analyzing the behavioral competencies of an individual employee. This data can be used to analyze an employee’s and entire team’s collaborations and provide management a chance to improve it. A better team collaboration always result in higher performance by the team itself and by the employees or team members also. Modern day performance management system can also include integration with social media and such apps to aid the communication and collaboration between the team members.

See More: How Performance Management System helps in Customer Journey improvement?

Data Analytics and Customized Reporting Tools

Since the performance management system is collecting a tons of data from all around the organization. It is crucial to analyze it and compile actionable reports that can help the management to take timely actions or upgrade their strategies to ensure they will achieve their performance goals. The employee performance management system provides intuitive dashboards with visual and graphical data presentations and much more which simplifies everything for the management. Whether the higher management is analyzing and monitoring the performance of the entire business or whether it is an individual employee who is monitoring and analyzing their individual performance, and everyone else in between gets respective data analytical tools. For example the higher management can monitor the real-time performance data from several business functions such as production, sales, supply chain, etc. The dashboard is highly customizable which provide them easy comparison and further makes it easier for them to zoom-in or zoom-out on the performance data.

The automatic data analysis are very helpful and important for the decision makes. For example if the production is performing 20% better and the sales is performing 30% less than the immediate need arises is that the business will going to require more storage or they will have to put more workload on their distribution network and sales to keep the production line running. Such features not only help businesses to improve their performance but also help them to take actions and update their strategies for the future. The employee performance management is a continuous process and with each year the employee performance gets better. The performance management system provides businesses a chances to compare their previous year’s performance data and more such features which help them to refine their next strategy and performance plans.

See More: Why Performance Management System is a Necessity for Companies in Dubai

Conclusion

For any business it is extremely important to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the resources they have in hand. High performing workforce is one of the most precious asset a business can ever have. In order to improve the employee efficiency and their capabilities business keep monitoring their performance. The performance monitoring help businesses to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each individual employee and provide them a road-map to improve the overall capabilities and performance of their workforce. The performance management is not an easy task, it is a very complex and quit lengthier process. The annual performance reviews are not sufficient and almost all established businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have other strategies to monitor and track the performance of the employees on a bit more frequent manners. On top of that the transparency and accuracy of annual appraisal reviews is also questioned.

That is why businesses often use an employee performance management system which provide them a detailed insight to the employee performance, their behavioral and technical competencies and help them identify the areas of improvement. The performance management system also help aligning the organizational goals and objectives with the individual employee goals and objectives to ensure higher efficiency and profitability. RSI Concepts is a leading name in customized employee performance management system providers in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject of want to enquire for our performance management system please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

March 1, 2022

How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

The queue management systems have become an essential part of customer experience and customer satisfaction strategy. Especially for all service based businesses having a digital queuing and customer flow management solution is extremely important. The market is very competitive in Dubai and all around the UAE, a common consumer in general is more advanced, conscious and aware of their rights. The governments are very strict for the quality and demand from each business to ensure high-quality products and services. The challenge is simple, improve your service quality, ensure maximum customer satisfaction, but the real challenge is to maintain the price of the service for the customers and cost of the service for the business. Whenever a business tries to improve the quality of the service their cost start getting higher, which will eventually limit their profits. However, for any business the primary goal is to delivery great customer experience and high quality service and at the same time maximize their profits.

Profitability relies on productivity and operational efficiency. The operational efficiency or the skills of your employees are absolutely necessary to achieve higher productivity which drives profitability and revenue. The whole process is not as that simple, in fact all these things are related to each other everything have some effects on everything else. The queue management system is a great tool to improve various business processes and to obtain higher operational efficiency by aiding your employees in their routine tasks and by improving their efficiency a business can achieve its long term financial and strategic goals.

Here is how a queue management system can boost productivity and profitability:

Queue Management System Provides Satisfactory Customer Experience and Increase Customer Retention

The customer experience and customer happiness is extremely important for long term success. The customer happiness lead to customer loyalty, which increase customer retention. The customer retention reduces the cost and expenses of marketing activity. Consider your clientele as a bucket and your business goal is to fill that bucket to its full capacity. If that bucket had a hole at the bottom, will you ever be able to fill it? No. The customer retention can fix that hole, and it lets you fill your bucket with less efforts. The studies have shown that it is nine to twelve time more expensive for a business to acquire a new customer comparing to selling to an existing customer. That is why the customer retention is extremely important to ensure maximum profitability. If you keep losing customers then you must have to increase your marketing efforts to such extant that it generate more leads and conversion in the same span of time as much as you lose the customers, only then you can achieve a steady growth. And that is extremely difficult and way too expensive.

That is why the customer retention is important. A queue management system facilitate customer journey and ensures a satisfactory customer experience which is a key to customer retention. Several studies and market research have recommended that one of the biggest reason a customer switch from a business is due to the unsatisfactory or a bad customer experience. For any service based industry the main driving force of customer experience is the wait time. The employee behavior, their level of expertise and all that is also important, but if a customer had to wait for a very long time before reaching to the counter, they will be already unhappy and maybe anxious too. With such a mood it is extremely hard for the service agent to satisfy that customer. However, if a customer is arriving at the counter with relaxed and comfortable state of mind, they will be more open towards conversation and they will be more understanding and cooperative. This will help the service agent to easily satisfy the customers and make them happy.

The queue management system also eliminates all the problem associated with manual queue management. As all customers and visitors will know that an automated system is controlling the queues and customer flow so their position is secure in the queue. The queue management system also allow businesses to create and manage virtual queues, which enables the customer to stay in the queue virtually, which means they don’t have to stand in the long lines, in fact they can wait in the comfortable waiting areas. The queue management system also comes with dedicated digital signage screens, which used to display the live queuing information to keep the user’s interest. All modern day queue management systems also provide an audio announcement system to keep the customers and visitors alert and engaged. On top of that a queue management system also provide businesses with an opportunity to run multimedia content on the digital signage screens along with the queuing information, which also increase customer’s interest and keep them engaged while they are waiting, this reduce the waiting stress and improve customer experience and customer journey to increase customer happiness and customer satisfaction. The customer satisfaction improve customer retention and results in higher profitability.

See More: Virtual Queuing and Digital Customer Experience

Queue Management System Improves Employee Performance

Employee performance is critical to maintain operational efficiency and productivity of any business. It also directly impact the cost and expenses of the business hence it also impact the overall profitability of the business as well. Businesses are always seeking ways to boost their operational efficiency and productivity while staying in the limitations of their budget to keep the cost and expenses to a certain level. Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE have investing huge chunk of their hard earned profits in digital systems and solutions. A queue management system is proven to be among the best long term investments. A queue management system is capable of automating various business processes, which reduce employee workload. The queue management system can also automatically implement company policies and manage customer flow which usually require a lot of efforts from the employees, hence it impact their efficiency which is generally measured in terms of the customers they served.

Without a queue management system the service agents and staff has to manage the long queues, they have to solve people’s problems and they also have to address their complaints and queries instantly which are caused by the manual management. These problems and other such matters can consume a lot of time and efforts of the employees, which means the service agents have less time to focus on their primary tasks and they could also get distracted too. Which reduce their efficiency and also the quality of service they deliver. A queue management system eliminates all that and let employees focus on their primary tasks which can improve their efficiency and work quality to several times. Moreover the queue management system can be integrated with other systems and tools such as ERP, Customer Data Base, Central Information center, etc. This allow the queue management system to further facilitate the service delivery process for the employee, which simplifies service delivery process and reduce the efforts of the employee, hence they are able to serve more customers in a single shift.

See More: Impacts of Queue Management System on Employee’s KPIs

Queue Management System Reduces Per Service Delivery Cost

The major factors that drive the service delivery cost up for a business are the resources they have to use for a single service delivery. Or you can say with a certain amount of resources how many services can be delivered within a given timeframe. For example in a customer service center if there are eight counters, then there would be eight service agents, and the business might have to post more employees to manage the queues and crowd. In that scenario the business must also have to able to maintain a large waiting area where there large crowds can be accommodated. That will raise the operational expenses of the branch or office. However, with the queue management system since the customer flow is much faster, and the capabilities of the service agents are also improved and they are able to serve more customers in a single shift the need for large waiting areas or deploying more employees to manage customers and visitors while they are inside the service center will be reduced. Which is a straight forward cut to the expenses.

Moreover the queue management system can aid various business processes and it can automate various customer journey steps which also increase employee efficiency to serve more customers. The balanced workload and a pleasant environment also impact the employees and further improve their work quality and capability. Which raise the overall productivity of the branch. As the business don’t need to deploy more employees to manage the customer service center, they can utilize them for other purposes, hence the total number of employees required to handle a branch could be significantly reduced, in some cases it can be reduced by 50% to 60%. Which can save a huge amount of resources both in terms of cost and the human resource as well. Where a server was serving only twenty customers a day, with the help of the queue management system they might be able to serve fifty or even sixty customers a day. Which also improve the overall productivity of the branch and reduce the per service delivery cost. Hence a single service delivery costs far less and the overall profitability is raised.

See More: Efficient Queue Management System Qualities

Queue Management System Provides Business Intelligence Data

These days the growth and progress is heavily driven by the data. The data is considered to be the backbone of the modern day business frameworks. It doesn’t matter what industry you belonged to, making informed decisions, setting up achievable goals, and making great strategy is the key to success. This data is generally referred to as business intelligence data. For any service based industry it is extremely important to understand their customer journey, customer experience, employees and trends. A queue management system can generate extremely crucial business intelligence data for a business. The businesses can utilize this data to analyze their customer journey, the level of difficulties a customer faces while moving through it and the factors which can impact customer experience are very important. Furthermore the business intelligence data from a queue management system can also help businesses to analyze and assess the effectiveness of their various business processes and employees as well. Which can help them build better strategies, take right actions and utilize resources more effectively to boost their productivity and profitability.

The queue management system can accurately track the waiting time of the customers on micro and macro levels. The queue management system can maintain the record of the waiting time for each individual customers. It can also provide average waiting time for each service. Businesses can also learn which employee is performing well at which service and position by analyzing employee KPIs and system usage data. The businesses can easily learn where the bottlenecks are created and what is causing them, they can also analyze employee performance. The employee performance data can be shared with the HR and decision makers to let them deploy the employees on service counters where they perform well or to arrange training for them for which services they perform poorly or less than the expectations and so on. A queue management system can be goldmine of the business intelligence data. Businesses can utilize this data to take timely actions, set strategies and make future plans. Which help them utilizing their resources more efficiently and effectively. This reduces the service delivery cost, maximizes the overall efficiency of the branch and increase the productivity and profitability of the business.

See More: What are the Key Features of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)?

Conclusion

A queue management system is a great tool to boost the productivity and profitability of the business. The businesses can easily reduce the customer wait time, minimize their efforts and maximize the efficiency of the employees to ensure the customers will have a satisfactory experience. The happy and satisfied customers are the most precious asset of any business. The customer happiness drives their loyalty and loyal customers are more likely to have repeated business. In the long term the queue management system can save significant cost and expense. The business intelligence data, cost reduction, employee performance improvements and customer satisfaction drive growth and help businesses in achieving their future goals. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you have an enquiry, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: Key Features of an Enterprise Application Software (EAS)

BLOG OF RSI CONCEPTS

Month: March 2022

Introduction to Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Offers Great Business Value

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System (Software/Tools)

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Process

Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Best Practices

Set Goals and Objectives

Build a Strategy and Make a Plan

Setup Performance Matrices

Continuous Feedback

Conclusion

What is Performance Management? (The Definition)

Features of a Best Performance Management Tool

Best Performance Management Techniques

Set Goals and Objectives

1. SMART Goals and Objectives

2. The 5As Goal Setting Framework

3. SMART and 5As Hybrid Goal and Objective Framework for Performance Management

Make a Plan of Action

Setup Performance Matrices

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key Result/Responsibility Area (KRA)

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Balanced Score Cards (BSCs)

Real-time Feedback

Reward and Recognition

Personal Development Plans (PDPs)

Conclusion

What is Custom Software Development?

The Benefits of Bespoke Custom Software Development

How to Execute a Custom Software Development Project?

What are the Custom Software Development Methodologies?

How to Choose Right Software Development Company in Dubai?

What is a Customer Software Development Agreement?

Conclusion

A Good Queue Management System Mobile App Minimize the Wait Time

Mobile App Improves Waiting Experience and Reduce Perceived Wait Time

The Mobile App Simplifies the Sign-up By Introducing Unconventional Methods and Mediums

Enable a Direct Communication Channel with Individual Customer via Mobile App

Offer Additional Features with Queue Management System Mobile App

Collect Customer Feedback via Mobile App

Gather Business Intelligence Data

Conclusion

Off-the-shelf Solution VS Customized Software and Business Tools Development

Why Off-the-shelf Software and Business Tools?

Why Not Off-the-shelf Software and Business Tools?

Why Customized Software and Business Tools?

Why Not Customized Software and Business Tools?

Here is how you can Develop Customized Software and Business Tools

Discovery Phase – Identify Challenges& Set Objectives

Acquire the Services of a Software Development Team/Company (In-house/Outsource)

Held Requirement Gathering Meetings and Formulate the Scope of Work (SOW)

Have a Detailed Project Plan

Wireframes and GUI Designing

Development Phase

UAT, Soft Launch and Full Launch

Maintenance and Post Launch Activities

Conclusion

What is a KPI (Key Performance Indicator)?

What is a KRA (Key Result/Responsibility Area)?

The Difference between KPIs and KRAs

How KPI and KRA can be used to Achieve Organizational Goals?

Advantage of a Digital Performance Management System for KPI and KRA

Conclusion

Customized Software Development: Perfectly Match Your Business Requirements

Customized Software Development: Better and Efficient Scalability

Customized Software Development: Easy and Cost-Effective Integration

Customized Software Development: Online and Cloud Compatibility

Customized Software Development: Security

Customized Software Development: Budget Friendly

Customized Software Development: Low Operational and Maintenance Cost

Conclusion

Set SMART Goals and Objectives

Prepare a Performance Plan and Strategy

User Friendly Design and Intuitive UIs

More Flexibility and Convenience in Performance Management Process

Effective 360 Degree Feedback Tools

Employee Engagement and Self-Evaluation Tools

Improve Employee’s Personal Development Programs