Monthly Archives: July 2022

Now more than ever, it is essential that companies meet the needs of employees, especially as more and more people return to the office. Workplace technology directly correlates to productivitymaking updated tech a necessity in every office.

One of the biggest questions companies should be asking themselves: Is our technology meeting the needs of todays workers?

Technology is an essential component of the workplace. However, choosing and implementing a modern solution that benefits both employees and the business can be challenging for company leaders.

A recent survey of 500 C-suite and HR professionals nationwide from OnePoll and Paycom confirmed employees are missing more than three deadlines per month due to HR-related tech mishaps, with data showing nearly 80% of employees get frustrated with outdated technology at work.

The frustration level of employees should be a warning sign to employers struggling to retain talent, said Jennifer Kraszewski, Paycom vice president of human resources. The good news is that the solution is attainable: adopt user-friendly HR technology to stand out from competitors, retain top talent and enhance productivity.

The survey results show employees are more frustrated with workplace technology and processes than leaders realize:

In a Q&A with Kraszewski, she explained how technology in the workplace needs to constantly be keeping up with the times.

Allwork.Space: What role does up-to-date technology play in employee productivity?

Jennifer Kraszewski: Updated technology allows employees to seamlessly manage their payroll, request time off, and take care of their benefitsall aspects of the job from recruitment to retirement. This allows employees to focus on their actual job, increase productivity and be a generally happier employee.

Allwork.Space: What essential technologies should companies be implementing to keep up with modern times?

Jennifer Kraszewski: Nearly 80% of employees get frustrated with outdated technology at work and nearly 70% dont believe their company prioritizes digital transformation, according to a survey conducted by OnePoll.

Employee frustration levels should be a warning sign to employers struggling to retain talent. The good news is that the solution is attainable: Adopt user-friendly HR tech to stand out from competitors, retain top talent and enhance productivity.

Technology must enhance the entire employee life cycle, allow employees to own their own dataall in a single software.

For example, Paycom launched a product last year, Beti, which allows employees to access, view, verify, troubleshoot, and approve their paychecks before payroll runs. The ability to see the details of their check is among the top three most useful aspects employees would like to see in their HR tech, according to OnePoll. Payroll errors can greatly increase employee stress and lead to disengagement.

Allwork.Space: How can having the wrong software in an office contribute to disengagement and miscommunication?

Jennifer Kraszewski: It turns out, outdated technology is contributing lots of stress, causing employees to miss more than three deadlines per month according to OnePoll data, and lose trust in their employers. With the Great Resignation, employers must be firing on all cylinders to retain talent.

Providing employees with technology that frustrates them hurts retention. User-friendly technology keeps employees focused on doing the work they are passionate about and allows them to meet deadlines early. Americans spend hours and hours each day using mobile devices to communicate, order coffee, check bank balances and more.

Once employees get used to having tech that simplifies their work lives in the same way apps simplify their personal lives, they do not want to go backwards. They look for digitally savvy companies when job hunting or choosing to grow in their current workplace.

Allwork.Space: Why should leaders make a conscious investment in leveraging top technologies?

Jennifer Kraszewski: Using the right technology can provide strong ROI. For example, Ernst & Young recently conducted extensive research into the costs associated with common HR-related tasks. Its study concluded that, on average, a single entry of data performed without the aid of the right HR technology costs $4.70 to complete.

The right HR technology can help quantify a businesss return on investment in real time, allowing employers to see the cost savings associated with changes made by employees and to drill down into specific aspects of the software to determine exactly where additional savings can be achieved.

As more businesses realize the power of 100% employee usage of their HR technology, they are seeing returns to their HR department.

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Is Technology Meeting The Needs Of Today's Workers? - Allwork.Space

Nina, the mother of an autistic teenager, had never experienced a panic attack until Covid-19 closed her sons school in March 2020. Then they began coming with alarming regularity. Single parenting a disoriented child she couldnt leave unattended meant she had to quit her job and was homebound, with no one to help with necessities like food shopping.

In desperation, Nina (not her real name) called a local clinic, and was lucky to find one with a corps of clinicians, counselors, and social workers using a model of primary care that integrates services to support physical, mental, and social well-being. They rapidly assessed her and her home situation via telehealth, explained and normalized her symptoms, prescribed medication, and gave a warm hand-off to mental health counselors. They also arranged deliveries from community food banks and helped her apply for unemployment benefits. The clinic became her lifeline, giving Nina and her son life-saving physical, mental, and social support through a year of isolation until schools reopened.

For years, many primary care practices have stepped up to address the multiple health crises roiling communities across America a surge in mental illness that behavioral health providers cannot absorb, a rise in addiction, persistent strains on rural health care, and the health effects of social stressors especially for people of color and those with low incomes, or disabilities. Covid exacerbated these interrelated crises. Economic stress contributes to higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicidality, substance abuse, and addiction. As rural hospitals and clinics close, lack of access to trusted health care providers deprives these and other disadvantaged communities of another important layer in the social safety net and increases the risk of poor health and life outcomes. The pandemic has made clearer than ever the vital roles that primary care plays.

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The resilience of primary care cannot be taken for granted. Signs abound of the strain on many practices under current financing and payment arrangements. Primary care lost an estimated $15 billion in 2020 and, a year later, fully one-third of practices reported not having recovered financially. As a result, a growing number of once-independent practices have been acquired by hospitals or private equity firms.

But even before the pandemic, primary care was already struggling under fee-for-service systems. A clinical team needs time to provide psychological support, understand a persons social context, and tailor outreach to appropriate community groups and agencies to truly solve a patients problem. Taking time to fully understand a patients problems and tailoring actions to solve those problems are lumpy and unpredictable demands in a clinicians day that are antithetical to fee-for-service payment. Americas reliance on primary care and expectations for it keep growing, but the countrys investment in it has not kept up.

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A meaningful step forward would be to empower primary care with flexible, adequate payments and technology so all practices can integrate physical, mental, and social supports, and partner with other service sectors. The integrated model of care that Nina was fortunate enough to find is not widely available, precisely because current payment structures and chronic underpayment for primary care create insurmountable barriers to incorporating behavioral health and social supports for most practices. Federally qualified health centers that can offer integrated care often rely on cost-based reimbursement to build this infrastructure. The Veterans Administrations whole health model similarly relies on predictable annual budgets and salaried staff. Paying for collaborative psychiatric care, as Medicare is now doing, is a start. A better way would be to convert a substantial portion of primary care payment to periodic and predictable lump sum payments. That would free practices from chasing more visits and more billings and allow them to focus on the patients in front of them.

A multi-disciplinary team, telehealth, e-consults, home-monitoring tools, connections to and relationships with community-based service partners, and peer-to-peer support from specialist colleagues can form a chassis that gives primary care providers the resources and capabilities they need. But few practices, especially those serving rural or minority or low-income communities, can afford to make these investments on their own. National investment in teams and tools, whether from public or private insurers, could be a much more effective expenditure than paying for the downstream costs and health burdens of neglecting to provide truly whole-person care.

It is possible to rebuild this necessary backbone of the U.S. health care system with a combination of these up-front investments and then offering primary care providers a sustainable business model through value-based payment programs that have already shown success by rewarding high quality and contained spending.

Based on experience in other countries and comparisons of different U.S. communities, investments in primary care would pay for themselves over time in reduced total health care spending from fewer specialty and hospital services, and reduced health burdens that lead to lost work productivity and lost years of life. A broad and growing coalition of stakeholders is coming together to advance a policy agenda for reforming primary care payment, based on recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). Rural providers, mental health advocates, safety net clinics and health systems, primary care practices, payers, employers, and consumer advocates all understand that they cannot afford not to act. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has offered various pilot payment programs for primary care, but none with the duration or degree of investment recommended by NASEM that can be scaled across the country.

The Biden administration and Congress should support what the evidence shows: primary care is the only part of the U.S. health care system that, with additional investment, will improve population health across all communities.

Hoangmai Pham is the president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Exceptional Care and former chief innovation officer for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Michael O. Leavitt is the founder and chair of the Board of Managers for Leavitt Partners, an HMA Company, and cochair of HMA. He is also the former governor of Utah, and former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

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Empower primary care with adequate payments and technology - STAT

A round-trip flight from San Francisco to New Yorkmelts 54 square feet of Arctic sea iceper person, when you account for the warming effect of carbon emissions. Take one less flight at that distance, and your personal carbon footprint falls to the equivalent of driving 18 fewer miles per day and eating all local food, combined.

The good news is that flights might not always be so carbon-intensive. A June 9 report from the International Council of Clean Transportation (ICCT)calledVision 2050: Aligning Aviation With the Paris Agreementfinds that its technically possible to reduce flight-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to nearly zero by 2050.

The bad news? Technology wont save us if the number of flights keeps skyrocketing.

Thats the lesson of aJune 15 blog postby Dan Rutherford, director of the ICCTs aviation and marine programs and a co-author of Vision 2050. In The Tortoise and the Hare? The Race to Decarbonize Aviation Rutherford explains that for the next three decades, technological change will be in a race with demand growth to keep aviations emissions in check. If growth in traffic slows, or better yet stalls altogether, adopting alternative technologies might keep aviations CO2 emissions to manageable levels. But if global traffic growth continues at the same breakneck rate as it did before COVIDaround 7 percent per yearaviation will soar past its carbon budget with no landing in sight.

What exactly is a carbon budget? In 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calculated how much more carbon dioxide the world could emit by 2050 while giving us a two-thirds chance of keeping temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). This number, 400 gigatons, is known as the global 1.5-degree carbon budget. In Vision 2050, the ICCT delegates 2.9 percent of this budget to aviation, based on flights current share of emissions. So, 2.9 percent of 400 gigatons is 11.6 gigatons: aviations 1.5-degree carbon budget. (A similar process will give you the 1.75-degree budget, 2-degree budget, etc.)

The biggest takeaway of Vision 2050 is that they couldn't reach the 1.5-degree goal. Even with every assumption about alternative fuels, new technologies, and efficiency made as optimistic as possible, the ICCTs most ambitious scenariocalled Breakthroughpredicted cumulative aviation emissions of 22.5 gigatons, almost twice the 1.5-degree budget.

Still, Breakthrough is impressive. It brings emissions in line with a goal of 1.75 degrees Celsius warming, or 3.15 degrees Fahrenheit. This is not as low as many frontline communities are fighting for, but still well under the commonly cited 2-degree goal (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). To do this, it calls for aviation emissions to peak as soon as 2025a very scary number, concedes report co-author Sola Zheng, but one that says a lot about the urgency of taking action. In the short term, emissions begin to fall due to efficiency improvements and an immediate uptake in biofuel use. A notable longer-term efficiency improvement was formation flying, in which planes draft off one another to use less fuel.

But efficiency improvements arent enough, and neither are biofuels: growing crops for fuel often either displaces food production and/or requires clearing new land. This creates carbon emissions of its own while posing other sustainability concerns, so biofuel production has its limits. For this reason, the report calls for huge amounts of synthetic e-fuels.

These e-fuels have two main ingredients. The first is carbon, either captured from another source of emissions or sucked directly from the atmosphere. Both techniquesuse expensive technologies unproven at scaleand direct air capture in particular requires large amounts of electricity. The second is hydrogenfor this to be clean, it must be derived from water (rather than methane, as most hydrogen today is), a process that also requires significant electricity. All of this electricity, of course, must be renewable or the tech does not sufficiently reduce emissions. E-fuels are currently far more expensive than conventional jet fuel (estimates range from two to eight times), so the report suggests taxing the latter to help even the playing field.

While biofuels and e-fuelstogether known as sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs)account for most Breakthrough emissions savings and efficiency makes up most of the rest, two other fledgling technologies help: battery-powered electric planes and planes that directly burn liquid hydrogen. However, the heavy weight of batteries means electric planes likely wont be able to go very far. And using hydrogen requires new airplane designs, so many experts dont think it will be a factor for decades to come (althoughone reportsuggested 60 percent of planes might be hydrogen by 2050). In Breakthrough, hydrogen contributes about 5 percent of emissions savings.

Despite its technological ambition, the ICCT is more cautious when it comes to decreasing demand. For all scenarios, the ICCT assumed a baseline of 3 percent traffic growth per year, measured in passenger-miles. (If 5 people fly 100 miles, that is 500 passenger-miles.) This growth rate will dip slightly, the report predicts, but not by much, as more expensive fuels result in higher ticket prices and a few people shift flights to high-speed rail.

This lack of ambition helps explain why Breakthrough can only get to 1.75 degrees. As the report notes, To get to 1.5C, out-of-sector action [such as increased carbon capture from the air] and/or significant direct curbs to traffic growth would be needed. Vision 2050 did not explore these options, however,preferring to emphasize technological shifts rather than anything that would cost airlines, the conclusion explains. But Rutherfords follow-up analysis shows that dampening traffic growth is just as critical as technology.

The Vision 2050 assumption of 3 percent growth per year is already a reduction from the pre-COVID norm of 7 percent per year. If the 7 percent rate returns, Rutherford explains, even with Breakthrough technology, aviation blows by the 1.5-degree budget within a few years and by 2050 reaches emissions consistent with well over 2 degrees of warming. This scenario is even more devastating for the climate than just keeping 3 percent growth and making no technology changes at all.

By contrast, if reductions in business and leisure travel cap aviation traffic at 2019 levels, Breakthrough technology can bring emissions in line with less than 1.6 degrees warming, reducing total CO2 emissions by roughly a third compared to the 3 percent-growth scenario. Reaching 1.5 degrees would require flying even less, especially in the short-term when alternative fuels are in short supply.

Even if global air traffic doesnt shrink, the rich still need to fly less. The United States emits more each year from aviation than the next 10 countries combined, primarily driven by those who fly several times a year. In fact,about half of flight-related emissions can be attributed to the top 1 percent of flyers, and only11 percent of the worldhas ever been on an airplane. If people in other countries begin to fly more, as is expected, this should be offset by the wealthy flying less.

Trains, too, are part of the solution. Vision 2050 posits that after 2030, about 20 percent of passengers on short flights (466 miles or less) between cities will opt for high-speed rail instead. This is fairly conservative: In a March 29blog postZheng explained that in China, high-speed rail had helped offset flights up to 1,400 miles, three times farther than Vision 2050s prediction (although, she tellsSierra, rails effects may be less reliable at longer distances). And short flights might be entirely replaced by rail with government ambition. In France, flights arenow bannedif there is a rail route that takes less than 2.5 hours.

In the end, flying less may be better for the planet even after fossil fuels. Vision 2050 calculates that the amount of electricity needed to power flights in 2050, primarily used to make e-fuels and hydrogen, is nearly equal to all renewable electricity produced today (including hydropower and bioenergy). If we wanted to power 2050s flights purely on solar and wind, we would need to quadruple current global capacityand that is on top of all the solar and wind we will need to power our homes, businesses, ground vehicles, and more.

Solar and wind are wonderful, far better than fossil fuels, but they are not infinite. They require metals, create waste, disrupt ecosystems and threaten endangered species from the desert tortoise to the whooping crane. This does not mean we should stop using electricity, or even stop flying, but it does mean we should think twice before putting so much energy toward planes when trains are far more energy efficient.

Vision 2050 is a useful document, as much for what it doesn't show as for what it does. Technologies like e-fuels and hydrogen, as well as improvements in aircraft efficiency, no doubt have their uses. But there is only one solution that is already available today, with no need to scale up new fuels or introduce new plane designs, and thats flying less.

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Technology Alone Wont Green the Aviation Industry - Sierra Club

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Maggie Hallbach, senior vice president for Verizon Public Sector, has been named to the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), the trade association representing the region's technology community. As the head of Verizon Public Sector, Hallbach oversees the team of professionals dedicated to partnering with Verizons federal, state, local, education and public safety customers to deliver innovative technology solutions and services. This includes Verizon Frontline, the advanced network and technology built for first responders. Hallbach brings over two decades of technology and government experience to NVTC.

Maggie is an outstanding leader, who is well known for developing strategic relationships with CIOs and assisting government agencies in adopting innovative technology solutions as part of their modernization strategy, said NVTC President and CEO Jennifer Taylor. Her unique perspective and ideas will help guide NVTCs strategy and advance its mission to grow our tech industry and create greater access to the thousands of open jobs in our region.

It is a career highlight to join 17 other distinguished professionals as part of NVTCs new incoming board of directors, said Hallbach. Together, we will cultivate and grow Northern Virginia as a sought-after next generation technology hub, attracting a wide range of industries. As a resident of the area, I have a vested interest in promoting a diverse, inclusive and welcoming community for our citizens and businesses.

Maggie earned a Master of Business Administration in marketing and finance from the University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Brown University. She is also on the board of directors at the United Service Organizations (USO). Maggie is committed to the inclusion of youth and adults with special needs, dedicating time to TOP Soccer and Best Buddies International and supporting the Arc of Northern Virginia.

The NVTC Board of Directors consists of 72 voting members, as well as Chair Emeriti, Honorary Members, and Senior Advisory Members. The NVTC membership recently elected 18 three-year-term members to the NVTC Board of Directors. For more information, visit NVTC.org.

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Maggie Hallbach appointed to Northern Virginia Technology Council Board of Directors - Verizon

Career technology and software executiveSteve Cover has joined the public sector-servingCentralSquare Technologies as its chief technology officer.

The Lake Mary, Florida-based company said Thursday that in his new role, Cover will identify ways todeliver product and customer value in agile software development through strategy.

Welcoming the new CTO,David Zolet, CEO of CentralSquare, commented that Cover arrives during a promising growth period for the company.

Steves deep experience with designing and developing cutting-edge technology solutions will further drive innovation to solve our customers mission-critical challenges, Zolet, who is a four-timeWash100 Award winner, added.

Cover will leverage nearly 30 years of career experience as CTO of CentralSquare. He has amassed significant experience in the technology industry, including 11 years as a development manager at Microsoft, senior vice president of information technology at UnitedHealth Group and vice president of technology at Horizon Software International.

Subsequently, Cover was executive vice president and principal consultant at LeadingAgile, where he led broad-scale development initiatives for clients such as an international IT business with more than 10,000 employees.

Before coming to CentralSquare, Cover occupied the position of vice president of human capital management engineering at Ultimate Kronos Group, where he was responsible for conceptualizing workflows for a large engineering company.

The executives specialties include establishing alignments between products and business strategy, performing agile transformation, administering software-as-a-service, designing software architecture and executing product modernization.

Comers appointment follows CentralSquares hire of three new members to its executive team in March, including Dara Brenner aschief product officer and Weston Helms as vice president of corporate development.

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Steve Cover Appointed Chief Technology Officer at CentralSquare Technologies; David Zolet Quoted - Executive Gov

(TNS) Georgia State University announced it has signed the EPPs for Digital Equity and Transformation Pledge, committing to prepare educators with the skills to successfully use technology for learning in face-to-face, hybrid and online classrooms.

"Georgia State University education faculty prepare teachers and other school professionals to use technology in service to all learners, supporting their digital competency and learning," Carla Tanguay, assistant dean for educator preparation and accreditation in Georgia State's College of Education & Human Development, said in a news release.

The EPPs for Digital Equity and Transformation Pledge is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Education and the International Society for Technology in Education.

By signing the pledge, Georgia State joins 18 institutions committed to preparing teachers to thrive in digital learning environments; preparing teachers to use technology to pursue ongoing professional learning; preparing teachers to apply frameworks to accelerate transformative digital learning; equipping all faculty to continuously improve expertise in technology for learning, and collaborating with school leaders to identify shared digital teaching competencies.

Georgia State University is an urban, public research institution that works collaboratively with school district partners in metropolitan Atlanta to offer exemplary education programs. Faculty and stakeholders at the university aim to prepare educators who embody democratic ideals and use research-based practices, including technology, to enhance the lives of their learners, their families and their communities.

2022 The Albany Herald, Ga. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Georgia State, 18 Other Institutions Sign Technology Pledge - Government Technology

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Global Speech and Voice Recognition Market by Deployment Mode (On-Cloud, On-Premises/Embedded), Technology (Speech Recognition, Voice Recognition), Vertical, and Geography (Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Rest of the World) - Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global speech and voice recognition market is projected to grow from USD 9.4 Billion in 2022 to USD 28.1 Billion by 2027, it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.4% from 2022 to 2027.

Companies Mentioned

Extensive penetration of speech and voice recognition technologies in smart appliances

The demand for smart homes and smart appliances is increasing owing to various factors, including the growing internet penetration, rapid technological advancements, and increased focus on home automation to achieve security and convenience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also prompted the use of smart devices and appliances in almost every aspect of daily life. People are encouraged to work from home, leading to high demand for speech and voice recognition technology-based products.

Manufacturers of smart appliances are adding the voice recognition feature to their products to enable users to control all their appliances from a single speech and voice recognition technology-based product.

The demand for products such as Alexa, Cortana, and Siri, has increased significantly. Samsung Electronics (South Korea), a leading manufacturer of smart appliances, has introduced the Smart Things app with inbuilt voice recognition technology to allow users to control all the appliances in the house with single voice commands.

Several other manufacturers, such as Whirlpool and Philips, have similar voice-activated control solutions. As consumers move toward automation, the demand for speech and voice recognition technology-based products is also likely to increase.

APAC is the fastest-growing region in the speech and voice recognition market

The speech and voice recognition market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2022 to 2027 owing to technological advancements, improved awareness regarding the benefits of these technologies among the masses, and the low cost of speech and voice recognition devices. China, Japan, and India are the key countries in the Asia Pacific region for the speech and voice recognition market. Baidu (China) and iFlytek (China) are the top two companies in the region operating in the speech and recognition market.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary

4. Premium Insights

5. Market Overview

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Market Dynamics

5.2.1. Drivers

5.2.2. Restraints

5.2.3. Opportunities

5.2.4. Challenges

5.3. Value Chain Analysis

5.4. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.5. Average Selling Pricing Analysis

5.6. Trade Analysis

5.7. Ecosystem Analysis

5.8. Case Study Analysis

5.9. Patent Analysis

5.10. Technology Analysis

5.11. Codes and Standards

5.12. Tariff Analysis

5.13. Regulatory Bodies, Government Agencies & Other Organizations

5.14. Revenue Shift

5.15. Key Conferences and Events in 2022-2023

5.16. Key Stakeholder and Buying and/or Buying Criteria

5.16.1. Key Stakeholders in Buying Process

5.16.2. Buying Criteria

6. Speech and Voice Recognition Market, by Delivery Method

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Artificial Intelligence-based

6.3. Non-Artificial Intelligence-based

7. Market, by Technology

8. Speech and Voice Recognition Market, by Deployment Mode

9. Market, by Vertical

10. Speech and Voice Recognition Market, by Geography

11. Competitive Landscape

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Top 5 Company Revenue Analysis

11.3. Strategies Adopted by Key Players

11.4. Market Share Analysis

11.5. Company Evaluation Matrix

11.5.1. Star

11.5.2. Pervasive

11.5.3. Emerging Leaders

11.6. Strength of Product Portfolio

11.7. Business Strategy Excellence

11.8. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Evaluation Quadrant

11.8.1. Progressive Companies

11.8.2. Responsive Companies

11.8.3. Dynamic Companies

11.8.4. Starting Blocks

11.9. Competitive Situation and Trends

11.10. Competitive Benchmarking

12. Company Profiles

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Key Companies

13. Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8esh6c

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Speech and Voice Recognition Market by Deployment Mode, Technology, Vertical and Geography - Global Forecast to 2027 - ResearchAndMarkets.com -...

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mercans shareholders have appointed Andre Voolaid, its long-term Chief Technology Officer (CTO), to its board.

Mercans board said, Andres appointment to the board demonstrates Mercans vision of becoming the global payroll technology leader. We have built world-class payroll technology products and Andres technical expertise is invaluable for our strategy of creating disruptive solutions that transform the global payroll and employer-of-record industries.

The appointment comes on the heels of several executive-level appointments across Mercans senior management ranks and is a testament to Mercans ambitious growth plans. The companys disruptive global payroll technology has changed the future of the global payroll industry by allowing customers, HCM and payroll service providers to move away from the traditional service delivery model that relied on local in-country services providers and outdated software solutions. Mercans proprietary global payroll platform, HR Blizz, delivers payroll processing capabilities and integrations with local tax authorities across 160 countries and allows customers to fully consolidate and digitalize their international payroll function.

We welcome Andre to the board and trust that his deep global payroll knowledge and vast experience in leading the development of Mercans revolutionary technology will allow the board to chart a course for Mercans undisputed payroll technology leadership. said Tatjana Domovits, Mercans Group CEO.

In addition to continued investment in its proprietary global payroll technology, Mercans is strengthening its technology partnerships with leading HCM providers and expanding in-country services to its customers. Mercans is the only industry provider that delivers integrated SaaS, global payroll, EOR, compliance, talent management, and HR advisory services across the globe through its local offices.

About Mercans

Mercans is a global leader in payroll technology and employer of record services. Mercans revolutionary global payroll platform, HR Blizz, enables SMBs and enterprise businesses to manage payroll across 160 countries. With 20 years of global payroll expertise, Mercans delivers the full spectrum of HR services through a single, secure global platform.

Visit http://www.mercans.com

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*Source: AETOSWire

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Payroll Technology Firm Mercans Appoints Andre Voolaid to its Board - Business Wire

Each one of us has biases, most of which we are unconscious. A deeper understanding of biases allows us to foster more inclusive environments in our homes, places of work, and other areas of our lives. People dont always think about how their jokes, questions, comments, or attitudes come across, even if done from a point of innocence. DEI experiences increase our awareness of how these types of interactions or conversations can be harmful. DEI training and initiatives can create experiences that bring together all perspectives, ideas, and people to create a stronger, more unified workforce where all employees feel safe and included, rather than marginalized.

Today, more and more organizations are realizing the importance of creating and implementing DEI programs and policies. In 2021, there was a 13 percent increase in organizations self-reporting DEI initiatives. As organizations recognize the value of these initiatives, many have turned to technology to assist in meeting DEI training demands.

There are many new tools and ideas that can help organizations create effective DEI experiences without spending thousands of hours or dollars trying to create or recreate the process. Lets take a closer look at some of the strategies talent development pros can use to boost their organizations DEI efforts with technology.

Some number-ranked or scale questions you might want to include in your survey are:

You can also use surveys to measure the effectiveness of a learning solution. Smart technology options allow for live feedback, which gives facilitators the opportunity to change their training in the moment and create a more engaging and memorable experience. Alternatively, surveys can be sent after the training and used to adjust the learning process for future modules.

For example, applicable videos can be added to engage learners, to illustrate some of the lessons from the training, or to add a personal perspective. Andrew Rawson, chief learning officer at Traliant, shared a story during a webinar about an organization that edited an elephant into a video and added the caption Lets talk about the elephant in the room as an intro to their DEI training.

The good news is that learning organizations are stepping up, creating digital libraries of images and animations that reflect the diverse population of workforces around the globe. Its up to instructional designers and HR managers to incorporate these images into all training content, not just DEI efforts. Representing all workers in all training modules shows that an organization is serious about creating a more inclusive environment.

Creative technology solutions can surprise people, giving instructors the opening they need to bring everyone closer together and truly create that safe space we all want at work.

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How Technology Can Help Organizations With Their DEI Efforts - ATD

For more than 24 months, we have all read the reports about the link between technology and the convenience channel's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, as we move forward from the global health crisis, Convenience Store News is trying to gauge just how much of an impact it had on the tech piece of your operations. Did consumers' demands as they navigated the new normal spur you to put technology at the top of your agenda? Did you embrace new solutions? Expand on what you were already doing?

Looking back is just part of the 2022 Convenience Store News Technology Study. We also want to know, and I'm sure the industry does as well, what your plans are going forward. Is your organization increasing its technology spend to keep the innovation trend going? Are you happy where you are in your technology journey? Where are you directing your attention: customer-facing solutions or employee-facing solutions?

It is pretty clear that the leading convenience store retailers are those that have embraced technology and are open to new ideas. There is no right or wrong place to be along your technology journey, but it is important to be at least planning your trip.

We ask you fill out the 2022 Convenience Store News Technology Studyquestionnaireby July 27 and help us take the pulse of convenience retail technology.

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Taking the Pulse of Convenience Retail Technology - CSNews Online