“Global stock markets post biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis.” – The Guardian, 9th of March 2020

Business risk can come out of no where at any time.

It was a Tuesday morning and my phone buzzed me out of my groggy, lethargic state, flashing open the above notification. The Coronavirus had hit businesses and our economy hard, potentially costing 2.7 trillion globally.

A viral risk, that went viral. Was something like this not foreseeable?

In this Process Street article, we turn our attention to the concept of business risk. As we write this article, the corona crisis is unfolding. We were warned about the risk of a virus outbreak but it appears we weren’t as prepared for it as we could have been.

But viruses are not the only risk we face. The 2020 Global Risk Report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) highlights a host of other risks, which we’ll turn our attention to in this article.

To get started, click on the relevant subheaders below to spring to that section. Alternatively, scroll down to read all we have to say regarding the concept of business risk.

• Confront business risk with a risk management process
• Business risk: What is it and why risk items need to be identified
• Business risks: Global business risks from the World Economic Forum
• What is a risk management process and how do we use it?
• Incorporating the Global 2020 Risk Report results within your risk management process
• Risk item 1: Extreme weather, cause, and economic effect
• Risk item 2: Climate action failures, cause, and economic effect
• Risk item 3: Biodiversity loss, cause, and economic effect
• Risk assessment: Why sustainability is part of a good risk assessment
• Sustainability risk management: How you can document your processes with Process Street

Belts and braces on, let’s jump to it!
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Procurement management directly impacts an organization’s bottom-line and can be responsible for 70% of revenue. With this in mind, it’s important to get procurement right.

The world of procurement has undergone tremendous changes in the past couple of years. Changes of particular importance when thinking about procurement management include:

• Digital transformation: With 85% of organizations believing that this digital transformation will change the way they deliver services over the next 3-5 years.
• Thinking about suppliers beyond price: With a greater focus on supplier synergies. The importance of supplier visibility regarding the procurement steps is realized.
• Moving to effective change management: Organizations focus on a smooth change management plan, with procurement leaders agreeing change management is the biggest roadblock to achieving procurement goals.
• Risk management and preparing the unexpected: With transparent procurement systems reducing risk exposure. Only 65% of procurement leaders have little or no visibility in their supply chain.

With this in mind, in this Process Street article, we explain how you can create a procurement management solution that leverages a digital transformation (using Process Street as your procurement management software), thinks about suppliers beyond price, and incorporates effective risk and change management.

Click on the relevant subheader below to jump to your section of choice. Alternatively, scroll down to read all we have to say on procurement management.

• What is procurement? A re-cap of the basics
• Examples of procurement gone wrong
• What is procurement management (+ benefits)
• Procurement management best practice
• Procurement management plan in 7 steps

Let’s jump to it!
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This article started with a cold cup of tea.

I was in the middle of a power cut, and the teabag floated despondently in a sad, mottled brew. In the confusion, I’d allowed the beverage to cool for far too long. All of that precious energy transferred to raise the temperature of the kettle to boiling point, gone to waste, and there was nothing I could do about it.

This is an example of poor energy management on my part.

As I sulked over the absence of my morning brew, it did get me thinking, would society ever face these kinds of energy management problems, like I easily had?

“Welcome to the energy crisis” – Lawrence J. Becker, Welcome to the Energy Crisis

Some of you may have already experienced, say, aggravating waits in lines for gasoline, or your pocketbooks taking a punch from inflation. But, energy problems – like a cold cup of tea – are not only personal, they permeate into society and our economy.

80% of U.S. energy comes from fossil fuels. According to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy, we have 115 years of coal and roughly 50 years of oil and natural gas remaining. To compound this, we also need to leave ~80% of current fossil fuel reserves untouched if we stand a chance of meeting IPCC 1.5°C (34.7°F) warming targets.

Energy management is the process of tracking and optimizing energy consumption for your business. It’s a continuous process, easily implemented by following the correct procedure.

In this Process Street article, you’ll learn about best practices for energy management, how you can successfully manage energy in your business (and beyond), as well as how to adopt best energy management practices using a handy free checklist to help you save time and money.

Don’t cry over cold tea. Learn how to manage energy properly, for a healthier business and a healthier planet. Click on the relevant subheader below, or continue reading as you please:

• What is energy management?
• Energy management: Improve energy efficiency
• Energy management: Conserve energy
• Energy management: Renewable energy
• Quarterly Energy Management Plan Template

Let’s not waste any more time, and get right into the basics of energy management.
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2/3 of HR managers agree that Human Resources is undergoing a digital transformation. And with this transformation comes a plethora of digital HR tools designed to optimize HR-related operations. These tools improve efficiency, employee experience, regulatory compliance, and save you money.

However, the sheer diversity of HR tools available brings a challenge. The challenge to find the right HR tools for you and your team, to build your ultimate HR toolkit. Your HR toolkit is a set of tools that aid HR-related functions, and it’ll be specialized for you and your business.

How do you choose the right HR tools to optimize your HR toolkit?

The answer to that question lies here. In this Process Street article, you’ll learn what HR tools are and how you can utilize the best HR tools for each specific HR-related function. After vigorous qualitative research and trial-and-error, we’re delighted to present you with our top 30+ HR tools to help you build your ultimate HR toolkit.

Click on the relevant subheader to jump to your section of choice. Alternatively, scroll down to read all we have to say.

• What are HR tools?
• Our top 33 HR tools to build your ultimate HR toolkit
• How to integrate Process Street with your HR tools

Let’s begin!
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Flicking through articles on my tablet, I came across a study conducted by McKinsey and Company, creating an aha moment when thinking about the term business change.

The study looked at 2000 executives from 900 companies across multiple industries. More than half of respondents stated that, in five years, their change efforts failed to meet business goals and sustained results over time.

We at Process Street wanted to know why?

Trying to navigate business change without a formal process is like plonking an elephant into a china shop…

It can get messy.

What you need is a change management plan, to bring structure and control to the change process. If you ignore change – whether that be external to your business, internal, expected, or unexpected – or fail to respond appropriately, then there can be shattering negative consequences.

With our 9 free change management plan templates, you can effectively guide your business through change. These templates are just what you need to succeed in an ever-changing business landscape.

• Lewin’s Change Management Model Process Checklist
• Bridges Transition Model Process Checklist
• ADKAR Model Change Management Process Checklist
• McKinsey 7-S Model Process Checklist
• PDCA Cycle Change Management Model Process Checklist
• Kotter’s Change Management Model Process Checklist
• Kubler-Ross Change Curve Process Checklist
• Nudge Theory Change Management Model Process Checklist
• Satir Change Management Model Process Checklist

Scroll down to find out what a change management plan is and why it is needed, before moving onto our top 9 free change management plan templates. Alternatively, you can use the links below to jump to your section of choice.

• What is a change management plan?
• Change management models: What they are and why they are important
• The top 9 change management models

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In 2018 the green technology market was valued at $6.85 billion.

This figure is projected to increase to $44.61 billion, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26%.

This change comes as a response to our present-day environmental crisis. In this sense, green technology provides a knife for our noose, to help us move forward, past plastic pollution, poisonous chemicals, and climate degradation.

“The concept of ecological modernism, which sees technology as key to solving big environmental problems, is getting a lot of buzz these days.” – The Guardian, Technology as Our Planet’s Last Best Hope

Like The Guardian, at Process Street we also believe technology plays a vital role in helping society move forward, to work with the environment and our planet… rather than against it.

In this article, you will learn what green technology is, why it is important, and 6 easily applicable ways you can utilize green technology in your business or line of work today.

In addition, Process Street as a green tech solution gives you free access to our leading business sustainability templates. Sign up to Process Street here for free and check out our ISO 14001 Environmental Management Self Audit Checklist below for a taster.

Click here for free access to our ISO 14001 Environmental Management Self Audit Checklist!.

Click on the relevant subheaders or scroll down to find out how to be both lean and green in business.

• What is green technology?
• Green technology as a positive and proactive approach for solving our environmental crisis
• Green technology examples: 6 top examples of green tech for your business
• Using Process Street to become more sustainable

Right tech-perts, let’s get started!
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$35 billion in sales is generated annually using email.

For each ~$1 spent on a given email campaign, the Return On Investment equaled ~$38 in 2017.

At Process Street, we know email is a popular, practical and powerful way to connect with people. When done right…

This is why Process Street has created 17 Email Marketing Templates, so you can get your email marketing processes right.

Use our email marketing templates to obtain clarity, consistency and save time within your marketing campaign.

By using our templates you can:

• Test and improve each campaign performing A/B testing.
• Work in synergy with the rest of your team using our role assignment feature.
• Ensure task order and task prioritization using our stop task feature.
• Make sure tasks are completed within a given deadline using our dynamic due date feature.
• Monitor and manage the progress of any given email marketing process.

These templates are free and easy to use. Scroll down to grab them straight away using the quick links provided.

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This is a guest post by Adela Belin, a content marketer, and blogger at Writers Per Hour. She is passionate about sharing stories with the hope to make a difference in people’s lives and contribute to their personal and professional growth.

After hundreds of applications, weeding out the good from the bad, and a series of interviews, you’ve finally found the right candidate for the role – you extend the offer, initiate the paperwork and that’s it, your work here is done.

But is it?

If your company’s recruitment process is as simple as the above, then you’re missing out on an important step – onboarding.

Neglecting your employee onboarding processes is something you cannot afford to do, especially in a remote set up.

“Employee onboarding, also known as new-employee orientation or assimilation, is the process by which an organization assimilates its new employees.” – SHRM, Managing the Employee Onboarding and Assimilation Process

In this Process Street article, we take a deep dive into a specific type of onboarding process. We will explain how you can perfect your remote onboarding process, wherein a new hire undergoes a set of formal meetings, briefings, socialization, training, and a series of other coordinated activities to get familiar with the remote job role, responsibilities, and overall company culture.

Having an effective employee onboarding process builds loyalty and engagement, improves productivity, and delivers a positive work experience. With that said, you can see how taking the time to perfect your onboarding processes is vital to nurture talent within your remote team.

If you’d rather skip ahead, just click on the relevant subheaders below. Alternatively, scroll down to read all we have to say regarding remote onboarding processes.

• Remote onboarding process: An employee onboarding checklist
• The importance of onboarding for a remote team
• Why you should use a process for remote employee onboarding
• How to onboard your remote employees
• Workflow automation: Use Process Street to automation your remote employee onboarding processes

Let’s get started!
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A 2018 survey by BPTrends found that 93% of the organizations studied used multiple process improvement tools.

This is because business processes are the life-blood of your organization. Process improvements, therefore, prime your organization to run like a well-oiled machine, bettering your chances of business success.

On that note, in this Process Street article, we take a look at our top 46 process improvement tools. Using these tools will improve customer satisfaction, save you money, strengthen customer retention, and boost project success rate (+ more).

Click on the relevant subheader to jump to your section of choice, alternatively scroll down to read all we have to say.

• Why you should care about improving your processes
• 46 top process improvement tools
• How to improve your business processes using business process documentation

For clarity, I’ve split each tool as per the following subheaders – click to jump to the unique tool category.

• Process improvement visualizations 👀
• Process improvement exercises 🏃
• Process improvement frameworks 🎞
• Process improvement methodologies 👩‍🔬

It was known as the email incident. A customer success operations catastrophe that caused an astronomical uproar throughout the office.

Names shall not be mentioned, but before Process Street I worked as a technical service advisor for an environmental testing laboratory. It was our job to deal with customer queries and complaints, to answer questions, and to make sure the service we provided met the customer’s needs.

The email incident: My colleague forwarded a customer complaint email to our manager, adding an inappropriate comment to display his frustrations with that said customer.

Unfortunately, this email ended up in the customer’s inbox too…

Oops!

Mistakes like will happen if you don’t have pre-established customer success operations to act as a form of process control.

Think about it, you’ll have optimized processes for production, sales, marketing, etc. But to effectively scale and grow, you’ll need to build repeatable processes for your customer success department too.

For many companies (72% to be exact, according to data obtained by Forrester), customer success is a top priority. This is because it’s well known that investing in a new customer is 5-25x more expensive than retaining existing ones – as expressed by the Harvard Business Review.

Make customer success operations your top priority by building and optimizing repeatable processes. And in this article, you’ll learn precisely how to do that.

Click on the relevant subheader below to get started. Alternatively, scroll down to read all we have to say regarding customer success.

• Why you need to start thinking about your customer success operations
• How to build effective customer success operations for your business in 4 steps
• Using Process Street to build repeatable customer success operations
• Using performance metrics to guide customer success operations effectiveness

Let’s begin!
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