Business models used to be pretty simple. From customer-facing storefronts to buzzing offices to call centers, most operated with standard 9-5 business hours. Some of them still do. 

But now, there’s a new wave in business that’s motivating entrepreneurs to consider a results-oriented work environment instead. We have the pandemic and the great resignation to thank for that. 

The problem? 

Picking the right model isn’t always straightforward. Businesses have to analyze their standard operating procedures, long-term vision, client needs, chain of command, and more before making a decision.

If you’re on the fence about which business model to choose for your business, we have just the article you need to make a decision in line with your goals. 

In today’s article, we’ll cover:

• What does a results-only work environment look like?
• What does a traditional 9–5 workplace look like?
• How to discover if a results-only environment or a traditional 9–5 is best for your business

I have a brain goblin.

At least, that’s what I call it. Others might use neurodivergent, neurodiverse, neuroatypical – a lot of neuro-something, basically – or the more specific category they fall into (ADHD, autism, etc.). 

Everyone has their own relationship with language, though – personally, culturally, socially – and for me, “brain goblin” sums up my experience pretty well.

Around 20% of the world’s population is neurodiverse. A CDC estimate places about 5.5 million adults in the US. 

That’s the total population of LA and Dallas combined – and that’s just the number of adults.

“Neurodiverse” covers a lot of territory, but it’s safe to assume that – with 1 in 8 people considered to be neurodiverse – some of them are your employees, even if you aren’t aware of it. In fact, they may not even be aware of it: Less than 50% are aware they could be considered neurodiverse. 

The aim of this post is to give you some actionable steps you can take to improve neurodiversity inclusion in your organization. 

Come to think of it, a lot of your employees would probably appreciate them, not just the ones caring for brain goblins. 

• Neurodiversity 101: The very basic basics
• Accessibility challenges for neurodiverse employees
• The importance of words for neurodiversity inclusion
• Building an inclusive work environment
• Neurodiversity inclusion: Understanding thought processes
• Fixations & obsessions: Mastering flexibility
• Executive dysfunction in neurodiverse employees
• Neurodiversity inclusion & the human factor

What is a process, exactly? Technically speaking, you can boil just about anything down to a process. Here are a few examples of some processes that you might find in your everyday life.

• Hiring or firing someone
• Conducting a meeting
• Creating a weekly blog post
• Cooking a meal
• Pouring a glass of milk

Everything is a process, but some are certainly more straightforward than others. Either way, document all of them! Well, maybe not the glass of milk one…

For the rest, let’s look at some process documentation best practices:

• Why do I need to document my company’s processes?
• How do I start documenting a process?
• Share your process documentation

At one point or another, many businesses reach a stage where they need to delegate some intensive processes to another provider.

This delegation, usually called Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), helps small businesses avoid hiring full-time teams to manage and measure the performance of different business processes. BPOs offer benefits from cost savings to a strong competitive edge, and they can help new and upcoming businesses grow more efficiently. 

Delegating one or more business processes doesn’t come without risks, though.

For every function or process that a business outsources to an external provider, the more organizational information they potentially jeopardize. The greatest threats to BPO, chief among them hidden costs that come with outsourcing, can severely damage a business’s customer push-back and satisfaction rates. 

To that end, let’s explore the main risks involved in BPO projects and how to mitigate them, as well as get a quick intro to BPO with specific examples and benefits. 

• BPO examples
• 3 common benefits of BPOs
• 3 BPO risks

I’ll be honest: I dread all 30 days of June. 

This year, I found myself looking at the Process Street LinkedIn page, now sporting a rainbow logo, and contemplating how I felt about that.

Is it rainbow-washing? What else does Process Street do to support the queer community? Why can’t I answer that question?

I don’t think it’s rainbow-washing, but I should definitely be aware of what the company I work for is doing for the queer community.

I have complicated feelings about Pride. On one hand, I do believe in the immense importance it has. Pride creates a platform for big-picture political actions as well as the more personal experience of just not being in the minority for once. 

As more companies paint rainbows on their marketing materials from June 1 to June 30, it’s equally become more about commodification than community. 

I see you sweating as you glance at all your packed-up Pride material in the corner. You just wanted to show your support. What does rainbow-washing even mean? 

How do startups and small businesses show their allyship is genuine and not just part of a marketing campaign? 

There are no simple answers to any of this, but there’s only so much room in a blog post, so I’ll give you some actionable things you can do throughout the year to keep up your support long after Pride month is over.

• What is rainbow-washing?
• Allyship 101: Taking pride in Pride
• Back to the beginning
• Further resources

HR tips come in all shapes and sizes. However, the best tips are from experienced people managers.

A tip, and an unwritten rule, for working in a Japanese office is that you usually work in silence. When I worked in a Japanese company, my record was working eleven hours without saying a word to anyone. I practiced that task day after day. After sitting in silence for twelve months, I know myself well.

Learning the unwritten rules of any workplace can take time. All experienced HR managers know that. As well as concrete documented processes, you tend to pick up abstract rules during your career. As I progressed in a Japanese office, I discovered other unwritten rules, but for the moment, I’m going to share five unwritten rules we’ve collected from experienced HR experts in this Process Street article.

Here are 5 HR tips you need to know:

• Excellent communication comes from good relationships
• Be an active listener to employee feedback
• Make employee onboarding personal
• Simplify your process
• Let automation do the work for you

If you’re thinking of starting a new business, you’re not alone. Every year, millions of people worldwide take the plunge and become entrepreneurs.

In the United States alone, 356,000 new businesses were formed in Q3 of 2021.

But starting a business is no easy feat. From coming up with a brilliant idea to getting it off the ground, countless challenges need to be overcome. On average, about every fifth new business fails within the first year.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The rewards of startup life can be great too. From making your own rules to seeing your idea take off, there are plenty of reasons to take the plunge.

In this article, I’ll explain the challenges and rewards of startup life and offer some tips on how to overcome the challenges. I’ll also demonstrate how you can enjoy the rewards by avoiding burnout.

• The challenges of starting a new business 
• The rewards of owning & growing a startup 
• How to overcome the challenges of startup life & maximize success
• The art of not burning out
• Embrace the challenges & watch yourself grow

So let’s get started.

Virtual reality in recruitment is a growing trend in the recruiting world, thanks to the many benefits it offers. This is especially relevant for employer branding because virtual reality offers an immersive experience that allows candidates to engage with your brand directly. 

Imagine candidates many miles away from you being able to put on a headset, and get an office tour! VR has many promising advantages for remote and hybrid hiring. 

Stick here to learn more about how you can use VR in recruitment and whether VR is really the future of recruiting.

We’ll be covering:

• What does virtual reality in recruitment look like?
• 8 ways VR can be used in recruitment 
• Benefits of using VR in recruitment
• Is VR the future of recruiting?

You must sometimes wonder if using onboarding email templates can be fruitful? Employees ignore 65% of emails; 96% of customers have unsubscribed from email lists.

The above statistics show that an email needs to be more effective than ever. With that said, email templates can be a gamble. You already know that if you’ve been searching Google. You’ve probably seen templates with more text than a phonebook and awful grammar.

However, email templates can save time, mainly when contacting new hires. At Process Street, we’ve created ten email templates to take HR managers through pre-boarding, onboarding, and right into a 90-day meeting. We’ve also edited the living daylights out of our templates. You’ll be getting friendly but succinct emails to make a great impression.

These are the email templates to use when onboarding new hires:

1. Pre-boarding email template
2. Employee onboarding process
3. Welcome email to a new employee from HR
4. Confirming the employee’s first day of work
5. Employee onboarding requirements
6. Virtual onboarding email template
7. Onboarding announcement email
8. Employee onboarding feedback email
9. Employee onboarding survey email
10. The 90-day email

We chat with Zapier CEO Wade Foster, who shares how one of the fastest-growing remote companies in the world onboards their employees, manages Slack, organizes communication, and more.

Check out Wade Foster’s segment on The Employee Onboarding Podcast:

Available now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Deezer, & all your favorite podcast platforms!

Or if you’d prefer, here’s the Employee Onboarding Secrets segment with Wade Foster in full:

• The early days of Zapier
• What changed the trajectory of Zapier?
• How does Zapier use Zapier itself?
• How to manage a Slack HQ with 500+ employees
• Successful strategies for going remote
• Zapier’s onboarding process
• Self-serve content vs. structured lessons

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