How to increase employee perception
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Many organizations measure employee satisfaction through surveys. One customer realized that he had a problem when he saw the results. They received the results of their last employee survey and one of the questions received a very low score. The question was whether employees felt that management was taking care of them. To better understand the reason for the low score, they asked a focus group of employees for their opinion. The answer was simple. When managers came to the workplace to solve a problem, they tended to go straight back to the office without recognizing or talking to the employees.
Let’s face it: in some organizations, the human resources (HR) department is not considered a significant contribution to the value of the company. Often, employees and CEOs/presidents see the HR team as transactional, interested in following rules and procedures and managing benefits.
But many see HR as a positive force and an advocate for employees and the interests of their respective organizations. What’s the difference? A growing number of HR departments have simply learned to go beyond their administrative duties and deal with employees and their organizations at a deeper level.
Do you want to maximize your HR efforts, improve employee relations and influence organizational performance?
Here are nine strategies that HR departments should consider
1. Providing leadership
Perhaps no role of the HR department is more important than that of a leader within an organization. The HR department is usually the first contact with a potential employee and the last contact when an employee leaves the company. The leadership and direction provided from start to finish set the tone for your employees’ experience and attitude towards the HR department.
A clearly defined strategy for managing employee relations and establishing structured procedures, parameters and protocols ensure that there are no guesses and that all employees are treated consistently and fairly. Because of the many compliance considerations associated with various benefits and hiring practices, ensuring your employees have the tools, technology and expertise to keep things in order demonstrates competence and builds trust.
2. Initiate employee development
When employees feel that their jobs are stagnating and that they have little opportunity for advancement or improvement, morale suffers and negativity can set in. Making your employees feel that they have a purpose and creating opportunities for the future within your organization can also contribute to retention efforts and have a significant impact on productivity. Essentially, create a “strong” employer brand. A recent report shows that 70% of employees believe that better training would help them focus better, avoid distractions and bring back more enthusiasm for work in the form of continuous improvement. However, almost as many employees say they don’t ask for learning opportunities. An effective human resources department is therefore the leader in organizational development and encourages employees by helping them to align their goals with those of the organization.
Is your industry experiencing labor shortages? Strong training programs can support recruitment efforts by providing on-the-job training for new employees and in return reduce their skill expectations. In addition, assessing employees’ interpersonal skills, time management training, conducting effective meetings, the use of technology, cultural expectations, and other skills can greatly enhance job satisfaction, productivity, and retention.
3. Committed employees
There is a lot of documentation and discussion about employee involvement initiatives, and rightly so. Engagement best practices enable employees to manage their own career paths and generally be happy in the workplace. A positive culture not only helps to build loyalty to the company; 38% of employees report that their level of happiness affects their performance. Happy employees lead to higher productivity.
In addition to traditional engagement tactics such as performance management and wellness programs that can improve physical and mental health and reduce insurance premiums, other initiatives should be considered. For example, a dynamic induction program combined with a mentoring initiative can positively influence an employee’s desire to stay with an organization, and planned activities such as community service or a fun outing can build relationships. Work/life balance is also highly valued by employees: 34% of employees resent employers who place little value on it. Don’t forget the magic word when applying employee policies/procedures “flexibility”.
The biggest engagement initiatives encourage employees to participate in the success of their company. Inviting employees to participate in brainstorming sessions, asking for their opinion on problem-solving and obtaining feedback on company initiatives shows respect, creates a sense of ownership and purpose and contributes significantly to improving job satisfaction.
4. Promoting diversity
Promoting diversity is also an important factor in creating a healthy workplace culture and an organization that improves its ability to solve complex problems. Equal opportunities as an employer are taken for granted today, but proactive action creates opportunities. Moreover, although the gap is narrowing, women account for 35% of the average company workforce at professional or higher levels. Closing the employment gap is not only good for society but also for the economy. A study has shown that companies with at least a few women in management positions perform significantly better than companies with a majority of male board members and managers.
Employers should not only promote diversity in their recruitment and promotion procedures but should also provide diversity awareness training to help employees understand different points of view and ensure that each member of the team is involved in decision-making and treated with trust, dignity, and respect.
5. Contribution to the benefit of the organization (performance)
In organizations, employees can make a significant contribution to the company’s bottom line. Just look at labor costs, benefits, absenteeism, turnover, recruitment, compensation, training, safety protocols and employee relations, to name a few. The introduction of “lean” initiatives has taught us that eliminating waste and standardizing processes is very cost-effective.
6. Consider outsourcing
The reality is that many small and medium-sized businesses cannot afford to have a full-time HR professional or an entire department to handle all the requirements imposed by government regulations, employee applications, benefits administration, payroll, hiring, retention, training, compensation, employee relations, etc., and the list goes on and on. These organizations can often benefit from the assistance of a staffing firm to oversee a large number of administrative tasks to ensure compliance and to provide strategic direction for a significant number of other initiatives.
Outsourcing some or all of your HR functions typically costs less than hiring a full-time employee, and the expertise provided ensures compliance, allows you to focus on functions that are directly under your responsibility, builds a relationship with your employees, and should provide a return on investment in less than two years. To learn more about how HR services can benefit your organization, request a free HR Gap Analysis today.
7. The five-and-dime rule
Apply the five-and-ten rule. Everyone within 5 feet of the work surface deserves a greeting and everyone within 10 feet deserves a recognition, maybe a nod or a wave. Applying this simple rule will increase employee morale and the results of their next employee survey. This practice has its origins in the hospitality industry. In a hotel, the staff is trained to say “good morning” and ask how a guest is doing when passing by.
8. Saying thank you in time
One of the sources of frustration for team members is when their problems and concerns are not heard, acknowledged, addressed or resolved. Because managers are so busy, it easily takes too long to get back to their employees, and this leads to resentment. It can even lead to a trade union campaign. Managers need to understand the concerns and frustrations of employees, ensure that they are brought to the surface by supervisors and that responses are communicated to employees in a timely manner.
9. Keeping team members up to date
In most companies, there are rumors and gossip about who is being transferred where, whether there is overtime on Saturdays or whether a business is picking up or slowing down. Managers need to keep the communication going in a variety of ways. First of all, managers must communicate the latest news and information to their teams. Second, managers must be visible to employees and conduct conversations in private and in small groups. And finally, the manager can hold a town hall meeting to cover important information. We helped one of our clients by creating a briefing sheet to ensure that all managers and supervisors deliver the same information consistently. It had a direct impact on employees’ perception that management communicates effectively.
Another example came from a supervisor on the factory floor. In the morning production meeting, they talked about an important new customer and how important it is to focus on quality and get the job done on time. A supervisor went to his working group and told them about the new order and how important it is to focus on quality and on-time delivery. Other supervisors did not bother to share this information with their team at the same meeting. This is a missed opportunity. Creating an environment where employees feel that management cares about them is fairly straightforward, but it takes time and effort and is important even when the manager has a busy agenda. Creating a positive working environment leads to more security, higher operating results and less turnover. It is important that employees feel that management cares about them, and a few simple actions can make a big difference.
If you’re looking for an automated Performance Management system, we suggest you IceHrm which is one of the best HRIS systems which has so many HR functions automated into one system.
IceHrm is a Human resource management system for small and medium-sized organizations. This HRM software centralizes employee data and allows only one authorized person to access it, providing a high level of security. The presence module monitors employee time based on information about insertion and perforation. It covers all the basic HRM needs of a company such as Time Management, Training, and Development, Attendance Management, Expense management, leave management, Recruitment management and handling employee information.
