Many enterprises are now recognizing the importance of looking after their most valuable assets — their employees. For a long time it has all been about the customer experience, and of course, that is paramount to a company’s success, but behind every positive customer interaction is an employee who represents your company. And if they’re not engaged and content in their working environment, they won’t be as productive and they are likely to leave after a short duration and find employment elsewhere, which is costly to companies. This revelation has got businesses rethinking their HR strategy as their focus shifts to the employee experience.
Gallup’s â€2017 State of the American Workplace†report Opens a new window showed that only 33 percent of employees are engaged in their jobs in the United States. What’s more, the report showed just a 3 percent improvement rate between 2012 and 2016. It’s clear from this report that a lot more needs to be done to improve employee satisfaction rates overall, however, an employee-oriented HR strategy will increase engagement in your organization.
If you’re wondering how to develop an HR strategy that is right for your enterprise, start by recognizing and aligning your business needs with your HR needs. Here are seven simple steps to help you achieve this:
1. Identify Your Business Goals
First of all determine what your business goals are, then ask yourself the question: can your organization’s internal capability achieve these business goals? If not, establish why not and consider what needs to be done to change this.
A common problem for businesses nowadays is that employees don’t tend to stick around. In fact, the average time a millennial will stay with a company for is two years. Businesses want to address this issue because it’s expensive and time-consuming to train new recruits.
While establishing business goals, it’s quite common for businesses to do a SWOT analysis when setting out business aims and objectives. This is a useful method when it comes to aligning both business and HR needs because you will be able to identify your company’s strengths and weaknesses, which will show you both what its competitive advantage is and what needs improving.
2. Determine How These Goals are Going to be Achieved
If, for instance, one of your goals was to improve customer retention, you would have to ascertain why workers leave and what would encourage them to stay. There’s no doubt that effective communication is key, and you can cultivate a better working environment by communicating more effectively with employees.
Discussions are always a good way to exchange ideas and find out how people feel about their job, but it can be time-consuming and some workers might feel awkward talking openly about job-related issues. A way around this would be to allow employees to raise concerns anonymously through the use of technology. This information can then be used to improve the organization.
Human capital expert, Erica Volini Opens a new window recommends using the same kind of customer relationship management systems to engage with employees on a more frequent basis. It would be a good tool to manage the employee end-to-end experience and engagement is high because it isn’t a lengthy process.
3. Employee Engagement
Employee engagement Opens a new window is paramount to a company’s success because when workers feel satisfied in their job role they are usually productive. However, increasing employee engagement is a constant challenge that most businesses struggle with in one way or another, so it’s really about looking at what you can offer your workforce to keep them motivated. A lot of firms find the following to be useful:
Incentives: Financial rewards are usually a great motivator because most people could always do with some extra money. Non-financial rewards such as praise and recognition for good work can also be just as effective because people like to feel appreciated.
Gamification: Incorporate gamification into work-related activities. Achievement tracking and seeing how well they fare against their colleagues can help to foster some healthy competition.
Employee Surveys: This is a useful way to find out how workers feel about their job.
4. Career Advancement Programs
A lot of people want to progress and improve themselves and their lives. A good career advancement program will give employees the opportunity to increase their skills and something to strive toward. It’s also better for the company because you get to nurture talent within the organization rather than hiring externally.
5. Uphold the Corporate Image
Projecting a strong, positive corporate image is necessary if you want to attract and keep the best talent, and be viewed positively. The HR department plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of a company’s image, so ensure that your company culture reflects your brand image.
6. Performance Management System
If you haven’t already invested in a performance management system, then it’s time to get one. This technology makes it easier for employees and managers to track and measure progress each month.
7. Legal Requirements
It goes without saying that when you recruit an employee be sure to fulfill all of the legal requirements. This will include workers compensation, and directors, officers, and general liability insurance. In addition, all full-time workers should complete both IRS-W4 and 1-9 forms.
Following these seven steps will help you to develop an HR strategy that is right for your organization.