- Employee Satisfaction
As a facilitator for the Institute of Organization Development (IOD) for the Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) Certification Program for the past four years, I’ve learned a lot from participants about issues they are facing and how it impacts both them and their organization.
Most recently, at the beginning of each workday, HRBP’s are getting inundated with complaints from employees. As if we are not busy enough, we are hearing complaints and being asked to solve problems. It’s a slippery slope for most HRBP’s.
Some helpful techniques – Demonstrate effective active listening skills – really listen to the person’s concerns, the meaning of what they are saying and the emotions to understand what they are saying, and respond with empathy to help them diffuse their negative emotions. Consider if they need a sounding board to let off steam or if they want you to resolve their issue. Encourage them to vent and when they are ready ask them what actions would help resolve the issue. In some instances, the employee needs an HRBP’s assistance to resolve a work issue that affects that person, the organization and/or its clients. Remember that your role as an employee advocate is to listen, respond with empathy, and guide them toward taking the correct action to resolve their issues.
- Maintaining a Positive Attitude
HR Business Partners are overloaded and faced with overwhelming issues. With that comes a lot of stress. When faced with a huge workload, combined with many daily requests and employee complaints, we often react negatively. Your attitude has a cascading effect on others and impacts everyone in the organization. As HR Business Partners we want to promote a positive workplace where everyone feels empowered to succeed, productivity soars, employee well-being is valued, and the work culture is positive.
As employees test the waters to see our reaction to their issue, they will really be asking themselves, “Can I trust you and your reaction?” Most people understand that they cannot get everything they want; however, our attitudes can often dictate to them the level of concern we have. The Golden Rule says “Treat people how you want to be treated.” The Platinum Rule says “Treat people how they want to be treated.” A little bit of kindness and empathy goes a long way in establishing trust and respect.
Here are some ways to maintain a positive attitude:
- Search for fulfillment and strong sense of purpose
- Show respect for others even if you disagree with them
- Focus on your goals and write down your accomplishments every day
- Focus on being positive, mindful, and take time to appreciate
- Be energetic, optimistic, and enthusiastic – even in difficult times
- Show pride in what you do
- Foster innovative thinking and risk-taking in yourself and others to encourage finding new solutions
- Customer Focused – if you aren’t serving the customer, you are serving someone who is! Be helpful, friendly, and an advocate for employees
- Have career goals and focus on growing either vertically or horizontally; Develop your team and help others with their career growth
- Talent Acquisition
One of the key issues facing human resources these days is talent acquisition. Organizations are facing the great resignation and experienced people are leaving for a variety of reasons. Talent acquisition and employee turnover are key issues for HRBP’s today.
Globally, products and services have changed. With the COVID pandemic, many people stopped shopping at stores and started shopping online. It’s created an avenue for a different job opportunity that didn’t exist a few decades ago. People are making decisions about their careers that remove them from our previous recruitment pools. Our old battle cry was to hire people with the knowledge, experience and degrees that make them a good fit within our company. A new perspective may be to DEVELOP new talent rather than trying to hire it. Interviewing with behavioral traits needed may open the door to a new pool of people that can grow, develop, and become productive employees within our organizations.
What makes a successful talent acquisition strategy? Creating a plan to fulfill the talent needs of the organization to fill critical positions and skills needed to achieve strategic goals. A successful talent acquisition strategy must be constantly evaluated and changing to meet the current challenges. Here are some areas to focus on:
Your employer brand – what do candidates know about your company and your culture, your leadership team and development opportunities, and benefits? By developing a strong employer brand, you can show potential employees what your company is about – the workplace culture, development initiatives, company benefits, even how you differ from your competitors.
Build a long-term acquisition strategy – work with department heads to identify the skills and resources needed to fill the pipeline to meet future goals. Don’t forget about including internal candidates with a plan for career development and replacement opportunities.
Building a Talent Pool – Have everyone be a network and recruiter for the company. Have a referral process in place and possibly give incentives for referring candidates. When employees attend conferences, events, and industry meetings, ask them to network and talk about career opportunities.
Exit Interviews – Why wait till an employee’s leave to ask them how things are going and what would make their job experience better? In an exit interview, chances are they won’t share the real truth as they’ve already decided to leave. Many employees want to leave on a positive note and don’t want to burn their bridges in case they might need a referral.
on creating an open dialogue with employees to check in and see how they are doing, and what they need to be successful. Provide more coaching and support to help them be successful. Frankly, I’m sick of engagement surveys, they are overused and too generic. Let’s get an open dialogue going with employees, to build trust and relationships and most importantly address their concerns.
If you would like to learn more about becoming certified as a Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP), please contact us at info@instituteod.com, or check out our website at www.instituteod.com.