Innovative HR Solutions, LLC

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Will Employee Engagement Continue to be a Metric of Choice?


Engagement is a familiar buzz word in Human Resources today and like other professions our terms and definitions are changing as our profession evolves.  Terms like compensation have morphed into total rewards, personnel has changed to human capital management, and empowerment to engagement.  What is happening is that our profession is establishing newer and better metrics to evaluate company performance and employee successes.

The question for the future is will the concept of employee engagement remain with us or will it go the way of TQM, visioning and other programs?  My guess is that engagement is here to stay.  Given the research today engagement has a direct correlation to the success of companies.  Top-performing organizations understand that employee engagement with the business is a key driver of business success. Satisfied and engaged employees are productive and customer focused.  Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are willing to invest time, energy and effort to support the strategic direction and vision of the organization.  Engaged employees produce results, are more productive and lower turnover is the result.

Current research suggests that companies that score high levels of employee engagement are successful and have a dynamic leadership team.  They also have a clearly defined operational succession plan, and a supportive administrative infrastructure and programs to support and enhanced productivity.  As a result, organizations where there are high levels of engagement are more likely to be financially successful.

Engagement can also be quantified, and companies can compare and contrast their engagement indices with other companies that subscribe to the same metric.  Engagement and the values that are the result are also perceived as valuable to executives as they have the ability to rank their successes by their engagement index.  High levels of engagement also can support high performer’s perceptions of themselves.  High levels of engagement are key indicators – good leaders make good business decisions.

While it’s true we have our own constantly changing vocabulary in the HR profession, that’s no different than any other profession. Our terms and definitions need to evolve and the programs that are created need to have terms that all employees and our business partners can understand.

Thursday, May 2, 2019

What are Three Challenging Issues Facing the HR Professional Today?


For the Human Resource professional challenges include evaluating the health and welfare plans, establishing productivity metrics and measurements to ensure that employees are meeting job expectations and attracting talent in an environment where finding the most qualified candidates with the right skill set is becoming more difficult.  How each business deals with its specific human resources issues depends on how effective the HR team is.  No matter what approach a business takes, addressing these issues is an ongoing process.

Benefits

Virtually all companies offering some benefits to employees, either to appear competitive or to comply with local, state or federal regulations including the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Human Resources will need to determine how their company is impacted and what they need to do to respond legally.  Offering maternity/new-born care, pediatric care, rehabilitative care and preventative care are key components of each plan that need to be available.  Measurement is also critical and as some low-income employees may be better-off by going through the state or federal exchanges to obtain credits and subsidies.  HR departments working with their brokers and benefit specialists will need to create benefit policies and packages that are compliant in order to meet the needs of a diverse workforce.

Productivity

A primary goal of a HR department is to consult with the leaders of the organization and department managers to organize the work flow so that managers and their subordinates can be as productive as possible. Using typical metrics such as cost per FTE, revenue per FTE and examining overtime as a percent of labor cost allows HR professionals to think critically.  Examining the number of people per shift, team assignments and the need to bring on additional staff is a very important role for HR to play.  This role can be very challenging as it encourages the HR department to play a strategic role and plan for the future.

Talent Management

With a very tight job market, talent management will be even more challenging as the old methods of  attending job fairs, listing positions on career management websites and college recruiting are not the only way to generate interest.  New methods of attracting the right candidates may include expanding the company’s presence on the social media sites and matching managers with similar outside interests and potential candidates.  These alternative recruiting options can create a bond between the company and new hires.  Furthermore, candidates want to see a balance between employment and life experiences.  A reasonable work - life balance is a key driver for new employees entering the work force.  Companies will need to respond to these new ways of attracting talent and retaining key members of the team.
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