What Are Three Challenging Issues Facing the HR Professional in the Future?

For the Human Resources professional challenges include evaluating health plans given the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Establishing productivity metrics and measurements to ensure that employees are meeting job expectations.  Finally, 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 the how effective the HR team.  No matter what approach a business takes, addressing these issues is an ongoing process.

Benefits

Virtually all companies offer some benefits to employees, either to appear competitive or to comply with local, state or federal regulations.  With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Human Resources will need to verify that their company is impacted and how they need to respond legally.  Offering maternity/new-born care, pediatric care, rehabilitative care and preventative care are key components of each plan that will need to be offered effective January 1, 2014.  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 or benefit specialists will need to create benefit policies and packages that are compliant with the law as well as offer programs that 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

Talent management will be even more challenging as the old methods of  attending job fairs, listing positions on career management websites, college recruiting are not the only way to generate interest.  New methods of attracting the right candidates may include having a presence on the social media sites, matching managers with similar outside interests with potential candidates to create a bond between the company and new hires.  Furthermore, candidates want to see a balance between employment and life experiences.  Companies will need to respond to these new ways of attracting talent and retaining key members of the team.

What Will HR Professionals Experience in the Future?

HR professionals will face significant changes in their role at over the next decade.  Three changes are in the immediate future for HR leaders. Let us take a look at those areas that will impact Human Resource leaders:

1.     The use of outsourcing and digital data collection will result in the HR department migrating from a labor intensive area to a specialized function where employee self-service will be the result.   Fewer managerial positions along with support staff will be the end result.  HR leaders will need to do more with less staff; however, the approval to automate and outsource as many functional areas will be encouraged and the anticipated trend.

2.     The expectation of HR playing a broader role in the overall success of the company is on the horizon.  During the “great recession” HR executives stepped-up to the table and implemented the necessary changes so that companies could survive.  Their role in looking for alternatives other than layoffs resulted in the C-suite understanding the important role Human Resources plays in the execution of the strategic vision.  Increased respect for the profession has resulted in higher expectations for the future.

3.     The need for metrics that support the vision of the Board and leaders of the company.  Metrics to evaluate performance, talent management, retention and employee satisfaction and engagement will become a focus of company leaders as they look to leverage their successes and minimize their business challenges.  HR leaders will need to find new ways to evaluate company and talent performance that is numbers driven with less subjectivity.

To learn about changes to the Human Resource profession please go to the SHRM study following the link below:

http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/challengesfacinghroverthenext10years.aspx?homepage=mpc

Why Is an On-Boarding Survey So Important?

On-boarding surveys, originally introduced into organizations in the late 1990’s, were developed to measure employee job satisfaction.  Employers wanted to know how satisfied their new employees were because satisfied workers are more productive workers.

Research over the past 25 years has found that job satisfaction is significantly related to other important organizational outcomes, including absenteeism, turnover and other symptoms of employee dissatisfaction.  Also, many current studies have identified relationships between the attitudes of employee groups and the satisfaction of customers serviced by employees.  The end result is improved organizational performance.  According to the Society of Human Resource Management 81% of all employers’ surveyed conduct some form of on-boarding survey.  Managers have realized that today they can ask employees about a broad range of important issues such as leadership, benefits, job satisfaction and compensation to name a few.  With this information, organizations can fine-tune their new hire communication strategies, work to increase employee buy-in and even decide to modify corporate policies.

Although the early assumption that satisfied workers are more productive workers has not been proven, there is a body of research which suggest that organizations that are in tune with their new employees can motivate them to do a good job and enhance the work environment for all.  The on-boarding provides the means for linking employee behavior with company success.

To learn about the SHRM study, go to the link below:

 http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Articles/Pages/OnboardingPractices.aspx

Is the Employee Survey an HR Program or a Shared Responsibility?

As a result of our firm’s type of work we interact with clients across the country from many industries.  One common theme that we hear over-and-over again is how I can make the survey process not just an HR initiative but rather a program to enhance the employee’s engagement with the company?  If HR professionals adopt this five step approach following the survey process the survey process will become more successful

1.  Study the survey results and initiate dialogue between managers, supervisors, teams and individual contributors to review the findings and identify priorities.  Move as quickly as possible from dialogue to action planning, encouraging individual, team and collective ownership of the process at all levels.

2.      Determine three to five action items at a time. They should be achievable to provide early wins in the process. Attempting to do too much at once limits success.  Using the available reporting determine areas where satisfaction and engagement are low and identify challenges.  Excellent benchmarks include previous surveys, the overall company ratings and the “market”.  Use this tool to measure your success.

3.      Ensure transparency, be inclusive and maintain ongoing communication.  Provide feedback to managers and recognize that HR is there to support and facilitate the process and not fix the problems.

4.    Establish accountability for improvement efforts and results and keep checking on your business partner’s progress.  A key way to ensure that improvement is made by aligning the survey results with the performance management process.

5.    Acknowledge and celebrate the improvements achieved as each goal or action item is brought to fruition.  Continue to stress that the achievements made are a result of good planning and the company’s commitment to make improvement. To learn more about the survey process please go to our website at:  http://www.innovative-hrsolutions.com/

Is Creating a Year-End Career Review Necessary?

As we start to wind-down 2012 many HR professionals find this time of year the season to evaluate their career.  Whether it is for business or personal we reflect on the past year and look for ways to accomplish key action items so that the stage is set for a productive New Year.  This time of year I find myself looking at our business to determine what went well and what will need to change. 

Today more than ever, it's very important for leaders in the HR profession to establish personal and professional goals for the future.   HR professionals need to evaluate how their career is progressing, what is working and what changes are on the horizon.  Questions with respect to additional training, learning new skills, assuming greater responsibility are important to better position for future job opportunities.  The questions that should always be asked are:  “What will career be like in 12 months and how can I achieve that goal?”

Today is a great time to evaluate what went well?  What can be improved?   What relationships with employees and customers were successful and why?  Utilize the down time over the next several weeks to reflect on your personal and professional goals and develop a strategy to reach your goals for 2013.  We are starting a New Year and you can make it happen!

Happy Holidays and all the best for a prosperous 2013!

How Can a Company Engage Its Employees More Effectively?

Businesses today want to discover what their employees are thinking in order to align the needs of the organization with the expectations of the staff. Many tools are available to find out what employees want and include: small focus groups, large group meetings that foster two-way communication and employee surveys.

The benefit of a survey is that employers typically invite all employees to respond so no one feels left out; the results are validated by conducting a statistical test and the employees are comfortable responding because the survey is anonymous and confidential. Key to the success of any survey is securing the support of the leaders of the organization. Only through their support will the survey process succeed.

What a great way to find out what your employees are thinking utilize a survey only – just act on the results!

Are Our Benefit Programs Meeting Our Employee Needs?

As we approach the season for employees to make changes to their benefit plans, progressive Human Resource departments may want to ask is:  Are our new benefit programs meeting the needs of our diverse workforce?

Open Enrollment is usually a once per year event when employees of US-based companies and not-for-profit organizations may make additions, changes or deletions to their elected benefit plans.   During this period an employer will typically communicate to all eligible employees what options will become available.  Once the changes have been communicated to the eligible employees, Human Resources will implement the changes as well as ensure that all employees understand what has changed for them and their eligible dependents.

For Human Resources departments across the country it can often be a very stressful time; however, one way to mitigate the stress is to find out ahead of time what employees are looking for in their benefits.  Would they prefer to contribute more to their plans to have more choice or security?  Would employees like to see a cafeteria program made available to them?  Is higher co-pay more acceptable versus an increase in the employee premium contribution?  These types of questions can only be answered if you ask your employees ahead of the open enrollment season.

An easy way to discover what your employees want is to ask them by way of a targeted benefits survey.  This type of surveys allows employees to provide feedback with respect to future benefits and allows them to be a part of the process.