How can HR Professionals Create a Climate of Civility?

Human Resource professionals deal with many issues in the work-place from coaching employees, integrating new hires into the organization to placing struggling staff members on a performance plan.  One of the most important values that is currently under attack is the value of respecting one another and treating fellow staff members in a civil manner.  HR leaders are often charged with being the role model for the larger organization.  As HR professionals, we must focus on supporting four key areas to ensure a “climate of civility”.  Here are the four pillars to assist HR professionals create this new climate.

Listen Rather than Talk

Many of us do too much talking and not enough listening.  We treat conversation as a one-way communication where our goal is to influence the other person and convert them to our point of view.  Most people tend to treat conversation like a competitive sport, in which the person who says the most, makes the cleverest point, persuades others to adopt their opinion, or even speaks the longest and loudest is the winner. Many of us fall into this trap every day.  All of us find ourselves interrupting and coming up with alternative ideas to support our point of view.  If you stop and think about it, though, this approach is the opposite of the one we should actually take. In most conversations, the person who speaks least benefits the most and the person who speaks most benefits the least.  When you focus on what the other person is saying and listen to their ideas you will be in a better place to add value to the conversation.  The key take-away is listen rather than talk.

Respect  Different Points of View

Ask anyone in your workplace what treatment they most want from their manager and colleagues and they will more often indicate that what they desire most from their employer and co-workers is to be treated with respect. Our employee survey data also indicates that respect for differing perspectives and points of view are critical for job satisfaction and engagement.  Without a high level of respect among the employees conflict and job challenges may increase. Employees who have little or no respect for others and do not consider differing points of view can engage in behavior that illustrates lack of respect for the person as well as their contribution to the organization.  The key take-away is respect different points of view.

Be Open to Change

Have you ever tried to implement a new change in your company and found you have hit a road block? The executive team is supportive, your plan is thoughtful and you have secured the financial resources to make it happen; however, your employees simply didn’t want to change. Companies can encourage change and bring their employees along for the ride by communicating and sharing the vision and the strategy behind the proposed change.  Transparency with the staff will alleviate concerns and encourage buy-in for the new processes.  Having an engaged workforce that is open to new ideas is important and will allow the organization to respond to changes in the ever-changing market.  Eliminating the fear of change is as important as improving communication and encouraging employees in become a part of the decision-making process.  The key take-away is be open to change.

Challenge Inappropriate Behavior

Behaviors that are considered to be inappropriate in the workplace include being angry, exhibiting aggressive communication (both verbal and/or written) being disrespectful,  belittling, abusive or threatening another person.  Inappropriate behavior impacts morale, employee satisfaction and workplace cohesion.  Today is it very important that not only managers take action to limit this behavior but also individual contributors need to recognize that they have a responsibility to notify management or challenge the inappropriate behavior immediately.  Employees who are disrespecting their co-workers will often times only cease this behavior if they are informed that this behavior is unacceptable and that if it continues disciplinary action my result.  A work environment that supports respectful behavior will ensure productivity, creativity and innovation.  The key take-away is challenge inappropriate behavior.

These four principals if supported, encouraged and acted upon will help companies safeguard a work environment that will promote a climate of civility with Human Resources being a champion of respect.

What are the New Survey Tools Available to HR Practitioners?

Human Resource professionals must build a strong company culture.  As HR leaders, we must focus on what is working well at as well as identifying and correcting critical challenges on the job.  This effort is part of ensuring best practices are maintained.  To support progressive HR practitioners, Innovative HR Solutions is excited to announce that we have revamped our current four survey products and are now offering a new subscription service to our latest product, the Pulse survey.  Here are the highlights of our survey tools:

Pulse Survey

The Pulse Survey is an employee survey that provides a quick overview of your employee’s satisfaction and attitude towards the organization over time.  This survey is designed to quickly evaluate and provide management with a snapshot of the organization along with trend analysis on either a monthly or quarterly basis.  This survey can also be administered annually.  This product is very cost effective and typically can be launched within 5 days of the engagement.  The Pulse Survey demonstrates to employees that their opinion and ideas are considered important.

Check-Up Survey

The Check-Up Survey is a targeted employee survey that provides a quick snapshot of your employees' satisfaction level and attitude towards the organization.  Typical reasons why companies conduct a Check-Up includes assessing employee attitudes following a merger or acquisition, determining the organization’s success in reducing turnover, or evaluating employee satisfaction following the completion of a total compensation realignment.  This survey is designed to examine a wide range of issues quickly and efficiently.

Comprehensive Survey

The Comprehensive Survey provides a detailed analysis of your employees’ satisfaction level and engagement towards the organization.  Our clients have found that employees not only have questions, but they also have the answers. By listening to your employees and acting on the survey results, you will be able to identify organization-wide strengths and build upon them.  A Comprehensive Survey can assist the leaders in determining if their managers are respected, identify any communication roadblocks, assist with fostering a collaborative work environment and ensure that the strategic vision of the organization is aligned with the current business realities.  Employees who are engaged are far more productive than those who are not.

New Hire Survey

The New Hire Survey is for employees who have been with the organization between 30 and 90 days. This survey gives HR leaders a better understanding of the new employees' attitudes towards the hiring process, job goals and expectations, supervision and training programs.  The New Hire Survey will help employers refine their hiring process in order to get the best talent in the most efficient and effective manner and monitor new employee satisfaction at an early stage to better align employee engagement with the employer’s needs.

Exit Interview Questionnaire

The Exit Interview Questionnaire allows your departing employees to offer suggestions for making your company a better place to work.  By listening to your departing employees and acting upon the results you will be able to identify organization-wide challenges and take corrective action.  Departing employees need only spend just a few minutes answering the standard or customized questions that you ask. Innovative HR Solutions' Exit Interview Questionnaire is designed to examine a wide range of organizational issues quickly and efficiently.

How do I Develop and Design an Effective Wellness Program?

 

Because of the continuing rise of health insurance premiums along with the importance of a healthy workforce, employers should be continually looking for ways to support their employees healthy living practices.  One of the easiest and best solutions to support healthy living Is to implement a wellness program.  Wellness programs typically have 5 key goals:

o  Lowering employer health premiums by reducing employee utilization.

o  Reducing workers’ compensation and short-term disability expense.

o  Improving employee engagement.

o  Reducing absenteeism and improving productivity.

o  Improving morale at work.

Outlined below is a five step program to make your wellness program a success.

Step 1: Administer a Needs Assessments

Gathering information is an important step in developing any workforce wellness program. The data collected with assist the HR team in designing a program the is not only valued by the employees but can impact the bottom line. Surveying employees to evaluate and chart their person wellness needs will assist in creating a roadmap for the future.  Surveying employees will evaluate the current climate as to how a program might be received, what the program should look like and what information employees are willing to share.

Step 2: Secure Leadership Support for the Program

A key challenge in securing a wellness program is obtaining management support and communicating the potential value of a wellness program to the organization's bottom line.  Providing data that support this type of initiative are a key requirement.  Measurement tools that HR may want to utilize as a benchmark include the current workers’ compensation experience modification rate (EMR), current benefit expense and employee satisfaction and engagement ratings.  As with any initiative, management buy-in is critical when creating a budget for the program.  An important driver to secure support is to show that an effective wellness program will result in reduced company expense and an improvement in productivity.

Step 3: Establish a Wellness Budget

Establishing a budget is a crucial step in creating a wellness program. Without sufficient funding, the program will lack success.  While many employers can secure financial support from their broker and health insurance companies the employer needs to be the primary financial force behind the program’s success. When creating a budget, companies should include expenses relating to effective ways to promote the program, promotional materials, marketing materials, vendor fees, participation incentives, promotional materials and any consultant time.

Step 4: Establish Key Goals and Metrics

Using the information gathered from the employee benefits survey, employers can establish goals and objectives for the program. For many organizations, a key goal is to improve workers' health and thereby reduce health care costs. Here are a few examples of typical goals and metrics:

o  The number of on-site weight loss meetings attended by employees and the total number of pounds lost over a period of time.

o  The number of employees taking advantage of a smoking cessation programs and their ability to quit.

o  The number of employees taking advantage of an employer-sponsored gym membership and the number of times they “work-out” per week.

o  The number of employees attending the annual health fair.

o  The number of employees attending employer sponsored nutrition education classes.

The final objectives should be clear, time-limited and communicated in such a way that it is easy to determine whether they have been achieved.

Step 5: Follow-Up

Conducting a follow-up survey to determine the effectiveness of each type of program would allow the employer to verify the support for the program as well as confirm that the programs offered are aligned with the original purpose behind the program.  As with any project, evaluating the effectiveness of the wellness program is important in sustaining management and employee support and in revising or implementing new programs.

Good luck in the creation of your wellness program.