There has been an age-long stereotype of the HR department being the “red tape” department and this couldn’t be farther from the truth in this day and age! HR is an ever-evolving area of business management that’s essential to companies, regardless of their size.
If we studied today’s most successful companies and those that top the various lists of best places to work, they all would share one similarity – a strong team. C-suite executives are now shifting away from the mindset of viewing HR as a backstage operation. The department plays a crucial role in laying the foundation for a ‘happy place to work’ and is essential in creating it.
Put HR Into The Conversation
Organizations often make the mistake of establishing the HR team in their growth phase and not in the early stages. Even after organizations leap to add a human resources team, it’s usually the norm to exclude them from important meetings. Instead of incorporating the HR perspective into major business strategy decisions, the department is often delegated to figure out how to work around a budget and strategic constraints. Being overlooked in an organization is definitely not a good feeling. With a bit of help from the people at the top, the HR department can advance into being a key player within the organization.
Putting HR in the boardroom means making the company’s communication channels more simplified and efficient. Entrusted with broadcasting top management decisions and delivering employee feedback, the role of HR as mediator becomes easier and more effective when it’s viewed as a strategic partner of the business. If not, the workforce is left exposed, and management also becomes all the more susceptible to resistance from dissatisfied employees as a result of a toxic company culture and unimpressive long-term success.
Here are steps to ensure HR has a seat at the strategic table:
Analyze What’s Key
It’s about having the correct analyses and generating tangible discoveries. Don’t get carried away analyzing primary outcomes such as employee retention, which would usually only disclose how to retain employees. Think strategically by going the extra mile in analyzing where the best employees come from, what they do differently, and how to drive exceptional performance, ultimately leading to operational effectiveness.
Look At Employee Engagement From Another Perspective
Engagement isn’t a final product, it’s an ongoing journey with multiple iterations in strategy. While it is an essential platform for creating a healthy work environment, it is only one of the many strategies for building an ideal organization. From gauging employee strengths and placing them in areas where they can provide the most value to emphasizing employee wellbeing, HR needs to be well invested in people in various ways.
Create A Personalized Engagement Culture
Studies have shown that HR is the custodian of the workplace culture in the best-performing organizations. HR is responsible for recasting words into actions; it also inspires the preferred and ideal behaviors and mindsets. HR will definitely stay noticeable if it owns the crucial role of creating and supporting an ambitious culture. This can transform the organization that drives better business performance.
Bridge HR Initiatives To Customer Initiatives
One major part of realizing organizational success is enhancing employee productivity. It is essential to see the bigger perspective to discover the most effective approach to driving organic growth, thereby prioritizing efforts accordingly. There is a correlation between employee and customer goals as their outcomes are critical and work hand in hand.
Partaking in actions like celebrating wins, no matter how little, can improve employee engagement drastically. Taking the further step to recognize employees who deliver outstanding services to customers depicts a customer-centric culture. This, in turn, leaves a good impression on senior leaders as there is an emphasis on organizational performance in HR initiatives. This brings HR to the rank of influential strategic advisers.
Building and employing a well-functioning HR department isn’t a luxury; it’s essential. Underestimating this need will be very costly to an organization if problems arise. Having a dedicated HR department in the center of business operations will keep employees more engaged, satisfied, and business compliant. Hiring an HR team can be expensive, so you can get creative by hiring an outsourced consulting firm as you grow. By investing more in HR, organizations can concentrate more on strategizing and business growth.