Value add HR

HR are often asked what’s the best thing an HR professional can do or how does HR add value to a business?

At ThinkingHR we have a huge belief in the value of employee engagement – colleagues that are connected to, understand and believe in the vision or mission of an organisation can truly drive the delivery of great results.

Linked to this is the belief that that should be an objective of HR professionals to place significant focus on creating and sustaining a positive and supportive work environment.

So, what does this mean in practice? Of course there are many actions, but let’s just focus on a few.

First, employee engagement – this must be a two-way process pro-actively connecting with colleagues to understand their perspectives. What are their expectations? What worries them? Ultimately what are their aspirations and do these align, can they be met, in parallel to business objectives – do you know if they truly believe, and understand, your business mission?

Linked to this is a need for effective and transparent communication channels. I once worked for an organisation where the employee listening survey results were not published because the CEO didn’t like the responses – not exactly effective communication or engagement. How do you get commitment when colleagues are not listened to and are actually ignored.

There has been a significant trend towards self-learning and self- development in recent years; however, I strongly believe that Companies still have a role to play here. Employees expect some company interventions and support, on-line or face to face – such programmes and workshops are an ideal, essential opportunity, to reinforce company values and organisational culture. And these interventions represent an opportunity to learn together from each other.

We must recognise that considerations of work-life balance are here to stay and they are linked to well-being initiatives that must not be ignored. These are not just fads, supporting policies and practices are required here and if properly discussed at a business, not just HR, level there is a clear business win of increased productivity, job satisfaction and retention.

Finally, we must not forget policies that support recognition and reward. Let’s recognise hard work and results, but also great effort and contribution. Getting these practices right, and embedded, will encourage more effort and can deliver great results.

Discussing all of these points with business management will prove the value of HR in supporting overall organisational success. 

L