What if your HRIS could boost your company's social climate?
In a difficult socio-economic context, employees' feeling of unease at work seems to be increasing.
18% feel dissatisfied and uninvolved in their company, and only 12% like their working environment.
Source: Quartz study.
22% have changed jobs in the last five years.
Source: French Ministry of Labor, November 2018.
Faced with this perceived lack of recognition and uninhibited professional mobility, HRDs undoubtedly have their cards to play to remotivate and retain potential, in particular with these 3 key tools:
- Professional interviews to listen to employees' wishes and motivations;
- GPEC (Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et Compétences - forward-looking management of jobs and skills) to help employees progress in their jobs and offer them new prospects;
- Training to give employees the means to support their development within the company, in France or abroad.
Tool no. 1: Interviews to assess and value your employees
Why not take advantage of this privileged moment of exchange between management and employee to go beyond the simple legal obligation and establish a context of dialogue and trust that will serve as a basis for the employee's sense of recognition?
All too often, managers and employees see the annual or professional appraisal interview as nothing more than a formality for handing out bonuses and setting objectives. But by changing the way they are approached and, above all, used, they can turn out to be a formidable source of information, providing a relevant and regular assessment of the company's resources, and a real motivational lever.
To achieve this, you need to adjust the questions asked and the headings covered, to widen the range of possible answers. Give employees time to prepare for their interviews in advance, and show them that their comments, suggestions and requests have been taken into account, by providing appropriate answers over and above those provided by the manager.
What are the benefits of making full use of the minutes ? First and foremost, a more detailed understanding of each employee's situation vis-à-vis the company. How does he or she feel, or does he or she suggest a change of position?
This will make it easier to identify high-potential employees. Firstly, those who take the time to seriously prepare their interview. Then, those who propose real solutions, or show ambition and dynamism in their answers.
Then, you'll be able to anticipate your recruitment and training needs on a larger scale, in anticipation of staff movements.
The use of an HRIS makes it possible to dematerialize these documents, and is also a real plus for exploiting interviews, making mass data processing easier. All this information is invaluable in achieving a mapping of your company, which will be the keystone of effective and relevant Human Resources Management.
💡 Our advice:
- Promote and develop interviews as a time for exchange and give the employee the floor more regularly;
- Don't leave interview requests unanswered;
- Equip your employees with a simple, accessible tool.
Tool no. 2: GPEC to support and develop your employees
A company that manages to keep its employees happy is a company that wins. Several studies corroborate the fact that :
An employee who is happy at work is up to half as sick, six times less absent and around 30% more productive.
So you've got everything to gain by including this goal in your good resolutions for 2019.
However, a person's projects, personal and professional situation are never static. Thanks to your interviews, you've been able to identify a need for development and mobility. How can you support employees and give them the autonomy to build their own career path?
This is where an adapted GPEC tool can help you achieve this objective. You can match the results of annual appraisals to a skills requirement linked to a new project or job opening, to find the right person(s) quickly and reliably. Employees, for their part, can consult the history of their interviews to see how their skills have evolved over time, or to project themselves onto another position. They can then submit training requests in line with their projects and shortcomings.
These training requests will enable us to build a training plan based not just on managers' estimates, but also on your employees' actual skills needs.
This plan will define the course of action to be taken, so it's essential to have relevant information. Allowing your employees to store their wishes on a platform accessible to their N+1 and N+2 encourages dialogue throughout the year, and not just at interviews.
It's also important to include all employees in this exchange process, right from the moment they are hired. An initial skills assessment, however brief, is always worthwhile. It provides a benchmark for the future, identifies talent, but above all allows your new recruits to feel cared for and valued from the moment they are hired.
💡 Our advice:
- A GPEC is a great tool, but needs to be prepared carefully. Make sure you have the support of employees and managers. Involve them in the decision-making process.
- Deliver results to managers and employees to enable them to make projections. Don't let them think that GPEC is just another fad for the HR department.
Tool no. 3: Professional training to retain your employees and anticipate their development
When we talk about happiness in the workplace, we often think of relaxation areas, seminars and all the tricks that make life at work more "fun". Of course, these aspects should not be neglected, but they should not be the only pillars of your action plan to keep your employees invested in your company.
While more than one in two employees experience stress and fatigue at work almost 45% also feel "brown out", i.e. they find no meaning in their job.
Source: THINK Institute study, 2017.
Very often, this lack of meaning comes from the feeling of stagnating in their current position and/or not being heard. Supporting your employees with these management tools, while encouraging internal mobility, gives them a different perspective within the company, the opportunity to build and visualize their career path and feel recognized.
In addition, training can help you achieve this goal. It's never a bad decision to invest on a regular basis in order to add skills or gain mastery. You stimulate your employees by bringing something new into their daily lives, and show that you trust them and see their potential. They will no longer feel stagnant, but will gain in experience, responsibility and loyalty to the company.
Employee loyalty is a crucial issue in the current climate. A person who is committed to his or her work and stays with a company longer is not only a guarantee of continuity, but also a financial gain for the company. Not only is a fulfilled employee more productive, but the loss of skills and experience associated with a departure takes several months, even years, to be compensated for by recruitment.
Reduced staff turnover is an important indicator of the social barometer, and opens up new possibilities in the short, medium and long term: in the short term, you are less often in a recruitment hurry to cope with unforeseen departures, with all the administrative processes that accompany these transitions.
In the medium term, your company gains in efficiency: the people you've promoted are actually better suited to their positions and more committed to their jobs, because they feel valued by their superiors. In the long term, you can manage your business optimally by taking turnover partially out of the equation. You know everyone's strengths and can anticipate the future more calmly.
💡 Our advice:
- Optimize and encourage internal mobility. This offers the opportunity to visualize a future within the company ;
- Associate HR tools with initiatives to improve working conditions. A relaxation room and a GPEC do not fulfil the same functions, even if they are complementary;
- Use training as a means of building loyalty and responsibility;
- Identify and define each employee's career aspirations, so as to define a succession organization chart and anticipate internal movements over the longer term.
Conclusion
The role of the HR Director is crucial in these turbulent times. Simply good administrative and financial management is not enough. The social and human aspects must be effective and visible. It's with this showcase that you'll build loyalty and attract new talent.
More than ever, an HRIS (even for SMEs) is needed to accompany and support this change in order to :
- LISTEN and GATHER: Interviews
- ANALYZE and PROPOSE: GPEC
- SUPPORT and PROVIDE THE MEANS: Training
It will be the link between all the company's players, the federator of talent and the foundation of a social climate that employees approve of.
Article translated from French