15 minute read
Insights
ADAPTING to a hybrid model
Within the business and HR sector, working from home and flexible working has been a huge talking point throughout recent months. A number of businesses have had to quickly adapt to remote working, however, what is the future of working remotely? And is it sustainable for businesses to continue to offer to work from home? Here, Alex Arundale, Chief People Officer at Advanced, a leading software company, can safely say that remote working is a policy that has been working very successfully for her organisation.
Some of Advanced’s employees were successfully working remotely before the pandemic, and with the proven effectiveness of home working over the last 15 months, it makes complete sense to continue to offer a hybrid model. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution – some employees will want to work remotely almost all of the time and others will use our offices on a more regular basis.
Top Tips on how to make remote working sustainable:
• Measure productivity: We measure productivity in terms of work quality and meeting goals, so it’s far more important that our employees produce excellent output than are seen to be busy in the office all day. Our modern, flexible approach supports productivity along with the work/life balance our employees want, for the well-being they need • Communication is key: The key is to communicate with your people and ask what it is they would like.
Some have an ideal working space at home; others don’t.
Some thrive off the energy of the office; others are most productive in their own quiet space. We believe that being adaptable is sustainable in the long term and offering employee-focused working patterns will help us continue to attract and retain the best talent for our business success.
Effective communication ensures that line managers and employees are aligned with regard to expectations • Invest in suitable software: Remote working does not mean letting people get on with it alone. Cloud-based software solutions and video conferencing helps to engage teams and promote a creative exchange of ideas. Also have a range of ‘self-service’ HR solutions including portal-access and chatbots to reduce the admin burden around things like booking holidays, sick-pay and company policies. This will free HR teams to focus on strategy, training, employee support and delivering workplace safe-guarding solutions • Build trust with your employees: It is our responsibility [as managers] to build trust with employees, wherever they are working, and respond to our duty of care to their mental and physical well-being With flexible working, people may decide to pop into the office occasionally, perhaps for meetings or group projects. To ensure this goes smoothly, those who choose to use the office can access a range of tools to help them do this safely, and social distancing, helpful signage and PPE are, of course, all in place. We use a desk-booking app that allows people to choose who will be sitting next to them – helpful when teams need to be in proximity. We are reconfiguring our working spaces to maximise collaboration and team working when people choose to be in the office.
Workers more likely to
CHALLENGE unethical behaviour if their BOSS is ethical too
Workers are much more likely to challenge unethical behaviour in their organisation if their manager is seen as an ethical leader. That’s the view of Olga Epitropaki and Les Graham, Professor’s of Management at Durham University Business School as a result of a study they carried out alongside colleagues from the University of Sheffield and the University of Northampton. Here, they explore some of the findings of their research.
Whilst the majority of previous research into ethical leadership is on the impact it has on workers acting ethically themselves we wanted to understand whether ethical leadership made workers more likely to call out unethical practices too. We surveyed almost a thousand UK police officers and staff and 650 working professionals, asking them to rate their own personal ethical values and integrity and the levels of ethical leadership within their teams too. We then surveyed respondents on the likelihood of them raising concerns over the unethical practices of their co-workers. From the study, we found that ethical leadership had a very significant impact on the likelihood of workers to call out and challenge unethical behaviours and practices in their organisation from co-workers. Following on from a number of corporate scandals, there is a consensus that leaders must be ethical in their actions. Research has proven that ethical leadership improves job performance and workers attitudes, but little is known on whether it makes workers challenge others on ethical practices – an important company culture to have in organisations if you want to reduce all unethical practices and behaviours. Organisations can encourage leaders to be ethical through a number of ways, including creating a formal set of ethical principles to help leaders to clearly communicate such values to workers, instilling these values into everyday working practices, and through actively valuing integrity, all of which will boost workers’ ethical voices within the organisation, according to the researchers. The researchers also suggest that the selection and recruitment process can be vital in attracting ethical individuals to the organisation, those who will challenge and voice their opinion on unethical practices. Leaders play an incredibly important role in their company when it comes to ethical practices. They can instil the organisations values into their workers, and align their practices and behaviours with these so that the level of underhand, unethical practices are minimised. More importantly though, our research proves that if a leader not only instils ethics into their workers, but practices as they preach, it is more likely to make workers call out unethical practices if they see them”. The research showcases the importance of leadership in creating a company culture where unethical practices are challenged amongst co-workers and not just by leaders themselves. By fostering such values at every level, leaders can ensure the wider organisation is not tarnished by unethical practices, and there are no corporate scandals that involve the actions of their workers.
Overcoming the TOP HR CHALLENGES through data
Whilst traditionally known for being a qualitative function, modern HR departments are becoming increasingly quantitative and data-driven. The recent LinkedIn Global Trends Report revealed that 73% of companies are set to treat People Analytics as a major priority over the next five years. However, there are still over half (55%) that say they need help with putting basic people analytics into practice. Here, Darshan Baskaran, Analytics Lead at TrueCue looks at the three top challenges for HR professionals.
The recent ‘HR Challenges’ survey reveals that many of today’s HR professionals still struggle to provide internal stakeholders with timely and insightful analysis of people data. That said it’s unquestionable that the latest developments in People Analytics offer today’s HR professionals more sophisticated and valuable insights than ever before.
Understanding the real value of people data
In the report, we consider some of the key organisational challenges facing today’s talent professionals, highlighting the value and potential for data to solve HR’s most pressing issues, as businesses navigate the tricky return to work, post-pandemic. The easiest way for HR leaders to understand the value of People Analytics is to break it down into specific use cases. In this way, we can clearly explain how the HR department can use their people data to gain valuable insights, driving business value and overcoming some of the most pressing organisational challenges that are currently top of mind for today’s talent professionals. Looking at the results of TrueCue’s recent ‘HR Challenges’ survey, based on responses from a diverse sample of 222 senior HR professionals, across a variety of questions relating to key HR challenges that businesses are facing, one trend gets reinforced: the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated HR’s need to get the right data to the right people at the right time. Access to clear, actionable real-time data gives you full visibility over your entire workforce and helps you to understand your organisation’s most valuable asset: its people. The three top challenges for today’s HR professionals
The analysis of the results from TrueCue’s recent HR survey identified three major challenges for HR professionals that lie ahead in 2021 and beyond.
Challenge 1. Tracking Diversity & Inclusion progress
In terms of specific HR and organisational challenges, what is clear from the majority of respondents in our survey is that for many of today’s HR professionals, tracking their progress towards vital diversity and inclusion (D&I) goals is a significant challenge. With many businesses setting themselves ambitious D&I goals in 2021 and beyond, 73% of respondents indicated that they found tracking progress towards these goals challenging. It’s crucial that you have the ability to track the success of any D&I initiatives that you are putting in place, in order to know if they are improving your progress towards your targets.
With employees becoming increasingly used to working remotely or via a hybrid mix of home-based and office-based work, one of the major challenges for HR and business leaders is how to understand how both formal and informal employee networks work in this new world. 67% of respondents in our survey indicated that they find understanding formal and informal employee networks in a remote/hybrid working environment challenging. This is where the real value of Organisational Network Analytics (ONA) really comes into its own, as it helps organisations to understand how knowledge flows within and between their employee networks, identifying risks and showcasing opportunities.
Challenge 3. Staying on top of employee sentiment
When you are working closely with teams and colleagues in an office-based environment most of the time, it’s far easier to monitor and stay on top of employee sentiment. What is clear from our survey is that the majority (64%) of respondents are currently struggling to monitor and manage employee sentiment in our ‘new normal’ world of remote/hybrid work environments.
Why REDUNDANCY doesn’t have to be the ELEPHANT
in the room
Employees often view redundancy in a negative light – but this need not be the case. Providing outplacement support during the redundancy process helps individuals feel prepared, supported – and even excited – to take their next step. With a wealth of career transition support on offer, it’s vital that this is framed positively – ensuring engagement with the process while maintaining good relationships with all employees. Here, Jim Hogsflesh, Right Management’s Scotland Consultant offers three helpful ways to change the perception of job loss.
Frame it positively
When talking to employees about the decision of redundancy, frame the situation in a positive light. Remind those exiting the business that the role has been made redundant, not the individual; and as one chapter closes, another one opens. This will help employees approach their transition positively, making them more likely to engage with the programme and to achieve a successful transition much sooner. Whilst there’s no denying the job market is very different to its pre-pandemic predecessor, opportunities are out there – and more than ever, organisations are seeking employees with the skills needed to achieve future success. For job seekers, now is the time to highlight transferrable skills, identify past experiences that illustrate these key skills, and think about new roles and sectors where they could be utilised.
Highlight internal roles
An organisational restructure doesn’t always need to result in an exodus from the business. When communicating the decision to affected employees, HR and business leaders should provide clear and transparent processes for applying to internal vacancies; as well as career conversations and coaching to help individuals update CVs and covering letters, identify transferable skills and understand their suitability for the available positions. Implementing a redeployment programme prior to formal redundancy announcements ensures key talent is retained, while simultaneously promoting a message of internal mobility – a quality that can encourage employees to stay with the business two times longer.
Communicate clearly and to everyone
When managing a large-scale restructure, it’s crucial to communicate the plan to the entire workforce as soon as possible; ensuring everyone understands the rationale behind the decision and are clear on the timeframe of the restructure. This will help those leaving the company come to terms with the decision, and ensure the employees remaining with the business are kept in the loop regarding any changing expectations or responsibilities. Those being made redundant are likely to experience a rollercoaster of emotions including shock, denial, anger and uncertainty, while the ‘survivors’ may feel guilty about retaining their jobs, and apprehensive about the safety of their own positions. By providing clear communications to the entire workforce, business leaders are better placed to address any questions or concerns and provide greater emotional support to their workforce. This will help maintain a good reputation and brand throughout the process, ensuring that employees leave the business on good terms, while those staying remain engaged and motivated to continue performing at their best. Ultimately, organisations should approach a restructure sensitively and on an individual basis.
Problems at HOME impact employee CREATIVITY more than problems at WORK
Feeling ostracised by family members has a negative effect on employee creativity, more so than feeling ostracised at work, finds new research from Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business. Here, Associate Professor Mayowa Babalola who conducted the research along with colleagues at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Business considers the impact on employees who feel are being ignored by their family members, which can include an affect on their creativity and ability to do their work.
Feeling ignored or excluded by family members is more prevalent than imagined – past research reveals around 60% of individuals report being ostracised by their partners. Given the increase in working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, research into the impact of family and home experiences on employees is vital. Our research investigated what happens when employees feel alienated by loved ones at home. Participants were all married and from various professions that required creativity, including advertising, sales and marketing, consulting, IT, engineering, finance, and healthcare. We collected data on the participants’ need for affiliation, perceived family ostracism, strain-based family-to-work conflict (strain in the family that interferes with work responsibilities), and creative process engagement. Finally, supervisors evaluated their employees’ creativity. The study found that feeling excluded by family creates stress, which the individual then takes to work. This results in lower creative process engagement, which ultimately inhibits creativity. Employees with a greater need for affiliation at home were more susceptible to these negative effects. Their results also showed that the impact of family ostracism on creativity is more significant than the impact of workplace ostracism. Employee creativity is central to the success, growth, and survival of organisations. Leaders can play a crucial role in stimulating creativity in their employees, but its development can be limited by the effects of family ostracism, so they should encourage awareness of the effects of family-related issues on creativity and develop initiatives to help individuals deal with family-based stressors. Possible approaches include developing employee mindfulness and psychological capital, and building a supportive work climate. These findings show that negative experiences at home can be part of the environment that affects employee creativity and those excluded and ignored by their families are more negatively affected than those experiencing the same from colleagues. Therefore organisations should help employees cope with both work and family-related stressors and support them in dealing with negative interpersonal relationships.
How SIMPLE DATA can help guide you to SUCCESS
Car drivers rely on a dashboard, which tells them what is happening in real time; current speed, distance travelled, current time, fuel resources. They can then adjust control of the vehicle, primarily increasing or decreasing speed. It is binary stuff. This simplicity has its benefits, after all nobody would enjoy having to manually divide distance by time in their head whilst driving to know their speed. Here, Alica Melvin, Client Engagement Manager at Jobtrain looks at what talent acquisition teams should expect from their applicant tracking system.
Just like the dashboard on a car, understandably, Talent Acquisition teams demand similar of their data dashboards whether built into PowerPoint, Excel or native to their ATS. A basic dashboard should include: • Number of live vacancies • Current candidate volumes at key stages of the process • Number of vacancies filled • Average Time to Hire • Average Cost per hire In short, this will tell you how you are doing and which areas may need attention to get better performance. A better dashboard will give further insights: • Ratios of applications to interviews to hires – this helps you understand how many applicants you need to attract to apply, in order to get sufficient number of hires • Average timescales for processing candidates through key stages of the process – this helps you identify and tackle ‘’bottle-necks’’ within your process • Source of candidates versus how many apps, interviews and hires – this will help you work out where to concentrate or reduce efforts to attract candidates • Candidate diversity data versus how many applications, interviews and hires – this will help you understand the diversity of the candidates you attract, and how they fare through your selection processes But with tools available to support the automated production and analysis of data, I recommend taking a three-prong approach to your reporting, the 3 ‘P’s;
Prompt – What needs to be done, and when:
This is ideal for helping to achieve SLAs or targets, by prompting the need to perform a task, often linked to a deadline or piece of compliance; for example: a daily report of candidates who are due to attend interview. Or a list of candidates who have documentation missing that will delay their start date
Processing – What has happened:
This allows you to measure what has taken place, why and what it means; for example: this can be used to monitor compliance or standards, or simply to manage resources and expenditure.
Prediction – What is planned or expected:
This involves creating reports that quickly show how you are doing against a measure – e.g. applications to hire ratio; or lost volumes of candidates between stages. Typically viewed monthly these reports can greatly support forecasting – of budgets and resources and, critically, timeframe needed to hire to support business goals These three ‘P’s work in harmony and a continuous improvement cycle is created; identifying and removing defects or duplication in the processes, applying improvements and recalibrating targets and SLAs. It will help you deliver an efficient, cost effective, consistent service to your organisation and that is only good news for your Resourcing function.
