By M Muneer
Enterprises focused on work- and office-centric processes damage productivity and well-being of employees, according to a recent Gartner study. What is needed in the future of work is to have an employee-centric approach.
A toxic management, even in hybrid mode, can cause severe stress, which can reduce performance by as much as 33%, and employees are 54% likely to leave the current employment.
The aim must be to reverse these undesired side-effects and drive sustainable progress, a growth mindset and loyalty. For this, build a culture of employee-centricity that provides open communication & feedback mechanism, imbibes trust, assures psychological safety, and inspires creativity & innovation.
Creating a positive employee experience is something most enterprises desire but fall short of doing optimally anything in that direction. Almost 90% of HR managers gave a thumbs-up for empathetic management in the current crisis, but hardly much had been done. For instance, Gartner research says while 68% of HR leaders agree that many managers are overwhelmed by responsibilities in the hybrid mode, only 14% of enterprises have redesigned roles or reduced responsibilities. Empathetic management will become a reality when work and workspaces are designed with the employees at the centre. Here are a few pointers to achieve this:
*Start with an overarching theme of employee well-being: This requires considerations for physical, emotional, mental and financial well-being. Find out the most critical issues hampering well-being and address those first. Employees who are well taken care of at work will lead happier lives off work. Allow people to work-from-anywhere (WFA) and show trust in them to deliver objectives. Don’t be like the IT companies asking people to come to cubicles every alternate day instead of consecutive three days. Let them decide when and where to meet physically.
*Create great employee experiences just as for customers: Consider employees as customers and build programmes around that. Redesign jobs and workplaces based on employee needs and shed the “we-do-things-like-this-only-here” attitude. Processes can be redesigned since what must have been in place probably should have had an expiry date in the new work era. Apply design thinking to define the problem statement accordingly. Invest in tech tools like VR headgear for metaverse meetings, productivity boosters and AI analytics to enhance employee work experience. Since digitisation is the buzzword today, become employee-centric in the digital space and encourage HR folks to redesign work there too.
*Provide space & opportunity for growth: The new workforce of today seeks career growth opportunities, and job control without micromanagement. They want to upskill and are open to reskilling. Learning new skills makes people feel good about self in terms of accomplishment and motivation. Align training, needs of the future and employee interests, and provide mentoring and even external formal training. Creating an environment of continuous learning is good for engaging employees, which in turn helps in better retention of talent.
*Ensure psychological safety for employees: Revamp feedback systems to make it more active and actionable. Both exit and online interviews of current employees must be sought with the intent to glean data to address the overarching theme of wellbeing. Check current employee experiences, and see what new initiative should be taken. Psychological safety is critical to openly share issues. Instead of dissuading and humiliating victims, as we have witnessed in various sexual harassment incidents at work globally, HR should stand with employees and not just protect the corporate image — it will eventually backfire anyway. DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion) policies should be strictly implemented and not used as slogan alone. People at every level should be trained to respect each other and to keep discussions confidential in order for others to share their issues freely. Provide avenues for whistleblowing internally, and make CEOs accessible for venting anguish that is mentally crushing. The pandemic has paved the way for more organisations to provide mental health support without the stigma associated with it.
*Revamp compensation & rewards programme to suit the varied & changing needs of the workforce: Instead of merely matching compensation with that of competitors’, ask employees to choose from a bouquet of benefits. Link incentives to strategic goals, with weightage on empathetic management aspects. Instead of dumping employees with more work that are not part of KPIs (key performance indicators), create transparent and objective metrics for WFA.
The writer is co-founder of Medici Institute
Page Source : Times of India
