5 Solutions For An HR/Employee Disconnect
Publié le 15 August 2022
If adjusting to a new working arrangement has been a little difficult, it could be a sign that engagement and connectivity must be addressed with one of the 5 solutions for an HR/Employee disconnect.
Remote and hybrid working arrangements have been gaining popularity since the pandemic outbreak in 2019. With nine out of ten employees definitely favoring workplace flexibility, the trend doesn’t appear to show any signs of slowing down. What’s the impact of this new reality on employee engagement and connectedness?
According to ADP’s People at Work 2022 study, remote workers are more likely to consider leaving their current employer for other career opportunities. The same research indicates that 72% of teleworkers were thinking of changing their professional path, compared to 53% of employees working on-premise.
As a single new hire costs a company an average of $4.425, with this kind of financial impact, it’s becoming crucial to keep your staff engaged and find solutions for an HR/employee disconnect the moment you detect it.
Recognizing the problems of disconnected workers and HR alignment in your organization can be as tricky as actually solving them. In this article, we’ve collected 5 solutions for an HR/employee disconnect.
How do you know that your HR and employees are disconnected?
If you’re not sure whether your business is experiencing an HR/employee disconnect, here are some symptoms that positively indicate workforce alignment issues:
- Your employees are unwilling to contact HR
- There’s a serious communication gap between workers and HR
- The disconnected workforce is getting increasingly distant
- The workforce considers the HR department as pro-owner and pro-management
- Disconnected employees show distrust for your HR specialists and ignore them
Should you notice any of these signs, you have to act immediately in order to preserve a workplace culture based on collaboration and cohesion by utilizing the 5 solutions for an HR/employee disconnect.
Why is addressing the HR/employee disconnect important?
The HR/employee disconnect affects businesses in different ways:
- A disconnect between HR and employees impairs employee engagement, which is essential for business success. Increasing employee engagement can increase productivity and lead to a 21% higher profit. So, dealing with the disconnect between HR and employees will enable you to tap into the opportunity to increase your earnings.
- Supporting collaboration and connection between your HR and employees will increase employee satisfaction. And it’s a well-established fact that happy employees are more productive.
- Knowing how to fix an HR disconnect will improve the company’s image and will help attract qualified job applicants.
- Bridging the gap between HR and employees will improve employee retention and reduce employee turnover, which can cost as much as 1.5 – 2 times the employee’s annual salary.
5 Solutions for an HR/Employee Disconnect
1. Foster workplace conversation
Easy and effective communication in your company is key to keeping your teams connected. Set up the practice of conducting regular meetings and don’t tolerate skipping them. Also, do as you say and don’t blow off these meetings either. Whether on-premise or video conferencing, getting employees and HR specialists together is an invaluable team building opportunity.
Adopting a messaging tool will help you streamline the process of exchanging organizational updates. This is a great way to ensure that your staff is on the same page and eliminate the risk of an HR/employee disconnect.
There are various software solutions that can easily integrate into your system. You can also use internal SMS to promote communication in your organization. Text messaging is a direct way to encourage regular exchange of concise and meaningful information. It is a sure-fire means of sending urgent updates that will reach everyone irrespective of the availability of good Internet coverage.
2. Establish a culture of feedback in your company
This is how you can empower your employees and bring your team together. Building a robust feedback system accelerates the implementation of fresh ideas and promotes strong company culture and equality in the organization. It also improves productivity – employees are likely to be more invested in your success when they know that their opinion matters. Note that your employees’ willingness to participate is another indicator of their engagement.
To build a culture of feedback, establish the practice on a regular basis. Make sure you provide different channels and formats so that everyone feels invited to share ideas and opinions.
You can schedule employee SMS surveys using preset templates and automate the process in line with your work calendar. Upon receiving the replies, you can analyze them using text messaging survey analytics or export the replies to gain further insights. It‘s important to provide your employees with multiple different avenues for feedback, such as email, anonymous surveys, and in-person meetings to ensure that they feel comfortable giving their honest opinion.
3. Promote transparency across your organization
Transparency in your organization will go a long way in building trust and reengaging disconnected HR managers and employees. It’s the normal course of operations that HR specialists are in close contact with management. To avoid leaving your workers out of the loop, make sure to share all relevant news, achieved and missed goals, and future objectives with the team right away. Do not withhold any information, even when it is bad news, in order to remain transparent and open.
Foster accountability and establish company policies that are followed by everyone. The more open and transparent your workplace environment is, the less distant and reserved your employees are likely to be.
4. Introduce a culture of inclusion
The ADP 2022 survey reports that in 33% of cases, creating a work culture of inclusion is left up to employees. However, creating a truly effective culture of inclusion requires a top-down approach. Leading by example and displaying an inclusive attitude are essential.
Promote diversity by developing an inclusive recruitment strategy and hiring people of different gender, orientation, races, and nationalities. Emphasize a culture of acceptance and collaboration. Also, encourage employees to communicate with and learn about their coworkers.
Get your HR team to actively participate in this endeavor by organizing meetings and team building events celebrating diversity. This will bring employees closer to their coworkers and to HR alike. Making everyone feel welcome, safe, and equal will help increase employee engagement and productivity and re-engage the disconnected workforce.
5. Encourage involvement
The leadership level is responsible for creating initiatives for encouraging involvement and a sense of belonging in your workplace. Isolation harms physical, emotional, and mental well-being impairs productivity, and negatively affects connectedness across your organization. How can you build employee involvement? Creating a sense of belonging and ownership is the key to establishing a strong culture of unity in your company.
Make sure that all members of your teams and departments know that their participation is vital to fulfilling your company’s mission and vision. Encourage them to always put their own efforts, ideas, and knowledge into problem-solving in order to come up with new and effective suggestions and decisions.
There are three steps you need to take to promote employee involvement:
- Provide them with incentives to participate
- Give your workers the authority to take part in making important company decisions
- Offer opportunities to develop their decision-making potential by training and gaining relevant experience
Applying these steps will improve the communication between employees and HR and help them stay on the same page.
Final thoughts
An HR/employee disconnect has the potential to impair all aspects of your business operations. It can have a negative impact on employee engagement and productivity and thus threaten your profits. Under such circumstances, re-engaging disconnected employees has to become your top priority.
Implementing the 5 solutions for an HR/employee disconnect will help you establish a workplace environment based on mutual respect, understanding, and collaboration.
Now that you know how to fix an HR/employee disconnect, kick off your efforts to get disconnected workers involved by setting up an employee survey. Simply ask them how they would make our company better and more successful.
And most importantly, make sure to show your employees that their opinion really matters by putting the best ideas into practice.
