Amazon, Google, Pinterest, Disney, and many more have lately been in the HR leaders headlines for similar reasons:
Employees who other people harassed, discriminated against, or treated unjustly used social media to inform the public about what was going on. On the other hand, they sued their employer for monetary damages.
These incidents demonstrate that harassment, discrimination, and other toxic behaviors occur in workplaces throughout the country. They show that something isn’t quite right with handling employee input and addressing issues in these firms. Given that obtaining and addressing employee feedback is often the responsibility of HR departments — and given that HR departments are frequently overworked, underpaid, and under-resourced — might these enormous difficulties result from a simple lack of adequate processes? And an oblivious leadership?
Of course, this doesn’t mean leaders should declare war on offending policies and people. But get the discussion going.
There are still difficulties.
Managing feedback, connecting with leadership, and understanding HR’s role in the business are challenges that many firms face today. According to a recent “The State of HR Departments and Employee Feedback” survey, most HR professionals have an opinion. They think that handling employee feedback after it’s received, which includes monitoring and addressing feedback, is their most significant difficulty. This might be due to the previously stated lack of workforce and resources, or it could be due to outdated systems and procedures that are not yet digital.
The second most challenging task is sharing employee input with business leadership. A schism between leadership and HR might derail any successful employee feedback project. HR departments and leaders must work together to communicate their need for feedback to workers. They must discover how employees may provide feedback. Likewise, desire their input, all while normalizing the feedback culture. HR departments often do not have the same reach as corporate leadership, so if the administration is uninterested in encouraging feedback or has different opinions about it, HR may struggle to get its message through.
The HR department’s perceived relevance or priority in the firm is the third obstacle. If leaders don’t see HR as a valued department, the company will struggle to create trust with workers. HR handles more than simply recruitment and training and promotes employee engagement, morale, wellness, and other factors. De-prioritizing HR may also lead to a failure to adequately address feedback programs and resolutions in the manner they need.
Intriguing issues emerge
One of the most intriguing emerging issues is a bandwidth shortage among professionals. First report is 90 percent of HR professionals report their stress has grown in the last year. Secondly, 42 percent feel burnt out. All this with higher workloads cited as the primary culprit. According to one company’s survey, 29 percent of HR professionals want less input from their workers rather than more.
It’s not that HR departments don’t want to hear about workplace difficulties or encourage workers to remain quiet – it’s more probable that they can’t manage the number of complaints they currently get.
If leaders say they want less input, it suggests they don’t have the time, money, or employees to commit to examining and fixing the problems they’re experiencing.
Most HR departments still monitor reports using Word or Google Docs, spreadsheets, and internal channels (such as Slack or email). Using a fragmented system made up of disparate technologies like these may quickly lead to misunderstanding.
What Actions Can Human Resources Departments Take?
The image emerging here is of the departments that are overburdened. In addition they are confronting a spike in employee reports, with no idea how to manage them. However, there are measures that leaders may take to enhance procedures and, as a result, better address employee feedback.
1. Make the feedback process more efficient.
The most crucial thing HR departments can do to enhance feedback is simplify the process. Instead of using Word documents, use tools that enable you to simplify the process. Consequently, workers can submit their reports, but HR can also monitor everything. By ensuring that cases can be assigned and monitored, HR personnel may better understand their role. They will know which reports have a team member addressing them and which still need their attention.
2. Assess your technologies.
It’s also essential to enhance systems to guarantee honest input that provides a complete picture of the corporate culture. Begin by reevaluating the tools already in use. That is to say, many HR professionals think their devices are ineffective at gathering honest input. This entails reviewing your present tools and procedures and retaining those workers actively utilize.
3. Gather input on your feedback procedure.
But do businesses have systems that workers will utilize to report problems? We’ve discovered that providing workers with a completely anonymous means to report difficulties increases their likelihood of doing so. However, we discovered that just half of the HR professionals believe this. An indicator that a gap between what HR believes would work and what workers will utilize. As a result, HR directors may enlist the assistance of workers and solicit input on their feedback techniques.
Possibilities for 2022
HR organizations have several issues in getting workers to give honest feedback and effectively processing and resolving such complaints. Leaders must see these obstacles as opportunities to foster a healthy and safe workplace. Indeed, where people are engaged and want to stay.
