6 Things Your HR Head Should Be Doing Now

The HR department plays an important role within the organisation. Employee welfare, benefits, onboarding, social activities - all typically fall under the purview of the HR department. Of course, all these are executed by the HR professionals and executives themselves but without the strategic direction from top management, these HR initiatives and processes might not even take off.

Given that the workplace and employee needs are constantly changing, here are six things that your HR head should be doing right now to meet these evolving needs.

Communicating with other leaders

The HR head acts as the voice of the HR department, communicating with other leaders to make strategic decisions and collaborate with other department heads to roll out HR initiatives.

Selling the organisation to the talent pool

As the HR head, he or she should be “selling” the organisation - be it in personal, broadcast or through social media. This goes beyond mere recruiting purposes but to also create a brand awareness amongst the talent pool, competitors and the broader community.

Encourage employees to be transparent

This works both ways and the first step is to be transparent with employees themselves. The HR head should be open to discuss about any political issues that crop up and this will also encourage employees to be transparent about their thoughts and feedback as well.

Promote a culture that embraces diversity

Workplace today is changing and with employees having various skill sets and personality, a one-size-fits-all type of organisation no long works within the workplace today. As the HR head, embrace diversity within the organisation and reinforce a culture that accepts employees for their differences.

Install just enough HR processes

When there are numerous processes in place, employees might feel overwhelmed trying to follow through with each HR process. Furthermore, they might feel stifled having to follow traditionalist processes without the opportunity to suggest enhancements to existing processes. Instead, implement sufficient HR processes that complies with regulatory requirements such that your employees do not feel stifled within the organisation.

Build a culture of collaboration

Today, teams within a department no longer work in silos. A collaborative working environment provides opportunities for employees across various teams to learn from each other. Additionally, this also allows employees to find out more beyond their existing career paths, encouraging lateral movements as well. The HR head should definitely be a strong advocate of collaborative culture.

Instill respect not fear

Most of the time, top management are unable to figure out what exactly is happening at ground level, given that most employees tend to “fear” high ranking employees simply because of their seniority within the organisation. Instead, replace this “fear” by having regular conversations with employees, feedback sessions or townhalls. As the HR head, the idea is not to let the seniority and power rule the employees, but to let employees know that with this seniority and power, you are able to act as their voices in times of strategic decision-making.

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This article was originally published by Gpayroll.