Well hello there Fans of Plans! In this fortnight’s working well blog, we are looking at human resources…

As you many have noticed over the last few blogs, I have been looking at different areas of business and how you can be working well; from ethical procurement, to effective communications. But there is one area that we all have an instant connection with when we join and organisation… human resources. 

Organisations may have different names for this department (HR, people operations, talent management, employee experience etc.) or even a combination of names within the department.

Regardless, it’s somewhere that all employees go to throughout their journey with your organisation. 

For the sake of this blog, and so we don’t get muddled with language, I’m going to call it the ‘People Team’ – I also think this term makes the department sound so much more approachable than human resources. And that’s where it all needs to begin, with a people team that is approachable. 

This department can have a bit of a bad reputation and be associated with a negative employment experiences. We don’t want this team to only be contacted when something goes wrong.  Yes, it might be the people team that need to step in and assist in disciplinary issues, pay disputes, or management issues; but they should be better known for their assistance with positive employee experiences within the organisation.   

From on-boarding to alumni 

Thinking about the entire journey of an employee in your organisation is critical to giving a great employee experience. Those of you that know my blogs will know how I harp on about employee relationship management is as important as customer relationship management. In short:

Happy and engaged employees = happy and engaged customers 

There is a direct correlation between organisations that have great employee feedback scores, and those that have great customer feedback scores. It is not a coincidence. 

Anyway, I digress. Making sure that your people team keep up a positive level of engagement throughout their career with you will mean that they see this department as approachable and the bearers of the good news more than the bad. Here are just a few examples of areas this team need to be involved in to keep up the positive vibes: 

• On-boarding: thinking about the welcome to the organisation your employees receive. Do they have a point of call (not just a generic email address) for any initial queries they have? Is there someone from this team that can call up new employees at various stages of their orientation to make sure they are getting all the information and training they need? 
• Settled in and ongoing: Are you making sure that there are further learning opportunities for your employees so that they can stay in the organisation and progress? Are there employee awards recognising exceptional work? Do you carry out regular employee surveys or hold forums to understand what is important to different people?    
• Off-boarding/alumni: Employees move on, that’s life; but there are things you can do to make this a positive experience. I’m not talking about an exit interview/survey, though these are useful; but what about creating an alumni group or e-newsletter? This can have a great effect and some staff may one day return to your organisation, or they may pass on this positive experience to friends and family, who in turn may become employees or even customers because of this positive feedback. 

So, take a look at your organisation, are the people team people friendly and not just the gate-keepers of disciplinary and dismissals? The people team are so much more than that and are a vital cog in the success of an organisation.