Less than a third of employees are engaged. Yet for businesses to grow, they need engaged, hard-working employees. This is where strategic HR comes in.
Treating every employee the same, and forcing them into performance improvement plans because you’ve ranked every employee like it’s a Formula One race, is asking for low morale among those who aren’t motivated by competition.
On top of the sea of companies letting employees go “because of AI.” I use the term loosely, because we both know not every company is actually doing it because of AI.
45% of employees are emotionally drained from work. The younger they are, the more likely they are to feel that way. In a world where there are 2.5 graduates for every graduate job, is it any wonder morale is low among the younger generation?
Companies need to step in and support the next generation, or the snake will eat its tail and when senior employees retire, there’ll be no one to make money with or from.
So here’s how strategic HR can help.
Be flexible
33% of workers believe that flexibility is the most important way employers can support mental health. Looking after employee mental health, when employees increasingly feel disconnected, jaded, and undervalued is more important than ever if you want to get the most out of your employees. And isn’t that really the point of strategic HR?
This could come in the form of flexible working hours, hybrid working, or even being flexible about when and where you hold meetings. Not every meeting requires sitting at a desk — sometimes the best innovations come from walking meetings.
Upskill or retrain existing employees
In the next five years, 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted. Over 85% of businesses believe adopting new technologies will be most likely to drive change, while 39% of HR leaders feel that AI and tech adoption will cause the biggest disruption to their workforce in the next decade.
Rather than letting employees go when implementing new technologies, if you truly value them but their job is at risk from AI, why not upskill or retrain them? Taking this approach to strategic HR means you retain the internal knowledge and increase your employee loyalty because you’re not just laying people off to feed your AI budget.
Value creativity
There’s been a meme going around recently that says that AI can’t be creative because creativity looks ahead, while AI looks back.
Even the co-founder of Anthropic recommends people invest in humanities and creative subjects as a way to differentiate themselves skills-wise.
Pretty ironic when for the last two decades those in charge have rammed STEM down everyone’s throats. Meanwhile, those of us who weren’t STEM-inclined were made to feel like failures.
Oh, how the pendulum swings.
Creativity comes from experimentation and the acceptance of mistakes. It builds perseverance, critical thinking, and collaboration. For that to happen in the workplace, you need strategic HR and a culture where employees feel psychologically safe.
Create a safe space
For employees to feel psychologically safe, you need leaders and strategic HR teams to create a safe space. If HR teams say one thing, but leaders act in a different way, this messaging disconnect will cause employees to feel disconnected, too.
It’s not just about psychological safety, though. It’s also about making a space that’s free from bullying and harassment. Not just the obvious things, like an unwelcome hand, but more subtle things like the language someone uses or a manager taking credit for an employee’s work.
The best managers support their employees to do their best work and give them credit for it. The worst managers have no ideas of their own so try to claim credit for what someone else has done. I’ve had both, and I’m sure you can tell who I worked harder for.
When employees feel safe and valued by their manager, they want to put the work in. They want to be a part of the team and stick around. Your managers create that culture.
Often, when there’s an acquisition, management changes, and so, too, does the culture. This isn’t a coincidence.
It’s also not a coincidence that long-term employees who worked for the old culture, and managers who’ve left, end up leaving too. They signed up for the old culture, not the new one.
Once a company becomes something they don’t recognize, they don’t want to stick around. Who would? The company made them a promise then broke it.
Work on your company culture
Your company culture is your single biggest asset. It could also be your biggest pitfall.
Culture is so much more than free breakfasts or a pool table. Those things don’t matter. They’re a bunch of flowers resting in a pot hole, barely disguising what’s underneath, just waiting for someone to fall through.
Everyone within your organization needs to believe in your company mission and direction, and treat people with honesty and respect, for your company culture to work.
If leaders treat new hires or junior employees like they’re an inconvenience for asking a basic question, it’s going to hurt that person’s ability to do their job and damage your company culture.
Those new hires or junior employees are then more likely to leave because they feel undervalued. Who’d want to work for a company where they get ignored?
They also need to feel able to speak up and challenge the status quo. Too many companies say that employees can do this but then penalize people for doing so. Honesty should be valued, not persecuted under strategic HR. Maintaining the status quo isn’t how businesses grow.
Conclusion
Strategic HR is the way of the future if you want a creative, innovative, future-proof business. It requires HR teams to work alongside leaders to formulate plans that support employee and business growth, getting the most out of everyone in the short- and long-term.
Another way you can support your employees is by putting your company culture front and center with the right tools. With a one-stop shop for all your employee initiatives they can get to know their colleagues, learn new skills, find growth opportunities, and collaborate more effectively. Discover how Workrowd can help elevate your strategic HR work. Get in touch today to find out more.
