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Humanising employee experiences and rethinking the role of HR

An experience shared by everyone

Did you know that the origin of the word ‘pandemic’ is rooted in Greek? The term comes from ‘pandēmos’, derived from ‘pan’ – ‘all’, and ‘dēmos’ – ‘people’. It’s a word that’s so familiar to everybody now, after a difficult and deeply strange 12 months. It aptly describes something huge, a phenomenon that has undoubtedly affected all people and transformed every personal and work life in some way.

The world is dramatically different. Face masks have become as much of a habit as the brushing of teeth. There’s a heightened focus on health and wellbeing, nature and hobbies. We’re binging on TV series (ok, perhaps that’s not totally different) and learning to keep our distance, with changed greeting customs and different forms of social recognition – memorably demonstrated by the clapping for key workers. Banking and shopping have altered too, with an exponential increase in online transactions. As a result, more people are tech-savvy, with digital screens of some description now even more common than they were before.

Looking at all of this from a HR perspective, it feels like employee experiences matter more than ever too.

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Posted 31/03/2021

Rethinking the experience of work

Covid-19 could be seen as the unofficial closing ceremony for the industrial era and an opening ceremony for the age of disruption, or as some have called it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution. How we live, work and connect with each other is fundamentally shifting and the speed, breadth and depth of change are forcing HR to rethink how organisations create value and find new ways to build a flexible, inclusive and human-centred future. It’s not about planning for the new normal, but rather the next phase, and there’s surely an inviting opportunity now to shape new ways to work. By thinking about organisations, and how they’re being affected, in three dimensions – work, the workforce and the workplace – we can begin to respond to the new challenges unfolding before us.

The pandemic has been shining a light on organisations’ entire cultures and their peoples’ experiences. When it comes to improving employee experiences, instead of thinking of traditional employee lifecycles, it’s more valuable and effective to think of moments that matter. The blurring of our home and work lives means these moments transcend boundaries, so it’s important to acknowledge them.

They can include: the first day in a new job; having a child; getting promoted; receiving great feedback; buying a house; right through to leaving a company. By focusing on these moments, businesses can look at employees as whole individuals with unique experiences, rather than people who simply perform jobs. Doing so allows a level of humanisation into workplaces and can unlock a sense of meaning and shared values that can drive success.

3H approach: Head, Heart and Hand

In order to humanise the employee experience, I’d like to suggest that we take a ‘3H’ approach: Head, Heart, Hand.

First, there’s the Head. People want to think about and understand why changes are needed, why they need to flex and adapt. So it’s important that employees comprehend a business’s purpose, strategy and direction, receive trust and empathy from their leaders and feel part of resilient organisations. This puts the spotlight firmly on leaders who must share their plans, get employees’ input and engage them in decisions – after all, purpose-driven organisations always have high levels of engagement.

Next, there’s the Heart. We need to understand people’s feelings, motivations, expectations and behaviours. The future of work will be much more about the heart. HR and business leaders need to draw upon their emotional intelligence skills to manage employee wellbeing at work and take time to ensure that staff feel they can voice concerns and, crucially, be heard. That’s essential to sustaining a culture of collaboration, equality and inclusion. When differences of perspective are accepted, and thoughtfully addressed in the workplace, employees will feel a sense of belonging – and that their company wants to understand them.

Then comes the Hand. Do people have the right tools, knowledge and experience to do their jobs well? Employees are looking to be equipped in ways that will let them keep up with their busy schedules and help them grow, learn, increase their skills and be successful. Of course, one of the best tools for reaching employees is in their hands already – mobile phones – and just as we use apps intuitively in our daily lives, so employees want simple and engaging tools for work.

Reinventing the role of HR

Now, let’s touch on how HR professionals might go beyond functional excellence and find new ways to add value to their organisations.

  • As an Agile Leader, how can HR build organisational resilience and better prepare for tomorrow?
  • As a Cultural Champion, HR must look for ideas to inspire desired behaviours and beliefs.
  • Finally, as a Growth Enabler HR must adopt smarter ways of working, to help individuals and teams grow.

Agile Leader: HR must prepare for the hybrid workplace, as it’s now all about what you do, not where you do it. For many, hybrid working is a model that combines remote working with office time, granting employees more autonomy to fit work around the rest of their lives. Ideally, it’s the best of both worlds: structure and sociability on the one hand, and independence and flexibility on the other. So focus your automation efforts on helping hybrid and flexible employees to be more productive and as things become increasingly digital, it will be easier to analyse workforce data and show how HR impacts strategic business goals.

Cultural Champion: employee wellbeing is now more important than ever and it’s also holistic, including mental, physical, emotional and financial wellbeing. It’s also time to start thinking differently about differences: real workforce diversity is not a metric, it’s a mindset. The best teams are infused with diversity of thought, with a mix of individuals bringing different life experiences to the table. Gender, sexual orientation, ethnic/cultural heritage, age – all of these characteristics and more make us who we are and the greater the variety we embrace, the better for all concerned.

Growth Enabler: the role of HR as a growth enabler is to connect people to the knowledge they need. The current challenge employees have, regarding learning in traditional ways, is that they tend to be too busy for it. However, learning in the flow of work, or in the moment of need, can be hugely effective and works best when information is easily accessible and given within the right context. So HR should also build sustainable employee upskilling and reskilling programmes that prepare people to be future-ready.

Conclusion

“When people are financially invested they want a return, but when they’re emotionally invested they want to contribute.” So said Simon Sinek. Well, to enable the outcomes described above and maximise positive contributions from employees, we need to provide them with the right support and digital toolbox to allow them to collaborate, communicate and connect with each other.

Good technological tools will amplify meaningful impacts at work and assist in the creation of moments that matter, while strong support will offer appropriate physical, human and digital choices that can empower people, all people, to achieve new productivity goals and in turn drive business growth.

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