The human resources team is one of the most crucial parts of an organization and represents the face of the company to an outsider. The entire recruitment cycle consisting of matching talent with the business needs, grooming the employee, and induction in the system, entails humongous efforts. As with every role, an HR role is not a cakewalk and encounters challenges, and in this article, we discover strategies to mitigate the common HR challenges.
Often acting as a bridge between companies and talent or the management and the team member, this department gets sandwiched between various wants and requirements from both ends.
Amongst various challenges and road blockers, we picked up a handful of leading challenges and crisp strategies to tide over the same. Let us get started.
Curating the perfect job description
Creating an apt job description is the first step in catching some eyeballs and often sounds monotonous. The key is to include a fresh perspective in the written or verbal communication to hook the applicant. The manpower team must discuss the nitty-gritty details of the role with the line manager and ensure the description is apt, contains all relevant points, and does not sound drab.
Attracting the right talent
In an age of virtual interviews, assessments, and appointments, finding the right talent best suited for the job requirements is daunting. After all, the business must benefit from the employee’s skills and contribution once onboard. To overcome this challenge it is imperative to scan the resume, run some error-proof background checks, conduct video interviews, and use AI-based software to ensure absolute clarity in mapping the right talent with the correct job.
Remote onboarding and support
In today’s post-pandemic era, many companies foster remote or hybrid work environments, which means the entire induction and onboarding process needs to be synced technically-well. Providing the candidate with the necessary equipment like internet access, laptop, and accessories, an online real-time communication channel, and robust document verification is a requisite.
DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion)
Entities that support a diverse, equal, and inclusive environment score well in the best places to work category. By navigating cultural differences and allowing for an inclusive environment, human resources, and management must unanimously create a conducive work environment for a peaceful co-existence.
Learning and Development
Every employee wants to grow professionally, and without the correct learning and development plan, this aspect of an employee’s journey remains unfulfilled. The growing number of employees with distinct learning curves, tenures, backgrounds, and skill sets can be overwhelming for the Human resource team. Implementing the correct Learning Management system helps in the growth and development of talent.
Employee engagement
Keeping your employees happy is not an option but a necessity, as happy and satisfied employees tend to stick around with the company. Separation is never an easy process on the business or an emotional level for the people operations team. The gruesome exercise of the job posting, selecting a candidate, assessing the skills, induction, and onboarding is time-consuming. Steps like providing recreational activities at the workplace, flexible work timings and modes, rewards and recognition programmes, contribution valuing, timely feedback, and get-togethers imbibe a sense that the employees and their efforts are valued and engage the employees positively.
Transparency in the Work Environment
Maintaining a transparent work environment is essential to remove negativity in the workplace. Preferential treatment, favoritism, and office politics come hand-in-hand in a human-led environment seamlessly. To ensure workplace transparency, the People resources team must propel an Open-door policy, employee grievance day, skip-level meetings, and confidential feedback-sharing exercises. Even one word of assurance, open and non-judgemental communication, and clear communication channels between peers would help the environment become positive, growth-oriented, and encouraging.
Conflict Management
The famous influencer, writer, and life-coach Simon Sinek rightly says: “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute”
Finally, conflict management is an integral part of any business and is a challenge for the HR team and the management. The HR must have a confidential one-on-one with each party involved and track the root cause of the issue. Transparent communication would ensure everybody is on the same page and are committed to achieving a common business goal.
The role of the Human resources team is to help employees derive emotional fulfillment from their jobs, and that can happen once the team is ready to face the challenges head-on and overcome them gracefully.