Image Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130813143859-271976344-making-the-workplace-work-for-multiple-generations
Workplace culture and engagement initiatives have become
increasingly important to employee retention. Lisa Chui, former VP of HR &
Finance at Ubiquity Retirement and Savings, offers a unique perspective. She
knows firsthand how important it is for HR and Finance to build an effective
partnership. At HR Redefined, Lisa shared four tips for leveraging this
relationship to strengthen employee retention.
1.
Revisit Your Org Chart
As companies go through periods of growth, it’s important to step back and
reassess your org chart. If you have a very top-heavy or siloed structure,
employees may not feel a strong sense of community or collaboration. Bringing
about a cultural transformation shouldn’t be a C-suite conversation, but should
engage the whole company in addressing the problem and proposing solutions.
“We asked our team ‘Who is the most important person at our company?’ And it
wasn’t the CEO it was the customer,” said Chui. “With this realization, we
rebranded all of our teams as ‘success’ teams, combining HR and Finance as
‘Company Success’.”
Finance knows all too well that payroll is one of the company’s largest
expenses, but a fresh org structure can provide opportunities to re-engage
employees and help them work toward a shared mission. HR’s job is to support
these employees through an ideal working environment and initiatives that help
them achieve success.
2.
Prioritize Employee Engagement
To find a solution to existing problems, it helps to go directly to the source.
Start with an employee engagement survey. Get your employee Net Promoter Score
by asking employees to rate their satisfaction with the company on a scale of
1-10. As you introduce new initiatives, you can refer back to this baseline and
track your progress. In addition to this score, ask for qualitative feedback on
changes employees want to see. Great feedback doesn’t always happen right away.
According to Chui, “not a lot of employees provided constructive feedback at
first, [so] we had to build that culture of trust.”
When employees do share their candid thoughts, listen. If they see real changes
based on their feedback, they will continue to share more.
How do you get Finance on board with new initiatives? You have to first
demonstrate the impact. Start with non-cash incentives, and enlist a diverse
mix of employees to help guide programming. Low-cost cultural initiatives, for
example, work especially well when planned by employees themselves. Try a team
breakfast, get creative with holiday treats, or start a fitness challenge.
3.
Scale Your Benefits Offering
After introducing new low-cost initiatives based on employee feedback, Chui saw
a quantifiable increase in engagement and a drastic rise in Ubiquity’s Net
Employer Score. That was a powerful proof point and supported the decision to
set aside further budget on engagement initiatives.
Paid employee engagement programs can be as simple as increasing paid time off
or as robust as a milestone reward plan. At Ubiquity, Chui’s team introduced a
four week sabbatical program for employees who reach the 5 year mark. “It’s
great for employees, but also for the company because it forces
cross-collaboration and cross-training for employees who cover each other
during periods of extended time off.”
Employees will want to stay with your company long-term to reap these
benefits—a big boost to retention and a way to avoid the hiring costs
associated with backfills.
4.
Quantify the Impact on Retention
All of these initiatives can make a dramatic impact on retention. Lower
turnover leads to increased profitability. As you align your benefits and
culture, not only can you retain employees longer, you can also count on a
higher quality referrals from employees who have long been committed to your
company.
This is something that everyone at your company can get on board with, so learn
to speak the language of finance. Know the ROI of your initiatives and be aware
of important metrics like labor to revenue and cost to hire. Cultural change
has to start somewhere, and it often takes time and funding—making Finance an
important ally throughout the process.
Here at Converge HR Solutions, we can develop an employment
engagement survey to help with insight for the employer. These surveys help
enhance employee interaction and job satisfaction within the workplace. With
these results, we can implement the necessary interventions to resolve current
organization issues or dilemmas. For more information, visit our website
at https://convergehrsolutions.com/
or directly at info@convergehrsolutions.com or
610-296-8550.
0 Comments