Role of HR in keeping their employees motivated (Guest Blog)

To keep employees motivated is perhaps the toughest job for HR personnel. And amidst this economic downturn, employees have become concerned and often are hailed as job hoppers, if they are given a raise, promoted or challenged.

It is said that retaining an employee is naturally less costly than hiring a new one and training him from the scratch. The expectations of employers have gravely increased too. They want their employees to be like robots and deliver consistently and as per desired standards. They often forget that employees are after all humans and have certain limitations. Companies have based their profitability and productivity on employee performance but the remuneration packages are still the same mainly (exceptions aside) which does not make for the increased workload and effort.

So what can HR do? It’s not they want to treat employees unjustly but their hands are tied too. Reasons? Well, they do not constitute our piece at this time but what they can do, instead:

Ask questions and listen to answers

This would be unfair to say that employees don’t want to see their organizations grow. They do but it is not a charity cause, there are certain considerations.  In short, they want to be there on the battle front when the going gets tough and would be willing to defend their company and clarify and explain matters. It is the manager and HR’s responsibility to ask questions and welcome feedback. There may be ideas that could save you money or that may improve your value chain model and so on so forth. Point being, offer them a platform to be heard. Take suggestion and share your take on the subject. Questions could range from…

What do you think are the strengths of the organization? Where do you think is the room for improvement? Where do you think the cost can be curtailed? How can company’s efficacy be improved?

And make sure to practice this in a candid environment. When you increase employee engagement, you will see that more and more solutions to your business problems will result. It is imperative that HR should inculcate this habit within the organization and not just within any single department.

Communicate

The HR in liaison with their respective authorities should communicate to the employees about the current and the longer term vision of the organization. They should brief how the company is trying to achieve its long-term plans and if push comes to shove, how will they bounce back.This will instill confidence in the employee. Being on board feels good and as result, he will work to ensure improvement in his work and will work diligently towards bringing company success. All you have to do is channelize their energy in right direction.

Provide training

Training is the real MVP of any company. This ensures that employees are keeping up with the company’s upgraded requirements regarding productivity and general work ethics. So even if they (your employee) have assumed some new responsibility as part of job enlargement, let them know that it is part of the learning curve.Therefore, investing in your employees adds to the increased employee commitment towards the organization. The HR should also focus on leadership training as well since in future, today’s executives will tomorrow’s leaders coaching/leading the team of next generation of executives.

Recognition and praise

They say that your difficult times speaks a lot about you than your good days. When times are good, you are riding high but when they are bad, you are in a downward spiral and treats everybody like s***. Hence, it is essential for the organization to value its employees’ efforts during those unsettling times. A simple “Thank you” or “Good job” usually suffices. And not just on bad days but on normal days even. The mere words cement loyalty to perform even better.

Shadowing

Shadowing is an act of mentoring, you assign a seasoned person in the organization alongside a newbie who helps him in meeting the challenges of the workplace environment. HR can promote the mentoring culture internally or can encourage employees to join the group outside of the company. This way individuals feel reinforced and more proficient in handling difficult issues.

Value individual contributions

Nothing feels good than being appreciated for your hard work no matter how small. The HR must periodically, have face-to-face sessions with the individual who have been devising improved methods in contributing to company’s success and tell them they are being valued. A little appreciation goes a long way.

To sum up, motivated employees are well-organized, innovative and can help uplift overall profitability plus end results.

Author Bio:

Cassie is a writing professional, who likes to blog about multiple niche. She also works for a company that provides quality academic writing services, ranging from small assignment to full dissertation writing help.