Strategy for Effective Employee Relations – HR Affiliates Blog
Employee relations, simply defined, is the relationship between employees and employers. Every company knows they need an effective employee relations strategy, but few do much about it and many are not sure how to go about forming a strategy.
Employee relations are influenced by many factors, all of which affect the strategic balance between employers and employees. Building a strong employee relations strategy involves creating an environment that delivers what people want. Employees want to feel good about what they do and where they work. Companies want to feel good about productivity, performance and developing future leaders.
An effective employee relations strategy will impact employee engagement, thus resulting in better company performance. How do you go about developing effective employee relations? Follow the advice below:
Adopt a Conducive Workplace Culture
Employees want to feel good about what they do and where they do it. Decide with your team what values represent your company and then promote them transparently. Articulate them to every person in the organization; they will drive expected behaviors. It should go without saying that leadership must live the cultural platform.
Involve Your Team Members
Employees should feel important to your company. Let them willingly accept new responsibilities and challenges. But, make sure they enjoy whatever they do. Encourage employees to share their work with each other. This way people tend to talk with each other more, discuss things among themselves and thus the comfort level increases. Let them work together and make some decisions on their own. A team leader should intervene only if necessary.
Insist Upon Proper Communication
Employees need to know what’s going on.Encourage effective communication among team members. They can’t work in a vacuum and they need an avenue for articulating needs, wishes, complaints and goals. Poor communication leads to confusion and misunderstandings. The communication has to be precise and relevant. Be very specific about expectations. Be straightforward. Written modes of communication must be promoted among the employees for better transparency. Don’t just communicate to employees; ensure there are flexible ways for employees to communicate back.
Recognition
Praise the individual for exceptional results and provide suitable rewards. Encourage everyone to perform well to live up to the expectations of the management team.Put measures in place so people can be recognized and applauded when they live up to those values.
Regular Team Meetings
Let everyone come together on a common platform and discuss whatever issues on their mind. The meetings must not be too formal. Leaders should start and end the meeting with a positive tone, provide updates and get the group involved.
Events
Celebrate birthdays, holiday parties, and other occasions at the workplace. These small initiatives actually go a long way in strengthening the bond among the employees. Allow them to decorate the office, their work stations and make all the necessary arrangements themselves. Employees will actually take the initiative and organize things on their own. Let them enjoy each other and have fun.
Strong and effective employee relations generally lead to a better performing organization. Employees want a culture where they are comfortable with each other, share a good rapport and work in close coordination towards a common objective. A healthy relation among employees promotes a positive workplace and employees feel happy and satisfied at work. They look forward to going to work and contributing to the mission, vision and goals of their employer.
For assistance with any or all of your human resource needs, HR Affiliates provides solutions that fit any company.