How Effective HR Leaders Help Managers Build Their People
With so many challenges facing companies today, HR can provide valuable insights and be the champion of change to help businesses grow and retain top performing talent.
The Value of Internal Partnership
The ways companies should approach their workforce has changed in the last few years. The great resignation has proven to employers that people no longer respond effectively to a control-motivated bureaucracy. Instead, a more adaptable and creative view of talent management can often generate better results.
According to a McKinsey report, HR can support their organization by establishing an internal company mission and set of goals shaped by a culture of inclusiveness, learning, and innovation.
In order to achieve business goals, it’s critical to look at talent management strategies.In this way HR leaders can offer access to valuable data that provides useful insights and measurements that serve both purposes. Advancements in AI and technology provide effective tools to collect, analyze, and share data with managers and business leaders. From the information gathered, HR can help businesses focus on key areas that provide the most benefits from their efforts.
Assess employee needs
Not every employee has the same needs at their job. For some, the paycheck may be all they are looking for. However, others may be looking for more growth opportunities. With the average tenure of 4.3 years for men and 3.8 years for women according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, managers want to be aware of the reasons people leave an organization.
HR leaders can assist managers with evaluating employees’ needs through one-on-one meetings or check-ins with associates. By providing the right tools and knowledge and asking employees the right questions, HR can help managers better evaluate:
- Challenges employees are facing
- Gaps in support for employees
- Professional goals not being met by employers
Once goals and challenges are established, then HR leaders can assist with developing programs for building and monitoring goal progressions.
Sharpening Skills
With lack of career growth and advancement as the number one reason for people changing jobs (41% as reported by McKinsey), taking an approach to developing people through improving skills helps companies not only with their retention effort and skill shortages, but puts the company in a better position to navigate the changes in their industry.
HR leaders can partner with managers by first creating a culture of learning within the organization. By shifting the mindset to viewing the workforces based on the skills they bring to a role vs. years of experience, companies can begin creating educational programs that fit needs.
HR leaders can further assist managers with determining the right program for employees. One-size-fits-all does not work in most organizations. By assisting with creating a learning experience that excites employees as well as helps with skill development through individual specific training, HR leaders can lend a hand in making cultural change happen that meets employees where they are at as individual leaders and contributors.
Identifying Leadership Potential
Leadership plays a large role in the success of business, and identifying the right people for the position is vital. Good leadership has changed over the years and is not the holistic form that it once was. Harvard Business Review identified effective leadership characteristics it referred to as the ABCs — good leaders are architects of a positive company culture, bridge networks of talent, and are catalysts of organizational change. To identify key people who could help lead the company into the future, it is important to know what to look for.
What HR leaders want to keep an eye out for when identifying potential leaders are the possible pitfalls that can occur from bias. With only 72 women on average being promoted for every 100 men, HR leaders should share the importance of diversifying those offered leadership roles. By removing the biased assumptions such as a person’s lack of experience or tenure in the industry, managers can see all their people’s potential and make smarter decisions.
Developing Teams
Effective teams prioritize open communication to allow for greater innovation. To build on teams, HR leaders can assist managers with creating opportunities that encourage people to join together whether they are on location or working remotely.
From these opportunities, HR leaders can continue to assist managers in promoting collaboration and build more confident and engaged employees through teamwork activities or peer recognition. For women, when they are within small teams that share goals and give kudos to one another for accomplishments, it helps build their confidence in the workplace and grows the team’s ability to finish projects efficiently.
Instilling the Values of Community
Having a supportive community of colleagues builds strong relationships and helps employees feel valued and included. This is even more effective for women who are striving for advancement or are in leadership roles. It has been found that 81% of women feel some form
of exclusion in the workplace and suffer from impostor syndrome.
By encouraging and providing means for supportive communities, HR leaders can help managers build networking within the workplace where people can gather virtually or onsite and exchange ideas, experiences, and ambitions. These groups can be specific or open to anyone such as an ERG group that focuses on women or underrepresented minorities. They can also be made up of peer groups or a mentor assisting junior level employees to advance in their career.
One example would be how a supportive community helps many women in the early stages of their careers grow in confidence. When they get together with a group or talk about things they are experiencing, they see that they are not so different from everyone else and do have something to offer.
How HR leaders can help with the transformation
From improving employee experience, driving leadership performance, and establishing company culture, HR can make a difference in the organization in many ways. By partnering with business leaders and discovering the best programs to assist their employees’ development, HR can build a skilled and motivated workforce which drives innovation and achieves business goals. To learn more about how you can help your company expand your workforce, check out what Aurora has to offer.