Employees as People First Imperative
In November 2021, I wrote an article titled “What’s Your EVP?” The key messages was that organisational executives do not know why their employees are leaving and how they have become another statistic in what has become known as The Great Resignation. The reason they don’t know is because they are not asking and listening. What employees want from an employer should inform your Employee Value Proposition – your EVP.
Your EVP is how you position your organisation in the employee marketplace. It tells prospective employees what you will offer them in return for their skills, capabilities, and experiences. It tells existing employees what you will continue to offer them to demonstrate you value them and want to keep them. Your EVP is also a marketing message to customers and consumers. They want to know how you treat your employees and that knowledge will affect their loyalty to your brand.
It was interesting to read in Harvard Business Review (HBR) this month an article called “Rethinking Your Approach to the Employee Experience” as it echoed my November article but also put some dollars into the equation.
I have used the term The Great Realisation to discuss why employees are leaving organisations. As the HBR article states:
“Human resources leaders commonly assume that for a company to stand out as a great place to work, it must deliver competitive perks—everything from skills training to pet insurance to foosball. New research finds that this view is outdated: Engagement and retention don’t correlate with benefits awards. Employees have begun looking beyond material offerings and assessing how they feel about the company they work for—and that requires a different approach.”
HBR state that Fortune 500 companies are spending more on benefits and perks than ever – almost $2500 USD a year per employee. The problem is that benefits and perks are not at the top of the list when employees are reflecting on their existing employer or evaluating a new one. They are looking beyond the material offerings.
Whilst many organisations are still packing their EVP with the transactional elements of employment, employees are looking for the relational elements. HBR quote global research from Gartner of over 5000 employees and more than 150 HR leaders which revealed the employee engagement has been flat since 2016.
The pandemic did not cause The Great Resignation. The employee experience issues were already there. The pandemic was the catalyst for employees to realise that they deserved more and more importantly, that they could get it.
People first and foremost
Employers need to see their employees as people first and foremost rather than as workers. 82% of employees say it’s important for their organization to see them as a person, not just an employee, yet only 45% of employees believe their organization actually sees them this way.
Clearly, pay and benefits are important to employees as they want a good standard of living. But once those basic needs are met, there is more powerful motivation in the relational aspects of employee such as value, purpose, belonging, wellbeing, learning and development, career progression, flexibility, and good leadership.
The following are five elements you must have in your EVP is you want to retain and attract talent. Organisations that fail to respond will cease to be relevant.
1. Autonomy and flexibility
Employees want to decide where they work, when they work, and how they work. This demand flexibility and autonomy. In my “What’s Your EVP?” article I provided a 4x4 matrix to illustrate why both autonomy and flexibility are needed.
Employees need flexibility work to where they want, when they want and how they want and the autonomy to make the decision about what that looks like.
There are too many organisations that think hybrid work is allowing employees to split their time between the office and home and dictating the days they will do that. There is no flexibility or autonomy in that model. If you dictate the number of days your employee must be in the office each week and they chose the days, then there is autonomy to decide but no flexibility as the number of days is being dictated. If you tell your employees they can work wherever then want but it is at a manager’s discretion, then there is flexibility but no autonomy. The choice of how to use the flexibility to taken away from your employee.
Organisations that provide a ‘true’ hybrid operating model based on flexibility and autonomy will be ahead of the competition and win the war on talent.
According to Gartner research, Where employees have some choice over where, when and how much they work, 55% are high performers”
2. Shared sense of purpose
There is a lot written about a shared sense of purpose in the workplace but little that looks at both sides of the ‘purpose’ coin. There is work purpose and organisational purpose and employees want to share both.
Employees want a sense of purpose from the work that they do. They must know how what they do delivers contributes, not only to team purpose, but also organisational purpose.
Organisational purpose must be cascaded down through the organisation in the form of goals, objectives, and key results (OKRs), and key performance indicators (KPIs. Organisational purpose is reflected in team purpose which is reflected in individual purpose.
There is the infamous legend of the NASA janitor who was mopping the floor when asked by President Kennedy in 1961, “what are you doing”, he replied, “I am helping put a man on the moon.” Myth or not, it clearly illustrates the point of a higher sense of purpose than keeping floors clean.
The other side of the ‘purpose’ coin is organisational position on social or cultural issues even if those issues have nothing to do with what the organisation produces or how it operates.
Gartner research also reveals that the number of highly engaged employees increases to 60% when the organisation acts on the social issues of today.
Employees want to see the organisation’s leaders take a stance on societal issues that they care about, beyond the occasional statement. They want to see action. Employers are often reluctant to do so in case they alienate employees who do not agree with the cause. However, if the cause is selected with employee consultant, the issue is diminished. Leaders should gather employee perspectives across the entire organisation when determining which issues to act on.
If a decision framework for gathering employee perspectives on issues and then prioritising the issues to be acted upon is created and then shared with all employees, there is transparency and employees feel they are an integral part of the process. Employee engagement is increased when employers put actions behind their words and allocate resources, change suppliers, and provide employees with paid-leave to volunteer.
3. Deeper connection
The boundaries between professional and personal life where well-defined prior to the pandemic. Those boundaries have now been blurred. Many organisations have avoided conversations about employee’s personal lives due to privacy concerns and a fear of ‘over-stepping the line.’ Whilst there is still a balance between showing an interest and an invasion of privacy, employees want these conversations to take place.
Employees want their employer to know about their personal commitments so that accommodations in professional commitments can be adjusted if possible. They want employers to take an active interest not only in their wellbeing but also that of their families and communities.
Leaders need coaching and development to have these conversations without employees feeling that their privacy is being compromised. Leaders must be able to check-in with employees and ensure that anything that can be done to improve their personal life which will in turn improve their professional life is undertaken. They must be able to walk that line while respecting boundaries and not damaging employee trust.
4. Wellbeing
Most organisations offer some form of mental wellbeing assistance to their employees. The problem is that they are point solutions. As part of a holistic and contextual mental wellbeing platform, they may have a part to play but only their own they are ineffective. The things I am talking about include the gratitude app, the sweat path, the happy or sad wrist bad, the gym subscription, the mindfulness Monday session, and the yoga class on Friday.
Even mental health first aiders are a point solution with little effect if the organisation has not taken intentional action on removing the stigma of mental health in the workplace.
Many employees do not utilise the assistance provided by the organisation due to the stigma. They do not want to reach out to a mental health first aider as this will indicate they perceive they need help and there is a fear they will discredited, labelled, treated differently, discriminated against, and regarded as not fit to do their job.
The other reason they do not utilise the assistance is that it is no holistic or contextual. A holistic platform offers everyone in the organisation assistance that meets their needs and preferences. Not everyone enjoys yoga and at the end of the day you cannot yoga your way out of burnout. The platform should be contextual – addressing the challenges or problems an employee is currently facing that is causing them stress and anxiety. For example, if I have been tasked with solving a complex problem in short timeframe and I am getting extremely stressed and anxious as I am making no progress, the meditation class on Wednesday is not going to help me. What I need is access to resources that include complex problem solving, collaboration, and self-efficacy.
Organisations who treat their employees as people first will provide a holistic and contextual platform for mental well-being; help employees utilise it; take intentional action to reduce the stigma of mental health by having open and honest conversations and normalising the subject; enable everyone to identify the signs that an employee may be struggling and knowing the right actions to take. Leaders must be coached on how to provide effective well-being support.
5. Learning and development
Employees want continual learning and development. Organisations must have a culture of lifelong learning in their EVP. Continuing professional development is not an option. It is not a cost; it is an investment.
Organisations must provide training and raise the skill levels of all employees. The mindsets of the C-suite need to adapt and change. Leadership skills require an uplift. There must be a focus on digital skills and encouragement of innovation, creativity, and critical thinking.
Employees want to see a career path that includes training, mentoring and opportunities to work in different areas of the organisation.
With the emergence of new technologies including artificial intelligence and robotics, adopting new skills is at the forefront of employees’ minds. You need to make it clear that you will invest in your employees learning and development.
Employee also want investment in their personal development. This could be career coaching, learning a foreign language or undertaking community service. The return for the organisation is an increase in performance and an intent to stay with the organisation by 6%.
Conclusion
Organisations serious about their survival, let alone success, must look at their current EVP, talk to their employees about their needs and ensure the EVP reflects those needs. When there is a war on talent, employees are in the driving seat, and the competition is revving up, not being an employer of choice is no longer an option. Your EVP must tell employees (current and future) that you see them as a person first and foremost and not as a worker who just turns up for a pay cheque.