Modern employees have raised the bar when it comes to workplace expectations. They want things like flexibility, to feel seen and heard and to be invested in the work that they do. The good news is as HR Professionals and Businesses owners we can control the narrative and can be responsive to the ever-changing employee needs just by Shifting our Mindset to Transform the Employee Experience.
There are 2 Types of Mindsets Defined by Dr Carol Dweck the author of Mindset… The New Psychology of Success. There are growth mindsets and fixed mindsets. Before developing a plan to transform the employee experience get clear what type of mindset you have.
A growth mindset means that you thrive on challenge, and don’t see failure as a way to describe yourself but as a springboard for growth and developing your abilities. Your intelligence and talents are all susceptible to growth.
Fixed mindset: “In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.”
In this new world, businesses that move from surviving to thriving must have a growth mindset and be willing to change the way that they look at things. It starts with being open minded when it comes to trying new things, learning lessons from failure, and measuring progress over perfection.
To allow more time for people engagement, automate time consuming processes and tasks. In new day HR a lot of the processes we do day in, and day out can simply be automated or made similar using cutting edge HR Software, custom integrations, and enhanced workflows. By using technology, you can get more time back in your day to focus on building relationships bult on trust and transparency.
Human Resources holds the key to a lot of sensitive employee and company information. We understand the confidentiality is critical. Try being more open in other areas like honesty, empathy, and fairness. Possibly share past examples of similar situations that have happened in the past omitting employee specifics. Having an open line of communication would help the employee feel like they are not alone. If a topic comes up that is confidential information be honest and explain why you can’t share details.
In the past a “Command and Control” leadership style worked. It looked like the manager telling the employee what to do and if they didn’t do it the employee could be terminated. Both manager and employee understood the unwritten agreement. This style left employees feeling undervalued and like a number. We recommend giving your employees a voice and trying to infuse fun into everyday tasks. Solicit employee feedback, ideas and sharing. Who doesn’t like to laugh more and have more fun all while being more productive? Think of it this way, Whistle while you Work.
Companies oftentimes have robust corporate levels never seeing the shining star employees a multitude of strengths and fresh perspective to the table. Create a culture of sharing up. Encourage company mid-level management to “brag on” some of their key employees. Listen to their ideas and advocate for the best ones. Start a mentoring program to help give your best employees a clear path to move up within the organization.
By shifting your mindset and committing to transform the employee experience the business could experience increased profitability, slow employee churn, and help build a culture of brand advocates. Start by establishing your personal and professional mindset, choose people of process, communicate openly, infuse more fun and play into the day to day, and advocate for your best employees.
To start the process of transforming your employees experience, consult the team of HR professionals at AlignHR. AlignHR works to proactively develop HR solutions to meet the current needs of businesses and organizations.