4min
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it” Lou, Holtz
HR folks have a lot on their plate – from finding the right talent to fill key roles, to advising business leaders on how to navigate new and ongoing talent management challenges. They must balance the strategic and tactical, the urgent and the everyday, and a whole lot in between. HR professionals shoulder a lot of responsibility in the workplace, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Here are some of the top challenges we hear about and a few ideas that may help address them.
Attracting Talent
As the war for talent intensifies, HR professionals must continue to recruit talent to fill key roles as the organization grows. According to a survey of HR professionals across multiple industries and geographies, recruiting was named one of the top concerns keeping them up at night. Many factors contribute to the challenge of attracting talent, including a low unemployment rate and a shortage of skilled workers in some industries. Thankfully, there are new tools available to support recruiting activities, such as video interviews, “smart” ATS (Applicant Tracking System) platforms that screen out unqualified candidates, and recruitment chatbots that can schedule interviews, answer candidate questions and even conduct interviews! As recruitment becomes more automated, HR professionals leveraging these tools will have more time to focus on strategic talent acquisition, onboarding, and other areas of HR.
Improving the Employee Experience
Once employees are recruited, the next big challenge for HR is helping ensure a positive employment experience. In a Deloitte survey of corporate executives, 80% of respondents rated the employee experience as a critical factor influencing the overall company success. As anyone who works in HR can attest, a lot of work goes into impacting the employee experience. This means creating and delivering an attractive mix of compensation and benefits, developing training opportunities, and optimizing every facet of employee’s work environment. With recent stats such as one in five top-performing employees leaving their job within six months companies, it’s HR’s responsibility in finding solutions to keep their rising stars. Tools like employee engagement surveys and career development planning can help HR professionals be more proactive in improving employee experience.
Digital Change in the Workplace
Speaking of tools, technology is changing at a lightning speed across every area of organizational management. Companies of all sizes are continuously introducing new technology and processes that help teams generate, track and share ideas. For example, many companies encourage and/or rely on social networks to help employees connect and engage. However, these tools can create new challenges that HR is expected to solve – such as protecting employee’s confidential information and company data, particularly when employees work remotely or on personal devices. Technology solutions that come with built-in compliance tools, are well-suited for today’s digitally-minded workforce - which is exactly what EverythingBenefits offers to the market.
HR professionals make a huge impact in the workplace - and they do so in an environment where change is often the only constant. That’s why we strive to understand the challenges facing HR professionals and work with them to identify opportunities for automation and improved efficiency.
What are the top challenges your deal with every day as an HR Professional? We’d love to know! Send us a note at bizdev@everythingbenefits.com. We’re always on the lookout for new ways to optimize the HR experience.
