Monday, November 19, 2007

"Employee-focused HR Process Paradigm."

This will turn the attention away from an inside-out focus to an outside-in focus. When the focus is inside-out, all the processes are defined and implemented without a clear understanding of what employees need and want. When it is outside-in, the processes become focused on the real needs of the employees. Therein lies the key to employee engagement, effectiveness and retention.
When the CEO demands an outside-in focus, HR processes tend to take the following approach and ask:
Do we understand that different segments of talent call for different approaches to selection, retention and engagement?
Do we understand that employee needs differ dramatically based on their profiles and also the time they spend with their present employer?
Do we understand that periodic focus group meetings with different segments of the employee base (employees with less than one year experience; between one and two years; over three years; women employees; employees in development; QA or such other logical segmentation) will reveal the needs and wants of the employees?
Do we understand that at any point in time employees have one or more of the following five needs: The need to learn; to grow; to contribute; to make a difference; and to mentor.
Translating all these needs will call for a radically different approach to defining People Processes. Some of the processes that will be defined with the outside-in approach are given below:
People manager selection and preparation process (they have maximum impact on retention and engagement)
Re-engaging the disengaged employees process (employees go through disengagement prior to resigning from the company and the symptoms of disengagement are visible and noticeable.)
Re-engaging the veteran employees’ process (knowledge workers go through the two-year itch and need preventive treatment before it takes epidemic form in the company.)
Top talent engagement process – they look for different rewards and recognition.
Solid citizens (represent 70 per cent of employees) visibility and involvement process.
Alumni ecosystem process (a number of employees who leave due to the two-year itch may like to return if presented with suitable work culture and people processes.)
People Manager goal-setting process that clearly incorporates actions to be taken by them towards the above processes.

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