Elevating employee relations is the key to achieving organisational success 

Make employee relations transformation a top priority 

Employee relations data can provide invaluable insights into the overall health of an organisation. By effectively capturing and analysing this data, HR departments can identify the underlying reasons for issues such as high sickness rates, grievances, and poor performance. This data can also be used to establish benchmarks for performance and trends at a granular level, enabling HR to identify departments and teams that are performing above or below average. With real-time insights, HR can promptly investigate issues, identify areas that require improvement in terms of culture or manager training, and launch employee engagement initiatives. 

Employee relations transformation is the missing puzzle piece in more broader business transformation, if you get the strategy right. And that is the key. We’ve seen how many organisations invest in the wrong solutions that aren’t fit for the complexity of managing employee relations because transformation of this function has not been a priority. By investing in the right solutions and strategies for managing employee relations, organisations can make significant progress towards their goals.  

Transforming employee relations through the use of technology can benefit both HR and the wider business. With easy access to data insights, HR can focus on developing effective people strategies that drive the business forward. Additionally, investing in a case management technology like our empower® solution, which enables managers to self-serve people matters, can increase the overall efficiency and agility of the organisation. 

HR’s top priority in 2024 should be tech-enabled manager empowerment 

According to Gartner®, “76% of HR leaders say their managers are overwhelmed by the growth of their job responsibilities. And 73% say their leaders and managers aren’t equipped to lead change.” As HR leaders believe their managers are overwhelmed by the increasing demands of their roles, manager empowerment is vital in 2024 and beyond. Findings from our own research highlights the following key points: 

• Manager empowerment emerges as the foremost priority for HR transformation, with the primary benefit anticipated by HR professionals as being more time to focus on strategic objectives. 
• However, HR cite that managers lack the essential skills and training required to be empowered to manage more people matters.  
• The major challenges hindering HR transformation include budget constraints, complexity of the process, and limited resources and time available for implementation. 

HR need to prioritise overcoming these barriers and invest in the right technology-driven solutions that empower managers to engage in the right conversations at the right time, with the right safe-guards in place to do this effectively.  

This approach to manager empowerment reduces the burden of transactional tasks on HR teams, enabling them to focus on more strategic and value-added initiatives. In turn, managers become empowered to handle people matters, as they have access to the guidance and tools needed to address issues proactively. 

Overall, this tech-led approach enhances employee relations case management, transforming it into a more proactive and process. 

Complement technology with the right policies, processes and training  

Technology alone is not enough to elevate an organisation’s success. While having advanced technology can provide a competitive advantage, it must be complemented by a framework of the right policies, training, and processes. Here’s how:  

• People-first policies: In order to empower managers effectively, people policies need to be up-to-date, effective and easily accessible. Regularly reviewing policies to ensure they remain relevant to our ever-evolving society is essential.   
• Accessible training: The workforce needs to be adequately trained to use the technology effectively and with so much focus on mental health required to combat the epidemic workforces are facing, investing in compassionate manager training and mental health workshops ensures that employees can harness the full potential of the tools at their disposal. This also promotes a culture of compassion within an organisation. 
• Simplifying processes: Efficient and well-structured processes can help maximise the benefits of technology. When employee relations processes are aligned with the capabilities of the technology, it leads to improved productivity and mitigates risk.  
• Actionable insights: Data-driven decision-making is a key component of success in the modern business landscape. Organisations need to collect, analyse, and derive actionable insights from their data. The technology needs to be fit for purpose to support this, enabling the extraction of valuable information that can inform strategic and operational decisions. 

In essence, technology is an enabler, but the success of an organisation depends on how well it integrates technology with the right policies, provides the necessary training to its workforce, and optimises its processes. Actionable insights derived from data-driven approaches empower leaders to make informed decisions that can drive the organisation forward. It’s the synergy between these elements that truly elevates an organisation’s success in the digital age. 

Simplify employee relations with streamlined case management

To ensure you get the transformation investment right, get in touch to find out how we have successfully transformed employee relations and simplified processes in HR in organisations like Currys, BT, Wickes, and more. Read the case studies here.  And remember, you can’t simply invest in a technology and not invest in the people impacted by it.  

empower® is the best-in-class employee relations case management software that can help transform employee relations and pinpoint the root causes of issues that may be impacting organisational success. To learn more about how empower® can be customised to suit your business needs, arrange a call today.

Disclaimer: Gartner, Where HR Will Focus in 2024, October 17, 2023. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.