Sample Question - ER Impact

QUESTION

What’s the impact of changes such as employee relations strategies, policies, and practices on organizational performance?

ANSWER

The bottomline answer to your question is that organizations that identify the appropriate employee relations strategies, policies, and practices WILL have ONLY a positive impact on their performance.  These are the organizations that we already see named as “best places to work” or “employer of choice”.  They’ve realized the benefit and competitive advantage that these changes can have to the overall success of their organization.

In our consulting practice, below is a list of some of the key changes we’ve observed in organizational strategies over the past three years:

• Heightened sensitivity to age differences in terms of recruiting, employee development, and employee relations policies
• More flexibility in work structure and policies such as dress code, telecommuting, flexible hours
• Tailored rewards and recognition, especially in consideration of differences across generations
• Increased front-line supervisory training and development

We believe that changing workforce demographics have driven the need for organizational change across the U.S.   More women are coming into, and staying in, the workforce.  Women now comprise about 49% of the total workforce in our country.  We now have five generations in the workforce, with medical technology allowing older workers to be healthy enough to stay well past the historical age 65 should they choose to do so.  These generations are very different with regard to their motivations and interests.  Cultural diversity is also growing in organizations across the country because technology has made is all global.  In short, employee relations policies and strategies have had to evolve to take these demographic changes into account.

Results we’ve observed in our client organizations include enhanced recruiting capability in a highly competitive environment; retention of high-performing employees; and increased and sustained profitability driven by engaged, highly motivated workers. 

We’ve found that companies are becoming very creative when it comes to offering rewards and recognition targeted at retaining their best and brightest employees.  Concierge services such as dry cleaning have been highly successful as perks that entice employees of all ages to continue their employment.  Posting jobs online on sites that cater to different age groups has become a critical approach towards obtaining a recruiting advantage.  In short, companies that are willing to be innovative in terms of recruitment and retention strategies have reaped the result of finding and keeping excellent employees who in turn drive profits.  What works for one organization does not necessarily work for every organization.  It’s important to figure out what your employees want and need that will help your organization reap the results.

We thought you might be interested in the attached Society for Human Resource Management article that discusses this topic, and you’ll find other articles about recruiting, employee relations, and retention on our sister sites:  www.gravett.com and www.StrategicHRinc.com.