Human capital is the most important asset for any organization. Given that there are people’s emotions, behaviour and personalities involved, and the market dynamics are changing at a rapid pace, the challenges for human resources department has increased several times over.
Here are nine major challenges and how to deal with them.
- Attracting Talent
Today’s employees want to join organizations on their terms. The right employees are those who can fit into the culture of the organization. The best way to attract talent is to abreast them with the company culture and understand their workplace expectations right at the time of the interview.
- Retaining Talent
The grass is always greener on other side! With ample job and entrepreneurship opportunities available, it doesn’t take much time for employees to make a switch for a better prospect. Engage the employees, provide them work-life balance and show them career path in the organization.
- Conflict Management
It’s a human tendency to clash. But, at workplaces, such unhealthy behaviour can hamper productivity. Keep the channels of communication open and define acceptable behaviour to avoid conflicts.
- Performance Management
More often than not, a greater percentage of workforce ends up being unhappy after the appraisal process is over. Instead of conducting yearly evaluation, shift the focus to continuous and constructive feedback. If required, enrol for performance management certification to learn how to make performance management more effective.
- Managing Diverse Workforce
Today’s workforce is a mix of on-site/off-site teams and remote/virtual teams across different locations, genders, age and ethnics. Human resources must percolate the shared company culture, albeit respecting the different characteristics of workforce.
- Compensation
Employee always want more – whether it is the basic salary, perks or benefits. Compensation is the primary motivator for any person. Create a system which provides competitive salaries and rewards their recognition.
- Succession Planning
What if an employee quits or is transferred or promoted? Is there someone who can fill the position quickly? Such dilemmas can be avoided by succession planning and leadership development programs.
- Change Management
Change is the only constant in life. Unfortunately, organizations face a major employee resistance when a change is implemented. When a change initiative takes place, communicate its benefits to explain people the why and how of it.
- Privacy and Security
Human resources department is responsible for employee privacy as well as company information security. Any leakage can have devastating effects on the organization. This can be taken care by framing strict regulations on breach of privacy, securing data and entering into confidentiality agreement with vendors.
Sign up for human resource management courses online and learn more about these challenges and ways to handle them.