At the root of a purpose-driven workplace is a people-focused workforce. Employees are the centre of your culture and thus, the core of your company. When you make the effort to value and prioritize the employee experience, your organization thrives.
So what can HR leaders do to ensure their people are the main focus of the workplace?
When establishing a people-focused workplace, the work starts on your employee’s first day—or even before.
The way in which new employees are hired, onboarded, and welcomed into your team is the basis for their first impression of your company. Their orientation experience effectively sets their expectations for the rest of their employee journey. Ensuring that your new team members have everything they need for a smooth first day—from their orientation manual and checklist to their meeting schedules and team lunch invitation—will bring them a sense of comfort as they begin their new career with your organization.
Job ownership and connection
For your people to succeed in their role, they must feel a sense of connection with the work and be able to find meaning in it.
Purpose-driven work is done by employees who are active participants in their role, whether their goal is excelling for the company, for their professional development, or for their own alignment and enjoyment of the company's mission. When an employee understands how they fit into the team and the impact of their contributions to the company’s overall mission, you'll see a marked improvement in their interest, enthusiasm, and commitment to the work.
Purpose-focused and people-focused culture
In today’s purpose-driven workplace, the ultimate motivator for an employee is passion. People want to find fulfillment in their work beyond pay. For employers, it’s important to get to know employees on a personal level in order to discover what they care about and how to tie that back into the company culture you are building.
A key to achieving this type of collaborative and transparent work environment is facilitating open communication and feedback among your teams. From performance reviews to weekly check-ins, ensure your people have a voice and that their insights and ideas are heard by management and leadership. Consider their opinions, take in their suggestions, and learn what they need to feel supported by their team and the organization.
People-focused support
A crucial part of taking care of your people is allowing them to take care of themselves. One way of implementing this is by giving your people the tools they need to boost their productivity. With HR solutions and people management systems, you can empower your people by enabling them to participate in their own self-management, including viewing and updating their personal data, overseeing their time off and vacation time, and even self-enrolling for health benefits. This way, your people can put more of their time and energy into their work.
People-focused support provided by the company goes beyond the parameters of the employee’s role itself. An organization that invests in their people—from offering a professional development budget to online learning courses—shows investment in the employees and signals that the organization is thinking ahead to long-term plans for strengthening their people’s management and leadership potential.
A path for growth
To keep employees engaged for the long term, they need to have paths for advancement. This includes being able to increase the scope of their role, work towards promotions, and get salary increases. If employees don’t feel like they can progress at your company, they’ll start to look elsewhere sooner or later. This is especially true for your best employees. They’re hungry to take on bigger responsibilities. When you put role advancement at the core of your company, you’ll make a huge step forward to being a people-centered workplace.
This does have high stakes since it involves compensation. It’s really important to do everything right and make changes deliberately. The first step is determining your compensation philosophy. From there, you’ll have a plan on how and when to review compensation for all your employees.
Employee appreciation
According to a global survey, when employees are recognized, culture metrics improve: 92% of employees reported feeling more appreciated, 86% reported feeling happier at work, and 85% reported feeling satisfied in their jobs.
Consistently showing your people that they are valued not just through your words, but through your actions, makes a difference. In addition to verbal appreciation, there are numerous ways to recognize your people for their good work. Gestures of recognition can include taking an employee out for coffee or writing a thank-you card to express your appreciation for a job well done.
When organizations care about their people, they build trust. An employee’s trust in their company has an impact on their overall job satisfaction, engagement, and retention.
Your people deserve an extraordinary experience—one that allows them to be healthy, productive, motivated, and their best selves at work. In the people-focused workplace, it’s all about creating a foundation on which work can improve life and life can improve work. From there, the possibilities for what your team can achieve are endless.
