Our last HR news roundup of 2019 covers the importance of matching your culture and your brand, using wacky questions to dig deeper in interviews, employee retention strategies, and more. Take a look!
Creating a Culture-Brand Match
Company culture is important — for recruitment, retention, and more. But, to deliver on your brand promise, says Harvard Business Review, “you need to define a unique culture that cultivates the necessary kinds of employee attitudes and behaviors.” Start by determining your brand type. Author Denise Lee Yohn lists nine possibilities — disruptive, conscious, service, innovative, value, performance, luxury, style, and experience. Then, figure out what values align with that brand type to form the basis of your culture. In other words, “If you are simply aiming for a ‘good’ culture at your organization, you’re setting the bar too low.”
Remote Work
Working remotely continues to grow in popularity — today, according to a recent HR Exchange Network article, 4.7 million people work somewhere other than their office. And globally, 50% of employees work remotely at least two and a half days per week. This can be hard for people in leadership roles, and requires managers to both loosen their control and put a lot of trust in their employees. But research shows that it pays off, not only in the form of productivity, but recruitment, retention, and wellness, too. And it isn’t going anywhere — an Upwork report predicts that 73% of all teams will have remote workers in eight years. How will your organization adapt?
Interview Questions That Dig Deeper
Sure, you can ask about past work experience, challenges, hypothetical situations, strengths, and weaknesses all you want. But how can you really get to know a potential employee during the interview process? Figure out how their brain works and if they’d be a good culture fit by asking a few off-the-wall questions. Employee Benefit News says that questions like “If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?” can help you learn more about someone’s personality and how they think. Consider other unusual questions, too, such as “How would you sell hot cocoa in Florida?” and “If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?” Get to know the people you’re interviewing in order to make the best possible hires for your organization.
Workplace Predictions for 2020
A new decade is upon us — are you wondering what that means for the workforce? Employee Benefit Adviser is offering seven workplace predictions for the new year. What’s in store? According to Scott Cawood, CEO of WorldatWork, we could see a push toward the four-day work week, lower health plan deductibles, a stand on social issues, an increase in bonuses, salaries determined by AI, organizational involvement in opioid addiction treatment, and a slower transition to the gig economy.
Employee Retention Strategies
We all want our employees to stick around, but how can we make that happen? Preventing costly turnover starts with keeping employees engaged and being strategic about retention. In a recent Entrepreneur article, ten women leaders in human resources shared their thoughts. “Put employees first,” said Faye Tylee, global head of human resources at Avaya. “They’re your brand. Treat them poorly and they, in turn, will treat your customers poorly.” Treat them well, she said, and they’ll be your biggest asset. “Define clear career paths at all job levels,” added Publix Talent Acquisition Manager Marcy Hamrick, referencing Publix founder George W. Jenkins. “He showed his associates the opportunities they had for a future at the company and rewarded the talent that instilled his cultural values.” Today, she said, approximately 12,000 associates have been with the company for more than 20 years. “Our very own CEO at Publix, Todd Jones, started his career with the company in the 1980s as a front service clerk.” See what everyone else had to say, and get ideas on how to form a stronger connection with your employees.
