Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Globoforce conducted a survey of HR professionals to understand what issues are of key importance for 2018. This edition of the survey was sent to randomly selected SHRM members at a manager level or above. The final sample of the survey was composed of 738 HR professionals who are employed at organizations with a staff size of 500 or more employees. The top three management issues of 2018 are retention and turnover, recruitment, and culture management. Recruitment has climbed to second place on the HR leaders’ list of concerns, up from third in 2017. The unemployment numbers are a key factor in the increase of concern for recruitment as stated in a previous blog post The current nationwide unemployment rate for executives is 2%.
Key insights and findings from the report all track back to one common theme for recruitment and retention: the humanization of work. Adding more human-centered approaches to recognition programs, performance appraisal processes, peer feedback and employee experience directly correlate to higher retention and recruitment results.
Therefore, according to the survey, “it’s important for HR leaders to treat employee recognition as not just a program, but a management practice with a real and measurable business impact.”
Management practices that are tied to a company’s values drive better business goals and a more positive employer brand. Management practices that are tied to providing more feedback to employees can effectively spur employee growth and development. 89 percent of HR leaders surveyed agree ongoing peer feedback and check-ins have a positive impact on their organizations.
“Continuous peer feedback and recognition, as well as a supportive feedback environment, have the power to help organizations drive employee growth and development,” said Derek Irvine, vice president of strategy and consulting, Globoforce. “As our study shows, HR professionals are still dissatisfied with the accuracy of traditional performance reviews. Reward and performance strategies need to be reimagined so they help fulfill employees’ basic human needs of appreciation and connection. Social recognition programs alongside more human-centered practices have the power to not only strengthen relationships between employees, but also employees’ overall connections to the companies they work for.”
The overall positive connection employees have to the companies they work for in turn reduces turnover, increases retention, and positively affect a company’s employer brand/culture which in turn makes recruitment easier and more effective.