HR has been a constantly evolving field of profession, and off late, with the advent of HR tech, it has grown faster than ever in the last couple of years. But, apart from the new technology innovations in the HR business function, little stress has been given on humanizing the workplaces and engaging the workforce. In the recent past, one of the biggest trend that dominated the HR sector was finding ways to enhance employee engagement, and as a result of that, improve workforce retention.
Source: Statista
Early-career HR professionals do chase HR leader roles, and they must, as it gives them the opportunity to enter a strategy leadership position which eventually allows them to draft and develop people-centric HR strategies. Humanizing organizations is among the burning needs at the workplaces across all industry sectors. Besides, there should not be anything more important than people in an organization, and the leadership in HR must emphasize on the same. Further, it’s a well-known fact that people-centric organizations produce better business results.
The Youth is Seeking Purposeful Jobs than Just the Money
More than a monetary rewarding career, youth these days seek job satisfaction and a great work culture. They want meaningful jobs wherein their contribution matters, they are given equal opportunities, and are treated fairly. A feeling of belonging is what they seek at the workplace, which eventually help them to be creative and grow professionally as well.
Besides, HR leaders in the contemporary times, do not just oversee the administrative work but they do contribute to business success by making business-centric hiring strategies. Today CHROs are made responsible to contribute to the overall success of the business, and they are supposed to demonstrate that before the CEOs. It’s not limited to just making organizational policies, resolving employee grievances, and addressing people issues.
But one cannot deny the fact that the letter ‘H’ in HR stands for ‘Human’ and therefore, the first priority of the HR leadership should be about looking after employees and providing them favourable conditions to work. The human factor must not go, or the purpose of the existence of HR leader roles gets defeated.
Building a People-First Organization
A corporate firm, across industries, must focus on the needs of its employees first before addressing the needs of its customers, because happy employees would help bring in more customers for the organization. The happier the employees, the better is going to be the business.
The Fordism & Taylorism theories say that the HR professionals should hire and train employees to make them fit into the existing workplace culture and environment. But, these theories have long gone redundant with the advent of the new HR practices that say that each employee is different, and hence, every employee should be treated differently in a way that’s more favourable to him.
When we talk of a people-centric organization, it means employees before everything else. In fact, putting employees first, CHROs get committed to making the work culture and environment favourable to the employees’ interests. Added to that, a culture if inclusiveness and caring automatically comes in when we talk of employee-first organizations.
When we describe a people-centric organization, we are saying that people come first. Indeed, putting people first means that we are committed to creating and maintaining a culture of caring and inclusiveness. It underlines that each employee at any level is equally important, not just because of their competencies and the contribution they give to the business, but as human beings.
Emotional Intelligence – Key to Creating a People-First Organization
Emotional intelligence among CHROs and HR leaders in an organization is crucial to developing a people-first culture. It is the emotional abilities described by Daniel Goleman, the world-renowned author and science journalist that we all possess to drive our professional and personal relationships. Emotional intelligence majorly comprises four basic capabilities – self-management, social skills, self-awareness, and social awareness.
