The use of exit interviews and engagement surveys can shed light from an employee's perspective on several factors tied to their sense of value and attachment to an organization. For most rewards professionals’ data collection, the analysis and outcome statistics drive us to find solutions and identify the culprit challenging today’s reward programs.
How we assess data got me thinking: beyond acquiring employee insights through surveys and seeking truth in the obvious, why not examine our data and look for the opposite? For example, what are we doing or providing to our workforce that is making them stay, but may ultimately not be as favorable to the organization?
The intention here is not to pin the employee against the employer, but imagine the scenarios where we have become complacent or have failed to take notice of offerings or practices that have enabled employees to take advantage. There may be a number of examples, and the following are just a few to get you thinking:
1. Learning and development – while providing employees with the opportunities to seek professional development is highly valued and respected, it is equally important to ensure there is demonstration and application of new skills and qualifications attained. Also important is assessing the trends among roles or grade levels where there is high career progression, which will eventually stall as succession to the next level becomes limited. For most, they will quickly realize that they have acquired sought-after skills deemed desirable in the market and to recruiters.
As employers, we hope to equip our workforce with the skills, knowledge, and aptitude to be successful within the context of the organization, not to be perfected and utilized elsewhere.
2. Hours of work – if you have not already, it's best you assess the usage of overtime (“OT”). Consider the roles, departments, and work seasons where OT usage is highest. Do the figures make sense? The expense for this can be costly, hence the importance of deciphering if OT is even necessary. Given how quickly work has evolved, there is more reason now to revaluate eligibility criteria, minimum thresholds to claim OT, and whether process improvements could eliminate the need for excess human touch.
3. Role clarity – job descriptions are a key proponent in outlining role expectations and are a shared artifact between the employee and employer. The context within is key to effective performance management, however, the challenge arises when the accountabilities no longer reflect how the role is meant to function today. Conveying sub-par performance to an employee is harder when you do not have updated descriptions to base individual accountability on. To an employee, they might be pulling just enough weight to keep on getting by, while true productivity is suffering.
4. Institutional knowledge – are there individuals that you keep around because of fear of losing the legacy intel they house? If so, like the overtime scenario noted above, it's time to examine what is invested in this retention and put in motion the steps to either have the knowledge transferred or documented. Better yet, implement a new-shared process.
The next time you delve into the data, see what story you uncover. While our intentions might be sound in providing the optimum rewards package, be sure that it's in the best interest of all parties. In the end, we want the right talent in the right spots, doing the right things.
Reena Paul (CCP, GRP) works as a Senior Compensation Consultant. She is passionate about all things “total rewards” and has experience in dealing with all stakeholders of an organization and strategizing optimum client-focused solutions. A lover of data and the story it tells, Reena enjoys the exploration of presenting and discussing compensation with a fresh perspective. Connect with Reena directly on LinkedIn.
Image source: Unsplash image with credit to Markus Winkler.
Comments