How can HR fill the empathy gap in the workplace?
HR can act as a bridge between leadership and their people, but this depends on the ability to effectively leverage data. How can HR ensure it has the data necessary to effectively support change?
With the significant changes we have seen in the workplace over the past three years, the gap between what people expect from the workplace and what leadership delivers is widening.
Many claim that there is an empathy gap – and there is certainly data to support this. For example, 90% of employees surveyed listed benefits such as flexible working and childcare as benefits they would like, but less than half of their employers offered these benefits.
To close this gap between leadership and their people, HR often acts as a bridge. However, to effectively support the changes necessary to retain talent and nurture the business culture, HR needs a solid understanding of the data that supports this.
In the following article, we explore practical ways your team can achieve this goal.
- Create a plan.
Before mapping out what you offer to leadership, look at the data and reporting capabilities of your current HR solution.
HR teams often face a high workload, so it’s crucial to check how long it takes to retrieve the data you need for your report.
Sometimes digging for specific data and presenting it in a way that is easily digestible for your leadership team can be a time-consuming process.
This assessment also allows for the identification of any important areas that are lacking data, giving your team time to review what may be needed for any reports to leadership.
HR should collaborate with other departments such as finance, legal, and IT to align and validate data.
- Build a reliable and trustworthy database.
Historically, when it comes to HR data, there have been concerns due to factors such as human error, lack of a single source of truth, or outdated practices.
HR should collaborate with other departments such as finance, legal, and IT to align and validate data.
While this may not be an overnight success, the credibility of HR data will gradually improve, providing the reputation needed to provide key findings to leadership when change is needed in your organization. You may also decide to choose a cloud-based HR system that solves these problems from the source.
- Think about analysis.
It’s important to make sure you’re as efficient as possible in your reporting. When presenting data to leadership, your team may want to focus on adding “forward-looking” conclusions based on the data you’ve collected, such as how learning and development investments are linked to employee engagement or retention.
Don’t just display your data, but clearly link the patterns you want to draw attention to and the actionable opportunities your team wants to take advantage of.
Consider what data leadership has wanted in the past, and what data they need to see to make a fully informed decision.
Gathering external data on the results other organizations have had when implementing the changes you advocate can also be a powerful asset for leadership that may challenge your internal predictions.
It is important to make sure you are as efficient as possible in your reporting.
- Don’t forget your result.
In most organizations, leadership is focused on the bottom line. Sometimes this can cause leaders to lose sight of what matters to their people, creating an empathy gap within their organization.
Therefore, these types of reports are an opportunity to show how people’s participation and well-being are intertwined with their bottom line.
So, regardless of time, people, resources, or money, include this investment in your report and share data that proves the ROI is ultimately worth it.
This could be cost savings from reduced employee turnover, increased productivity, or improved engagement as a result of the cultural changes your team delivers.
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