With engagement, retention, and business growth in mind, here are strategies for fostering a culture of productivity.
By Simon Kent
For HR to be given a permanent and justified place at board level, it must engage with the objectives of the business. It must have a clear impact on the strategic agenda and it needs to understand the overall direction of the company. However, doing this is not always straightforward. Increasing productivity stands as one of the prime targets for business, leading to expansion, competition, and sometimes just survival. But even here, HR can find it challenging to make its business case.
“It is always difficult to measure the direct impact of people initiatives, as seldom are they made in isolation,” notes Darren Bartholomew, head of HR planning and info systems, U.K. at Leonardo.
For example, Bartholomew shares that Leonardo has been offering a compressed four-day working week as an option for some roles. There has been a high take-up of this initiative, and no visible detriment to performance.
“But, in the same period, we also increased available options in the choice of flexible benefits we offer all employees, invested in a better employee engagement platform, and implemented a new global HRIS bringing all the people processes into one tool,” he says. Each of these elements will in theory have improved engagement, employee experience, and therefore performance. “But can we put a figure on that or say which impacted by how much?” he asks. “No, we can’t.”
Richard Bradley, VP and business leader of global RPO for KellyOCG, feels productivity can appear to sit outside the HR ecosystem. However, he asserts, the impact of HR is significant, citing first how talent is hired, nurtured, and developed.
“Hiring the right talent into an organisation, who get the culture, feel engaged, and motivated by the hiring experience, and have the skills to do the role they are hired for, getting (them) up to speed at pace will have a positive impact on productivity,” he says. “Utilising effective workforce or demand planning can also significantly improve productivity by ensuring the amount of ‘empty chair’ time is minimalised, reducing the impact on the wider team.”
In addition, HR’s responsibility to ensure that the management community conducts regular performance reviews, gives open feedback, and follows an effective appraisal process can also have a positive impact on performance. As does recognition and rewards. But, as Bradley notes, while falling under HR’s jurisdiction, these are often carried out by others in the business.
So perhaps HR’s role in productivity can be more strategic, and that may even start with the figures, just as it does for other departments like finances and operations. “Understanding people data, patterns, and challenges that can disrupt the workplace can reduce turnover, retain talent, and contribute to a stable and effective workforce,” explains Bradley.
Charlie O’Brien, head of people at Breathe, makes a more direct link. “People are only productive if they are happy, healthy, valued, and supported. HR teams therefore have a clear and essential role to play in ensuring company well-being that leads directly to productivity.”
And one-size-fits-all does not apply here. “HR support can’t be cookie cutter,” she adds. “It should be tailored to the specific needs of teams and individuals. Whether that means mentoring programmes or access to therapy, it should be bespoke. Strong HR teams know this and invest in the right combination of support and benefits.”
Sandi Wassmer, CEO of the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, agrees. “Put simply, a happy workforce is a productive workforce,” she says, “and organisations with inclusive cultures are filled with employees who are fulfilled and thriving. They have a visceral sense of belonging, feel psychologically safe, trust that their views are listened to and acted upon, and can bring their whole selves to work. When employees feel these things, then they are more likely to be productive. And creating a productive culture is just good business sense.”
Wassmer believes HR does have direct influence here. For example, they can actively prioritise productivity over presenteeism. “If you have the right culture and processes in place and trust your staff, it shouldn’t matter if they’re working from the office or at home,” she says. “When considering working arrangements, organisations should think about the needs of individual employees, the needs of the business, and the interplay between these.”
Mark Coad, head of recruitment, EMEA at GSK, is currently overseeing an initiative which arguably impacts the work of their recruitment team, the underlying culture of the business, and their productivity. Like many organisations, the company is looking at introducing new technology, particularly automation, to reduce the administrative burden of recruiting from professionals whose primary job satisfaction lies in placing people. Alongside the technology, the company is looking to increase the face time recruiters have with potential employees. While still part of an ongoing process, Coad has already seen improvements as a result.
“The NPS score for the hiring management community is ticking up,” he says. “As we alleviate more administration, there are also a handful of pilots around further use of automation, giving recruiters more time to spend with candidates.”
In Coad’s experience, identifying the actions which will impact productivity and measuring the impact of change is by no means straightforward. Like Bartholomew, he understands HR is not operating in a vacuum and there are many other influences and occurrences around the business that can impact any one initiative. However, that shouldn’t be a reason for opting out of the productivity discussion entirely.
HR is often the function turned to in order to introduce and oversee any kind of change within a business. If processes or culture are to change for the better, HR must play a part. For this reason, the function needs to understand the way productivity works and be ready to argue its role and influence in every case
