Head of People & Culture at Maryland Oncology Hematology, overseeing the HR strategic planning and ensuring an engaging environment for all.
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In January 2021, millions of people watched history in the making as they viewed President Biden and Vice President Harris — the first female VP and a woman of color — take their oaths of office during the 59th Presidential Inauguration. The new leader of America’s vision is to restore unity within the United States. Since corporations are microcosms within the society that also endured a tumultuous 2020, our HR strategic plan should look quite similar.
I'm also reminded of the sentiment of Martin Luther King Jr.’s very fitting quote for the times we are living in: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Our People & Culture department’s theme for this year is “leading with love.” If this theme resonates with your company’s goals for 2021, here are three HR strategies for the year ahead.
1. Develop a diversity and inclusion strategy for your organization.
Does your company have a diversity and inclusion statement? Is there an active D&I committee funneling best practices to your organization? Are resource groups in place where employees can safely express concerns among like-minded peers? More importantly, do your leaders have diversity and inclusion goals to be measured among the other goals that tie into their bonus plans?
If not, this is definitely a top priority for your People & Culture department in 2021 and should be among your company’s core values. The truth of the matter is that candidates are doing their research on companies prior to applying or interviewing. Top candidates want to work for organizations that are forward-thinking, where leaders look like them and where companies are keeping up with the times.
Remember to report and share the relevant data. For example, how many minorities or women were hired, promoted and retained last year? From a qualitative standpoint, the support and resources provided to any of your employee resource groups can be included in the reporting. Again, in a thriving workplace, these goals are a part of the managers’ and executives’ bonus plans.
2. Create an engaging culture that keeps everyone dialed in, especially your remote workers.
The lifeblood of any corporation is its culture. Your company’s culture includes its personality, its core values, the behaviors that are celebrated/reinforced, the people, the leadership and the non-verbal norms. Many companies utilize employee opinion or employee engagement surveys, which can serve as a barometer to test how well you are doing. A great culture includes four secret ingredients:
• A comfortable atmosphere where everyone can truly be themselves, have a voice and freely move within the organization.
• A pipeline for future leaders within the organization so employees can invest in a long-term career, not just a short-term job.
• An open and flexible benefits department that can implement new benefits employees are interested in.
• A policy for alleviating workplace bullying or addressing poor behavior. Just like our children know who the schoolyard bullies are, employees know who the negative employees or bad leaders are who create a destructive environment for the organization. Be a healthy leader by being fair and consistent with everyone, not just holding accountable those who may not be in the “in crowd.” By the way, healthy organizations do not have in crowds, but are professional and treat everyone equally.
Many organizations have an internal intranet or a shared drive where documents and policies can be retrieved and where team members go for updates. However, many are accessible only when connected to the company’s server. In 2021, there are plenty of apps for digitizing the employee experience to automate onboarding, streamline training and increase productivity including Beekeeper, Slack and Workplace by Facebook.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, now more than ever, we need to create an award-winning workplace experience, especially for our remote workers who are not coming into the office. With an app or electronic cultural presence, all workers can feel the love.
3. Regularly report HR metrics so the organization knows how you’re contributing.
Most stakeholders in organizations are all about the numbers. As people and culture professionals, we must do our part and provide the numbers, including visual graphs, so the department managers, executives and company president all understand how the HR team helps contribute to the bottom line.
Some HR metrics to include on your monthly scorecard are: head count, demographics, time to hire, acceptance rate, turnover rate, overtime cost and overtime hours. Have monthly HR huddles with the managers you serve so you can share this valuable data with them. They may be surprised by some of the numbers, and together you can create solutions for that department or division. As an awesome HR professional, you can also use the data to provide the business case for investing in the electronic or mobile app platform you need.
Our country and our companies had a roller-coaster ride in 2020. Now is the time to lead with love by creating a diverse workplace that looks like the united shades of America, and is inclusive of everyone, not just the most tenured or most liked. We need to continue spreading the love by engaging our teams at all levels of the organization, especially including the team members who are working at home. Lastly, showcase your business acumen by creating a monthly HR scorecard so your team knows how you contribute to the overall organization. You are well equipped with strategies for 2021 — now go ahead and shine on.
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