In brief
- Caring too much for employee well-being and experience has become a major challenge for organizations, making HR’s role difficult in creating people-centric workplaces.
- HR has a responsibility to guide organizations in cultivating “Responsible Care” cultures based on sound business principles that are both human-centric and reasonable.
- Organizations must have clear people philosophies to ensure mutual benefit and responsibility between the organization and its employees, communicated authentically as part of an employer brand. But this change cannot be accomplished by organizations alone – a shift in the public narrative around the employer/employee relationship is also required.
A difficult position
I recently spoke to the CHRO of a large retailer about how “caring too much” is becoming a major barrier to business performance. In her experience, the post-pandemic workplace has created unattainable levels of expectations from employees in terms of the role of the organization in managing employee well-being and experience. The pendulum of power has swung in favor of the employee, and organizations have tried to respond.
There have been calls to reimagine employee experience, provide a new set of benefits and drive flexible workplace practices to accommodate employee preferences. The responsibility has largely been on organizations to create workplaces where people want to work, offer personalized experiences that differentiate them in a highly competitive talent market, and lead toward the coveted position of employer of choice.
This has placed HR in a difficult position.
The skewed employee-employer relationship
When we speak about people-centric workplaces, it can be convenient to forget that the psychological contract between employees and employers is one of mutual expectations and responsibilities. Too often, the relationship is skewed in favor of the employee rather than the organization being an equal partner.
Let me put this into context.
We are seeing a rising trend of employee burnout, and the blame is largely placed on workplaces that demand too much, don’t provide adequate resources, and do not care for the individual employee. Granted, in those instances where this is the case, employers should change and be held accountable, yet this picture tends to be more complex.
Time and again, we find that stressors outside of work related to the personal lives of the employees also contribute to the inability to cope with workplace demands. Personal commitments, community responsibilities, and family all take time, energy and effort. Personal aspirations realized with side-gigs or side hustles can also take a toll on the capacity of the individual.
Another CHRO recently mentioned that during the crisis, they did all they could to keep people safe and spent millions on health and safety and remote work strategies. Yet, employees did not believe that they had done enough. There was no quid pro quo. Take for example, the requirement to come back to the office. There has to be some flexibility, but sometimes, there are valid reasons why employees need to come back, yet we find employees at times making unreasonable demands that negatively impact the organization.
Well-being over performance; care over productivity; and empathy over consistency.
Reconciling human centricity with employee productivity
I believe organizations should be human-centric. And reasonable. But not to the detriment of their success. Rather we should call for an open conversation between employers and employees on what is realistically possible and where to draw healthy boundaries. It is okay to say no, but this has to be explained and positioned within a trust-based relationship that fosters dialogue and conversation.
With rising inflation and difficult economic conditions the reality, we can expect the next couple of months to further strain employee/employer relations. We are already seeing more unionization, layoffs in sectors that boomed during the pandemic, and the rising cost of living.
As difficult as these situations are, they will result in a recentering of the power dynamic, giving HR the opportunity to take a firmer, yet fair and reasonable stance.
Against this backdrop, I believe that HR has a responsibility to guide organizations in cultivating “Responsible Care” cultures based on sound business and people principles. This means that we need to consider the needs of both the employee and the employer in an open, trust-based relationship that aims to benefit both parties. It cannot be an either/or relationship.
Well-being THROUGH performance; care THROUGH productivity. Empathy THROUGH consistency.
Work is essential and valuable to the human experience
Human-centric workplaces should not be confused with a lack of drive, consequences, and demands. The hard decisions cannot be avoided. HR needs to take a firmer stance to help organizational leadership teams understand how to harmonize care and responsibility.
When do we say no; what is unacceptable? How do we deal with lackluster performance. How do we rebalance the relationship between the organization and the employee to mutual benefit and responsibility? Clarifying our people philosophy, or put differently, the underpinning principles that guide all decisions we make in how we manage employees, will become a non-negotiable for organizations.
Organizations will have to clearly articulate this message to current and prospective employees as part of the employer brand. The future will be about an authentic message, communicated in a transparent manner within the right context in a consistent manner.
Employer brand messaging needs to be congruent with employee experience. This also needs to align with what is offered through the employee value proposition.
But this change cannot be accomplished by organizations alone. We need to change the public narrative around the relationship between work and employees. We need to acknowledge that work does have an essential and valuable part to play in the lives of human beings. Work, if designed well and in the right context, can be meaningful and life-giving.
We need to help people remember that work is a healthy part of our existence. For some, having a job enables them to achieve personal goals, put food on the table and contribute towards a collective whole. Work does not have to be the end-all and be-all, but we must promote a healthy relationship with work. Moving away from the transactional give-and-take narrative surrounding the employer/employee relationship many still hold today.
HR has to take a leading role
HR must step up to lead these conversations. We have a well-rounded perspective of human behavior and workplace dynamics to guide the organization. HR must lead the conversation about rebalancing the pendulum that has swung too far in the direction of pure employee-centricity and rebalance the scales – by reconciling performance with well-being, productivity with care, and consistency with empathy.
If HR does not take this role, others will, and I fear that this could damage the relationship of trust between employers and employees. Recent examples of new CEOs throwing caution to the wind and making harsh calls regarding hybrid working strategies, ruthlessly cutting the workforce overnight without due process and ruling through fear comes to mind. The alternative is also not feasible – leaders that give in to all demands of employees at the expense of organizational success.
Ultimately, our role as HR is to ensure the continued success of the organizations and the people within. To the benefit of all. Fair to all parties. Balanced in perspective.
