We are all uniquely wired and therefore respond, learn and absorb information differently to one another. There are four fundamental personality types that exist, Sanguine (extrovert), someone who is described as enthusiastic, active and social, Choleric (extrovert), who can be ambitious, focused, short tempered, fast and irritable, Melancholic (Introvert) who is analytical, wise and quiet and a Phlegmatic (Introvert) that is deemed relaxed and peaceful. We all hold some of each of the traits, but have a dominant temperament that influences the way we behave, the type of employment and industry we apply for and whether we are naturally introverted or extroverted. With different skill sets, personality types and characteristics in the work place, it is important to foster an employee-centric culture.
Human Resources Management plays a strategic role in managing people, the work environment and its workplace culture. We all know that a strong company culture can make or break an organisation. As Richard Branson stated “Take care of your employees and they will take care of our business. It’s as simple as that.” Vivian Maza from Forbes Human Resources Council describes the Five C’s to creating Employee-Centric Cultures;
1. Commitment
I list commitment first because you can’t form a productive culture without first fully committing to doing so. This is your foundation. It takes true commitment from everyone within an organization, from the C-suite to the interns, and especially from HR, to create an environment where a strong, healthy and connected culture can flourish. Commitment is also critical because great culture doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s something you have to continually work on and evolve over time.
How do you earn the commitment you need to succeed? Make sure everyone in your organization understands your company’s mission, and, most importantly, believes in it. You need complete buy-in from your leading executives, who instil a companywide tone, and every individual (including virtual employees) in the organization should feel connected to the same central mission.
2. Care
Remember, it’s called “human” resources for a reason. All great cultures require a baseline of empathy and human understanding to truly thrive. A healthy culture is one where people care about everyone, every day. Just like having underlying commitment, establishing this mindset starts with your company leaders and your HR department. Are you leading by example and setting policies that encourage respect for all individuals? We all learned the “Golden Rule” in kindergarten: Treat others as you want to be treated. This idea remains a crucial lesson today and is worth keeping with us as we navigate our professional lives. In my organization, our core value is rooted in this guiding principle. Our North Star is “People First.” We believe that when you truly care for your people, they reflect that care back toward you. By extension, they focus on always doing the right thing and caring for colleagues, customers and the community.
3. Communication
Communication is the cornerstone of any successful relationship, whether between friends, a manager and her direct report or a company’s CEO and her employees. Clear and consistent communication strengthens trust, a vital element for employee happiness. Our recent study found that 93% of employees say trust in their direct manager is essential to their overall happiness at work. That trust grows when you’re communicating clearly and often with employees about the company’s short- and long-term goals. Ensure that your people understand the road map that will help achieve those goals, and how their individual roles will contribute to the bigger picture of their company’s success. Also be sure to share company news, good or bad, quickly and honestly. Don’t let your people learn about major company developments from Twitter before they hear it from you. Communicate with employees at all levels, across a variety of channels, so that everyone remains on the same page and well-informed.
4. Celebration
The company that celebrates together stays together. Be proud of your people’s achievements, and take the time to recognize them. Celebrate product, service and financial successes, but also personal milestones — completing a marathon, getting engaged or having a baby. People like to get together and bask in happy news; it feels good, and it brings positive vibes into the office. Perhaps most importantly, creating a culture of celebration makes your people feel appreciated, which has a major impact on employee satisfaction. In fact, one study found that 79% of employees who quit their jobs said “lack of appreciation” was why they left.
5. Community
A truly positive corporate culture extends beyond the workplace. Make volunteering in the community and charitable giving core to your company values. Ask employees what they’re passionate about, and find ways to contribute to those causes, and to support organizations that align with your corporate values. Understanding what your organization can do within your community can make life just a little bit better for everyone around you, while helping employees feel a sense of community inside and outside the walls of your business. Set aside service days for companywide volunteering, or offer paid volunteer time as a benefit, so your employees can take time on their own to support non-profits close to their hearts. You can also give through charitable donations, set up fundraisers to energize employees around specific causes, match employees’ donations and contribute a portion of your annual revenue to charity.
It is a fact that when an employee is at the heart of an organisation, they are engaged becoming high-performance individuals and teams. In turn, promoting mental health and well-being. When building an employee-centric culture, it does not have to be radical, small change over time can make a positive impact. Change comes with growing pains, especially the larger an organisation becomes. Hiring and having an expectation of employees is challenging, particularly if your organisational culture does not allow for work-life balance. Companies like Google and Facebook are synonymous with unique company culture, but they too have had their challenges. A good company culture leads to staff retention and a successful organisation, as employees become immersed in the same interests, mission and objectives, they naturally propel the business forward.
Human resources management need to be at the centre of an organisation, to help facilitate, instil and maintain the company culture and its core values from the induction through the entire life-cycle of the employee’s employment. With different temperaments, characters and sometimes the woes of day to day life, human resources are there to help support and overcome challenges within the work place.
We are still human and have to acknowledge even with the perfect culture, there will always be emotion present when people come together. Today’s companies no longer have to appoint an HR Manager full time, with flexible working becoming more important it is a function that can be outsourced. Outsourced HR still means you can have someone on-site to understand your organisation and its employees. Like finding an ideal employee, if you are outsourcing the HR function, you want to connect with the person you are working with to help shape your vision as a business owner.
The HR Dept began in 2002, when Founder and Executive Director Sue Tumelty identified a gap in the market to offer personalised expert HR advice to local businesses. The HR Department help business owners achieve results, by providing flexible HR support throughout Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The HR Dept is then headed up by a highly qualified director who is committed to serving their local business community. Navigating employment law is complex and a specialist skill. With the HR Dept you have professional knowledge, an individual to lead the way in management development, performance management, succession planning, talent management, recruitment, payroll, documentation, health and safety and so much more.
Amanda Fox is the HR Director for the HR Dept Perth City and is your business growth and HR Solutions partner, preventing people problems. The main driver for the HR Dept was the confidence in working with a professional and compliant product and service offering, as well as a network of HR Dept professionals around Australia. Amanda works with businesses delivering on her passion for human resources, offering business owners outsourced HR advice and support, leaving them free to get on with growing their businesses. The HR Dept provide professional support in a cost-effective manner, bringing new ideas and effective practices into the organisation.
Amanda’s global experience spans across various industries and organisations and she is known for fostering talent within organisations and creating high-performance cultures, through open employee engagement. Amanda spent many years working in learning and development and people management. She enjoys working with people and making a difference. She continues to apply herself to an ever-changing environment and recently become an accredited DISC Profiler. DISC is a behaviour assessment tool based on the DISC theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston, which centers on four different personality traits which are currently Dominance (D), Influence (I), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C).
Disc Advanced Profiling is one of the offerings available through the HR Dept. DISC Advanced facilitates greater uunderstanding and communication within teams, and work place interactions. The comprehensive 20-page report digs down into the behavioral styles in human interactions to prepare us to more effectively manage and communicate with others within the workplace. A tool like DISC Profiling can assist companies in creating there ideal working and cultural environment. When individuals gain self-knowledge about what motivates them, what causes them discomfort and why they interact the way they do, it starts to help improve relationships with self-awareness. In addition, employees may start to look through a different lens as to why the other person behaves the way they do.
Tailored HR commenced in 2018 after Elisia Coetzee spent a long career in Corporate HR. Elisia decided to start her own HR Consultancy to assist SME’s across all industries, by providing tailor made HR services to fit a client’s needs. Every organisation / industry is different and has its own challenges and this is the essence that makes HR interesting. So Tailored HR was born out of a desire to provide an outsourced, part-time HR Management solution to organisations that either don’t have an in-house HR department or that don’t need a full-time in-house HR resource.
The purpose of Tailored HR was twofold; Firstly, to provide experienced and qualified HR resources on a part time basis. This enabling business owners and management to focus on growth, secure in the knowledge that their greatest asset, their people, are being looked after at a price that they can afford.
Secondly, to harness the wealth of knowledge and experience that Elisia knew was lying untapped in the ranks of mums, who had taken time out of their career to raise a family. There are also parents that do not want to go back into a full-time corporate HR role.
At Tailored HR they are firm believers that a company’s values and culture is critically important for its growth and longevity. Why? A company’s values and culture are the behaviour which result in a specific way people conduct themselves in that workplace. A supportive company culture will create a workplace where people feel safe and protected, which impacts their general well-being and mental health. Companies who value their employees have lower turnover and absenteeism as they feel supported, happy and enjoy their working environment, giving them a sense of value and job security. The leadership of a company determines the culture and they too are responsible for the maintenance thereof, and should be a priority.
You may ask then, what value do Tailored (HR) bring to their clients? HR is not only the gatekeeper of policies and procedures, but provide guidance, support and coaching. It is a people orientated profession, in that people are the most valuable asset in a company. They work collaboratively with a business to achieve their objectives, through utilising industry best practice to accomplish those goals. They believe that their bespoke solutions add value to their client base. There consultants have over 25 years of broad experience in providing human resources management, industrial and employee relations consulting.
Tailored HR plans for the future are to become a nationally recognised and trusted outsourced HR provider. They also run Workshops relating to company values and culture, values-based recruitment and other such related topics. “By utilising Tailored HR services and implementing the correct processes, this will enable companies to concentrate on their core business, leading to higher retention rates, less training time and ultimately higher productivity”. At Tailored HR they see the effective management of human resources and employee relations as essential to your business success. No matter what size your business is, you are only as good as your people.
Productivity is not in isolation of HR; it takes everyone within an organisation to make it a success. When you listen to your employees and cater to their needs that are realistic, your organisation will flourish. No matter your temperament, characteristic or DISC profile as Gary Vaynerchuk stated “Company culture is the backbone of any successful organisation”, so create an environment you love and others want to fall in love with and be part of. When you create a great culture, you attract talent into your space. At Universal Electro Tech we believe in creating an employee-centric environment, do you? Get in contact with Amanda Fox from the HR Dept and Elisia Coetzee from Tailored HR to assess the right fit for your organisation, and how they can support your company culture and continued growth. We are all wired differently, but without diversity and being unique we would be limited in our skills and offerings to prospective clients.
Amanda Fox
Director
The HR Dept
0481 182 521
Elisia Coetzee
CEO
Tailored HR
0437 113 593
Universal Electro Tech
Electrical Solutions Designed and Delivered
(08) 9328 9491