7 Steps to Solving HR’s Image Issues and Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace

Employees might have multiple issues with each other, but one thing that unites them is their frustration with the HR department. Despite all the work that HR personnel are tasked with, solving HR image issues is one that is often ignored. The teams perform a critical role within any organization and their relationship with the rest of the workforce can determine how willing employees are to approach them.

While the year draws to a close, organizations need to consider outlining an HR image improvement plan for the next year, along with all the other goals being set for 2025. By rebuilding trust in the HR department, organizations might just find it easier for all their other productivity and communication issues to fall into place much better. 

Image: Pexels

Solving HR Image Issues One Step at a Time

Improving the HR department’s reputation should be a central priority for every organization. HR teams are often villainized for being the ones to communicate tough decisions to the employees, and as such, they bear the biggest brunt of the consequences, whether it’s firing an employee or enforcing the policies devised by the employer.

While it is easy to let the HR professionals take the blame so that the employer-employee relationship is not affected, doing so is very detrimental to the organization as employees will continue to avoid HR instead of approaching them with workplace concerns. Every change made at an organization affects the HR team but they are often left out of the decision-making and only become aware of all that is going on at the organization once they see the signs that employees are unsatisfied. 

By the time they respond, employees are already unhappy and unwilling to cooperate. Solving HR image issues can help ensure that employees find a safe space to vent and air out their concerns, so it is critical for every organization to work hard at rebuilding the trust in the HR department. 

A joint report by Cezanne HR and HR Ninjas found that 83% of HR professionals felt that they were suffering from a tarnished reputation, and negative employee interactions were a key driving feature of this problem. Over half of them have even considered quitting their jobs, so the negativity hurts a company’s retention as well. 

Their image and relationship with the workforce cannot be fixed in a day, so every organization needs to chart out long-term HR image improvement plans to make progress one step at a time.

How Can HR Improve Its Reputation?

The idea that HR professionals are the bad guys has been ingrained in the work culture for years now. Human resources should have employees see them as partners or colleagues, but more often than not, they are seen as outsiders to the employee team. 

Thankfully, it isn’t impossible to correct that image within an organization and mend the broken relationships that currently exist.

1. Streamlining Processes and Simplifying Complex Tasks

HR has a critical role that goes beyond filing papers and handing out pay, but the complexity of these processes often leaves them with little time to focus on anything else. Investing in technology that can help handle manual tasks like recording an employee’s change in address or calculating leave can help HR teams spend more time interacting with and understanding the workforce. 

HRIS technology and AI-assisted management software can help eliminate redundant processes to make the HR department more efficient. It also helps if organizations are clear on their policy as HR teams can then respond in the preferred way without overstepping the regulations. 

2. Training HR Teams on Key Skills Regularly

Not all HR professionals come automatically equipped with the entire range of skills needed to handle the employees, which makes it difficult for them to respond and react the right way when confronted with a problem. 

Providing training on skills like communication, empathetic listening, conflict de-escalation, bargaining, problem-solving, and other key qualities can ensure these individuals are fully equipped to handle any problem that arises within the organization. 

3. Solving HR Image Issues by Improving Communication

The vast ravine between HR and the rest of the employees exists primarily due to a lack of communication between the two parties. Organizations need to actively work on bridging the gap by improving the quality of communication that occurs between them. 

Improving HR communication skills in one part of the solution, but the HR image improvement plan should also involve the creation of specific channels of communication that employees can use to contact the HR team about specific concerns. 

4. Setting People-Centric Goals that Focus on Rebuilding Trust in the HR Department

HR teams often have generic goals like improving productivity or bringing down absences at the workplace, but their goals also need to be altered to focus on building up the community. From creating a more accepting work culture to improving the mental well-being of the workforce, the HR goals need to be more people-centric and attend to the employee needs.

5. Taking Employee Feedback Seriously 

Many organizations make an effort to collect feedback but rarely feed it back into the system. Employees need to feel like the HR teams are actually willing to listen and understand them, and only then will they see their HR members as one of their own ranks. Feedback should be sought frequently and HR teams need to show how the feedback is being implemented at the organization when possible. 

Creating opportunities for employees to interact with HR is also beneficial but these should not be awkward and forced like these events usually are. Team building events need to actually warrant interest from employees.

6. Making HR a Partner in Decision Making

HR teams are often informed of a decision retrospectively rather than involved in the decision-making process. HR teams have a better understanding of what is going on within the organization compared to the employers and leaders who rarely meet with the employees, and as a result, it is important to include them in planning changes, both big and small.

They can provide critical insight that the decision-makers may not be privy to, and their suggestions need to be considered seriously before implementing change. This way, HR teams will be better prepared for the employee response and will also know how to answer the questions that employees have for them without getting flustered or overwhelmed.

7. Improving the Benefits HR Teams Receive

HR teams are often understaffed and with their reputation at the organization, they are also frequently unmotivated to perform the roles. An HR image improvement plan will always remain incomplete if it does not consider the needs of the employees. Address the well-being of the HR employees with just as much attention as the focus paid to the rest of the team and ensure they have everything they need to perform their tasks well. 

Rebuilding trust in the HR department and solving the HR image issues is a continuous process, but it always pays to be considerate of what can be done to make gradual changes.

The post 7 Steps to Solving HR’s Image Issues and Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace appeared first on The HR Digest.

Source: New feed