Employees resign for many different reasons. There are both push and pull factors that cause resignations, an example of a pull factor could be the attraction of a new job, Push factors range from lack of career opportunities to organisational changes, poor relationships with management. These factors can lead to disengagement.
In the case of Aztek the results of a recent employee satisfaction survey, show there are a mixture of push and pull factors leading to the high level of turnover of staff.
Employees have remarked on the lack of progression within the business, the distance between management and the workforce which brings with it communication issues.
There is a general lack of trust as a result of rumours of major organisational changes and belief that management have no loyalty to staff. It is clear that the issue of communication within the business are leading to the high levels of turnover, the feeling of uncertainty amongst Aztek employees is making it easier for them to leave. Without a plan put in place the turnover threat will extend from entry level roles to other areas of the business.
Exploration of how good HR Policies, procedures and practices can help retain and maintain a committed workforce.
A range of HR policies, procedures and practices which are suggested as being important to organisational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:-
Recruitment and Selection – Recruiting the right people to fit the culture of the company can lead to an increase in employee retention. Identifying candidates at interview who will fit into the business and its ways, in terms of Aztek fixed term contracts rather than permanent roles on offer as the future of entry level roles are still unclear. Developing the onboarding procedure to focus on retaining new entrants to the business and implementing an induction process that is ongoing and encompasses the employees first six months of employment. This will include induction days, training plans put in place by line management and the introduction of a buddy system. THis is where new entrants are matched with existing employees and the new employee ca go to their buddy with any queries or issues they may have about the Company, their role or simply for lunch, Someone to ask the questions a line manager may assume everyone knows the answer to – like casual Friday. A buddy system would also mean a selection process for current employees who wish to become a buddy. They can either nominate themselves or be nominated by a line manager who believes they would make a good buddy for a new starter. there would be training involved which would be a boost in morale for current employees too.
For current employees Aztek will look to develop talent pools to fill critical roles as they become available as a result of the uncertainty and high levels of turnover that Aztek are currently experiencing.Talent pools are an opportunity for employees to progress in their careers, it is also helpful for the business to have talent recognized and replacements in place for key roles that cannot wait to be filled with the everyday recruitment and selection process. It will help with retention for the business and in time lower the turnover that Aztek currently have.
Reward Management – Along with recruiting and selecting for culture fit, Aztek will also needs to ensure they are offering employees competitive compensation and benefits packages. This includes financial and nonfinancial benefits, salary, bonus’ that compete with competitors as employee benefits offer a way to attract and retain employees to the business, they contribute to improving staff wellbeing ad enhance engagement. Employee benefits are non cash provisions within the reward package, these include paid holidays, pensions and company cars. The concept of ‘total reward’ is where a company adopts a bundle of mutually suporting financial and non financial rewards for example flexitime that align to the needs of the business and its employees.
Communication – To target the issues of lack of trust within Aztek, and the feeling of uncertainty that have been identified through the employee satisfaction survey a communication policy would be ideal to put in place. Targeted communication initiatives can enable managers and HR to stay on top of employee engagement issues, get constant feedback from employees and anticipate changing needs of workforce groups.Good employee communication will help people to understand Aztek’s purpose and strategy, identify with the values, and develop a sense of belonging by understanding how their role contributes to the Comapny. A successful communication strategy depends on the full support of senior leaders. There needs to be two-way and multi-directional dialogue, so that people have meaningful opportunities to feed their views upwards. Regular meetings within teams, departmental meetings, monthly/quarterly meetings, town hall meetings with directors, CEO and Q&A sessions to give all levels of workforce the opportunity to engage with senior management.
Succession Planning and Career Development
Succession Planning clearly explained.
The process of identifying and developing future leaders or senior management as well as individuals to fill other business critical positions either in the short term or the long term. Employees who are perceived to have the skills knowledge and desire to can be trained to move up to fill key specific roles.
A succession plan, is a component of good HR planning and management. Succession planning acknowledges that staff will not be with an organisation indefinitely and it provides a plan and process for addressing the changes that will occur when they leave. Key positions can be defined as those positions that are crucial for the operations of the organisation and, because of skill, seniority and/or experience, will be hard to replace.
In terms of Aztek and it’s succession planning they will –
Assess their current and future needs based on either their strategic plan, goals and objectives, or priority programs and projects
Match these to the capabilities of the existing workforce
Develop a plan to manage the gaps that will arise when individuals in key positions leave or are promoted
The plan will generally include a combination of training and developing existing staff, and external recruitment. In terms of senior management HR in Aztek will monitor retirement dates, plan for any resignations that may arise leaving key roles open from the uncertainty throughout the business due to lack of communication and the circulation of rumours.Internally they will look towards the development of talent pools, identifying employees who once developed can meet future needs of the business in terms of filling key positions. HR will also look to identify the possibility of key employees who could relocate to Asia through staff surveys and recommendations from management. HR will work towards identifying employees who could move from solely inbound customer service to the outbound telesales function, this would again come from managerial recommendations.The development of Talent Pools in Aztek will help employees to feel valued and in turn receive training that they would not necessarily receive without the pool. It motivates employees to strive to upskill and aim to be part of the talent pool. It benefits the employees as talent pools provide focussed development which in turn ups morale. Talent pools are also a benefit to the organization in that it removes external recruitment costs, increases employee retention, improving the ability to effectively meet the organisations needs/changes as they arise.