Whilst flexible and hybrid working provides numerous benefits, it has created new challenges across the board – especially for HR. No longer does HR have direct face-to-face interactions with the employee population, keeping them on the pulse of the organization. In–office settings, it is much easier for HR to get a feeling for the mood by just walking around the office and talking to people. But, with people working from a variety of locations in remote home offices, this is not possible.
Without the in-person opportunities the traditional office environment affords, HR is unable to gauge employee’s general wellbeing, making sure that appropriate hours are being worked. They also face new challenges in communicating new policies, ensuring existing policies are adhered to and the company’s legal requirements are fulfilled. This puts HR in a tough spot because they can’t effectively carry out their duties as they once had whilst interacting with employees.
So, how can HR stay on top of responsibilities in this new modern workplace, with a decentralized workforce?
Imagine the HR department had a way to interact with employees via their preferred devices in a non-intrusive way, gaining insight into their real sentiments and feedback. In this way, the HR department can ensure that employees are still being looked after even if they are working in remote locations.
One option is to send out general surveys to keep an eye on employee’s wellbeing and whether the appropriate hours being worked by asking simple questions. For example, HR can ask questions like "are you feeling stressed?" or "do you think you have too much work to do?" To assess the hour’s worked some simple questions such as “how many hours have you worked last week?” or “how many breaks are you taking in your workday?” can help to establish if an employee is working the required time but is also not exceeding the working hours.
In addition to the employee experience, HR must remain mindful of announcing new policies and ensuring existing policies are remembered or adhered to. For example, say HR wants to introduce a new policy that employees gym membership will be subsidized, or perhaps remind everyone to take their annual leave entitlements to not lose them. To communicate this, they could use email, but this often goes unread. An alternative option is to send a notification to employees that requires acknowledgment from the individual. This way, HR can be confident that they have informed everybody and avoid misunderstanding.
One final area that HR is facing new challenges with monitoring in the new workplace is ensuring all legal requirements have been fulfilled. One of these could be, for example, a yearly SOBC or workplace harassment class every employee is required to take. A convenient way to uphold this in a hybrid workplace is by using a notification system to notify all employees about it. The ones who have already taken the required course could report back upon completion so HR can focus on those employees who haven’t gotten around to completing it.
This sounds all great, but where do we start?
This is where 1E’s Tachyon Sentiment comes into the picture. 1E has extended its DEM portfolio with a module called Sentiment. In simple terms, it allows you to send notifications or surveys in an unobtrusive way to employee’s desktop and they will receive them via a pop-up on their desktop. They can then read the information and be referred to other sources for further details or they are asked to respond. The surveys are designed so that they can run continually or one-time only.
This aspect of Tachyon Sentiment is an effective way for HR to tackle the aforementioned challenges. For example, to keep on top of employee wellbeing, a survey can be asked every 30 days, for example, to capture an accurate baseline over time. With this, HR can build a holistic picture across the entire workforce to identify issues affecting employees, e.g., working overtime or excess stress.
This tool can also be used to communicate policy changes and to check legal requirements with notifications that are only shown once, or until the employee acknowledges that they have read the information or completed the task. In this way, Tachyon Sentiment delivers a powerful tool to HR that means they can keep a pulse on employees, even if they are working in remote locations.
Keen to learn more about Tachyon Sentiment? Why not check out the first blog in this series that provides an overview and explores prioritizing the employee digital experience. We also provide a similar use case focused on IT that you can read here. Alternatively, to talk to us about the benefits of Tachyon Sentiment get in touch today!
