As the world faced disruptive changes caused by the pandemic, HR roles underwent a transformation too, with some being renamed as “happiness managers” to emphasize the crucial role of ensuring overall employee satisfaction. Over the past years, job positions have evolved significantly, prompting HR managers to find innovative ways to support employee engagement and company culture, whether they are working from the office or home.

Pre-pandemic, companies organized numerous events and activities, such as in-office massages, garden parties, and other special occasions throughout the year. HR managers found themselves assuming the role of internal event managers alongside their bureaucratic responsibilities. While these events are slowly making a comeback, certain company benefits have become permanent fixtures in our lives and are here to stay. Gift cards, salary bonuses for cultural, sport or health-related activities and similar benefits that are not tied to the workspace have gained prominence. This brings many advantages to both HR managers and employees: HR is relieved from the burden of maintaining specific benefits, while employees have the flexibility to choose an option that align with their preferences.

However, these benefits have introduced a new challenge – they can inadvertently decrease employee engagement in the literal workspace. With less face-to-face interaction and reduced time spent together, the problem is further amplified. What can HR managers do to tackle this issue and eliminate its negative impact?

Demonstrating care for employees

According to the Dell Technologies study “Gen Z: Future is Coming”, 38% of Gen Z employees desire to work for organizations that take social and environmental issues seriously. In response, company life and benefits should align with this discovery. Flexible working hours and remote work arrangements, once considered valuable benefits, have become the norm. The new generations, including millennials, place more importance on company culture, values, social responsibility, and effective team management – even when working from home.

When a company emphasizes certain values, it is crucial that the company owner, management, and HR department become role models. For instance, if adhering to a formal dress code at the office is required, team leaders should stick to the same guidelines. Failure to align actions with preached values can lead to reputational damage, for example, during COVID many companies were preaching remote work, yet post-COVID they forced people to return to the offices. People remember such inconsistencies, and they can significantly impact an employer’s reputation for a long time.

Building and promoting company values

To foster voluntary engagement among employees, it is essential to effectively communicate and strengthen company values and initiatives. Simplifying employees’ lives while increasing engagement is the key. This can be done by:

• Using various communication channels: Share news and updates through multiple channels to cater to different employee preferences. Some may prefer receiving information via email, while others might respond better to social media platforms. Traditional methods such as posters and wallpapers can also be effective.
• Embracing digitization: Streamline benefit distribution and event management by moving processes to cloud platforms. Excel spreadsheets have their limitations and can be inefficient. Instead, consider solutions like a cloud-based platform designed to simplify benefit and event management for HR departments. Such software offers features such as available timeslots, options for variable benefits, and administration functions, allowing HR managers to control event categories and generate real-time reports.

Measuring employee satisfaction

Measuring employee satisfaction across various factors such as job position, work tasks, company performance, and values is a crucial aspect of understanding and improving workplace environment. While traditional methods like regular satisfaction questionnaires and interviews have long been used, they primarily provide subjective insights into individual experiences and performance, lacking a comprehensive overview of overall satisfaction.

Fortunately, there are new and innovative approaches available to assess the overall employee satisfaction within an organization. These methods go beyond individual perspectives and provide a more holistic understanding of employee sentiment.

Instead of relying solely on traditional methods, organizations can adopt modern measurement techniques that offer a broader view of employee satisfaction. These approaches aim to capture essential elements such as innovation, trust, identification, satisfaction, and responsibility within the workplace.

By utilizing online platforms and innovative methodologies, organizations can benchmark themselves against industry standards and evaluate their social conditions. These measurement techniques help predict the long-term value, sustainability and social impact of an organization.