HR Trends Shaping the Workplace

Talent Report+THRIVE

Description: In this episode, we explore cutting-edge HR trends. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we delve into the evolving landscape. Discover how HR navigates challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to shape the workplace of the future.

Resources:

2024 HR Trends

2024 HR Trends

2024 Employee Trends

Labor Shortage

MRA Membership

About MRA

Let's Connect:

Guest LinkedIn Profile - Keri Wozniak

Host Bio - Sophie Boler

Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler

Transcript:

Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04
Unknown
Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here.

00:00:21:05 - 00:00:54:07
Unknown
Now it's time to thrive. Hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. In this episode specifically, we're going to be talking about cutting edge trends with MRA, our business partner, Kari Wozniak. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we'll give you advice on how to navigate challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while also implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to really shaped or the workplace of the future.

00:00:54:09 - 00:01:16:15
Unknown
So, Kari, I know you really work directly with a lot of our member companies and you've been in HR for over 20 years, I think so you've really seen it all when it comes to trends and challenges. So I'm excited about the opportunity to really sit down and talk with you on what you're currently seeing trend wise. So thanks again for being here today.

00:01:16:15 - 00:01:44:08
Unknown
I'm excited. Thanks. I'll be excited to be here to all just kind of kick in kicking it off. Employee experience is often cited as a critical factor in organizational success. So how are HR Professionals really working to enhance and optimize the overall employee journey with their companies? Sure. You know, this is an ongoing area of concern and has been for for for quite a while.

00:01:44:10 - 00:02:07:15
Unknown
As as everyone is aware, we've been involved in a labor shortage for quite a while. It's not expected to change anytime soon. As you know, birth rates are low and generational changes and all that stuff's kind of coming through. So the employee experience becomes critical to attracting and retaining your talent. So some just key things to think about is you really need to be listening to your employees.

00:02:07:17 - 00:02:23:03
Unknown
You know, it's okay to read the articles out there, listen to trends, you know, pay attention to what's going on in the world because that will help guide you in the right direction. But your teams, your environment is going to be a little bit different than anywhere else. So you want to make sure that you're you have frequent and targeted feedback loops of your employees.

00:02:23:03 - 00:02:49:08
Unknown
So think about things like pulse surveys, small group listening sessions, day interviews, things like that, so that you understand why people stay and why you believe and you can address those to make sure that you have the right employee experience. You also want to make sure that you're starting small and implementing quickly. We just don't have the time anymore to plan for a year and then take a long time to implement and have the perfect programs.

00:02:49:10 - 00:03:05:16
Unknown
Instead, we need to look at these things as continuous improvements. Pick a few things that you can implement quickly that will have an impact on your team and move those over the finish line so that you actually see the impact of those. And then, of course, circling back with your employees, making sure that did you actually hit the mark?

00:03:05:16 - 00:03:27:18
Unknown
Is this what they wanted? So that's general guidelines and how to tackle things. But some actual specific ideas here are communication tools. So you need to make sure that you are communicating with your employees for the channels they actually use. And, you know, we are so used to using email newsletters, even home mailings that are now pretty old school versions.

00:03:27:21 - 00:03:46:10
Unknown
You still need those because you have a lot of people who are comfortable with them. But now you need to be looking at your texting your employees. Are you recording video messages or are you utilizing instant messaging? What about like communication apps like Slack, things like that? You need to make sure that you're communicating with your teams in in those areas.

00:03:46:10 - 00:04:10:07
Unknown
It is in all of these places or at least in a select few, and that you're having that same consistent message regardless of where you're communicating because you want them all to hear the same things, but where they're actually going to go, where they're going to go use it. And in that you're considering your generations, you're considering learning and communication styles and then what technology is actually available to the individual.

00:04:10:09 - 00:04:34:01
Unknown
You know, your manufacturing employees don't necessarily have the same access to drop as team has. So how are you making sure that they're still getting the messages that you need to have them out there? And time is always an issue, so don't overwhelm your communications team with a million different things to focus on. Make sure it's a sustainable process and that you're automating where you can.

00:04:34:03 - 00:04:57:03
Unknown
So some other things beyond communication tools is you want to make sure you're integrating and simplifying your technology tools. Again, the more things you have, the more you going to manage. So looking at fewer sources of truth or better aggregated tools to be able to pull your information and think about the the consumer experience your employees are used to when they're at home, right?

00:04:57:03 - 00:05:26:13
Unknown
They're using Alexa, Siri and Google in order to get the information they need to do their personal work in seconds. But then at work, we're going into different THRIVEs, different disparate systems. You got to remember where everything's housed and how you actually pull everything together. It's time consuming and it's frustrating. So how do you mirror that consumer experience at work that they're used to at home or actually watching technology things?

00:05:26:15 - 00:05:45:23
Unknown
absolutely. And I feel like just to add on that, the employee experience, it comes down to how well you can listen to your employees and implement the things that they want and that they're interested in. So I like that you highlighted that you don't always have to listen to that outside conversations that might be kind of pulling you in.

00:05:45:23 - 00:06:11:06
Unknown
It's really about what does your company value, what do your employees value, and something that might work for one person might not work for another. But I'm glad that you personalization, right? Like at the end of the day, your employees want to know that you know them. You absolutely very well kind of moving on now into flexible work arrangements that's been a key trend the past couple years now.

00:06:11:08 - 00:06:35:17
Unknown
So how how is really addressing the challenges of managing hybrid teams then and what strategies are being implemented to ensure collaboration and communication remain effective? Sure. So there's a couple different different things in there. So being flexible in the first place, creating those flexible work arrangements is going to be really, really important. And we're all we're hearing a lot about.

00:06:35:19 - 00:07:01:13
Unknown
It's no longer about work life balance, it's about work life integration or fit and the concept there is it's not how do I fit my life around my job, it's how do I how do I have meaningful work that's going to support the life that I want to have? And while that seems like a nuance, it's a really important distinction because employees maybe don't want their whole identity to be what they do for a living anymore.

00:07:01:15 - 00:07:24:17
Unknown
And everybody has different challenges, whether it's the raising children, if they've got aging parents, if they've got just hobbies or, you know, desires to travel the world or whatever, those things are, they want to figure out how to balance that while providing the opportunity to be a professional, to contribute in different ways. So to me, one of the key things that employers need to do is be creative.

00:07:24:17 - 00:07:50:13
Unknown
We can't just sit there and look at, well, everybody has to work 9 to 5 in an office and do things exactly the way that we've historically used it, you know, the pandemic that we always want to bring that up. But it just changed people's expectations and how they can how they know they can get work done. So so whether it's remote hybrid, so where you actually do work, but there's also the actual schedule itself.

00:07:50:13 - 00:08:14:17
Unknown
So can I work maybe four tens? Can I work long hours on weekends or even a combination of those things? Is it more I just need to get my work done when I get it done, maybe matters a little bit less. You can even look at hiring people into job sharing kind of situations where maybe you're hiring two part time people to accomplish the tasks of one full time job.

00:08:14:19 - 00:08:35:14
Unknown
A lot of companies are starting to use contractors and consultants, kind of this gig concept. Like, I have a project, I'm going to pick that up, I'm going to work on it. So if you're employing people in these these new ways, it's not all just full time Monday through Friday kind of employees. Then you've got to figure out how do you how do you communicate amongst all these different schedules?

00:08:35:14 - 00:09:00:16
Unknown
How do you ensure that people feel like a part of a team and that especially you hear it on weekends and like night shifts and things like that, They don't feel like they're part of the team anymore. So so a key is actually pulling people together in collaborative and community and strong communication ways. So with a focus on actually getting to know each other, having that social connection while you're still being productive.

00:09:00:20 - 00:09:30:16
Unknown
And so can you build your team meetings in person, maybe have core hours that everybody has to be there on Wednesdays from from tended to. But other than that, we can kind of work around it. But in those times when you're having people in these more collaborative work environments, make sure it's fun and make it worth driving into the office when if I could have just done my meeting on Zoom at home anyway, why did I THRIVE 45 minutes into the office today?

00:09:30:18 - 00:09:57:24
Unknown
So make sure it's worthwhile that they're having that those connections. And it's not always just work like some of it's getting to know your team, having just that time to talk so that they can work better on other things outside of those meetings too. So I think it's just really important that there is that environment when you're together, that you're having fun, you're still getting things done and you're building that that team environment, you know?

00:09:58:01 - 00:10:22:20
Unknown
Absolutely. I love all those ideas. Kari And we talk a lot with Jim Morgan. You mentioned the generational differences and export work arrangements, brings up a lot of ideas and even challenges with with generations and working flexible hours. I know sometimes we talk about these like, why are you emailing me at 2 a.m. and it's like, Hey, that might work for me and it might not work for you.

00:10:22:20 - 00:10:45:02
Unknown
But if the employer can understand that not everybody is the same, I think that will I don't know. It just helps create kind of that more cohesive team. Even if I'm working the same 9 to 5, like you mentioned one, when you get with employers, I think the resistance comes from we've never really learned how to manage people that way.

00:10:45:04 - 00:11:06:14
Unknown
You know, historically I kind of button seat management, which is maybe not the best term, but we're so used to like, I see you, I see working on your computer, you're actively engaged in a meeting. I can tell that you're doing your job when you're not in front of me, when I can't actually see the work that not even seeing an output in that scenario.

00:11:06:14 - 00:11:33:09
Unknown
But when I can't see that you're working, then people question, Well, maybe they're doing something else. And then there starts to be this little bit of distrust. We need to change our management styles to focusing on outcomes instead. So it's not as much about how many hours I worked or when I worked or, you know, whether or not you went through 100 emails today or, you know, all of that is I need to produce this result.

00:11:33:09 - 00:11:56:11
Unknown
So is it in my doing something of quality? Is that effective and am I having a positive impact on my team? You know, those are things we need to start measuring. But the harder they're just because a lot of jobs, they don't make widgets. You know, it's not that I'm going to produce 30 of these things an hour so how can you say I have strong output in, in what I'm doing?

00:11:56:13 - 00:12:15:19
Unknown
So managers and I need to take a step back in these and evaluate the roles? How do I manage these these positions effectively so that I'm not questioning whether or not they're actually doing the job, the right thing. The right thing is, is what I produce now, how long it takes me to produce and where I do it.

00:12:15:21 - 00:12:44:18
Unknown
Absolutely. That's a great point, Harry. We're also in the age of social media and increased transparency. So I'm curious, how is employer branding evolving then, with that in mind, in what role does it really play in shaping and promoting a positive employer brand and culture? Sure, a lot of this goes back to that employee experience that we talked about as the first question, and this is now your content for your employer brand, right?

00:12:44:18 - 00:13:08:10
Unknown
Like when you're asking the questions of your team, of what they want, then when you actually put programs in place, when things are effective, then that's what you need to do and tell tell the outside world about it and remind your your current employees when you're doing those things and what the benefits of having them are. So making sure that you're telling people the things that you're working at and getting that out there.

00:13:08:10 - 00:13:34:01
Unknown
But you need to also make sure that the employer brand rings true to what your environment actually is. I think historically, marketing would put together this really professional and buttoned up program that made everything look perfect. We're seeing now instead that employers are taking their phones out and they're recording things just as much more casual, but it's more real.

00:13:34:03 - 00:13:57:16
Unknown
And I think the candidates today and employees are they connect to that because they know that things aren't always produced. And it's not that everyone's always beautiful in an actress and they should leave things instead. I want to see my coworker wearing their uniform actually working on a piece of equipment, talking about what their day is. This comes in as like workers always refer to it as the realistic job preview.

00:13:57:16 - 00:14:27:19
Unknown
You know, you want to know if you're coming into an organization, what you're actually going to experience, not just what your leadership wants people to see. So being very, very honest about it, making sure that what you're putting out about your employer brand, whether it's on social media, whether it's just through word of mouth, that it actually matches what your organization does, so that when someone comes into the organization that you know, okay, this is what I thought I was getting into.

00:14:27:21 - 00:14:52:01
Unknown
And there's fun ways to do that, especially in small businesses. I think the they tend to think they need a full marketing team to build this out. You can put little notes out about employee promotions or new hires and anniversaries. You can talk about your long term employees and you know, what is their career path, kind of then throw out the time they've been there or, you know, you brought in pizza posted that's okay.

00:14:52:03 - 00:15:14:20
Unknown
But those are truly things that you're doing as an organization. But then try to encourage people to do more. Like if you do volunteer days, can we post about those? If there is training that's been received, maybe you sent somebody to Emory and they got certified. Put that out there too, because these are things showing how you're actually supporting your employees in real life.

00:15:14:22 - 00:15:37:16
Unknown
You know, absolutely. Those are all great examples, too. And I like that pulling out your phone and just taking a casual video feel like I've heard that so much recently. And I think Amanda Mosteller one of our working and developing instructors called it like the TikTok era, where you just do a quick 32nd video, kind of showcase who you are, what the brand is.

00:15:37:18 - 00:16:07:24
Unknown
And I had a story about that. Our marketing team was in. We worked on some project for, like we to bring in the light, to bring in the cameras, kind of like you said, the full produce. And it's like, no, just take out your phone, your cart recorded selfie style. That's what everyone wants to see. And like you said, it's very relatable and it may or may not be a generational thing, as in, I think the younger generation is used to seeing that same all over.

00:16:08:01 - 00:16:42:16
Unknown
And maybe that's something that the more seasoned professionals have to get used to that style. But I definitely agree that that's that's where branding and kind of digital content is going is the more relatable content. And I think while it is generational from the standpoint of expecting it in, I think all the generations kind of recognize that it feels more accurate in that it's like, okay, that actually probably happened, right?

00:16:42:20 - 00:17:07:09
Unknown
They didn't spend $100,000 to produce this video, you know, and the questions behind that messaging. So I think it is a it's more about being transparent as an organization. And I think there's tools to make that easier to do. And actually, just as I'm saying, the word transparent, the other thing that is really important with employer brands and HR

00:17:07:11 - 00:17:30:14
Unknown
Knows this is is your pay pay transparency is really, really important. It's it's coming. If it's not already in your state, it's coming and know the legislations their candidates expect it. We got to stop trying to pretend it's something nobody talks about and start being more upfront about it. And so how do you wrap that into your employer brand?

00:17:30:16 - 00:17:52:01
Unknown
And, you know, we can't necessarily be the top payers and with all the benefits, you know, you have to balance your your dollars. But you can talk about what's key, you know, do you have incentive compensation that helps you stand out? Do you you know, maybe you are paying at the higher, higher level or you have some special employee benefit to your total rewards is is a is a balancing act.

00:17:52:01 - 00:18:24:01
Unknown
But make sure that you're talking about that and and that you're just you're being upfront about what you believe the job is worth because then you're going to get the people to apply who and who also think that's what the job's worth, right? For sure. So just continuing with the digital digital training here with the rise of automation and I was really balancing technology adoption with the human touch in managing talent and fostering a positive workplace culture.

00:18:24:04 - 00:18:42:04
Unknown
So that's been a big challenge for a lot of people recently. Well, it's so new and it's in I mean, my guess is not new. I grew up in the nineties. If we're watching The Terminator, right? Like, I mean, you expected it to come and, and now it's a question of what does it mean in reality and not in science fiction.

00:18:42:06 - 00:19:11:02
Unknown
And so every business function, including ours, is grappling with this at some, some level. I think the most important thing that needs to get out in front of this is to remind employees and themselves they are not replacing you. There is still another job on the other side of it, no different than in in the Industrial Revolution when we started seeing machines come into manufacturing, we didn't stop hiring people because the machines were there.

00:19:11:04 - 00:19:32:05
Unknown
Now we just needed a different skill set and so we had to make sure that that we're keeping people trained, that they're learning along the way so that they don't get left behind because the DNA not your replace your job, but you are not learning how to use it, will make someone else replace your job. The person who actually does have that skill.

00:19:32:07 - 00:19:53:04
Unknown
And so that's important for for each of us as as professionals, You know, we're employees too, but we need to stay in front of our employees and remind them that their that jobs will exist. It just might not look tomorrow exactly the way that it looked today, but it never has. So that's not completely unheard of anyway. But so we need to get in front of that.

00:19:53:04 - 00:20:27:12
Unknown
We need to communicate with them, you know, where we see AI coming into their particular roles and then take the time to build training and adoption tools to help them get there because it is going to be new for everybody. So let's just keep everybody moving at the same time. Things that I think about and where I probably should be coming into play is you're trying to automate manual, repetitive processes that don't require creativity, strategic thinking or what I think is important, an empathetic response, right?

00:20:27:12 - 00:20:54:12
Unknown
People need to do that. But if the rules are already there and it's a plus B, we'll see. Get people out of that. It's not worth their time. That's when you start to have the technology come come into play too, to do that. So for our specifically, that might be answering questions on policies and benefit inquiries like it's factual and be able to use a chat bot for something like that.

00:20:54:14 - 00:21:34:21
Unknown
How do you, how do you use systems and tools? You don't necessarily need to have somebody standing in front of them doing the training. How can you help affected training that that's there that they can utilize and access without the without taking up the time of an individual? Things like metrics and data reporting. I mean, I'll be able to set up automated resume screening and interview coordination are hugely time consuming things that again, as long as you define your factors and can can very much be done by by software and then performance cycle administration, I think is an area that can really get focused on what I want.

00:21:34:21 - 00:22:07:06
Unknown
Scaring people is the idea that performance management, actual management might get in been used with I, I don't see that happening for quite a long time because there is still that's the creativity and strategic thinking and we have to have pretty pretty fancy software to be able to get that right. But that leads into HR Has to be a gatekeeper of if you want to call it algorithms, if you want to call parameters, whatever the rules are that are being built, HR

00:22:07:06 - 00:22:32:01
Unknown
Has to review those for bias. So you can't have your recruitment software picking your hires because there is inherent bias in the data that we're using to automate this process in the first place, and we have to question it. We got to put those on that scene with compensation, career development, anything that is truly career and employment impacting HR

00:22:32:01 - 00:22:57:06
Unknown
Really needs to be reviewing what those rules are that are being put into the system and and doing adverse impact analysis to make sure that we're not going to have whether conscious or unconscious bias come in because that's going to get you in legal trouble. But more importantly, it's unethical, right? No, i'm i'm really glad you reiterated the point that I is not going to get rid of your job and that we still need you.

00:22:57:08 - 00:23:23:00
Unknown
I feel like I've heard that in a lot of places and we've talked about it on a couple of podcasts. But those are all great examples of where HR and just business overall can use AI and how you can kind of integrate it into your automated processes so you can focus on all of the strategic planning processes if the things you don't like to do because they're boring.

00:23:23:02 - 00:24:00:17
Unknown
there you go, There you go. And then you can focus on like the stuff that you actually really want to do, which is using your brain. Exactly. Well, the concept of agile HR Is also gaining popularity. So my question is, how are HR teams embracing agility to respond quickly to changing business needs and marketing market dynamics? Yeah, this is a it mentioned a little bit earlier, but it's it's changing your mindset from only implementing things when they're perfect to getting into an iterative continuous improvement process.

00:24:00:19 - 00:24:29:01
Unknown
We just don't have time with how quickly things change to make sure everything is perfect. We can't build a handbook, have to go sit on a shelf and five years from now look at it again. But you have to be pulling things out every six months, reviewing, making sure that there's minor tweaks and rolling things out. Was looking at some of my concepts like technology is becoming obsolete in 3 to 5 years.

00:24:29:03 - 00:24:53:10
Unknown
So if it takes you six months to select a new system and a year to implement it and six more months to optimize and get it really working for you, you're now ready to replace it again. So you need to be constantly changing and tweaking and adjusting and that is going to to be the case for for not just your technology tools, not just your HR

00:24:53:11 - 00:25:14:06
Unknown
Resources, but really anything that you were touching in support of the business. So when you're talking about career development, maybe you're creating career ladders, trying to retain people. You can't just build the program and come back to it a couple of years later and expect that it has been working the whole time. So we something out 80% good.

00:25:14:08 - 00:25:49:09
Unknown
Learn from that and then make adjustments and be transparent with your employees. Be like, Hey, we tried it. We found something that didn't work. So now we're going to adjust and try to make it better. So that's necessary with just about everything. When regulations keep changing your employees and candidates, expectations are changing so rapidly. We're just in a in a world where the iterations are coming so much faster that you have to you just have to keep adjusting along the way and don't worry about perfection.

00:25:49:11 - 00:26:13:13
Unknown
And then of course, we sort of automate where you can so that you don't have to spend your time on administrative tasks and you can focus more on on these things that need to keep changing in response to the needs your business. And I would say and celebrate wins because we kind of forget that step. We keep the burnout, all that stuff kind of comes because everything is coming so quickly.

00:26:13:15 - 00:26:35:11
Unknown
So when you do implement something, remember to celebrate it. Say thank you, Remind people that it's happened so that they see the work and effort that's happening. Take a little bit of a breath before you move on to the next project. Yeah, no, absolutely. That's great advice. I'm kind of moving the conversation to a little different topic here.

00:26:35:13 - 00:27:07:18
Unknown
How is HR addressing the growing importance of sustainability in corporate social responsibility, in shaping workplace values and practices? I think this is something our listeners are very curious on and they kind of want to want to know more about this topic. So we set out on this question that it's it's it's very different now than when when I started my career, I was even in even five or ten years ago when people were talking about corporate responsibility.

00:27:07:20 - 00:27:35:14
Unknown
But it was more like, don't be a bad player, you know, don't don't have the you know, the Environmental Protection Agency coming in and doing something from a legislative standpoint. Now it's more about aligning your organizational values with your business process. So if you go out on many, many company websites, they'll have their mission, vision and values. You see common things about integrity and ethics.

00:27:35:16 - 00:27:59:23
Unknown
You know, maybe environmental sustainability is is listed out there. But I think the most important thing is aligning that to, again, what you what you're actually doing. So it's important to to walk the talk. So you want to make sure that you're integrating your business practices in in that that social responsibility that you're saying you feel is important.

00:27:59:23 - 00:28:26:14
Unknown
So think about like maybe you need to review your supply chain contracts because you want to align with, you know, maybe you've got a DEA and B program that you're very vocal about you're putting on your employer brand. You can't sit there and say, I'm in support of a particular group, but then never use them as your supply chain.

00:28:26:16 - 00:28:51:23
Unknown
So what are your criteria for selecting vendors? How do you bring that in from from a social responsibility standpoint? You know, looking at your manufacturing practices, it's great to sit there and say we will we recycle, reduce, reuse, recycle. But what if your manufacturing practices are creating significant amounts of waste? You need to look at that process and find ways to to have a direct impact.

00:28:52:00 - 00:29:18:15
Unknown
You might want to implement a scholarship program that's in support of, you know, organizations or groups that you're providing support to. So again, just that deeper integration that rings true to your organization. So it's not enough just to to post support out on social media or write a donation check. You need to align who you are as an organization, which you're saying in your values.

00:29:18:15 - 00:29:43:05
Unknown
This is who you are with, what you're actually doing. And so that's going to help with your employees will see that it'll gain trust with them candidates where this is important to them. They'll be attracted to your organization because it aligns with their values. And I mean, that's the perfect scenario is if you can recruit people who believe what you believe, they're going to fit your culture.

00:29:43:05 - 00:30:14:02
Unknown
They're going to they're going to they're going to stick with you, too, because there is more to the relationship than a paycheck. Instead, they feel good about what they're doing. So a couple of common areas, because I think people question, you know, what is it all mean? What's the definition of this? Some common areas that organizations are considering under that social responsibility kind of umbrella is, as I mentioned, the diversity equity inclusion, belonging activities, environmental sustainability, fair trade.

00:30:14:04 - 00:30:37:19
Unknown
You know, again, you want to buy from vendors in potentially third world countries that are not paying people effectively or just have to the sustainable wages and then responsible labor practices within your own, your own environment, within anybody that you're doing business with. So those are things to to measure as well as make sure that you're considering when you're making decisions.

00:30:37:19 - 00:31:00:18
Unknown
And as an organization. Absolutely. Those are great examples and I feel like a common one too, is just volunteering. A lot of organizations say they value volunteering, but then it's like, do you give your employees volunteer opportunities to sit out, kind of start to finish thing? Like, do you follow up with them? How is their experience? How how they get involved in the community?

00:31:00:18 - 00:31:19:16
Unknown
Like you can't just stop at 25%. You got to keep it going kind of thing. There are some organizations and I won't name any, but I'm very recognizable that you see out in the world wearing their volunteer t shirts and you see them at events all over the place. And so, you know that that's really something that that organization takes seriously.

00:31:19:18 - 00:31:48:02
Unknown
Right? Right. Well, just kind of wrapping up here today. One more question for you. Leadership development is obviously crucial for organizational growth. So what initiatives are HR Departments implementing to identify and nurture leadership talent within organization? This is a really key area for me, and i feel like we don't spend quite enough time and energy on this in an actual practice.

00:31:48:04 - 00:32:23:01
Unknown
You know, so often we promote the best individual contributor into running a department, but we haven't necessarily stepped back and said, are they a leader? Are they somebody that people go to naturally when when when the managers in a meeting, who do they actually reach out amongst their team members to get support and help? So first, I think your selection process needs to definitely be evaluated a little bit more and you need to make sure that the individual contributors can still grow without becoming managers because not every person should become a leader.

00:32:23:03 - 00:32:47:04
Unknown
But then another aspect of leadership development for me is actually the job evaluation of our front line and mid-level managers. We have a lot going on in these positions. There's high, high expectations of them and they don't always have the time and resources to be able to actually do the job effectively. So it's a really common pressure point.

00:32:47:04 - 00:33:20:22
Unknown
And what I mean by that is senior leadership has expectations of goals and initiatives and growth plans that need to be executed on by these team members. And now we're seeing employee expectations and the employee experience has increased a lot of what they expect out of their frontline manager. You know, they're expecting that their managers want to know them as individuals, that they adjust their leadership style to them, that they're helping them develop in their careers, that they're representing the organization on a day to day basis.

00:33:20:22 - 00:33:55:12
Unknown
Strong communication, regular feedback. You know, there's just a there's a lot that's being expected at that. And then these roles commonly have extremely high spans of control. So you see it's not uncommon to see a supervisor have 20 to 30 direct reports if you expect them to know their employees on an individual basis and provide a strong employee experience, while also meeting the strategic goals and needs of the organization, probably need to take a look at the span of control because that's probably not a realistic ask.

00:33:55:14 - 00:34:20:14
Unknown
And they also have a lot of administrative work, whether it's time cards and performance reviews and you just all these tools and resources that they have to do on an ongoing basis. So I think it's a really important that we especially as we take a step back and then look at whether it's a program we're implementing, what's the impact on them, but also are we really designing the jobs in a way that's going to make them successful?

00:34:20:15 - 00:34:47:05
Unknown
So that's a it's just a it's a key area for me is making sure that they're spending that time, especially given we know the direct managers are a key reason why employees stay or leave an organization. So if we don't provide the support to those specific individuals, how are we really long term impacting our ability to to get the right talent in the organization?

00:34:47:07 - 00:35:12:16
Unknown
So it's like I said, we need to make sure that we're focusing on evaluating what those responsibilities are, how many direct reports they might have, what's the the individual contributor tasks we ask them to, because oftentimes they're also expected to be a producer on top of being the manager of a very large team that you might need to provide administrative support to them or an automation tools or something to make their jobs a little bit easier.

00:35:12:18 - 00:35:33:02
Unknown
And then being clear on training them and the skill sets that they need to do their job well and providing very clear expectations of what they're responsible for so that they can be successful. And of course, Emery can help with the training and the development and even the job evaluations if that's something that people are interested in. But I do think it's important.

00:35:33:02 - 00:35:55:24
Unknown
We very often look at our senior leaders and we're looking a lot at our individual contributors these days, but this group in the middle gets kind of forgotten. Well, I think that's a great place to close out on a great conversation today. So, Keri, I want to thank you for for your expertise in ensuring that sharing the trends that you've been seeing in HR currently.

00:35:56:01 - 00:36:18:10
Unknown
But to our listeners, I want to thank you also for tuning in. When Keri mentioned we have resources linked in the show notes, so make sure to check those out today or you can find them at MRA. Net dot org. We also I'm curious LinkedIn profile linked in the show notes. So if you like to connect with her or ask or any follow up questions, be sure to connect with Keri.

00:36:18:10 - 00:36:38:15
Unknown
I'm sure she'd be happy to do that. Keri Again, thank you for joining me today. And to our listeners, we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform.

00:36:38:16 - 00:36:48:09
Unknown
And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.