3 Ways HCM Technology Helps Improve Engagement and Retention
With low unemployment and the competition for top talent at its peak, employers are seeking better ways to develop an engaging work environment that attracts and retains top performers.
A recent Harvard Business Review article cited an internal study by Facebook on why employees chose to stay at the company. Researchers found that employees who stayed found work enjoyable 31% more often, used their strengths 33% more often, and expressed 37% more confidence that they were gaining the skills and experiences they need to develop their careers.
In other words, employees want:
- to be in a place where their skills are both valued and developed, and
- feel like they are making a contribution to the success of the organization.
An employer’s recipe for engaged and loyal employees, therefore, entails talent development, performance feedback, and opportunities for continued advancement in the organization. Here are 3 areas where Human Capital Management technology can help.
Boost Engagement with Targeted Performance Management
Letting employees know where their contribution impacts the organization happens primarily through feedback from direct supervisors or managers. Beyond daily interactions, HCM technology provides a management platform for more structured feedback and coaching efforts, such as:
- Goal Management: Clarity between managers and employees over short-term goals can keep employees focused on company goals, as well as goals for personal development.
- Incident or Excellence Tracking: Tracking both incidents and moments of excellence will help employers identify high-risk employees, opportunities for training, and opportunities for advancement.
- Performance Assessments: When applied correctly, performance assessments put employees on a path, rather than a scale. Maintaining performance assessments in a single electronic record gives employers a clear picture of performance, and gives employees more ownership over personal development.
Employee engagement increases when managers can have objective conversations about performance and development goals. On the contrary, when performance conversations are overly subjective or clouded by the most recent interaction with the employee, this can have a negative impact on the employee’s experience with the company.
Boost Engagement with Focused Training Programs
Studies show that employee engagement and loyalty increases when their employer provides opportunities for professional development. Therefore managing the training budget and focusing investments on the right employees becomes a key element of an employer’s engagement strategy.
HCM technology helps employers to:
- Focus Talent investments where they have the greatest impact. By tracking which positions are most strategic to the organizations success, or most difficult to fill, employers may choose to direct limited training dollars to their key performers or key positions.
- Track training effectiveness and time-to-hire to help identify when it is better to invest in recruiting talent or developing talent through employer training.
- Identify and Address Skills Gaps between employees and their assigned positions before they impact company performance.
Low unemployment means employers have to take greater ownership in developing the talent they need to perform. HCM technology gives employers the ability to track the impact of their training programs against bottom-line performance.
Boost Engagement With Shared Transparency
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. While we haven’t yet invented the care-o-meter, there are still ways that HCM technology can track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring employee engagement.
- With HCM technology, assign personal and company goals to employees, manage and review their completion status, and merge performance goal metrics with annual performance reviews for a complete performance picture.
- Track KPIs of low engagement, such as tardiness, incidents, excessive lunch periods, or unexcused absences for an objective snapshot of employee engagement.
- Provide to employees clear total compensation statements, to include training and development expenses, to paint a complete picture of employer investments above and beyond pay and benefits.
Why Employee Engagement is the Most Important HCM Metric to Track
Studies show that the most engaged workers are 21% more productive than disengaged peers. They are more likely to stay in an organization, are better performers, and are better candidates for company succession planning.
In other words, improving employee engagement has a direct impact on the key challenges employers are facing today with regards to attracting and retaining talent. Move the engagement needle in the right direction, and you win.
While HCM technology alone is not going to make employees more engaged, it provides leaders with clear metrics to track the effectiveness of engagement initiatives, and help employers make smart talent investments in the future.
About Benetech HCM
Benetech is a business administration and management firm specializing in employee benefits and human capital management. Located outside of Albany, NY Benetech helps mid-market employers simplify employee benefits and HCM through a unified service team and integrated technology.
To learn more about Benetech’s unique approach to Benefits and Human Capital Management, contact us for a free assessment.
