Vital Employee Relations Processes Need Renewed Commitment

Here’s what needs attention in the coming months

It’s not surprising that HR Acuity’s Fifth Annual Employee Relations Benchmark Study confirms what we already knew – 2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges that significantly impacted organizations, employee relations leaders and employees. More surprising is that some definitive standard practices held firm in spite of these events, while other solid trends took a direct hit and require serious refocus to ensure that employee relations continue to be a strategic business function that drives positive employee experiences. 
 

The study, developed from in-depth research conducted with more than 125 enterprise organizations, represents 4.5 million employees globally and provides a snapshot of the current state of employee relations. It offers insight into what needs attention in the coming months as organizations return to work and move beyond the pandemic.  

Events Beyond Work Play a Role in Employee Experience 

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of participants cited Covid-19, social events and political activism as the top three causes for increased employee relations issues during 2020. Employees are increasingly eager to bring their whole selves to work and want to feel confident they work for employers who care about them. Publicly, executive leaders are committing to address employee issues, recognizing the correlation to a more positive workplace culture and a better employee experience. 

However, there is much work to be done beyond verbal declarations. As workplaces reopen and employees return, resources must be re-allocated toward processes and improvements to effectively manage employee issues and concerns in order to create environments that are free from bias and keep employees safe.   

Employee-Related Data and Analytics Are Emerging as Strategic Assets 

After many years, organizations finally recognize the value in understanding the data behind employee issues with 90% of organizations now tracking a widening array of employee relations issues. However, while the study showed increased interest in employee relations data from C-Suite leaders, it still remains woefully underutilized. Data, while gathered, is not being consistently correlated with information and metrics from other functional areas that would provide deeper insights. 

For example, organizations everywhere have vowed to create more inclusive workplaces, but only 19% of organizations are reporting employee relations metrics to diversity and inclusion leaders to examine and uncover systemic issues, root out bias and measure the success of DE&I initiatives. Since employee relations information provides a powerful view of the actual experience of employees while on the job, examining related metrics must become common practice if businesses intend to create workplaces built on foundations of trust. 

Unwavering Standard Best Practices 

Despite the need for better use of metrics, we are seeing progress in the maturity of processes within the employee relations space. 93% of organizations now manage the function using some aspect of centralization to deliver services to employees. Centralization allows better utilization of resources, drives process efficiencies and creates enhanced visibility across the organization. It also positions employee relations as a more independent, neutral function and assists an organization’s ability to scale while effectively handling caseloads. The function’s scope of responsibility also continues to expand, as seen by the 10-point increase in employee relations teams handling policy oversight, development and benchmarking – likely a direct result of Covid-19-related policies. 

As employee relations teams take on more work and their strategies become more sophisticated, leveraging technology has become a requirement. Actualizing a predicted 11-point jump from 2019, 75% of organizations have implemented technology to track employee issues and investigations. This shows that organizations understand that a single source of truth and easily accessible documentation and analytics are essential to identify trends, uncover bias, and support commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. Those using employee relations tech solutions also report they can handle more cases simultaneously, improving overall efficiency.   

A Wake-up Call to Regain Progress 

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. The study uncovers some concerns that threaten to undermine past progress if we don’t heed the warnings. While employee relations teams worked tirelessly in 2020 to address Covid-19 and the impact of external events, three critical employee relations process areas saw dramatic drops – investigation processes, transparency and staffing resources. Over the past four years, many organizations adopted required processes for conducting investigations and trained investigators at least annually to ensure thorough, consistent and fair investigations, but the study shows this steady upward trend was interrupted by a 15-point drop in a required investigation process. 

Similarly, there was a significant shift to ad hoc investigation training which impacts the quality of investigations. Following the #MeToo movement, many organizations committed to begin publishing aggregated, anonymous investigation information to drive accountability and build transparent culture. In 2019, this trendline spiked, surpassing predicted levels and an additional 48% planned to adopt this practice. Yet, in 2020, only 16% of organizations shared these metrics with employees. 

Despite their efforts on the front line during Covid, employee relations appear to be getting less investment. The Study revealed a concerning decline in employee relations resources across the board with expectations they will remain flat this year - a marked difference from last year’s forecasted increase. With 86% of employee relations teams now also handling analytics, managing return to office issues and providing diversity, equity and inclusion guidance, they must find creative ways to keep pace or risk burnout due to high case volumes. These are disappointing downturns. Renewed, intentional focus on essential practices will be critical for continued progress to mitigate risk, create fair and productive workplaces, ensure positive employee experiences and support business growth.   

How to Leverage the Benchmark Study  

Continuing trends clearly show that employee relations have become an important business function that helps drive business strategy. The Employee Relations Benchmark Study is the only research of its kind, derived exclusively from employee relations leaders at enterprise organizations from a broad range of industries and supports leaders as they manage the function. Employee relations professionals can use the study to incorporate best practices, implement technology to support processes as well as operationalize data and analytics to spot trends and gain insight into employee behaviors, performance and business results.

Deb Muller is the CEO and Founder at HR Acuity. After serving in executive HR roles at numerous Fortune 500 companies like Honeywell, Citibank, and Marsh & McLennan, Deb launched HR Acuity to create technology with built-in expertise and equip organizations to manage employee relations more strategically. Visit www.hracuity.com  Connect Deb Muller Follow @hracuity