The immediate impact of Brexit is of course well known, but as we head into negotiations to leave the EU, the medium to long term effects are more uncertain. The experts’ post-Brexit predictions on the economy, output, and jobs is being challenged and common opinion is that it is simply too early to tell what the future holds.
And while we may turn to our crystal balls for the answer, we can also work with what we know now when planning our people strategies into 2017. We successfully exited recession, the unemployment rate has continued to decline and confidence to invest and hire has steadily returned. With the jobs market more buoyant, HR’s next big challenge is well underway. There were numerous stories of creative ways organisations had retained and engaged talent during the recession; remember the temporary layoffs and sabbaticals? HR stepped up to the plate and helped the organisation navigate the choppy waters and at the same time, kept talent loyal to the business. The challenge now centres on recruiting staff into fast growing companies and keeping talent from jumping ship to the competition.
Whilst offering competitive pay, fostering job fulfilment and creating fun working environments are cornerstones of employee engagement they don’t happen overnight. There are however simple, quick and low cost initiatives that can have immediate impact. Take reward and recognition. Simply sharing and acknowledging great performance and encouraging peers to nominate and recognise colleagues can quickly increase engagement, reinforce your culture and values, and drive business results. HR professionals now have social and mobile tools at their disposal to tap into our ‘learned’ behaviours of sharing and collaboration. Integrating these tools with employee benefits and internal communication platforms completes the picture. You can see how forward thinking professionals are using reward and recognition tools embedded within internal communications software, to encourage employees to recognise each other. And because employee benefits and discounts are on the same single platform, managers can authorise rewards and employees collect them. Which of course is then used to promote the scheme and reinforce the behaviours, values and performance demonstrated to warrant the reward in the first place. I’d call that a future you can predict without a crystal ball, wouldn’t you?
Sally Duckworth, CEO, You at Work