Feature

How HR improves employee productivity

Vinita Gupta writes that the changing role of HR has made it a key player in improving employee performance and consequently organisational growth.

What is the root cause of an IT organisation’s success? Is it path-breaking and innovative technology? Great products and brands? No. It is a workforce of dynamic and motivated individuals who take the organisation forward with their hard work and passion for excellence. It is consequently very important to develop their skills and competencies and provide the right environment for individual and organisational growth. The HR department of a company can play a strategic role in this effort.

HR’s growing role

"The biggest challenge that affects employees’ productivity is when they start thinking ‘Where do I go from here?’" - Praveen Kankariya CEO Impetus Technologies

Earlier the role of the HR department in most companies has primarily been recruitment. Their function was restricted to finding the right talent, recruiting them, giving them a basic introduction to the company and addressing issues from time to time. But now this role is growing.

Praveen Kankariya, CEO, Impetus Technologies says, “With people being a company’s biggest asset, it has become essential, if not critical for companies to keep their employees satisfied and fulfilled, for them to reach their maximum productivity. This is where the HR has a significant and crucial role.”

Now the head of a company’s HR department has moved from a supporting role, reporting to an administrative manager, to being a member of senior management, reporting to the senior line executive and participating in the executive decision process.

"Gone are the days when the HR was recognised just as a support function and was seldom involved in core business decisions" - Ulhas Aher Head HR Compass Connections

“Gone are the days when the HR was recognised just as a support function and was seldom involved in core business decisions. Present generation HR plays a vital role in strategic decision-making and is treated as a business partner. It is a known fact that human resources (people) are the key to success in today’s competitive world,” says Ulhas Aher, HR Head, Compass Connections.

He further adds that organisational performance is the sum total of the performance of every individual in the company. Productivity is nothing but the outcome of individual performance.

Factors affecting employee productivity

Creating a work environment in which employees are productive is essential for the growth and development of any organisation. Employee productivity usually centres around two major areas of focus: personal motivation and the work environment (including infrastructural facilities).

Personal motivation encompasses a wide range of areas like the current role, career progression, training, appreciation, compensation and benefits, culture, value etc. Infrastructure includes the actual physical layout of an office, facilities, hardware and software, communication equipment, etc.

"We have found that in a large number of cases salary has less to do with motivation than a key factor—employee relations" - Mona Cheriyan GM, Employee Engagement and Europe Liaison I-Flex Solutions

Mona Cheriyan, General Manager-Employee Engagement and Europe Liaison, i-flex Solutions says, “The obvious incentive for increasing employee productivity is often thought to be based on salary and promotions, but we have found that in a large number of cases, salary has less to do with motivation than a key factor—employee relations.”

She further points out that motivation of good employees is the ability to work on challenging assignments and projects, thereby adding value to their own knowledge base, “For our employees, understanding their own career paths and their future growth potential is very vital to their level of engagement and therefore productivity.”

“The biggest challenge that affects employee productivity is when they start thinking ‘Where do I go from here?’ this usually arises when an employee feels stagnant and is not stimulated by the
work they are doing,” states Kankariya.

According to him the other issues that affect an employee’s productivity are small process bureaucracies that consume time, lack of requisite facilities, conveniences and even the lack of an effective HR department that can address concerns and issues.

A strategic function

If the HR department wants to achieve a strategic role in improving an employee’s productivity, it needs to be sensitive to their requirements, proactive in understanding the issues that employees may face and address them. It should work towards providing an environment that is not only conducive to work in, but also clearly defines roles and responsibilities of each individual and relating his/her contribution to the bigger organisational picture.

Aher explains, “We at Compass Connections do believe in strategic partnership of HR in the overall business. We have various HR initiatives, which contribute towards employees’ productivity enhancement, like recently we had initiated a programme called “WIPE” (Waste Identification and Planned Elimination). This has helped us in identifying the non-value adding processes and improving employees’ productivity.”

At i-flex Solutions the HR contributes in the development of tools to improve employee productivity, helps in enhancing competitive advantage through talent management, creating solutions to strategic business problems and opportunities, leadership development and succession planning, informs Cheriyan.

The HR staff can play a vital role in making sure employees are psychologically ready to hear and support the mission, values and goals of the organisation.

According to Kankariya, Impetus Technologies’ growth has been driven by its employees and they are the pillars on which the company rests. It is consequently essential to enhance their productivity. He adds, “We offer our employees a flexible and free work environment and do not impose unnecessary restrictions that hamper them from being themselves. Our HR department constantly works at identifying issues that may arise and addresses them at the earliest.”

Focus on employee engagement

Keeping all employees engaged is a challenge. The approach is a little different while dealing with new recruits and old-timers. New recruits require help in settling down and getting oriented to the organisation, the team and their new role.

At i-flex, HR assigns a ‘buddy’ to each new joinee. Cheriyan says, “The buddy is an old-timer who helps making the new joinee feel comfortable and makes him familiar with all the people and processes at i-flex over a period of three months. The HR team has “gup shup” sessions with new joinees to get their feedback and address the pain areas.”

Impetus Technologies has a mentorship programme in place which is very effective. Kankariya adds, “We encourage team meetings, relationship meetings with HR personnel and special sessions. For the old-timers in the company who are going through a transitional phase, we encourage them to talk to the HR personnel to voice their concerns and help them through this phase.”

Results of HR initiatives

Higher engagement levels in employees will result in higher productivity. Hence a well articulated and clearly documented engagement policy and process helps. Some organisations should have clear guidelines for improving workforce productivity.

For instance, at i-flex they have a documented systems and processes manual for each human resource process. “This enables us to ensure that each human resources team in any location follows similar processes for employee engagement,” points out Cheriyan. In June this year as an HR initiative for organisational development they had launched ‘BiScope’, a filmmaking competition. In this competition the contestants had to focus on the life at i-flex in a short film of about three to ten minutes. The themes for the films had i-flex as the centre point and aimed to bring out the perception of the company as viewed by its internal customers.

Impetus Technologies does not have any set guidelines for improving workforce productivity as some HR divisions follow quantitative measures while others measure productivity in hours per person. But there have been some instances when the HR department’s initiative had actually increased the workforce involvement. Kankariya says, “Once an employee was going through a difficult marriage and the manager could sense something was wrong. Both the manager and HR team member met with the employee outside the office, understood the situation and gave the person paid leave to settle things.” The above instances show that although people management is a core responsibility there is no denying the role played by the HR in guiding the spirit that binds an organisation together.

Directing a company’s growth

Employee productivity is directly related to the growth of the company. The role of HR in such situations is critical. Very often as a company is growing and new recruits come on board the HR team has a crucial role to play in keeping the culture of the company intact and introducing the new joiners to the company’s traditions.

We see that today transformation of organisations and leadership hold the key to success. For this, the role of the HR strategists as facilitators and catalysts is crucial. It is they who can develop a self sustaining culture of continuous learning, nurturing creativity and shared goals. Hence a strong HR department is essential for the healthy growth and success of the organisation.

ec@expresscomputeronline.com