August 20 2020
How to take care of employee relations?
It goes without saying that good relations are important in any organization. They translate into commitment, loyalty and productiveness among employees. How to build employee relations and how to foster them? This article has the answer.
– Work is important, but the interpersonal relationships are equally important. If we take proper care of our employees, they will take care of our customers. This is why introducing an employee relations policy at a company will pay off – says Marta Kamińska from Solutions.Rent.
Employee relations mean all the activities a company undertakes to create and maintain good relations among the employees. They include things like: organizational culture, incentive system, relations between employees and their supervisors. How to take care of all this?
First of all: good atmosphere
As demonstrated in Hays Poland’s “Stress and satisfaction 2018” report, good atmosphere is the most important for building satisfaction and relations at work. So don’t forget about social meetings (also virtual ones), value your employees and make bonds. Each employee should feel treated as equal to their peers. There is no room for favoritism or being dismissive towards employees.
Second: strong relations
Building relations is not only about employee-organization communication. Employee relations consist mostly in building and developing relations between employees. Here this is all about effective communication, effective conflict solving, counteracting discrimination and advocating for the employees. Strong relations may be built by creating project groups, establishing goals and joint decision-making.
See also: Why invest in employer branding?
Third: consistent communication
The language a team uses for communication and in the organization as a whole should be simple and understandable to everyone. Avoid guesswork and ambiguity. Always do your best to answer questions and simply don’t beat about the bush. Your employees will know when something isn’t quite right. Always make the effort to get back to them with feedback. Everyone expects feedback on their work. If you want to be critical – make sure your criticism is constructive.
Fourth: organizational culture
Building an organizational culture based on respect and trust is crucial for employee relations. Establishing a vision and mission for the company, along with a transparent structure and clear communication standards – help develop an organizational culture. Its crucial element is emphasis on employee development. Taking care of your employees is an efficient loyalty-building tool.
Read also: Five rules for good onboarding
Avoid these!
There are things that certainly don’t promote good employee relations, which include:
- constantly controlling employees,
- focusing on mistakes,
- favoritism,
- being dismissive towards employees,
- unrealistic expectations (targets or deadlines),
- obscuring the truth or lying,
- false promises.
Remember, good relations at the company will bring greater commitment to and motivation for action, which translates into better financial results of the enterprise.