In several companies, HR policies often are the worst enemies of an employee simply because they feel that the policies either are not employee friendly or are too stringent and inconsiderate. In addition, haven’t we all met situations wherein there was a change in policy that we did not know about or felt that at least the employees needed to be informed about the same well in advance. As an HR, this is one of the dreadful moments where such a situation crops up wherein you need to deal with employee backlash about changing policies. Here is how you can handle the situation:
- Keep communication clear: Change in policies need to be updated but along with that, even a slightest of change needs to be communicated to the employees. Either through mails or by town hall meetings, the changes also need to be communicated verbally.
- Form Committee: Though forming HR policies and implementing the same is one of the crucial job roles of HR, a huge part of the success depends on how the employees take it. HR can form a committee comprising of all the PMs / TLs and discuss with them about the change in policies. This will cushion the effect and provide a channel for feedback.
- Get Employee feedback: Before or during implementation, HR should motivate all the employees to give their feedbacks either through the committee that they have formed or directly albeit anonymously. Just getting the feedback is not enough if not acted upon, or else the whole essence of feedback itself is lost. Either changing policies completely or on parts can help keep the employees’ trust in HR and the organization as a whole.
- Understanding the management: Many times, the management requests changes in policy. It can relate to a fresher like increasing their bond period or to the whole company like increasing their notice period. Apart from seeing that the policy is implemented, HR should first sit with the management and understand why such a policy change is requested in the first place. It can help the HR learn about any underlying problem in the organization like unhappy freshers leaving organization or experienced professionals not happy with the work culture. This can help the HR work towards a more positive environment wherein work is done out of loyalty and not coerced.
- Aiming for a harmonious work environment: Factors like unhygienic washrooms, office or even strict working policies like taking short breaks, strict incoming hours are factors that might seem small, but have a deep psychological effect on a person. Moreover, the more rigid the policies are imposed, the deeper it effects the employees that can lead them to behave erratically and irk the superiors to take harsher steps. HR ought to identify this vicious cycle by talking regularly to employees and understanding their problems.
- Look for cues: As an HR you have the benefit to be friends with all and interact with everyone. Use this opportunity to look for cues if your employees are happy or not. This can help curb the storm before it brews.
The job of an HR is surely a tough one and we are thankful for all the HRs out there, who are constantly trying to work towards employee betterment. To do our bit for the HR ecosystem, Pocket HRMS provides Hire to Retire Solution for HRs completed with Automated HR Bot, Mobility and Intelligent Analytics with faster reporting to make work easier for you while you make office fun again. To know more about our HRMS solution, SMS SAGE to 56767 or write to us at sales@sagesoftware.co.in for a free demo.
