If anything positive came out of the Covid time, it was that businesses understood the true value of human capital, says Jim Link, CHRO of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), which just held its annual conference in Delhi, attended by some 4,500 HR practitioners. Excerpts from a conversation with businessline:

How are organisations coping with the ever changing workplace dynamics ?

Organisations have done a pretty good job to address the state of well-being of employees. A culture of care is developing. Organisations are also looking into experiences, realising that a great employee experience drives employee engagement. A third thing that is happening is that there is a renewed focus on empathetic listening and emotional intelligence.

How does an organisation deal with employees who do not want to give a long-term commitment?

The shift that is required here is on the employers’ part. The onus rests with the employers to realise that it is no longer their job to hire people and keep them endlessly. Their job is to give employees a new experience and let them move on to the next contract. Keeping them is what younger employees rail against.

Increasingly, it looks like the employee’s goal and organisation’s goals seem to be different. How do companies deal with that?

The more time an employer spends on the individual desires of every employee that will make for a better culture and work situation. Not every employee aspires to be the next CEO. It’s the employer’s job to find out what a employee wants to contribute and make the most of it. One of the most undervalued assets that an employer can have are people who come in every day, and do their work efficiently and go home. They contribute consistency and capability rather than look at the next promotion.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW