It is essential that your employees trust your company processes. They must have faith in HR’s integrity to build and ensure a positive and productive workplace culture that flourishes. Of course, technology can play a decisive role by streamlining the processes.
When good employee relationships with HR develop, there will be a greater sense of trust across the organization. It springs to mind the benefits of HR technology and when technology is implemented in the right way, it can be an incredibly valuable tool that enhances employee trust.
To discover the current trust conditions in workplaces, a survey about the state of HR trust was conducted where 1,000 employees from organizations in the UK and Ireland with more than 250 employees were asked a series of questions and the results of that survey can be seen at cezannehr.com/infographics/trust-in-hr/.
Trust Problem Catalysts
It should not be surprising that about one-third of the surveyed employees think receiving help from HR is hard or almost impossible. Only fewer than one-third think it would be easy to get help from HR.
One of the problem catalysts is recognition. Employees tend not to be able to recognize HR team members. Meanwhile, most employees that recognize HR team members think they can trust them to manage conflict with other members of the staff, be impartial, and more.
Ineffective communication can also be a problem surging mistrust for HR among employees. Your employees find it frustrating when they are left to resolve their problems. They expect you to provide channels to resources that solve their problems while they can focus on performance instead of endlessly seeking solutions.
How Can Technology Improve Employee-HR Relationship to Ensure High Trust?
HR Directs Focus on Employees
The key importance of using HR software is that it gives access to a clear process for sorting and resolving problems. Your employee relations professionals no longer have to think about the mechanics but instead about rethinking the strategy and people to enhance performance.
The technology maps out procedures for the HR team to rework the relationships and empathy your organization needs to ensure excellent people management.
Nonetheless, there is still a bit of a gap to fill. Even though HR software directs focus on employees, at least 47 % are unsure or cannot trust HR in conflict management and resolution with other employees.
Up to 48 % are unsure or cannot trust their HR team to notify them about internal promotion opportunities that could boost their portfolio. About 31 % think they cannot trust their HR team to respect and protect their privacy and confidentiality which is crucial for the business.
Indeed, modern technology permeates the deepest and most meaningful facets of every work environment. Some fear the loss of human touch but HR software is only interested in addressing issues that humans would find challenging to gauge and resolve. HR tools provide the bigger room for HR management to discover core employee problems and handle the situation empathetically.
When HR software works well to direct focus on employees, it can be made virtually invisible to employees. HR members can use it to seamlessly leverage analytics and reporting functionalities to spot trends and work towards establishing true business culture by aligning people resources with the goals of the organization.
Monitor and Treat Employees Fairly
Currently, fewer than 50 % of employees trust HR to function impartially. When asked who employees think HR favors the most, respondents think only 12 % of junior staff and 43 % think it is the senior staff. This disparity poses a bigger problem and shows the surging problems of favoritism against junior staff.
When employees sense injustice or unfair treatment, it damages the workplace reputation and dwindles employee morale. It, of course, negatively impacts the level of trust an employee can afford to have for HR.
With a consistent process, HR can handle employee concerns in all fairness and ensure deserving treatment for all, irrespective of positions. The idea is to earn employee’s trust and make them able to confide in the manager rather than keep what bothers them to themselves.
HR Software Encourages Transparency
Your HR tool is thoughtfully designed to ensure transparency because transparency drives trust. The survey shows only 34% of employees could be trusting HR to notify them about internal opportunities. Only 33% think HR teams can manage and resolve conflict, and only 32% believe HR can get rid of favoritism and focus on fairness if not equality.
It may not be easy for an employee to gauge the fairness of processes and determine the commitment of the organization with regard to diversity and inclusion. Some employees may not be aware of how to handle harassment and if the organization is small, words can go around.
In larger firms, employees are less or not even aware of HR initiatives and processes. This means employees will lack direct visibility about what goes on in the company at the corporate level and might guess wrongly about integrity.
Fortunately, HR reporting tools let you close the awareness gap. You can easily have a snapshot of HR activities, and use the data to resolve problems and ensure transparency.
Honesty Births Trust and is Meant for All
HR management tools can assist the admin behind people processes so that human resources direct focus on establishing good relationships. Ensuring recognition can be critical in this regard, considering that 26.8% of employees can walk past HR team members without recognizing them. You would also have to leverage HR software to track HR activities and corporate initiatives to ensure fairness and eliminate favoritism.
Conclusion
Many organizations suffer the problem of trust deficit and are looking towards building a trust-based relationship between employees and HR. This can take time, but HR technology can speed up the process.
HR technology does not automatically cut off trust deficits but with a determined HR and an effective HR tool, your organization can improve trust and ensure plausible company culture.
