These are the main challenges and priorities regarding People & Culture.
Over the last few months I have spoken with almost 50 People Leaders about the challenges and priorities regarding People & Culture in their organization. A diverse group of HR Managers, People & Culture professionals, Founders and CEO’s have provided me with valuable input to further design the Proud Training Programs for People Professionals (HR) and People Leaders (managers), coming up in October 2023.
Although the People & Culture challenges from different types of organizations can differ quite a lot, there are some struggles that many companies seem to face. If I have to summarize the main struggles of People Leaders in one word I would say it’s all about alignment.
1. Alignment between the daily operations versus a future proof people strategy.
One of the main challenges for many People departments is the fact that they (still) seem to spend most of their time on basics like admin, coordination, contracts, paying the salaries on time, and answering questions in a re-active manner. The traditional HR team is dominated by ad hoc challenges and issues that employees and managers confront them with on a daily basis.
That leaves little room for the People department to act as a strategic people partner. Remarkably, being a strategic people partner is exactly what most HR Managers aspire to be and what most senior managers expect from the People department.
A priority for People departments is to get a seat at the table, and when that happens, to also be perceived as a serious and valuable stakeholder. Often enough HR is only consulted when problems arise and need to be dealt with. Truly strategic people approaches are still very rare. On the other hand, HR Managers regularly doubt whether a clear strategy exists at all within their organization. Obviously, if the organization’s direction and strategy is not clear, HR (or any other employees) cannot act on it.
A priority for People departments is to get a seat at the table, and when that happens, to also be perceived as a serious and valuable stakeholder.
2. Alignment between People Professionals and People Leaders.
Frustrations between People Professionals (HR) and People Leaders (managers) are another challenge and may be the main reason why HR is often not seen and consulted as a strategic people partner.
While the People department is frustrated not to be informed about and involved in strategic company matters, (senior) management often seems to be annoyed about the lack of understanding of the business by their HR colleagues and therefore don’t accept them as a worthy sparring partner. This seems to be a chicken and egg story but does indicate that both sides desire a more equal and strategic collaboration.
The question is how People Professionals and People Leaders can turn the tide and join forces to do what should be the priority of both parties: empower and engage their employees.
The question is how People Professionals and People Leaders can turn the tide and join forces to do what should be the priority of both parties: empower and engage their employees.
3. Alignment between Human Resources and People & Culture.
Another challenge is the gap between the profile of the traditional HR employee and the company needs in the area of people and culture. While more and more HR departments change their name into People & Culture, their role and scope within the organization often remain the same.
With a focus on admin and coordination, most traditional HR employees enjoy to work according a certain routine, with spreadsheets and in systems. When in contact with employees and managers they often do this in a one-on-one setting.
While there is nothing wrong with that, and while it is extremely important that these HR basics are in place, organizations nowadays expect much more focus on people and culture aspects from the HR department like leadership empowerment, creating safe and inclusive working environments and innovative ways to engage and develop employees.
The profile of the traditional HR employee and the desired People & Culture Expert differ a lot and it must be understood that both jobs can’t always be done by the same colleagues.
For those HR Professionals that do want to develop themselves towards an actual People & Culture Expert, development opportunities should become a priority. Many HR Managers addressed that the HR team rarely invests in education or training to develop themselves. However, to make a positive impact on company culture, leadership and employee experience, HR Professionals need to extensively broaden their knowledge and skills on these topics (and take the time for it).
The profile of the traditional HR employee and the desired People & Culture Expert differ a lot and it must be understood that both jobs can’t always be done by the same colleagues.
4. Alignment between 5 different generations in the workplace.
A fourth challenge that many People Leaders seem to struggle with is how to lead and engage team members from 5 different generations in today’s workplace. Although I don’t like to generalize, the way the new generation (Z) approach the way they look at work, and also collaboration between different generations, are topics that keep both People Professionals and People Leaders up at night.
In a job-market that is still very tight and challenging it remains one of the top priorities to attract, engage and retain diverse talent. It’s up to the People department to provide their People Leaders with the right knowledge, skills and tools to deal with these challenges. Flexible and future proof work- & labor conditions are part of this which brings us to the fifth and for now final challenge.
In a job-market that is still very tight and challenging it remains one of the top priorities to attract, engage and retain diverse talent.
5. Alignment between traditional and future proof work- & labor conditions.
In many of the conversations I had, People Leaders discussed the challenges they face while innovating their people policies. A common challenge is the working from home policy after the Corona pandemic. While some organizations became a remote first company, which seems to work fine for them, others would love to return to the office full-time. Employees (with office jobs) have however adapted their lives to a more flexible work-life balance and often don’t see it as an option anymore to work at the office 5 days a week between 9 and 5.
Working five days a week in addition, is also something that some innovative companies have said goodbye to. The 4-day workweek seems to be a new trend which again worries other companies that cannot facilitate this for their employees and therefore may become less attractive to current and potential employees.
Lastly, when it comes to work-& labor conditions, some organizations have been very generous with employee benefits to stay attractive as an employer in the ongoing war for talent. Higher salaries, bonuses, unlimited vacation days, wellness treatments and much more was made possible to attract and retain the desired talent. The question is what the effect of these actions are on the longer term and what this says about the intrinsic motivation of your workforce. When making new people policies there is always one priority: they need to be future-proof and sustainable.
When making new people policies there is always one priority: they need to be future-proof and sustainable.
So what’s next?
Follow Proud to get valuable insights on how to get on top of these challenges, contact us to work on them together, or sign-up for our training programs to learn more about people, culture, leadership and employee experience in today’s world of work.
