The health crisis has pushed QWL up the list of HR missions. Since well-being at work encompasses both working conditions and employees’ ability to express themselves about their missionsIt’s fair to say that the period was rich in lessons learned. This autumn, as telecommuting continues and recruitment picks up again, sometimes for jobs in short supply, HR managers are being called upon to redouble their attention to the employee experience they offer talented staff. How do you take back the reins of QWL and keep a cool head when the assignments are hectic? We share 5 HR tips that help build a more orderly perspective and proceed methodically.
1. Involving managers in QWL
Particularly solicited on the subject over the last 20 months, managers are familiar with the levers and human factors that contribute to QWL within your company. Managers are in close touch with employees’ complaints, successes and doubts.. Their closeness to their teams, reinforced by the health crisis, makes them the perfect advisors for deploying a QWL strategy.
Here, management style is of crucial importance. Some are adepts of the “make it or break it” philosophy, while others are capable of redirecting their staff’s perspective in the face of an obstacle to better guide them through a tricky situation. They know how to remind employees of the meaning of their missions and their role within the company. Aware of your team’s expectations, a good manager will act as a regulator of the group’s state of mind. His ability to welcome feedback without losing his footing and to create forward momentum is a matter of emotional intelligence and a whole range of soft skills.
2. Don’t underestimate the role of soft skills in QWL
92% of HR professionals see soft skills as a necessity for the future of work. Yet 9 out of 10 departures are due to a lack or inconsistency between the employee’s motivations and the tasks assigned to them. Where does the malaise lie? A recruitment process too focused on hard skills? An employee experience that fails to live up to its promises? All bets are off… in any case, 62% of the HR people we surveyed believe that evaluation methods can be improved. Do you know how to decide whether the right person is standing in front of you, not only for the right job, but also for the right team, and vice-versa?
Between intellectual agility, personality and motivation, behavioral skills go far beyond emotions.ehavioral skills go far beyond emotionsas they are sometimes wrongly defined. Learning new skills, the desire to move into a leadership position or communicating well with peers are all part of soft skills. Finally, let’s not forget that their development is contextual: a single personality is nothing without its surroundings. Emeric Kubiaka R&D psychologist, describes them as an activation of traits according to a given work environment and its interactions. “Individuals find strong intrinsic motivation when they can express their own traits. Conversely, it can be frustrating to have to adopt a behavior that is not natural to them for the needs of a work situation,” explains the expert. Soft skills are a powerful resource for HR and can be a driving force in the QWL approach.
3. Feedback drives HR actions
Don’t rush headlong into it. QWL isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s about providing a working environment and atmosphere conducive to commitment and performance. In this case, it makes sense to check whether HR decisions are having the desired effect on employees’ day-to-day lives. This may seem obvious, but far too few companies have a feedback culture in place.
Since QWL depends in part on employee satisfaction, fluid communication means taking the pulse regularly, so you can react more quickly to the causes of dissatisfaction. For example, in the prevention of psychosocial risks, feedback from a manager helps to identify over-invested employees or overworked teams. Please note, Establishing a feedback culture is not the same as opening a complaints office. Employee feedback should also inform HR about which QWL-related human factors related human factors that are particularly appreciated, or which forms of recognition are the most successful.
4. Adopt a fact-based approach to QWL
To trivialize QWL as a matter of good humor and a work environment where employees have fun is to miss the point. The HR trick here lies in an approach that’s more analytical than intuitive. Just because we deal with people doesn’t mean we have to do everything by feel!
What aspects of your QWL approach can you quantify? How can you feed your loyalty strategy with employee feedback? Turn these necessary changes into performance indicators. When the time comes, the data collected will make it easier to evaluate the actions taken. Collecting and recording HR data methodically and accurately enables you to track changes and developments. Indirectly, This HR tip will help challenge any cognitive biases or beliefs from past experience that may be blinding the reasoning of QWL managers. In short, quantified management and precise monitoring of HR actions streamline QWL for the benefit of HR.
5. QWL in test-and-learn mode
Our final HR tip is to take an agile approach to QWL, accepting that it can be rectified at any time. Actions to improve employees’ daily lives can be noticed, but how do they fit in with a strategy over time? As mentioned above, Collecting and recording HR data methodically and accurately retraces trends and reveals unsuspected correlations. This ROI-based approach informs HR and QWL managers of the changes required as the company evolves. Thanks to quantified HR actions, it will be easier to ensure continuity and justify both investments and any changes of course.
QWL is no longer the icing on the cake, it’s an integral part of HR strategy. Getting managers on board to obtain a detailed employee experience report helps prioritize HR actions. The next step is to identify the soft skills needed to build a rich and engaging work environment. Finally, collecting HR data feeds into a continuous improvement process. More than just HR tips, these five lines of thinking guide the development and deployment of QWL initiatives over the long term.
