Be Proactive When It Comes To Improving Employee Relations

In my last Insight, I talked about a manager’s vital role in improving employee relations. Management is a very important part of improving relationships with employees at your company. 

Steps to Improving Employee Relations
One of the things I do when I have a new client come on-board is try to sit down with them and get a good understanding of what their business is about and what their goals are. I also like to find out how they see themselves meeting those goals. 

I want to build in the human factor of employee relations, so a lot of times I’ll recommend setting up policies and procedures for their company. This practice sets the tone for the company culture and helps employees know what is expected of them. 

Here are some steps toward improving employee relations: 

1. The Importance of Having Good Management--For example, I had a client call me the other day and said he wanted to do harassment prevention training. He said he felt like it’s very important for his employees to understand what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable in the workplace. He was in the process of hiring new employees and he wanted to prepare his current employees as role models for the new employees, especially since new employees will affect the current employees’ work environment.
   
   He said his company was getting ready for a lot of changes and he wanted to set the right tone and address issues proactively.
   
   Being proactive is also very important. When a company has a clear vision of where they want to take their business, they often recognize that changes come with that and so they should do everything they can to prepare for those changes ahead of time.
   
   
2. Walk the Talk--One way to do this would be to hire a Human Resources (HR) specialist who is well-versed in performance management to come in and do some training to help managers deal with change. Make sure you are also involved in all of the training, that way you’re setting an example for everyone as well as setting the tone for your company’s future.
   
   One thing I’ve learned during my time in HR is if you don’t have support from the top, then almost nothing work. So walking the talk, so to speak, will make all changes go a lot smoother now and in the future.
   
   
3. Hire the Right People for the Job--I think it’s especially important to make sure you have the right people in the right job at the right time and with the right skills. And this is one of those things that sounds a whole lot easier than it actually is, but when you give your managers and employees the proper training, you can accomplish this.
   
   Training and coaching your managers and giving them some tips on how they can be more effective is really to their benefit.
   
   
4. Put Yourself in Their Shoes--I mentioned this in my first Insight, but treating employees with respect, dignity and fairness is also very important to improving employee relations. If you just put yourself in their shoes and see things from their perspective, it will help you to become more understanding of their viewpoints.
   
   I think that’s exactly what my client that I mentioned above does. He puts himself in his employees’ shoes, and from that perspective he is able to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to improving employee relations.
   
   If you don’t think about how something will impact your employees, then you’re just inviting problems.

Management is a very important part of improving relationships with employees at your company.