Adjusting HR roles and responsibilities in an organization, combined with other changes, may help
HR teams are often focused on managing and retaining employees in other departments — however, holding on to valued HR talent should also be a concern.
Losing HR staff members can present the same productivity delays, skills gaps and other risks companies can face when non-HR workers leave.
With HR employees wrapped up in enterprise-wide retention efforts, though, it can be easy to miss signs that indicate a fellow HR team member is thinking of jumping ship.
To retain HR talent, organizations need to know what some of the common long-term career goals for HR professionals are; what job frustrations the company may be able to alleviate — and what amenities human resources employees favor.
If your organization is concerned HR team members might be about to look for a new job, you may want to consider implementing some of the following initiatives to encourage them to stay:
Potentially outsource time-consuming job aspects
Only 17 percent of HR professionals would describe their role as one that focuses on researching how to handle employee issues to ensure the business is protected — yet HR staff members ranked keeping up with regulations as one of their top two challenges in Paychex’s 2018 survey.
In the same survey, HR staff members who manually perform regulatory compliance work also identified that type of task as one of the two areas they feel third-party tech services could help them complete. If getting outside assistance is an option, these steps to successfully outsource HR services may offer some tips to help structure the process.
Reward HR talent for longevity
Data from Namely indicates the average HR tenure is slightly more than two years — possibly because, as the company’s research found, salary raises tend to decrease dramatically after an HR staff member’s third year with a company.
As a result, employers may want to try to provide incentives to encourage valued HR talent to remain long-term. Offering a double-digit salary increase, for example, might help distinguish you from the competition. Namely’s analysis of its 1,000-plus company database found HR professionals had received an average of two salary increases of roughly 10 percent in their current role.
Create a more favorable work environment
Pay isn’t the only thing that motivates HR team members to remain with a company. Thirty-seven percent of HR employees who planned to look for a new job said they were driven to by a desire for better career advancement opportunities, according to a Society for Human Resource Management survey; 26 percent said they wanted a position that involved less stress.
The majority — 78 percent — of HR employees feel stressed at work, according to Paychex. Twenty-two percent rate their stress level as high. If your HR department — or other employees — seem on edge, these tips on reducing workplace stress may help.
For more information about how human resources talent and employers view HR roles and responsibilities in an organization — including ways HR team members can make the most out of their position — view our blog posts on 4 efforts HR should be involved in, what skills and experience HR professionals are bringing to the CHRO role today, how job automation could potentially affect HR and the top 4 skills HR leaders will need in the next decade.