{"id":652,"date":"2017-12-14T15:50:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T15:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonus.wpengine.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2018-01-02T14:45:22","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T14:45:22","slug":"6-things-keep-hr-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/6-things-keep-hr-night\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Things That Keep HR Up At Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re in Human Resources, you know there are plenty of challenges you face simply due to the nature of your job. You also know this is true regardless of the your organization\u2019s size, industry, or business model.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these challenges are simply routine, but others can be real insomnia-makers.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a seasoned HR professional, you may have developed other, more colorful, language to describe these particular situations, but suffice it to say they are definitely not the things you want to find on your desk, in your email, or pacing the hallway outside of your office. Nope. These are the issues that not only affect you at work, but can also creep home with you as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Sonus Benefits, we work with tons of HR professionals. Over time, we\u2019ve gotten a good feel for the kinds of problems that keep them up at night.<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that you\u2019re not alone. These same issues are keeping your competition up at night, too.<\/span> The companies that prioritize these problems will be among the first to solve them, and benefit from having done so.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you plan for next quarter or next year, it\u2019s good to be thinking about how you can improve in these areas:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Retaining and engaging employees<\/span><\/h2>\n

No surprise here: Turnover is a problem. And an expensive one.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the <\/span>U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/span><\/a>, employee tenure is shrinking, especially among younger workers. While the overall median number of years employees stick with their employer was calculated at 4.2, younger employees (age 25 \u2013 34) had an average tenure of 2.8 years per job.<\/span><\/p>\n

As workplace demographics change, so do employee priorities. Today\u2019s workers care about company culture, work\/life balance, and company commitments to good causes, as well as base pay and stellar benefits. Companies that get intentional and creative in these areas will have an edge when it comes to keeping their employees happy\u2014 and keeping them around.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Recruiting the best talent<\/h2>\n

This, of course, is the flip side to number one above. Most companies have realized that it costs them less to retain and train their current employees than it does to constantly seek new ones. Still, growth requires an influx of good talent, and that talent seems to be increasingly hard to find.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recruiting talent in this environment requires much more than placing job ads or asking for leads from your LinkedIn network. It also takes good programs for assessing potential talent, strategies for marketing to the right talent pools, and an attractive compensation and benefits package.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming up with a comprehensive onboarding procedure will ensure new hires get to their peak potential quickly and become familiar with your organizational culture and processes.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Developing future leaders<\/p>\n

According to findings from Deloitte\u2019s<\/span> Global Human Capital Trends 2017 report,<\/span><\/a> 74% of North American companies see leadership as one of the most important issues facing business today. Many organizations are desperate for leaders who are more agile, more diverse, and more digitally savvy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s not clear that organizations are able to develop leaders fast enough, nor do they have the \u201cbench strength\u201d to ensure continuity of leadership. A lot of this has to do with the fact that leaders often have job-specific skills<\/span> but lack leadership-specific skills<\/span><\/a> in the areas of communication, coaching, and influencing others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many HR departments realize this but are afraid to be proactive in fixing the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to<\/span> research from Deloitte<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n