Hard human resource management

Hard human resource management refers to a traditional management style where all decisions come from above. In other words, hard human resource management has the owner or executives at the top making all the decisions about the company, and the employees have no insight into the company’s direction. There is little communication between the organization and its stakeholders, customers, or employees in a business that runs under a hard HRM style. The main focus for such a company is the business’s overall profitability, and everything else comes second. That means that there is little regard for the needs of the employees, which can sometimes cause an unhappy workforce. People who work for a company that uses hard human resource management have to be okay with having upper management make all the decisions and not necessarily knowing what is actually going on in the company. For example, employees would not know if the business has money troubles and might only realize this after budget cuts. The problem with this type of management style is that employees often feel underappreciated, leading to high turnover rates and low employee morale. More often than not, using hard human resource management causes dissatisfaction among workers, which is difficult to fix.

Soft human resource management

Soft human resource management emphasizes the needs of the employees rather than only profits. Companies who use soft HRM believe that happy employees are more productive and necessary for any business to thrive. With soft HRM, you see a company that allows its employees to have a say in decisions and share its overall goals. This type of management style will prioritize employee satisfaction by having programs that help employees move up in the company, which means there is minimal turnover. Companies that emphasize employee satisfaction believe that employees are a valuable asset and a source of competitive advantage over other businesses. That means the skills and knowledge of each employee are valued, and the company strives to keep those skills and knowledge within the organization. The problem with this type of management style is that it means more money is spent on the employees, which can dip into overall profits. For example, a company with soft human resource management might spend more money on things like learning and development programs, which are good for employees but bad for profits. However, at the same time, organizations that value their employees often have low turnover, which would mean less money spent on recruitment and training.

What is business transparency?

Business transparency is when a company strives for trust between the organization and its investors, partners, customers, and employees. The idea here is that the company is always open and honest about what is going on within the organization. This means that the business actively seeks out the opinions of employees, customers, and stakeholders when making decisions, and if anything were to go wrong, they would be honest about what happened and why.

Business transparency and employee retention

Companies that have business transparency use soft human resource management skills. This means that the business has open and honest communication with its employees. One approach to creating this type of communication is to promote two-way communication between management and employees as it brings more transparency between the company and employees and benefits both.

Here’s a quick look into how two-way communication works: Employees should feel they can talk to management about issues that might arise or mistakes that happen openly and without judgment. It also makes a manager’s job easier as they always have an insight into current and possible bigger problems. Management should also feel comfortable coming to employees with issues to be solved when needed. By seeking input from employees, the management not only gains trust from their workers, but they’re also able to come up with innovative solutions to their problems.

The following are some more benefits of having transparency with employees:

• It increases employee morale.
• It boosts employee engagement and retention rates.
• It helps to demonstrate stability in your business.
• You get honest feedback on how you are operating as a company.
• The business is seen as one with integrity and ethical behaviour.

How to create transparency in your business

If you want to create more transparency in your business, try implementing the following behaviours:

Trust employees to make the right decision

Try to avoid micro-managing your employees. You hired them for a reason, and you should trust that they know how to do their job properly. With less micro-managing, employees feel more independent in their work, which increases job satisfaction. Also, decreasing micro-managing allows your employees to have increased productivity. Suppose employees have to check everything they do with supervisors. In that case, they cannot keep a steady pace at work, and they will not have the same productivity levels as they would with more independence.

Share results

By celebrating good results, you can increase employee morale which is always a good thing. So, celebrate successes, acknowledge jobs well done, and have ways of rewarding your employees to let them know you see how hard they’ve been working. It can go a long way toward increasing employee satisfaction. That said, also try to discuss issues that come up. After all, having open and honest communication means communicating the good and the bad. So, make sure you listen to employees who have ideas on how to improve things.

Hire the right people

Make an effort to hire people who fit into your corporate culture and align themselves with the same values. When people feel a personal connection to their work, they’re more likely to stick with a job. When hiring someone new, try to gauge how they will fit into the entire organization and be candid about your managerial style. This will help you decrease turnover as new hires will be better prepared for the type of work environment your business will provide for them. This is also good for your company as hiring good employees will mean any extra resources spent on training or professional development will not be spent in vain. The last thing you want is for a new employee to spend just enough time in your company to gain extra skills and then leave. By spending a bit more time on the hiring process, you might be able to avoid investing in employees that end up leaving quickly.

Open communication

Make sure to keep employees, stakeholders and customers informed on what is going on with the company. This can be something as small as an upcoming sale that customers might want to take advantage of to something bigger like a change in management. Whatever pivot occurs, make sure that you are open when communicating it with people who are affected by the possible changes. Also, encourage two-way communication between management and employees so that employees feel comfortable going to management and management feels comfortable asking for employees’ inputs if any issues arise.