According to Gallup, a mere 13% of employees across the globe are engaged. Let’s consider the word engaged for a moment. In this context, it means someone who is interested in their work. Someone who feels like they have a meaningful connection with their organization. And an estimated 87% of people feel the very opposite of that.

Healthcare providers recognize that quality of patient care and workforce engagement have become inextricably intertwined, but only a few organizations have taken adequate steps to capitalize the information on hand. Based on a linear regression analysis on 3,408 hospitals, every 5-point rise in hospital ratings (e.g. CAHPS) generates 1% growth in profit margin. Executives tend to take it on faith that engaged employees are better employees, but faith alone does not always lead to immediate action if it is unaccompanied by a deliberate business outcome.

The term “Experience Economy” was first used by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, in a Harvard Business Review study, describing the booming demand from buyers for superior customer experiences (CX). To provide meaningful experiences, companies needed to understand their customers and build trusted relationships. This was achieved with the collection and analysis of the experience data. Today, the experience economy has further evolved, extending to the experiences companies create within their workplaces.

Data security and data privacy have separate definitions, but they both help prevent data leakage and exposure. Data security refers to the development of strategies, technology or systems which aim to protect personal information from hackers and cybercriminals. 

Data privacy refers to the extent of which you give consent or allow an external party or organisation to have access and use your personal data.

HR and hiring managers are both accountable for the success of the onboarding process.

Talya N. Bauer in the SHRM Foundation's Effective series “Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success” mentions that “simply writing down a formal plan will not help new employees succeed. The key is to engage important stakeholders and new employees in interactions that help them understand one another and how they interact over time.” HR should empower hiring managers with guidelines.

Investing in Employee engagement decreases attrition rates and saves costs on recruitment.

Consider this. The organisation you are working in has high attrition rates. To solve the problem, your company invests in a recruitment scheme which effectively manages to hire enough employees to fill in the vacant positions. Your organisation trains these new employees and the system works as per normal.

The employee participation rate gauges the reliability of your survey results. The score itself is a key measure of employee engagement. It indicates employees' willingness to share their opinion and feelings toward your company. A low participation rate indicates a warning signal on talent attrition. Non-respondents having a 2.7x higher likelihood of leaving the company within 6 months.

So, the higher the participation rate, the better. But the truth is, HR leaders spend hours and a lot of energy and resources on employee surveys to get very low participation scores at the end.

Work-life balance refers to free time, self-care, time with family or for hobbies and interests. Anyone can and should take measures of their own to create work-life balance, but it’s going to be hard to achieve without a supportive or accommodating work environment.

Further, Bersin claims that at the moment, 40% of Americans believe they have to sacrifice work-life balance in order to have a successful career. They haven’t been proven wrong yet.

But how has HR become so significant?

Let’s face it, assessing performance accurately and fairly is a messy affair. To a large extent, the subjectivity involved in measuring performance has made it one of the top challenges leaders face today. Accordingly, 360-degree feedback has been widely used in performance appraisals as it provides a broader perspective on employees. Proponents argue that it eliminates the singularity in the opinion that holds many employees hostage by the views of their managers.