The moments that matter for an employee are spread out over time. Some of these are more apparent, while others can be less obvious. What they all have in common is that that they highlight the need for human-centric leadership which puts employee needs front and center. Having a human-centric ethos as the guiding principle can help your organization optimize employee engagement, improve talent retention and meet the needs of multiple stakeholders.

This ethos manifests in many ways, including:

  • Developing an evidence-based understanding of how the pandemic has changed workplaces in the short and long-term,
  • Foregrounding the need for flexibility in workplace policies,
  • Doing more than what is simply legally required to accommodate employees’ life obligations, such as childcare, eldercare and disability management,
  • Meaningfully incorporating an equity, diversity and inclusion lens into recruitment practices, and
  • Revamping benefits programs and professional development opportunities to account for employees’ varying circumstances, career trajectories and areas of interest.

How can a human-centric approach benefit your organization?

Employees today are more vocal about wanting to feel cared about and have their evolving needs met. This has a direct impact on their well-being, productivity and work performance. So, it is imperative that HR professionals recognize the importance of making the people of your organization feel like they matter. If organizations do not prioritize the people that comprise it, they risk losing talent.

From better business decision-making to enhancing employee experiences, strengthening your organization’s values system can help reap countless rewards. Some of the many benefits of a human-centered approach to managing your organization include reducing absenteeism, cultivating greater discretionary effort, facilitating higher quality of work and reducing health-related leaves and attrition.

How can HR professionals prioritize human-centric organizational cultures?

An employee’s experience is shaped significantly by their relationship with their manager and team, how they perceive the value and purpose of their role and the conditions of work. All that to say, supporting employees throughout their journey is key.

In practice, human-centric leadership includes committing to helping employees cope with stress, customizing support mechanisms to their unique needs and implementing programs, resources and processes to enable open, honest conversations. Additionally, it can mean integrating human-centric policies and systems across the organization and setting the tone of purpose-driven optimism. It also means disrupting an entitlement culture and recognizing that the way forward is to build reciprocal, trust-based and mutually beneficial relationships between employers and employees.

Want to learn more about how HR professionals can set the stage for human-centric leadership? Consider attending this year’s HR Summit, titled “Human-Centric Workplaces: Making Moments Matter in the Employee Life Cycle”. This event is free for HRPA members and registration is now open.

Running over two half-days (May 9 and 10), this summit will explore in detail how the most successful organizations of tomorrow will develop cultures and business practices that address the experiences of the humans that work there. This summit will offer practical tools and tactics for HR professionals to support human-centric organizational cultures. Attendees will walk away with actionable takeaways and applicable tools to optimize employee experience and make the best of the moments that truly matter to employees.