Building trust in the HR transformation journey

As new working models disrupt businesses, HR transformation is becoming an ongoing exercise. Each transformation journey involves significant macro and micro level changes. But change resistance, also known as homeostasis can derail efforts. A disengaged and anxious workforce hampers the outcome. It is, therefore, critical for HR to hand-hold employees throughout the transformation journey. 

Transformation occurs at various levels- technology, infrastructure, processes and policies, values and culture, strategy etc. It is critical to align them to create a future-focused entity that steers everyone towards success. This means clearing the air of uncertainty and doubt. Some common questions that need to be addressed include:

Involving and engaging people, and building trust is critical to bring about a talent-centric transformation strategy. Trust fosters a high degree of collaboration, positivity, employee engagement and retention, innovation, etc. A people-first, trust-based approach to HR transformation, starts by addressing these questions:

• Leadership connect: ‘It takes an average of seven months for employees to build their trust in a leader, but less than half that time for them to lose it,’ says a research study. Institutionalized communication channels can help foster leadership connect- Townhalls, one-on-one interactions, panel discussions, leader podcasts, etc.
• Listening teams: Establish a sense of ‘belonging’ by encouraging employees to ‘speak up’. Identify people and train them to address employee concerns, and ensure they are accessible.
• Collaboration tools: Employees would be more comfortable expressing their sentiment online. Build communication and sharing platforms where people can share and support each other. 
• Skill-building interventions: HR and L&D must invest in upskilling and reskilling people by building intuitive and engaging learning mechanisms. The learning-messaging should be clear- that HR is here to help people adapt to the change and emerge successful. This means adopting more relevant learning technologies that employees truly find useful. Harness the power of mentoring, coaching, micro-learning, mobile-learning etc. to retain the right people.  
• Wellness support: HR transformation can trigger a range of psychological issues in employees. It is important to coach, counsel and support them. Setting up a counselling helpdesk with a trained counsellor can help employees reach out even anonymously.  

Trust is one of the biggest building-blocks for successful HR transformation, it ensures employees are not merely change-beholders, but become change-champions ! 

Sources: 

* Measuring Trust Inside Organizations

** The carrot or the stick? 5 steps to building better trust in your organisation