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Hygiene factors are foundational conditions that prevent dissatisfaction and enable engagement. Psychological safety and employee well-being are critical hygiene factors that organizations must establish before focusing on higher-level engagement drivers.

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Before You Begin

Understanding hygiene factors helps contextualize pulse survey results. If hygiene factors are weak, other engagement initiatives will have limited impact. Assess your organization’s current state on psychological safety and well-being. Hygiene Factors: A pristine culture is built with happy employees. Are there many factors influencing employee happiness? The hygiene dimension takes care of this. The hygiene dimension considers the following factors: how clear employees are about their role in the organisation, whether they feel financially secure, whether they feel safe, both physically and psychologically, and whether the organisation’s structure and policies help them perform their best. When the hygiene conditions are taken care of, employees are more engaged and stay loyal to the firm. When even some hygiene factors are not in place, employee experience and engagement decrease. Employees are unmotivated, confused, uncomfortable, and even fearful about working for the organisation. This impacts not only employee retention but makes it challenging to attract new talent. To gain a holistic picture of the hygiene factors that influence employee engagement, it is essential to understand the first-dimension drivers that impact them (building blocks, as we call them). They are:
  • Role Clarity: Are employees aware about what their role entails, what is expected of them, and how they fit in the organization’s value chain?
  • Financial Safety: Do employees feel financially secure? Are salaries and incentives paid on time? Are the compensation and benefits clearly communicated?
  • Physical Safety: Does the employee feel physically safe and secure in the workplace?
  • Psychological Safety: Does the employee feel a sense of freedom and ownership of the work they do? Is fear the driving force behind work? Are employees in a good mental space when they come to work?
  • Structure & Policies: Do employees feel that the organization’s policies are meant to help them and make it easy for them to do their jobs?
To understand the impact of these first-dimension drivers on Hygiene Factors, a deeper analysis of the underlying factors impacting each of these first-dimension drivers is required. To facilitate this, The Empuls Pulse Survey model considers second dimension engagement drivers that influence each of the first dimensional drivers of every engagement driver. Role Clarity: According to Deloitte Insights: “Role clarity is the extent to which individuals understand their areas of responsibility and the impact they can leave at the organization. Employees who experience strong role clarity are more likely to feel a sense of identification with the organization and may willingly invest more energy toward positive outcomes.” In the Empuls Pulse Survey, there are six second dimensional engagement drivers that impact Role Clarity. They are:
  • Awareness of Competencies mapped (KSA)
  • Possessing the right competencies (KSA)
  • Alignment to competency level
  • Clear sense of purpose
  • Long term career
  • Technology and tools
1.1. Awareness of Competencies mapped (KSA): Do employees know what knowledge and skills are required to do their jobs effectively? Being aware of the knowledge and skills needed to do their jobs effectively makes employees feel responsible and take ownership of their work as they know what is required. It helps them use their knowledge and skills effectively and encourages them to upskill to succeed at work. Awareness of competencies is a second-dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey, influencing the role clarity engagement driver. 1.1.1. Best Practices to improve employee awareness of competencies: Plan: Induction training and clarification. Do: During the induction, ensure that every employee is aware of their roles and adequately trained/knowledgeable. Create a training program that touches upon the essential requisites of the job. If a fresher or someone without the knowledge or skill is hired, the induction training should train them in the basics and set them on a path towards acquiring the skill or knowledge within a short, mutually agreed upon time frame. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Conduct a skill gap analysis and customise the skill gap training. Do:
  • Undertake a comprehensive skill gap analysis of your workforce by involving HR and managers.
  • If possible, involve an external agency; otherwise, do it in-house.
  • Use the analysis to deliver tailored training to help your employees improve.
These are recommendations for free online courses, which they can take and submit as proof of learning. Time: 4-8 weeks Plan: Conducting 1:1 role communication and feedback sessions. Do: Arrange a 1:1 communication session for every employee to clarify their roles. Create a feedback mechanism where employees can receive regular feedback about their performance. This mechanism should also help employees clarify their doubts about their role, the gaps they face, and what they should learn or acquire to improve. Time: < 2 weeks to start How to manage the above Plan and Do?
  • HR and Managers should own this
  • The initiatives should be a part of their KRA for the quarter - they should have metrics to measure performance.
How to communicate?
  • Use internal communication channels to communicate the various initiatives undertaken to improve competencies awareness.
  • Invite discussions on which competencies employees in each department need help with.
Measure:
  • HR and Managers should seek 1:1 feedback after every initiative is implemented.
Act: HR and Managers should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 1.2. Possessing the Right Competencies (KSA): Do the employees feel they possess the knowledge and skills to do their jobs effectively? Awareness of the competencies required to perform a job is crucial. It is equally crucial for employees to feel they possess those requisite skills and knowledge. When they think so, they feel confident about performing at their best. 1.2.1 Best practices to make employee feel they possess the proper knowledge and skills required to do their jobs effectively. Plan: Conduct Competency-based Interviews and training. Do: Conduct periodic role-based competency-based interviews. These should be conducted during employment. The interview aims to ask questions/give assignments that help employees understand the nature of knowledge and skills required for the job, and their competence in these. Share the results with the individuals and create tailored training programs to help employees enhance their knowledge and skills based on the results. By making this a periodic event, employees will know that they must prepare for an upcoming interview and, hence, will invest time honing their skills and knowledge. Time needed: 2-6 weeks Plan: Conduct a Rapid Task Analysis (RTA) session for every role/function. Do: Plan to conduct multiple RTA sessions across your organisation. The idea is to have an approach to identifying tasks related to every job and the related concepts required to do a job well and organise them meaningfully. Such a session will lead to mapping all the jobs with the skills and knowledge required. Document and publish this mapping so employees can self-evaluate their knowledge and skill levels. Time needed: start within 2 weeks Plan: Create Self-Help Guides (SHGs). Do: Focus on creating SHGs to help employees access the necessary knowledge and skills easily. This exercise can follow the RTA initiative or be standalone if RTA is available for every role. The SHGs can be shared with the L&D team during induction and after appraisals and published in the general repository. Time needed: 2-4 weeks Plan: Create a “Managers are Coaches” program. Do: Launch a program that helps managers become coaches. Make it a mandate for managers to spend time with their reportees and work 1:1 with them to assess and improve their core skills. Equip managers with the requisite resources to coach their team members. Provide training for managers on the GROW model:
  • Help employees establish goals.
  • Document the current reality.
  • Explore options.
  • Decide what they will do.
Time needed: < 2 weeks to start How to manage the above Plan and Do?
  • HR and Managers should co-own the actionable items.
  • It should be a part of their KRA for the quarter.
How to communicate?
  • Use the group feature on Empuls to reach out to teams and the Townhall to announce these company-wide initiatives.
  • Also, communicate using your internal mail and highlight the initiatives in the group newsletters.
Measure:
  • HR and Managers should run a small survey to seek feedback after implementing every initiative.
  • They should also give tests to employees, wherever applicable, to measure their performance and ask them to self-evaluate their understanding.
Act: HR and Managers should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 1.3. Alignment to competency levels: Do the employees feel that their competencies align with their jobs? Employee satisfaction is essential when one feels their job utilises one’s competencies and contributes to the company’s growth, providing a sense of fulfilment. In the Empuls Survey, it is considered a second-dimension engagement driver that impacts role clarity. 1.3.1 Best practices to improve the employee alignment to their competency levels and hence company strategy. Plan: Create a one-page strategic plan (TOPS) for your company and communicate it. Do: Get leadership involved in creating an easy-to-read TOPS which communicates the brand’s vision, mission, and values. HR and managers should focus on sharing the TOPS and explaining to employees how their departments and teams contribute to it. Time needed: 2-4 weeks to begin the exercise Plan: Conduct a competency analysis that aligns with the company’s strategy. Do: This is a simple exercise every team lead/manager can do with their reportees/teams. The team lead/manager should conduct a 3-hour workshop or 1:1 where the team lead/manager first lays down how the team’s work aligns with the company’s strategy. They should then conduct a reflective exercise where each team member writes down what they do to contribute towards the team’s efforts and match it with their skill sets. This exercise connects individual competencies, everyday tasks, and the company’s strategy. Time needed: < 2 weeks Plan: Create a knowledge repository of micro-lessons and other learning material for every team. Do: Invite and invest in creating a knowledge repository to learn and understand the tools, skills, and knowledge required by every team. Employees can contribute to these repositories, and everyone in and across teams can benefit. Time needed: 4-8 weeks. How to manage the above Plan and Do? HR and Managers should own the actionable insights, include them in their quarterly KRA and have metrics to measure their performance. How to communicate? Use the group feature on Empuls to reach out to team members for team-level conversations. Use the Empuls Town Hall to encourage discussions around Company Strategy. Measure: HR and Managers should run a small survey and seek one-on-one feedback after implementing every initiative. After implementing the initiative, they should also ask employees to self-evaluate their alignment levels. Act: HR and Managers should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 1.4. Clear sense of purpose: Do employees feel their work impacts the company and, hence, owns it? Research by Prof Barry Schlenker from the University of Florida found that people with a strong sense of responsibility were more likely to commit to higher performance levels, persist longer, and have a greater ownership of the results. One of the key drivers of responsibility was a strong sense of identity, which gave rise to a sense of purpose. In the Empuls Survey, having a clear sense of purpose is a second-dimension engagement driver which impacts role clarity. 1.4.1 Best practices to help employees have a clear sense of purpose Plan: Conduct “Connect the Dots” sessions. Do: Everyone from the leadership team to department heads, team leads, and managers should hold “Connect the Dots” sessions as workshops. Some of the points to be covered include: -Communicate and clarify the company’s plans -How each department contributes to them -Provide the teams with a larger picture. -They should also elucidate how each team functions as a vital cog in the wheel Time needed: 2-4 weeks Plan: Conduct an answer-the-why series. Do: The leadership should focus on running a series of discussions and conversations about “why” the company is doing what it is doing. They should seek to converse and clarify the organisation’s purpose. This can even be a regular feature of an AMA. Time needed: <2 weeks to begin. Plan: Enable collaborations and training. Do: HR and Managers should involve senior and high-performing staff collaborating and mentoring junior employees on essential, functional, and soft skills. Making this an inter-departmental affair fosters better transparency and communication and indirectly instils a sense of purpose for working towards a larger goal as a team. Time needed: 2-6 weeks to begin How to manage the above Plan and Do? The Leadership team and HR should co-own the actionable insights. It should be a part of their monthly goals and be communicated across the teams. How to communicate? Announce the creation and running of the chosen initiative on company mail and Empuls. Keep adding any valuable insights obtained through the process. Measure: Seek individual feedback to note what is going well and what is not. Act: The Leadership team and HR should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 1.5. Long term career outlook: Do your employees plan to have a long career in your organisation? The long-term outlook is a second-dimension driver that illuminates where the organisation features in an employee’s career plan. Engaged employees are also loyal and long-term employees. Therefore, enabling an ecosystem that makes employees keep the organisation as part of their long-term career plan is essential for a good eNPS score. 1.5.1 Best Practices to Impact long term career outlook of Employees Plan: Initiate sessions on heart-to-heart conversations on individual growth paths. Do: The onus is on the management and managers to help employees know how much they can grow and how far they can go in the organisation. The leadership should train the managers to conduct a 1:1 exercise to let every employee know how and where they can grow by discussing the career paths available in the organisation. The managers must seek to understand their aspirations and discuss how the organisation can help set them on the path to achieving them. Time needed: 4 weeks Plan: Create and offer comprehensive benefits. Do: The leadership should create a benefits package that aligns with the times and surpasses the compensation. Work flexibility, medical benefits, generous leave policies, and attractive performance-based bonuses are some components that should be added. Time needed: 2-4 weeks Plan: AMAs connect long-term employees with others. Do: Conduct AMAs where long-term employees who have grown in the company can talk and answer questions about their growth within the company. Invite other employees to join and participate in these AMAs. Long-term employees can cover some points: When did they join your organisation, and at what role? How have they grown- elucidating on each milestone. How did the growth happen, and how did they plan for it? Tips for others to plan their career path within the organisation. Time needed: < 2 weeks to begin How to manage the above Plan and Do? The Leadership team and Managers should have actionable insights. It should be a part of their monthly goals and be communicated across the teams. How to communicate? Announce the creation and running of the chosen initiative on company mail and on Empuls. Keep adding any valuable insights obtained through the process. Measure: Seek individual feedback to note what is going well and what is not. Act: The Leadership team and Managers should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 1.6. Knowledge of Tools and Technology: Do the employees feel they have the tools and technologies to do their work efficiently? According to SHRM, employee experience intersects three factors: corporate culture, the technology ecosystem, and the physical workspace. The technology ecosystem comprises all the apps, software, e-learning tools, social intranets, inter-office communication tools, and the design and user experience of using this tech ecosystem. In the Empuls Survey, Knowledge of Tools and Technology is a second-dimension engagement driver that impacts role clarity. 1.6.1 Best practices to improve knowledge of Tools and Technology Plan: Provide Tools and Technology Training Sessions Do: During induction and as a regular quarterly feature, involve the tech team in training the employees on all the tools and software used by the organisation and the individual teams. This will help the employees learn, understand, and refresh their knowledge about the various technologies and tools used. Also, a doubt-clearing session should be incorporated at the end to help employees clarify their doubts. Time needed: < 2 weeks Plan: Invest in integrated cloud-based solutions. Do: The leadership should work with the tech team to identify and implement the most appropriate integrated cloud-based solutions. This would ensure everyone’s tech needs are satisfied with one workspace solution without downloading multiple software and tools. Time needed: >4 weeks to begin Plan: Conduct a Tools and Tech Audit Do: With help from the tech team, HR should do a team-wise and employee-wise audit and feedback session to understand the hits and misses w.r.t using the current tech ecosystem. These sessions should also serve as an AMA to clarify doubts regarding the existing tech ecosystem. Time needed: 2-4 weeks How to manage the above Plan and Do? The Tech team is the primary owner here. The Leadership and HR should work with the Tech teams to own actionable insights. The Tech team should set the goals as part of the KRAs and have metrics to measure performance. How to communicate? The tech team should contact teams by mail and Empuls to explain the objective behind undertaking an initiative. Measure: Seek individual feedback to improve the tech ecosystem. Act: The Tech team should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 1.7. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results Weak: Score less than 3. Insight: A majority of your employees need role clarity. To improve awareness of competencies:
  • One on one Role communication and feedback
To improve how employees feel that they possess the proper knowledge and skills required to do their jobs effectively
  • Conduct a Rapid Task Analysis (RTA) session for every role/function
  • Managers are Coaches program
To improve how employees feel that their competencies are aligned with the jobs they do:
  • Competency Analysis in line with company strategy.
To improve the employees sense of purpose:
  • Answer the why
To improve the long-term career outlook of employees:
  • Connect long-term employees with others
To improve the knowledge of tools and technology:
  • Provide Tools and Technology Training.
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last three pulse runs. Insight: While more than 50% of your employees have role clarity, there is a negative trend, which is at risk of becoming a weakness. To improve awareness of competencies:
  • Induction Training and clarification
  • One on one Role communication and feedback
To improve employees’ feeling that they possess the proper knowledge and skills required to effectively do their jobs
  • Create Self Help Guides (SHGs) based on the RTA document.
To improve how employees feel that their competencies are aligned with the jobs they do:
  • Create and communicate a one-page strategic plan (TOPS) for your company.
To improve the employees’ sense of purpose:
  • Conduct connects the dots sessions.
To improve the long-term career outlook of employees:
  • Offer comprehensive benefits.
To improve the knowledge of tools and technology
  • Conduct a Tools and Tech Audit.
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken. Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last three pulse runs Insight: More than 50% of your employees have role clarity; however, this has yet to improve. To improve awareness of competencies:
  • Skill Gaps Analysis and Skill Gap Training
To improve how employees feel that they possess the right knowledge and skills required to do their jobs effectively:
  • Competency-Based Interviews and Training Create Self Help Guides (SHGs) based on the RTA document
To improve how employees feel that their competencies align with their jobs.
  • Do: Create a knowledge repository of micro-lessons and other learning material for every team.
To improve the employee’s sense of purpose:
  • Enable collaborations and training.
To improve the long-term career outlook of employees:
  • Heart-to-heart conversations on individual growth paths.
Invest in integrated cloud-based solutions to improve the knowledge of tools and technology. Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend. Insight: More than 50% of your employees have role clarity, and there is a growing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength. Continue doing what you are doing and use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second-dimensional engagement driver into a strength. Strength: Score above 4. Insight: More than 80% of your employees have role clarity. This is an area of strength for your organisation. Keep up the good work! Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions, and share them with us. Also, use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second-dimensional engagement driver remains a strength. 2. Financial Safety: According to extensive research by The Josh Bersin Company, financial fitness is essential to a healthy organisational framework. Financial fitness encompasses complete aspects of compensation and benefits. A healthy organisation is one where holistic employee well-being is enabled; here, financial safety plays an important role. With the assurance of economic safety, employees would be confident, reassured, and able to work productively. It would also lead to attrition and difficulty in attracting fresh talent. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, two second-dimensional engagement drivers impact an organisation’s financial safety. They are
  • Compensation
  • Benefits
2.1. Compensation: Do the employees feel that they are fairly compensated for the work they do? When employees are compensated, that is, they feel their pay is in line with their skills, experience, and work, they are more engaged and productive at work. According to one of SHRM’s research, better pay is one of the top three criteria for job satisfaction. 2.1.1. Best Practices to improve employee opinion on their compensation: Plan: Conduct a comparison exercise and bring pay to existing industry standards. Do: Conduct a comparison exercise to compare and contrast your organisation’s existing pay scales to industry benchmarks. Make a note wherever the difference is more than 10% in either direction. Take steps to bring every pay scale to par with the industry benchmarks. Communicate this decision to all your employees. Also, focus on highlighting pay scales that exceed industry standards. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Re-architect your pay scales. Do: Revamp your pay scale structure by adding multiple layers, incentivising performance by compensating it at every level. Every designation should have compensations that meet the industry benchmarks and various performance milestone-based variable pay, making the role attractive and remunerative! Time: 4-8 weeks Plan: Host 1:1 AMAs on compensation to conduct an as-is analysis Do: In collaboration with the HR and Managers, the leadership team should hold individual AMAs with employees to clarify their doubts about their compensations and get feedback on their thoughts on the existing compensation structures. The AMAs should also include employee questions that the management can answer. They should also seek ideas from the employees to improve the compensation structure. Time: < 2 weeks to start How to manage the above Plan and Do? The Leadership team and HR should own this. It should be a part of their KRA for the quarter and have metrics to measure performance. How to communicate? Send personal emails to every employee to communicate about the initiatives undertaken. Use Empuls to start conversations around compensation policies. Measure: The Leadership team and HR should seek 1:1 feedback on the initiatives taken around compensation. Act: Use the feedback to improve on the action plan. 2.2. Benefits: Are the employees satisfied with their current benefits structure? Benefits are non-wage compensations that are offered to employees. They can be both financial and non-financial in nature. A good benefits program helps boost employee morale. According to one of SHRM’s research, the benefits offered are among the top three criteria for job satisfaction. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, Benefits are a second-dimension engagement driver. 2.2.1. Best Practices to improve employee opinion on the benefits offered: Plan: Reassess and improve employee well-being benefits offered. Do: In these pandemic times, employee well-being has taken greater precedence over everything else. Companies focusing on employee well-being are thriving. Show your employees that you care and improve the well-being benefits that you offer. Research the different wellness benefits offered in your industry. Add whatever is missing in your benefits packages and add some more to make your employees happier. Time: 4-8 weeks Plan: Initiate a move towards a total rewards package. Do: Revamp your existing pay package and move towards a total rewards strategy encompassing compensation, benefits, perks, rewards, and recognition, all of which are above industry standards. Create a plan for achieving this and start incorporating the plan in stages. Time: 8-12 weeks Plan: Pick a tailored perks and benefit plan. Do: Create a bucket list of benefits from which your employees can choose what is relevant to them. For example, you can allow employees to choose from paid vacations or fertility treatments under medical coverage to help them tailor their benefits plans. While this will only entail a bit of additional cash outflow for you, it will empower your employees to choose the benefits that make the most sense. Time: < 2 weeks to start How to manage the above Plan and Do?
  • The Leadership team and HR should own this.
  • The leadership should work on the financial and policy aspects of these initiatives.
  • HR should focus on research and implementation.
  • It will be an endeavour that will require a quarter to implement.
How to communicate? Send personal emails to every employee to communicate regarding the initiatives undertaken. Use Empuls to start conversations around what personalised benefits each employee would like. Measure: The Leadership team and HR should seek one-on-one feedback on the initiatives taken around compensation. Act: Use the feedback to improve on the action plan. 2.3. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results Weak: Score less than 3. Insight: Most of your employees need to feel more financially secure. To improve employee opinion on their compensation:
  • Host one-on-one AMAs on compensation to conduct an as-is analysis
  • Compare and bring pay to existing industry standards
To improve employee opinion on the benefits offered: Pick a tailored perk and benefit plan. Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs Insight: While more than 50% of your employees feel financially secure, there is a negative trend at risk of becoming a weakness. To improve employee opinion on their compensation:
  • Re-architect your pay scales
  • Compare and bring pay to existing industry standards
To improve employee opinion on the benefits offered, Pick a tailored perk and benefit plan. Reassess and improve on the employee well-being benefits provided. Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken. Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs Insight: More than 50% of your employees feel financially secure; however, this has yet to improve. To improve employee opinion on their compensation:
  • Re-architect your pay scales
  • Compare and bring pay to existing industry standards
To improve employee opinion on the benefits offered:
  • Moving towards a total rewards package.
  • Reassess and improve on the employee well-being benefits provided.
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend. Insight: More than 50% of your employees are feeling financially secure, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength. Continue doing what you are doing and use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second-dimensional engagement driver into a strength. Strength: Score above 4. Insight: More than 80% of your employees feel financially secure, which is an area of strength for your organisation. Keep up the good work! Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions, and share them with us. Also, use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second-dimensional engagement driver remains a strength. 3. Physical Safety: According to SHRM, employee experience intersects three factors: corporate culture, the technology ecosystem, and the physical workspace. The physical workspace includes all the places (and their environments) that an employee has access to work from: the physical office, including lounges/cafes/workstations, home office/remote offices (more so during pandemic times), and artwork/showpieces; and safety within the workplace. Further research by SHRM shows that workplaces focused on employee experience have four times higher average profits and twice as much average revenues as organisations that don’t. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, two-second dimensional engagement drivers impact the Physical Safety of an organisation. They are:
  • Workplace bullying and
  • harassment Facilities
3.1. Workplace bullying and harassment: How safe do your employees feel at the workplace (both online and offline)? Workplace safety is essential for employees working in peace. Understanding if there is a threat to workplace safety is important for organisations to be able to take rapid actions and ensure that the working environment is amiable to work. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, workplace safety is a second dimension engagement driver that is a part of the Hygiene factors. 3.1.1. Best Practices to prevent and eliminate workplace bullying and harassment: Plan: Make POSH training compulsory. Do: Make completion of POSH training compulsory and ensure that everyone undergoes it and is tested on their understanding. Time: <2 weeks to begin Plan: Create and Conduct Diversity, Inclusion, Workplace Harassment, and Workplace Bullying Training Programs. Do: Create periodic training programs to educate and sensitise employees on diversity, inclusion, workplace harassment, and workplace bullying. Conduct these programs in a phased manner and test understanding. The training should include role-plays and answer questions. These sessions should also be conducted periodically. Time: 4-8 weeks Plan: Create an anti-harassment and anti-bullying committee. Do: Create a committee to prevent and handle complaints regarding harassment and bullying. Ensure the committee members are a heterogeneous mix. The committee’s policies, functioning, and how it handles complaints should be documented and published to establish transparency. The committee should also establish a process for employees to reach out for redressal. Time: 2-4 weeks to start How to manage the above Plan and Do? The HR department should own this and collaborate with all the employees to set up various initiatives. How to communicate? Send frequent personal emails to every employee to understand if they have been bullied or harassed Use Empuls to start conversations around workplace bullying and harassment. The leadership should periodically communicate the anti-bullying and anti-harassment stance. Measure: The leadership team and HR should seek one-on-one feedback on implementing initiatives to prevent harassment and bullying. Act: Use the feedback to improve on the action plan. 3.2. Facilities: How comfortable are the physical working conditions for your employees? Comfortable physical working conditions are essential for employees to work productively. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, facilities are a second-dimension engagement driver that is part of the Hygiene factors. 3.2.1. Best Practices to improve physical working conditions: Plan: Conduct periodic As-is surveys. Do: Periodically understanding how the current physical working conditions are is important to work towards making them better. Run a survey to understand the present workspace for your employees (covering remote and hybrid working conditions). Questions should include: the physical comfort, the lighting, and the work environment conditions. These questions can provide insights, especially in a remote workforce, to help organisations improve their working conditions. Time: 2 weeks Plan: Make Investments for Remote Workspaces Do: Based on the feedback from the as-is survey, offer various packages aimed at improving your employees’ physical workspaces. These packages can be customised based on your working style and current finances. The packages could include work-from-home allowances, investments in ergonomic furniture, or payments for remote co-working spaces. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Educate and protect against workplace hazards, especially in manufacturing and production firms. Do: Educate your employees on workplace hazards and equip them with the requisite protection. These include fire drills, safety equipment training, etc. Such educational training should be conducted periodically to be abreast with the latest best practices. Time: 4-6 weeks How to manage the above Plan and Do? The HR department should own this and collaborate with all the employees to set up various initiatives. How to communicate? Send individual communications to participate in the knowledge-gathering and sharing initiatives. Measure: HR should seek one-on-one feedback on initiatives to improve the facilities. Act: Use the feedback to improve on the action plan. 3.3. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results Weak: Score less than 3. Insight: Most of your employees are not feeling physically safe. To prevent and eliminate workplace bullying and harassment:
  • Make POSH training compulsory
To improve physical working conditions
  • As-is survey Overall
  • Focus on communicating about the actions taken
At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs Insight: While more than 50% of your employees feel physically safe, a negative trend is at risk of becoming a weakness. To prevent and eliminate workplace bullying and harassment:
  • Make POSH training compulsory.
  • Create anti-harassment and anti-bullying committees.
To improve physical working conditions
  • Investments in Remote Workspaces Educate and protect against workplace hazards, especially in manufacturing and production firm
Overall:
  • Focus on communicating about the actions taken
Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs Insight: More than 50% of your employees feel financially secure; however, this has yet to improve. To prevent and eliminate workplace bullying and harassment:
  • Make POSH training compulsory
  • Create and Conduct Diversity, Inclusion, Workplace Harassment and Workplace Bullying Training Programs
To improve physical working conditions Investments in Remote Workspaces Educate and protect against workplace hazards, especially in manufacturing and production firm. Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken. Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend. Insight: More than 50% of your employees are feeling physically safe, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength. Continue doing what you are doing and use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second-dimensional engagement driver into a strength. Strength: Score above 4 Insight: More than 80% of your employees feel physically safe, which is an area of strength for your organisation. Keep up the good work! Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions, and share them with us. Also, use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second-dimensional engagement driver remains a strength. 4.Psychological Safety: According to Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, in her book The Fearless Organisation: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, innovation and growth (2018), psychological safety feel safe enough to ask questions, share concerns, take risks, and explore ideas without worrying about the loss of a job or promotions. Psychological safety also leads to feeling motivated to work and having a sense of accomplishment at work. It is an essential factor that impacts the eNPS. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, four-second dimensional engagement drivers impact the Psychological Safety of an organisation. They are Work-life balance, Professional accomplishment, Feeling motivated, Job security 4.1. Work-life balance: What do your employees feel about the work-life balance that your organisation offers? Work-life balance is important for people to feel happy and stay in their jobs. In fact, one of the reasons behind the Great Resignations has been a poor work-life balance during the pandemic. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, work-life balance is a second-dimension engagement driver that is part of the Hygiene factors. 4.1.1. Best Practices to improve the work-life balance in your organisation: Plan: Introduce Mandatory Time-offs. Do: Every organisation provides at least a minimum number of PTOs. Yet not all employees proactively use them to recharge and rejuvenate. Implement a mandatory time-off policy where every employee must take a minimum set of days off every year. It can be done periodically, and the HRMS can be scheduled to remind the employee. Time: 1 week Plan: Offer Compensatory Time-offs. Do: Implement a compensatory time-off policy that compensates employees for working on a non-working day. Make it flexible to combine with weekends or PTOs so your employees can get a more extended break. Time: 1 week Plan: Avoid mailing during weekends and holidays Do: Create a company-wide policy where bosses and managers are trained to avoid mailing their reportees during the weekends and on holidays. Such mail can cause stress in employees and is best avoided. Time: 1 week Plan: Conduct training on time management. Do: Involve senior managers and leaders in quick 45-minute training sessions on time management. Such sessions should be interspersed with work examples to help employees manage their work better and not work beyond the stipulated hours. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Automate relevant processes. Do: Wherever possible, automate redundant and repetitive tasks to ensure that your employees are involved in only meaningful work. This initiative would require managers, the tech team, and HR first to identify the redundant and repetitive tasks every team performs. Once this list is created, they can ideate to find the most suitable way to automate. There should be at least one champion who oversees the implementation and the adoption of the automation. Time: 4-8 weeks Plan: Conduct regular check-ins. Do: HR should regularly check in with employees to ensure they are calm. These check-ins can be 1:1 and through surveys to understand how the employee is feeling. Time: 3-6 weeks Plan: Create an employee assistance program (EAP). Do: Having an employee assistance program is a great way to let employees know that you care about their well-being beyond the office. Set up a committee to help create and run EAP. The aim of the EAP is to help employees in situations unrelated to work and working conditions. The committee members should periodically send updates, create a process for their operations, and communicate how they help employees address their problems. Time: 4-8 weeks How to manage the above Plan and Do? The HR should co-own the initiatives with the leadership and management
  • Many of these initiatives can be implemented simultaneously
  • The initiatives should be a part of the KRA of the HR and leadership.
How to communicate? Send individual emails as well as announce on Empuls. Measure: HR should send a survey/feedback form to get insights on initiatives to improve the facilities. Act: HR and leadership should then use the feedback to improve the action plan. 4.2. Professional accomplishment: Measuring employees’ sense of achievement at work. Feeling a sense of accomplishment at work is important as it acts as intrinsic motivation to work better. Motivated employees are more engaged and, hence, more productive. Professional accomplishment is a second-dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey. 4.2.1. Best Practices to improve the feeling of professional accomplishment in your employees: Plan: Train on setting SMART goals. Do: Conduct goal-setting training sessions for your employees. A senior HR or manager can conduct these sessions to teach employees to set achievable SMART goals. They can also give examples from your organisation to help others understand the concept better. Time: 1 week Plan: Create an ecosystem for pushing boundaries. Do: As a company ethos, train your managers to help your employees take risks and push boundaries. This would mean that the managers and your employees should know what risks can be taken and when to stop so that the risks do not prove too costly. Also, make it a company habit to applaud anyone who has tried something new and failed publicly. Time: < 2 weeks Plan: Reward and recognise milestones and achievements. Do: Set up a comprehensive rewards and recognition program to recognise and reward employees who have achieved their targets and other milestones. Ensure that the reward and recognition happen publicly so that all the employees know and cheer for their colleagues. Also, capture the applause and recognition on your social media handles. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Proactive employee feedback management mechanism Do: Create a mechanism to get monthly feedback about every manager, team lead, and leadership members from their reportees. The managers, team leads, and leadership members should then proactively write and communicate about the feedback received and their focus areas of improvement for the upcoming month. The progress report card should also be shared every month. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Implement a human-human conflict resolution process. Do: Create a human-human conflict resolution process within your organisation. This would require the leadership to work closely with HR and managers to set up a conflict resolution process that is fair and equitable and addresses the issues. Next, train your employees, especially the managers and leaders, to approach conflict resolution with empathy, curiosity to learn, and seeking to understand by asking, “How could we achieve a mutually desirable outcome?” Do role-plays and enacting to drill this process as a part of the psyche. Time: 4-8 weeks How to manage the above Plan and Do? Leadership, HR, and Managers should own the initiatives. The leadership should work closely with management to ideate and implement the initiatives. HR should facilitate the creation of training sessions and communicate them to the employees. How to communicate? Send individual emails to the employees. Use Empuls to announce the training sessions and process policy changes. Measure: The Leadership and Managers should seek one-on-one feedback on the initiatives implemented. Act: The Leadership and Managers should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 4.3. Feeling of motivation: Do your employees feel motivated to work every day? The feeling of motivation to work is essential for employees to not only turn up to work but also give their best. It is a second-dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey. 4.3.1. Best Practices to improve the motivation levels of your employees: Plan: Create a culture of frequent and meaningful recognition. Do: Receiving frequent and meaningful appreciation helps employees feel happy and stay motivated. Make it a top-down effort where managers frequently applaud their teams’ efforts. Also, it enables peer-to-peer recognition. These can be through personal emails or appreciating on Empuls. Time: 1 week Plan: Organise coaching sessions to identify purpose. Do: Organise 1:1 coaching session between the manager and team members to identify their primary and secondary working purposes. The session should address the following questions: Why are we doing this? What problem will this address? What are we trying to accomplish? Document these, and let each employee find creative ways to view their purpose daily—perhaps a Wordle/collage saved as wallpaper. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Create a policy that provides autonomy and freedom to create and innovate. Do: The leaders and HR should work together to create an organisational policy that provides autonomy and freedom to create and innovate. This would entail first defining where all innovation and creativity can be applied, including a list of top challenges for which innovative and creative solutions are welcomed. Then, it would involve creating a comprehensive list of checks and balances that must be applied to evaluate every potential idea, understand the underlying risks, have risk mitigation measures in place, and the extent to which the challenge gets solved. Subsequently, a workshop explaining the policy should be conducted. Time: > 4 weeks Plan: Offer cross-departmental work to enable cross-pollination of people and skills. Do: As a company policy, allow 2 hours every week for your employees to work with other departments on projects of their choice to acquire skills and knowledge. This helps develop non-linear skill sets and keeps the employees motivated and engaged. Time: 4-8 weeks How to manage the above Plan and Do? The Leadership and Managers should own this
  • They should collaborate with all the HR to set up and implement the various initiatives
  • The initiatives should be a part of their KRA for the quarter and have metrics for measuring progress
How to communicate? Send individual emails to the employees. Use Empuls to announce the initiatives and policy changes in processes. Measure: The Leadership and Managers should send a survey to seek feedback on the initiatives taken. Act: They should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 4.4. Job Security: Do your employees feel secure in their jobs? Employees who feel secure about their jobs are less stressed, trust the company more, and hence more motivated to work better. It is a second-dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey. 4.4.1. Best Practices to improve the feeling of job security in your employees: Plan: Create Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs). Do: If you need a PIP policy and process, create one. Also, communicate this to your employees. By creating PIPs, your employees will know that if their performance is not on par, they will not be unceremoniously removed but put through a PIP. Developing and implementing PIPs helps improve transparency and confidence between the organisation and the employees. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Give additional responsibilities to good performers. Do: Let good performers handle additional responsibilities in their current roles and teams. This will make them feel more secure. Time: 3-6 weeks Plan: Conduct periodic 1:1 session between employees and HRs. Do: Set up a monthly 1:1 session to help employees voice any concerns they have. The HR’s questions seeking feedback should explicitly cover the job security aspect. Some questions can be: Are you feeling secure in your job? Are there any challenges that bother you? Is there anything the organisation can do to make you feel more secure and comfortable in your role? Time: <1 week to get started How to manage the above Plan and Do? HR should own this and collaborate with all the managers and employees to set up and implement the various initiatives. How to communicate? Send individual emails to the employees. Use Empuls to announce the initiatives and policy changes on processes. Measure: HR should seek one-on-one feedback on initiatives to improve the facilities. Act: HR should use the feedback to improve the action plan. 4.5 Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results Weak: Score less than 3. Insight: A majority of your employees are not feeling psychologically safe. To improve the work-life balance in your organisation:
  • Mandatory Time-offs Compensatory Time-offs
  • Avoiding mailing during weekends and holidays
To enhance the feeling of professional accomplishment in your employees
  • Train and set SMART goals.
  • Encourage pushing the boundaries, applaud failure.
To improve your employees’ motivation levels
  • Empower them to give feedback and opinions.
  • Create a culture of frequent and meaningful recognition.
To improve the feeling of job security in your employees
  • Conduct one-on-one sessions between employees and HR
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last three pulse runs Insight: While more than 50% of your employees feel psychologically safe, there is a negative trend at risk of becoming a weakness. To improve the work-life balance in your organisation: Mandatory Time-offs Training on time-management One-on-one check-ins To improve the feeling of professional accomplishment in your employees- Train and set SMART goals. Reward and recognise milestones and achievements. Ask for employee feedback. To improve the motivation levels of your employees
  • Coaching to identify purpose
  • Create a culture of frequent and meaningful recognition
To improve the feeling of job security in your employees:
  • Create Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last three pulse runs Insight: More than 50% of your employees feel psychologically safe; however, this has not improved. To improve the work-life balance in your organisation:
  • Create an employee assistance program (EAP).
  • Automate relevant processes
To improve the feeling of professional accomplishment in your employees
  • Implement a human-human conflict resolution process.
  • Ask for employee feedback
To improve the motivation levels of your employees
  • Autonomy and freedom to create and innovate
  • To improve the feeling of job security in your employees Give additional responsibilities for good performers Create PIPs
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend. Insight: More than 50% of your employees are feeling psychologically safe, and there is a growing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength. Continue doing what you are doing and use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second-dimensional engagement driver into a strength. Strength: Score above 4. Insight: More than 80% of your employees feel psychologically safe, which is an area of strength for your organisation. Keep up the good work! Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions, and share them with us. Also, use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second-dimensional engagement driver remains a strength.
  1. Structure and Policies: Organisational structure and policies must ensure that the employees feel enabled to perform at their best. According to this study, 44% of the respondents thought that an excellent organisational structure helps motivate performance, 24% responded that it helps them sharpen their skills, and another 24% of the employees answered that it helps increase the organisation’s productivity. In the Empuls Survey, Organizational Structure and policies are a first-dimension engagement driver. They are impacted by two second-dimension drivers, namely Policies & procedures and organisational structure.
5.1 Policies & procedures: Policies and procedures help employees align with the company’s values, mission, and vision. They also play an important role in helping employees understand how the organisation enforces the rules of work and what kind of behaviour it desires from its employees. 5.1.1. Best Practices to improve policies and procedures: Plan: Create and publish an employee handbook. Do: Whether you already have one or do not have one, creating an employee handbook that documents all the policies and procedures is important. This document should be comprehensive and cover all aspects of an employee’s work life, including the perks and benefits offered, the technology, D&I, and healthcare policies in place, as well as all procedures that must be followed. Publish this document in your common repository in the form of a handbook. Every employee should be able to access it, and every new joiner should be given this when they join the organisation. Time: 2 weeks Plan: Make D&I and POSH a part of the organisation’s policy and conduct periodic training. Do: Create POSH and D&I policies. Publish them and make them accessible to every employee. Also, conduct frequent training on your D&I and POSH policies to ensure that employees are abreast with how they work and what they should do if they need redressal. Time: 2 weeks Plan: Establish a robust feedback mechanism for continuous improvement. Do: Establish a feedback mechanism through periodic surveys or feedback forms to take employees’ opinions on the policies and existing procedures. Also, these policies should be amended based on feedback. Proactively also communicate the policy changes made based on employee feedback. Time: 2- 4 weeks to set up the mechanism Plan: Invest in HR Software. Do: Invest in HR software that efficiently implements policies and procedures. To identify suitable HR software, you will first have to create a list of objectives the software must meet. Based on your requirements, you should then research the available ones. Choose one that holistically enables efficient policy implementation. Time: >4 weeks to start Plan: Conduct AMAs on policies and procedures. Do: HR should conduct periodic AMAs to clarify and communicate the details regarding the employees’ policies, procedures, and related amendments. Time: >3 weeks How to manage the above Plan and Do?
  • The HR should own this
  • The initiatives should be set up on their monthly and quarterly KRAs.
How to communicate? Use Empuls and personal communication to discuss the various initiatives. Run a quiz on the policies and procedures and recognise winners. Measure: The HR should seek one-on-one feedback on the initiatives taken to communicate and improve the policies and procedures. Act: Use the feedback to improve the action plan. 5.2 Organisational structure The organisational structure facilitates the creation of processes and workflows within the organisation. Awareness and alignment with the structure help employees perform better. It is an essential second-dimensional driver as it influences employees’ feelings about their firm’s workflows and management hierarchy. 5.2.1. Best Practices to improve feelings about the organisation structure: Plan: Publish a blueprint of the organisation structure. Do: Create a blueprint of the organisation structure and share it with the company. This would help employees know what the organisational structure is. Time: 2 weeks Plan: Creating a simpler chain of command and a lesser hierarchical structure. Do: Creating an organisational structure that leans towards a flatter organisation decreases the chains of command. This helps employees get responses faster. They also aid in faster decision-making. Work towards establishing a flatter hierarchical structure. Moving to a lesser chain of command of a flat office structure requires careful planning. The leadership should work with the managers to evaluate the existing organisational structure, identify the bottlenecks, devise alternate ways to remove them, and then apply the five whys technique to validate the options before implementing them. Time: 2-4 weeks Plan: Conduct periodic FGDs to improve team structures. Do: The HR should conduct periodic focus group discussions to understand any bottlenecks in the process or command flows. These would give insights on how the existing organisational structure can be improved and minimise friction. Time: >4 weeks to start How to manage the above Plan and Do? The HR and Leadership should own this
  • The initiatives should be set up on their monthly and quarterly KRAs.
How to communicate? Use Empuls and personal communication to talk about the various initiatives. Measure: The HR should seek one-on-one feedback on the initiatives taken to communicate and improve the organisation’s structure. Act: Use the feedback to improve on the action plan. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results Weak: Score less than 3. Insight: Most of your employees are unhappy with your policies, procedures, and organisational structure. To improve policies and procedures:
  • Create an employee handbook.
  • Make D&I and POSH a part of the organisation’s policy.
To improve feelings about the organisation structure:
  • Publish a blueprint of the organisation structure.
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs. Insight: While more than 50% of your employees are happy with your policies, procedures, and organisational structure, there is a negative trend, which is at risk of becoming a weakness.
  • To improve policies and procedures:
Feedback mechanism for continuous improvement: -Make D&I and POSH a part of the organisation’s policy To improve feelings about the organisation structure:
  • Creating a simpler chain of command and lesser hierarchical structure.
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with your policies, procedures, and organisational structure; however, this has not improved. To improve policies and procedures: -Invest in HR software. -Conduct AMAs on policies and procedures To improve feelings about the organisation structure:
  • Conduct FGDs to improve team structures
Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend. Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with your policies, procedures, and organisational structure, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength. Continue doing what you are doing and use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second-dimensional engagement driver into a strength. Strength: Score above 4. Insight: More than 80% of your employees are happy with your policies, procedures, and organisational structure. This is an area of strength for your organisation. Keep up the good work! Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions, and share them with us. Also, use the Good Practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second-dimensional engagement driver remains a strength. References: High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety. Here’s How to Create It (hbr.org) SHRM guide on retaining talent A new mandate for HR, HBR Creating a purpose-driven organisation, HBR SHRM guide on onboarding Training IT Staff, SHRM SHRM Guide on Creating a More Human Workplace Where Employees and Business Thrive Optimizing Employee Experience, SHRM. Making learning a part of every day, HBR Rewriting the rules for a digital age, Deloitte Insights Performance management that makes a difference, SHRM RTA and SHG, University of Minnesota.