16th May 2022 6 MIN READ •Talos Engage •HR Trends
Managing a workforce is never easy – whether you’re dealing with five, fifty, five hundred, or five thousand employees. However, larger companies face an undoubtedly heftier challenge when it comes to their HR strategies. Here we discuss five of the most common HR challenges experienced by large companies, and what you can do to avoid them…
Common HR challenges for large companies:
HR challenges are common – especially for larger companies. Here are some of the most common issues experienced by large teams, and what you can do to avoid them:
#1 – Employee engagement & communication issues
Large teams are prone to communication and engagement issues. It’s a somewhat natural consequence of having a wide range of personalities, beliefs, and expectations.
There are a number of ways that this can present within your business. The most noticeable symptom is a lack of communication between teams/departments when it comes to projects and strategies. It’s easy for large departments to become segmented, which makes it difficult to coordinate widescale initiatives and strategic implementation. This often leads to tasks being repeated unnecessarily, or sometimes being missed completely under the assumption that someone else is taking care of them.
Employee engagement has a cause/effect relationship with communication challenges. When employees feel disconnected from their wider teams, or your company as a whole, their productivity will likely suffer as a result. This can lead to colleagues taking a less proactive approach to their work, worsening the communication issues within or across your departments.
How to avoid it...
The best way to avoid communication and engagement issues is to increase interaction between colleagues from different departments. For example, bringing your teams together for fortnightly or even monthly ‘tribe’ meetings will increase their awareness of your wider business strategy.
These can even be conducted virtually, with each department presenting a brief overview of their most recent projects and achievements.
You should also increase communication between department leaders/managers. This way, a company of ten departments could get together ‘around one table’ on a weekly basis to discuss their individual workflows, and achieve strategic alignment.
#2 – High staff turnover
You can always expect some degree of staff turnover within any workforce. Employees will leave your business from time to time – and for a number of different reasons. However, when these numbers begin to increase, it can have a very real impact on your company’s performance.
For one, a higher turnover of employees means more money needs to be spent on sourcing and hiring new talent. This can be an enormous drain on your HR budget, especially if you’re using staffing agencies. It also means a higher recruitment workload for your HR team, giving them less time to focus on engaging and retaining your existing workforce.
New employees also require training and development to become confident in their roles. This can be a severe drain on your resources across different departments; it’s always better to retain seasoned employees.
How to avoid it…
High staff turnover isn’t just a fact of running a large business – it can be avoided! The key is to identify the reasons why employees choose to move on from your company. Is this due to a lack of progression and development within your business, or could it be symptomatic of an unhealthy workplace culture?
Survey your employees regularly to assess their sentiment towards your business. Are they happy in their roles; do they feel like their expectations are being met consistently? This will help you to identify any underlying engagement challenges, and patch up any issues that may be leading to increased staff turnover.
You should also conduct ‘exit interviews’ with departing employees to find out why they’ve chosen to move on. This can be an effective way to identify complex issues within your workplace strategy, and prevent similar departures in future.
#3 – Unmanageable recruitment workload
Recruitment can be a huge drain on your internal resources – especially when you’re hiring large numbers of new employees.
Finding, sourcing, and engaging compatible talent is not a task to be underestimated, especially given the current competitive nature of the job market. This not only requires your HR team to manage hiring campaigns, but also requires them to maintain high-quality contact with active candidates to avoid drop-off.
These challenges persist even when outsourcing recruitment to staffing agencies; you still need to interview, select, onboard, and train incoming talent!
How to avoid it…
The best way to simplify your hiring process is to upgrade your HR technology toolkit, and develop a standardised hiring process throughout your business.
Software such as Applicant Tracking Systems can streamline – and even automate various parts of the recruitment journey. This includes automated screening, communication, progression, and onboarding of new recruits!
With the right tools at hand, your HR team can remain on top of recruitment without the expenses of outsourced hiring.
Check out our free guide on the easiest ways to utilise hiring software…
#4 – Difficulty attracting new talent
As we’ve discussed, recruiting for large companies comes with many obstacles. One of the most taxing of these challenges is attracting candidates to apply for your vacancies.
Attracting the right talent means competing with similar employers in your sector to make the most appealing offer. You need to demonstrate why your brand in particular should be the ’employer of choice’ for talent in your sector.
This means developing a strong recruitment advertising strategy – one that provides a wealth of information about your workplace, its culture, and your company’s mission. If your company’s offering falls short of its competitors, you’ll find it difficult to attract the right kind of applicants to your vacancies.
How to avoid it…
In order to compete for sought-after talent in your sector, you’ll need to ensure your offers match or exceed those of your competitors.
Do some research – what are your competitors offering in terms of salary, benefits, and workplace initiatives? Does your company currently provide these same perks, or are some things missing from your benefits package?
Make sure your recruitment advertisements reflect the very best that your business has to offer. Focus on the perks/incentives that matter most to your current employees, and use their testimonials as evidence of your unique workplace culture.
Check out our free guide: How to write an amazing job advert
#5 – Undefined & under-prioritised EVP
Your company’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is the beating heart of your workforce strategy. This is the collection of incentives, benefits, and cultural values that matter most to your employees. Not only is this your company’s USP within the job market – it’s also the reason why employees stay with you for the long-run.
Unfortunately for large companies, it can be difficult to develop an EVP that resonates across your entire workforce. A greater number of employees means a wider range of wants, needs, and expectations – making it difficult to provide a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
Without proper definition, your EVP is unlikely to meet the expectations of your employees. Over time, this can lead to decreased engagement, lower career satisfaction, and ultimately: increased staff turnover.
How to avoid it…
For large companies, it’s important to keep your EVP and HR strategy somewhat dynamic. This means regularly gaining feedback from your employees, and acting upon their suggestions to meet their expectations.
Survey your workforce regularly to find out which parts of your EVP work for them, and which parts need improvement. Are there any incentives that don’t resonate with them, or any new incentives that they’d like to see adopted?
Expectations are bound to change from person to person. Look at data across different cohorts – such as departments, age groups, locations, and salary bands. Larger companies may benefit from offering different incentives across different cohorts, meeting the varying expectations within their teams.
Read more: How to check your EVP instantly
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