Top 5 HR Issues in Every Company

HR issues are far more prevalent today, especially in this highly competitive professional environment. After all, HR is responsible for the most important asset of a company — their human resources. Therefore, HR issues should never be overlooked. Rather they should be pondered upon time and again to deliver the most effective long-lasting solutions. In this blog, we will discuss the five foremost HR issues prevalent in every company and how to deal with them.

1. Retention

Retaining existing employees is one of the major issues that HR has to deal with in every organisation. Nothing hits you more than spending your time and resources on the training and development of an employee and then watching them leave the company without giving much thought to the effect their decision would have on the future of the organisation. In most growing organisations, especially startups, it is like falling back to square one.

In most cases, the HR has to deal with the toughest of questions — why did the employee leave? Why was the employee permitted to leave? What could have been done to prevent the employee from leaving the organisation? Were all possible measures taken to prevent the employee from leaving?

The findings of a recent study by a leading HR consulting firm states that employee retention would be the most challenging of the HR issues in 2022. By then, the economy would be on the rise following the aftershocks of the pandemic. Hence, people would be eager to improve their quality of life, and therefore, they would venture in the job market seeking better job opportunities. Even companies would emerge victorious from the sluggish economic scenario and would actively look to add new hires into their organisation.

Contrary to popular belief, retaining an existing employee is far easier and cost-effective than hiring new employees. And that is why HR takes employee retention so seriously. Better compensation, incentives and good company culture these are the three main aspects that the employer should focus on to encourage their employees to stay with the company. While increasing pay may seem counterintuitive to saving costs, you also need to remember the time and resources you have invested in an existing employee. Your existing employee is a skilled resource, and you have spent months and years training them. Therefore, offering them better compensation is preferable to starting from ground zero with a new hire.

2. Recruitment

The next major contemporary issues in hrm are discovering the right talent who would perfectly fit the job description. It is, in fact, one of the most incredibly challenging HR problems. The job market has become increasingly competitive for employers. Finding the right talent has become an enormous exercise with companies having to spread their wings farther than their usual range to tap into the talent market. Aggressive hiring strategies from your competitors further worsens the situation.

Fortunately, employers have access to the social circle of their target audience via the internet and social media. In fact, social media platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram have become the new breeding grounds for head hunters.

With the advent of technology, the social behaviour of people has also changed. Many prefer to share their stories online and connect with people through different social media platforms. This behaviour has made life somewhat easier for the recruiters as they now access their social network and find the right talent for the company. Employers can actively use social media platforms as well as online job boards to advertise their open job positions. The social network will help them penetrate their target audience and find the right match. Further, social media also offers them a wonderful opportunity to showcase their brand and attract more passive candidates into the organisation.

3. Leadership development

Leadership development is one of the key human resource problems faced by the HR team in every company. Many organisations are so focused on hiring and expansion that they forget the most important aspect of employee development.

Developing quality future leaders should be the most important focus area for any organisation. After all, the greatest sign of a healthy organisation is its great leaders that drive growth and development in the company. Further, as the employee grows and expands their knowledge base, they too seek promotions and opportunities into more leadership roles as a natural step in the advancement of their careers.

Moreover, poor or inefficient leadership has been cited as the most common reason for an employee leaving the company. So, if you want the best leaders for your organisation, then you must train and encourage your existing employees to aspire for better leadership roles within the organisation. It ensures a steady flow of strong, in-house leaders who know and truly understand the ethos of the company.

Moreover, companies can use leadership development as a wonderful tool to retain existing employees by promoting them into leadership roles. This strategy boosts employee engagement with the company.

4. Productivity

Productivity is key to the growth of an organisation, and lack of productivity is one of the crucial human resource issues that the HR department faces.

Employee productivity issues can be relative, as well as subjective in nature. Most of the time, there is a steady decline in productivity among the employees, and they may not be aware of this issue unless highlighted. Sometimes, low productivity can also be attributed to the skill and will of the employees.

Every issue has to be handled differently to ensure consistent efficiency and productivity within the organisation. The HR team must identify the source of the problem to find and implement an effective solution. So whether it is a group of employees or a single employee who is hampering productivity, appropriate action must be taken to rectify their behaviour. Sometimes, your employees may need a good recreational or team building activity to rejuvenate themselves and build more cohesion within the team. These activities help break the monotony at the office and can lead to improved productivity.

If the issue is subjective, then you can find ways to train the employee and impart the necessary skills into the employee to help them achieve the desired levels of productivity. Sometimes, all that an employee lacks is motivation to perform better. The HR needs to instil that much-needed motivation and confidence within the employees time and again to ensure consistently higher productivity.

5. Discrimination and diversity

It is a sad fact that we are still facing the issues of discrimination and diversity at the workplace. We are still discriminating against employees based on their gender, race or ethnicity, which creates a lot of issues in having diversity at the workplace.

The HR team plays an important role in educating the employees on the importance of diversity in the workplace. The HR, along with the management, must take proper concrete steps to sensitise the employees about the importance of inclusion and diversity at work.

The HR should ensure that all incidents involving discrimination at the workplace are thoroughly recorded, and appropriate and timely action is taken to prevent the further occurrence of such problems.

Human resource problems are evident in every company. However, the essence lies in identifying the problem beforehand and devising and implementing impeccable solutions to bring out long-term HR reforms in the organisation.