From obligation to accelerator: How efficient employee journeys boost compliance and growth

HR's worst nightmare: imagine new hires feeling lost from day one, crucial safety rules being overlooked, or vital training being missed. Working in HR, you know how challenging it can be to manage employee-related concerns such as compliance, training, and onboarding effectively.

This blog dives into the multifaceted challenges HR faces in ensuring employees are familiar with internal and external standards. We also discuss what causes the most frustration among employees regarding adoption and reveal the key ingredient that can transform these challenges into opportunities for success and employee satisfaction.

From knowing standards to applying standards: How HR can help

HR faces two major challenges:
1. Ensuring employees are familiar with the internal and external standards the organization must meet.
2. Getting employees to follow these standards and understand their importance.

Think of safety guidelines, new ways of working or a code of conduct. You want new employees to get up to speed quickly, and you want to support existing employees by raising awareness, increase knowledge, and improve/sustain application. This is no easy task.

On the one hand, you have to figure out how to organize and keep everything up-to-date effectively. On the other hand, you face the issue that, especially with existing employees, new standards are not always quickly adopted. Effective implementation goes far beyond simply providing information. Employee adoption is a formula consisting of the variables: “necessity”, “willingness” and “ability”. In the following section, we delve into why these three are important when preparing for the implementation of a new guideline.

Overcoming Resistance

No matter how passionate HR is about a new guideline or change, employees often don't immediately embrace it. Employees frequently experience frustration when expected to adopt new standards.

 

Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior provides a framework for understanding what affects employee adoption of new norms and standards. It includes three elements:

• Necessity: Employees need to understand why specific processes and norms are crucial. Explaining the reasons behind the change clearly is vital. This understanding fosters a sense of importance and urgency around compliance.
• Willingness: If employees don't see the benefits or necessity of following a specific guideline, it will only feel like a distraction from their work. Willingness is often influenced by how these standards are communicated.
• Ability: Inappropriate learning methods can make it difficult for employees to apply new standards in their daily work. Application becomes easier when suitable tools and training are provided.

Often, it's a combination of these factors. These frustrations lead to resistance or non-compliance, which is a natural reaction to poorly implemented change

So, how can you make it easier for employees while also creating more impact from HR? Here's where our latest service comes in: automated Employee Journeys. The employee journey describes the entire employee experience, covering different paths from applying and onboarding to development and departure. The onboarding and development phases are where employees primarily encounter internal and external standards. Our latest service is used mainly in these two areas.

Automated journeys offer multiple advantages for both employees and HR. They can be precisely tailored to the unique needs of different employee groups. This level of personalization ensures employees not only understand the necessity of new standards but also want and can apply them in their daily work, which increases adoption.

Moreover, the structured, step-by-step presentation of material makes it easier for employees to absorb and apply new practices effectively. Automated Employee Journeys transform how changes are implemented, turning them from a daunting "you should" into a powerful lever for compliance, engagement, and growth within an organization.
Additionally, automated Employee Journeys help HR gain control over implementation and provide insights on where adjustments are needed to increase the adoption of a new rule or guideline.

Impact

What else does an automated journey deliver? Consistency and coverage are significant benefits. Automation ensures that every employee receives the same training and information, essential for meeting standards everywhere.

Moreover, it's easy to update: when regulations change, automated systems can be quickly updated to meet the new requirements. This ensures continuous compliance without constant manual intervention. Imagine new safety rules being introduced in your industry. Normally, this would mean your HR team has to manually update all existing training materials and guidelines, a time-consuming and error-prone process. With our automated system, this problem is a thing of the past.

Finally, an automated journey provides traceability and reporting benefits: automated processes offer extensive data tracking and reporting capabilities, allowing you to monitor progress and compliance in real-time.

Conclusion

Automated Employee Journeys streamline compliance and training processes and significantly enhance employee engagement and satisfaction. These journeys aren't just about meeting standards; they're about creating a workplace where continuous improvement is the norm.

With the Plek tool for Employee Journeys, it's easier than ever to guide your employees through every crucial process, from onboarding to following safety protocols. This smart tool customizes every step for different target groups, ensuring everything happens at the right time. These journeys are easy to set up and manage and seamlessly integrate into an experience that you can tailor for every part of your business.

Ready to change how your organization handles compliance, regulations and engagement? Contact us for an open-ended brainstorm. In the brainstorm, we will help you see how you can design, implement, and manage customized employee journeys. Together, we can make compliance an integral part of the corporate culture!

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