In recruitment, it is not only the candidate who needs to impress but also the company. Once an employee gets hired, not only do they need to perform well but the organization has to provide them with what they need to succeed. The process goes both ways. The successful integration, progression, and retention of strong employees rely in huge part on how well a company meets employee expectations. Higher morale results in a greater sense of team unity, purpose, and higher productivity.
Why Do You Need To Manage Employee Expectations?
Strong management of employee expectations will reduce turnover and improve retention rates. In fact, a study found that 48% of employees left a job because it didn’t align with their expectations. According to an analysis by Gllup, the companies scoring the highest on employee engagement showed 21% higher productivity levels. So how can you, as an HR professional, play a part in increasing employee engagement? The answer lies in managing employee expectations, well.
Employees have expectations about many things throughout their stay within an organization.
These include the following
- Compensation and benefits and salary raises
- Learning and development opportunities
- Organizational culture
- Diversity and inclusion
- Employee relationships, and much more
5 Ways To Manage Employee Expectations
How can you play your part in successfully managing employee expectations and retaining your employees as an HR professional?
Here are five tips on managing employee expectations in the workplace.
Start Early in the Recruitment Process
Communicate openly about what your organization and the job are all about. A vital part of the recruitment process is finding the right fit on both sides. For instance, you can invite potential candidates to visit the department informally ahead of applying. This is common for roles in the healthcare sector. Instead of traditional job interview, candidates could undertake a typical work task in the same environment in which they will be working. Moreover, don’t wait until the offer stage of the selection process to share information about your compensation package. Otherwise, you might be wasting both your and the candidate’s time.
Furthermore, ask your existing employees about how accurately the role and the organization’s description was depicted in the recruitment process. Then, actively listen to what they tell you. The speed at which your company progresses candidates through the recruitment process is also important.
81% of candidates expect a hiring process to take up to two weeks. If your company takes several months to confirm a start date, an employee could drop out to take another offer or start their new role frustrated, having lost significant excitement and energy. That’s why it’s important to provide clarity on your hiring timeline to your candidates throughout the process.
Continue Throughout Orientation and Onboarding
Orientation on the first day and subsequent onboarding are essential stages in the employee life cycle when it comes to successfully managing employee expectations. Onboarding sets the tone for the entire employee-employer relationship. If your onboarding is disorganized, slow, and clunky, employees start at your company with a lower estimation of it. 90% of employees decide to leave or stay within the first six months.
For onboarding to be a success, HR should ensure that every employee starting a new job has accurate expectations about their role, what achievement looks like in their role, and if they feel a sense of belonging to your organization.
Help Each Employee Understand Their Specific Role and its Significance
Every employee should understand what is expected of them in their role and what the top priorities are. They need to know how it contributes to organizational goals and business success. This is especially important for maintaining morale in lower-paid or more junior roles; these employees will often have to complete more mundane tasks.
While the work may be challenging, if it is communicated to employees how valuable this work is to the wider organization, this can make a hugely positive impact. If senior management recognizes and rewards this work and the company offers opportunities for advancement, retention rates will be much higher. The likelihood of burnout decreases too. Employees will have realistic expectations about the job and its impact.
Design Suitable Career Paths
For employees who are at the exploration and establishment stage of their careers, HR professionals can help a deal to help employees set expectations. They can outline opportunities to advance within roles linked to their current role and to move into different positions. That way, employees are less likely to feel stagnant, frustrated, and leave your organization.
Clearly Communicate Your Organization’s Culture, Values, and Benefits
Culture is not static – in all areas of life, including work. Under several circumstances, organizational culture can change dramatically. Hence, you have to make sure to consistently communicate to your employees what your culture stands for. It will help them understand what kind of work environment to expect. You also need to manage employee expectations about how your organizational culture is changing going forward. Work culture can also shift in line with changes in society. An example is how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping work culture. Remote work was forced to become the norm within many fields. A year and a half on from the start of the pandemic, employee expectations are shifting towards hybrid office-remote working and more flexibility in terms of working hours.
Also, Pay is not the only way to reward employees. Non-financial rewards are also particularly important. Hence, HR should seek to capitalize on these rewards and communicate them clearly to employees. There exists a discount partnership with a wide range of high street shops. This benefit may go a long way to helping employees meet the costs of the holiday season in the way the bonus used to.
Final Thoughts
Employee expectation has two core benefits. Employees are happier, more productive, and more fulfilled in their work. This results in improved employee retention rate, organizational performance, and ultimately, has a positive impact on the bottom line. In all, this entire process reduces HR costs relating to recruitment, onboarding, and training.
