How can you improve business performance in 2021 and at the same time bring more purpose to your organization? Many start-ups and scale-ups are seeking that combination. Using these 4 elements in your HR analytics, you show that your efforts concerning people and culture are working and that everyone can contribute to a better world.
Have you ever watched on Netflix A Life On Our Planet by David Attenborough? Our companies will only succeed on a planet that is actually livable. In addition, countless studies show that meaningful work makes people happy, along with learning something new every day and good friendships.
The Why
Customers want to have a sense of the “why” too. By linking impact and purpose in the HR profession, we are contributing to meaningful work. One of the most valuable elements of a happy life. Do you still have doubta about the usefulness of it? Read this overview of research into why “purpose” deserves a critical place in your strategy.
But how do you measure that? What does a dashboard look like? Making a link with the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN seems like a great way to kill 3 birds with one stone. This video explains the history and the goals for those unfamiliar with the SDGs.
Years ago we once made an analysis -which mindset is needed for a good scale-up and what we need for a sustainable society? Although it often seems as if the two are diametrically opposed, it turned out that at their core, they have the same mindset. By measuring and then improving these following 4 points, you will make an impact (1st point), improve the company culture (2nd point), awaken the inner motivation of employees (3rd point), and that all leads to improved company results (bonus point 😉
4 elements for the 2021 HR dashboard
- % Living Wage. You might almost forget about this in our western countries, but being paid a living wage is by no means 100 percent guaranteed. What percentage of our employees, including those in our supply chain, earn a living wage? Do we work with suppliers that we know are not paying their employees enough? Are they exploiting tax loopholes to assume less responsibility for their own teams? You can exert direct influence just by requesting these details. By doing this, you contribute to SDG 1 ‘no poverty‘, SDG 2 ‘zero hunger’, and SDG 3 ‘good health and well-being‘. Moreover, it is good for our conscience. People under financial stress blunt their IQ and underperform.
- Inclusion. Measure how inclusive you are. This is how you contribute to SDG 10 ‘reduced inequality‘ and SDG 5 ‘gender equality’. Michelle Kim provides all the research here regarding the business case for inclusion. Add to the dashboard the demographics, the composition of the population within your recruitment category next to the population of your own organization and you will see how inclusive you are. Ask yourself every time, how can we improve 1 percent in this reflection of society?
- Ratio of internal promotions vs. external new employees in senior positions. This figure is directly linked to SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth). The higher your internal promotion figures are, the more people can be promoted internally, and the more opportunities you can offer. This figure also shows whether your talent has the potential to grow and whether people fit in with you. Can you create commitment in your teams to help the organization progress further? Do you offer people the opportunity to do training? When it comes down to it, do you always hire someone from outside to improve the company? Are employees getting better at their jobs than how they were when they started? Do you also see a representative division between men and women and minority groups? Does this percentage reflect the total workforce?
- % SDGs analyzed. Which SDGs suit your own purpose and your company? Which SDGs could you contribute to? What percentage of the SDGs have you analyzed? This can and could well be a multi-year plan. The B.corp movement has created an SDG action manager that can help you with the first steps of an analysis.
With these 4 elements, a positive development for each figure is good both for business results and for making the world a better place. This combination is an acceleration cocktail with unprecedented power.
Goal for 2021
This new perspective on the HR dashboard will become the trend of 2021 and should help get every HR manager started on the dashboard. All founders can then see these figures as their goal and endeavor to not only be the best company in the world, but also the best one for the world. That seems to me a wonderful Christmas idea and a very good intention for 2021. Here’s to a fantastic 2021 and see you in the new year!
About this column.
In a weekly column, alternately written by Wendy van Ierschot, Bert Overlack, Eveline van Zeeland, Eugene Franken, Jan Wouters, Helen Kardan, Katleen Gabriels, Mary Fiers and Hans Helsloot , Innovation Origins tries to find out what the future will look like. These columnists, occasionally supplemented with guest bloggers, are all working in their own way on solutions for the problems of our time. So tomorrow will be good. Here are all the previous episodes.
