Employees from the 2020 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For were quoted on what they enjoyed most about their organization. Three company responses, Nationwide, Regeneron, and Intuit stood out to me, because of how various HR functional areas were the basis for their employee’s testimonies.
Nationwide is a ‘champion of diversity and prides itself on hiring the right people for the right job.’ This statement not only highlights Nationwide’s ability to manage diversity, which has changed dramatically within the context of HR, but also the functional areas of employee recruitment and selection (Swift). With greater diversity management an organization can attract, hire, and retain greater human capital. Buckingham, in his text First Break All the Rules, agrees with the importance of these HR concepts when describing a ‘revolutionary manager’ who stressed the importance of not only picking the right person for a job but also making people feel understood (2016).
Breitfelder, author of Why Did We Ever Go Into HR? listed five characteristics of HR’s future, one being to focus on the upside. He described this as tailoring a role that matches and capitalizes on an employee’s strengths (2008). This aligns with Regeneron’s management strategy because they promote a ‘healthy work-life balance which encourages a positive mindset and culture.’ Here there is a focus on how management can help employees overcome their challenges. This strategy’s positive effect on workplace culture is also key. As Swift described, HR matters because of how organizational culture influences the way employees ‘act, think, and perceive their environment.’
Furthermore, an Intuit employee stated that ‘I feel like I can be myself… I can be completely honest and open with my manager, and a lot of my coworkers are my friends.’ This quote connected to another one of Breitfelder’s characteristics, which is to make big places smaller through connecting people (2008). Buckingham agrees when he demonstrates the importance of managers in his meta-analysis revealing that employee opinions were being formed by their relationship to immediate managers. This means that managers are the ‘critical player’ in building a strong workplace (Buckingham, 2016).
I aspire to be a manager that is a transformational leader. To me, this is someone who can not only motivate and inspire to surpass collaborative goals but also empower others. I want to listen, connect, and understand those around me. Many of these qualities stem from empathy and creating a safe workspace where you can trust and recognize one another’s individuality. I believe the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job may include being mindful of personal biases, adapting to employee differences, and retaining valuable employees. As Buckingham said, it’s about creating an environment where employees are encouraged to be more of who they already are (2016).
Citations–
Breitfelder, M. D., & Dowling, D. W. (2008). Why Did We Ever Go Into HR? Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8), 39-43.
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (2016). First, break all the rules: What the world’s greatest managers do differently. Washington, D.C.: Gallup Press.
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-workplaces/100-best/2020
Swift, Michele, The Importance of HR Management; Lecture 1