What is Relational Human Resources, and Why Does it Matter?

In recent years, the concept of relational human resources (HR) has gained increased attention among HR professionals and organizations. So, what exactly is relational HR, and why should you care about it?

Relational HR is an approach to human resource management that prioritizes building and maintaining positive relationships between employees and the organization. It involves creating an environment where employees feel heard, valued, supported, and recognized, and their contributions are appreciated.

Why does this matter? The answer is simple: the success of any organization depends on the people who work there. By investing in relational HR practices, a business can improve engagement, retention, and productivity, all of which directly impact the bottom line.

Research has shown that employees who feel valued and supported are more likely to be engaged in their work, which leads to increased productivity, innovation, and job satisfaction. Additionally, nurturing healthy relationships between employees and the organization can enhance organizational culture, which can help attract and retain top talent.

Moreover, relational HR can contribute to a more positive work environment, leading to benefits beyond just the bottom line. When employees feel empowered, valued, and heard, they are more likely to be committed to their work and the organization's mission, resulting in a stronger sense of purpose and meaning in their work.

Let's explore relational HR's fundamental principles, components, and strategies for implementing relational HR practices in your organization.

Human Resource Management and Employee Relations: The Importance of Relationships in HR

At the heart of relational HR is recognizing that employees are people, not just resources. By investing in relationships with employees, organizations can reap numerous benefits, including:

Improved Employee Engagement: Employees who feel supported and valued are more likely to be engaged in their work. Engaged employees are committed to their jobs, more productive, and positively impact organizational culture. This can lead to better customer service, higher quality work, and improved performance.
Increased Retention: A positive relationship between an organization and its employees can increase retention. Employees who feel connected to their organization and colleagues are less likely to leave for another job. This can save the organization time and money on recruiting and training costs.
Improved Organizational Culture: Building positive relationships with employees can help create a solid organizational culture. This involves creating an environment where employees feel respected, appreciated, and supported. When employees feel valued, they are more likely to contribute to the organization's goals and mission, leading to a more positive and productive employee experience and workplace culture.

To achieve this, an organization must prioritize the development of strong relationships with its employees. This involves investing in communication, feedback, trust, empathy, and recognition, among other components of relational HR. Now, let's explore these components in more detail and provide strategies for implementing them in your organization.

Key Components of Relational HR: Developing positive relationships

Effective relational HR involves prioritizing the development of relationships between employees and the organization. This requires attention to several key components of employee relationship management, including:

Communication and Feedback: Open and transparent communication is critical to building employee and organization relationships. This involves providing information to employees and listening to their feedback and concerns. Organizations can improve employee morale, engagement, and overall job satisfaction by fostering open communication and constructive feedback.
Trust and Transparency: Trust is essential to healthy relationships between employees and their organization. Relational HR prioritizes building trust through transparent communication, clear expectations, and consistency in leadership. Trust is built through opportunities for employee involvement in decision-making and the sharing of information about organizational goals and strategies.
Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Relational HR recognizes the importance of empathy and emotional intelligence in creating healthy relationships between employees and their organizations. This involves understanding and valuing the emotions and experiences of others and being able to communicate effectively and empathetically. Leaders who prioritize empathy and emotional intelligence can help foster a more positive and supportive work environment and employee-employer relationship, which can lead to improved job satisfaction and retention.
Recognition and Appreciation: Feeling appreciated and recognized for their contributions is vital to employees. Relational HR recognizes and rewards employees for their hard work and contributions, creating a culture of appreciation. This can take many forms, including public recognition, rewards and incentives, and growth and professional development opportunities.

By prioritizing these key components of relational HR, organizations can create a work environment that values employees as people and recognizes the importance of the relationship between employees and their organization.

Implementing Relational HR in Your Organization

To implement relational HR practices in your organization, taking deliberate steps to build stronger relationships with your employees is essential. Here are some key strategies to consider:

Building Relationships: To build strong relationships with employees, leaders must prioritize the development of trust, communication, and respect. This can involve investing in regular one-on-one meetings with employees, creating employee feedback and involvement opportunities, and actively listening to employee concerns.
Communication and Feedback: Building open and transparent lines of communication is critical to implementing relational HR practices. Consider using regular employee surveys, feedback sessions, and other communication channels to inform employees about organizational changes and gather their feedback.
Developing Trust and Transparency: Trust and transparency are critical components of relational HR. Leaders should strive to be transparent about organizational goals, challenges, and decision-making processes and be open to employee feedback and input. Creating opportunities for employee involvement in decision-making can also help build trust and increase engagement.
Incorporating Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Developing empathy and emotional intelligence can help leaders build positive relationships with their employees. This involves being aware of and responsive to employees' emotions and needs and communicating effectively and empathetically.
Recognizing and Appreciating Employees: Recognizing and appreciating employees for their hard work and contributions is important for building positive employee relationships. Consider implementing employee recognition programs, offering rewards and incentives, and creating opportunities for employee growth and development.

By incorporating these strategies into your HR practices, you can create a culture of relational HR in your organization. Building solid relationships with employees takes time and effort, but the benefits are worth improving engagement, retention, and organizational culture.

Employee Relations Training for HR Professionals

In addition to implementing relational HR practices, it's also important to provide employee relations training to human resource professionals is important. This training can help them develop the skills they need to build strong relationships with employees and improve their workplace culture.

What is employee relations training, and why is it important? Employee relations training is a type of training that helps HR professionals improve their communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills. This type of training is essential because human resource professionals play a critical role in creating a positive workplace environment that fosters employee engagement and retention.

Benefits of employee relations training for HR professionals:

Improves communication and conflict resolution skills: Employee relations training can help HR professionals learn how to communicate effectively with employees and resolve conflicts and other employee relations issues constructively and respectfully.
Helps HR professionals understand and empathize with employees: Employee relations training can help develop a better understanding of employees' needs and concerns, which can lead to more empathetic and supportive HR practices.
Builds a more robust HR team that can work together to create a positive workplace culture: Employee relations training can help develop a shared understanding of the importance of building solid relationships with employees, which can help make a more cohesive and effective HR team.

Benefits of employee relations training for employees:

Increases trust and respect between employees and HR professionals: When human resource managers are trained in employee relations, they are better equipped to build trust and respect with employees, leading to a more positive and productive workplace environment.
Provides a safe and supportive workplace environment: Employee relations training can help HR managers create a workplace environment that is safe, supportive, and respectful of employee needs and concerns.
Improves employee engagement and job satisfaction: When employees feel heard, respected, and supported by their HR manager, they are more likely to be engaged and satisfied with their jobs.

Benefits of employee relations training for the company:

Reduces turnover and improves retention rates: When employees feel valued and supported by HR and management, they are more likely to stay with the company long-term, which can reduce turnover and improve retention rates.
Increases productivity and performance: A positive workplace culture built on solid relationships between the HR team and employees can increase productivity and improve job performance.
Enhances the company's reputation as a great workplace: When employees feel valued and supported, they are more likely to speak positively about the company and recommend it to others as a great workplace.

Providing employee relations training to HR professionals and even having an employee relations manager is important in creating a positive workplace environment that fosters retention, manages employee relations, and engages employees. By developing the skills needed to build strong relationships with employees, the HR team can help mold a workplace culture that is supportive, respectful, and productive.

Employee Engagement and Relational HR

Another important aspect of relational HR is employee engagement. Engaged employees are committed to their work, motivated to achieve their goals, and enthusiastic about the organization's success. When engaged, employees are more likely to be productive, innovative, and customer-focused, ultimately leading to better business outcomes.

To foster engagement, HR professionals must focus on building strong employee relationships. This includes providing opportunities for growth and development, recognizing and rewarding good work, and promoting a positive work-life balance. HR managers can also use surveys and other feedback mechanisms to better understand employee needs and concerns and then take action to address those issues.

Effective workplace communication is another key driver of employee engagement. HR managers can use a variety of channels to keep employees informed about organizational goals, changes, and other important news. This could include regular company-wide meetings, departmental updates, and internal newsletters or blogs. HR managers can also encourage employees to share their ideas and feedback and then act on that input to make positive changes in the workplace.

By prioritizing employee engagement as a critical part of relational HR, HR professionals can help create a workplace culture where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered to contribute to the organization's success. This can lead to improved employee retention, higher levels of productivity and innovation, and ultimately better business results.

Challenges and Solutions: Solving Employee Relations Issues

While the benefits of relational HR are clear, implementing these practices can be challenging. Here are some common challenges that organizations face and strategies for overcoming them:

Resistance to Change: Implementing relational HR practices requires a cultural shift, which can be difficult for some employees and leaders. To overcome this challenge, it's important to communicate the benefits of these practices and involve employees in implementing them. This can include providing training and support and creating employee feedback and involvement opportunities.
Lack of Resources: Implementing relational HR practices requires time and resources, which can be challenging for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets. To overcome this challenge, consider prioritizing the most critical relational HR practices and finding creative solutions to implement them with limited resources. Technology can also be a valuable tool for streamlining HR processes and improving communication with employees.
Difficulty Maintaining Consistency: Maintaining consistency in implementing relational HR practices can be challenging, especially in larger organizations. To overcome this challenge, consider creating clear guidelines and processes for implementing these practices and providing training and support for managers and leaders to ensure consistent implementation.
Communication and Feedback: Building open and transparent lines of communication can be challenging, primarily when employees are distributed across different locations or work remotely. To overcome this challenge, consider using technology to facilitate communication and feedback.
Ensuring Data Privacy and Security: Implementing relational HR practices involves collecting and analyzing employee data, which raises concerns about data privacy and security. To overcome this challenge, it's important to implement strong data privacy and security measures and ensure that employees are informed about how their data is collected and used.

In addition to these strategies, technology can also be a valuable tool for supporting relational HR practices. HR software, for example, can help streamline HR processes and improve communication with employees or provide valuable insights into employee sentiment and engagement levels.

By recognizing these challenges and implementing strategies to overcome them, organizations can successfully implement relational HR practices and reap the benefits of improved engagement, retention, and organizational culture.

Automating Human Resources

In addition to implementing relational HR practices, organizations can also benefit from automating HR functions. By automating routine HR tasks, such as data entry, compliance tracking, and payroll processing, HR managers can free up time to focus on building relationships with employees and implementing relational HR practices.

An HCM suite like Fuse Workforce Management can help automate HR functions, providing tools and features to streamline HR processes and improve employee communication. Here are some of the key benefits of automating HR with an HCM suite:

Increased Efficiency: HR managers can save time and improve efficiency by automating routine HR tasks, such as data entry and compliance tracking. This allows them to focus on more strategic tasks, such as performance management, implementing relational HR practices, and developing employee engagement initiatives.
Improved Compliance: Compliance with HR regulations and requirements can be complex and time-consuming. An HCM suite can help automate compliance tracking and reporting, ensuring organizations comply with relevant laws and regulations.
Enhanced Communication: An HCM suite can also improve employee communication, providing various tools and features to facilitate communication and feedback. This can include digital communication tools, surveys, and self-service portals where employees can access important HR information and updates.
Better Data Management: An HCM suite can also help improve data management, providing a centralized HR information and analytics database. This can help HR managers make more informed decisions and provide valuable insights into employee engagement and organizational culture.

By automating routine HR tasks with an HCM suite like Fuse, HR managers can save time and focus on more important things like building stronger employee relationships. In addition, automating HR functions can help ensure compliance with HR regulations, improve employee communication, and provide valuable insights into HR data and analytics.

Employee Relations vs. Human Resources

While employee relations and human resources are often used interchangeably, they are actually two distinct functions that serve different purposes within an organization. Employee relations focuses on managing the relationship between employers and employees, while human resources focuses on personnel management, including hiring, benefits, and compliance.

Despite these fundamental differences, employee relations and human resources are critical to creating a relational HR environment. Effective employee relations practices help build trust, foster open communication, and promote a positive organizational culture. On the other hand, effective human resources practices provide the necessary support and infrastructure to facilitate employee relations efforts.

To build strong relationships with employees, organizations should focus on aligning their employee relations and human resources efforts toward a common goal. Here are some strategies for doing so:

Collaborate: HR and employee relations management teams should collaborate to identify opportunities to align their efforts and work towards a common goal. Regular meetings and open communication channels help ensure that both functions work towards the same objectives.
Invest in Training: Investing in training programs for both HR and employee relations staff and teams can help build the skills and competencies necessary to promote relational HR practices. This can include communication, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and empathy training.
Foster Open Communication: the HR manager should encourage open and transparent communication with employees, providing multiple channels for feedback and input. Employee relations teams should work to establish communication channels with employees, enabling them to voice concerns about employee issues and share feedback.
Prioritize Recognition and Appreciation: Both the HR department and employee relations teams should prioritize recognition and appreciation of employees. This can include implementing employee recognition programs, celebrating employee milestones, and providing opportunities for career development.

By aligning employee relations and human resources efforts, organizations can create a more holistic approach to HR management that fosters strong relationships with employees.

Final Thoughts on Developing HR Employee Relations

Relational HR is becoming increasingly important in today's workplace as organizations recognize the value of building solid relationships with their employees. Creating a positive and supportive work environment can improve employee engagement and retention, leading to better organizational performance.

Fuse Workforce Management can help organizations implement relational HR practices by providing an all-in-one cloud-based payroll and human resources HCM suite that allows HR managers to perform all necessary tasks on one platform. By automating HR functions, HR managers can have more time to build strong relationships with employees, ultimately benefiting the organization.

By partnering with Fuse Workforce Management, organizations can leverage technology to automate HR functions and allow HR managers to focus on building relationships with employees. This can lead to improved organizational performance and a more satisfied workforce.

If you want to learn more about what Fuse can do for you, watch this short video, and let’s get in touch!