What Should HR Prepare for in the Summer?

As the saying goes, fix the roof while the sun is shining. Therefore, make preparations in advance.

Summer is an excellent time to not only take a break from work but also to start preparing for the autumn season. This ensures that you are not caught off guard by autumn and the subsequent winter. Plan ahead to confidently enter the new season and manage HR processes more smoothly.

Effective HR management includes planning organisational diagnostic research during the summer, to be implemented throughout the year.

In HR, surprises are common, so it’s crucial to control what you can. Organisational research, which occur annually, are among the easiest processes to plan.

Creating an Organizational Research Plan

Determine which surveys and assessment tests you intend to conduct and create a plan. For instance:

1. Organisational microclimate survey

Kick off September with an organisational microclimate survey, also known as an employee engagement survey. This is an excellent assessment tool to gauge the overall picture of your company and how your employees feel, what they are satisfied with, and what they are not. Assess metrics such as the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) and others such as satisfaction with leadership, team, work, etc. How can you know what to improve if you don’t know where the problems lie? It’s similar to treating an illness without conducting an examination first.

2. 360-Degree Feedback

Launch a 360-degree feedback survey in November. While the employee engagement survey provides a macro-level view, the 360-degree feedback focuses on the micro-level. It aims to evaluate the personal and managerial competencies of leaders not only through the eyes of the management but also through the perspectives of other layers: employees, subordinates, and direct supervisors. A leader’s primary task is to work with their team, and this is neither a given nor something that is inherently understood. A typical challenge is seen when highly skilled specialists, such as excellent IT programmers, are promoted to managerial roles. While they may have strong technical abilities, they often lack skills crucial for effective leadership. The skills required to manage a team differ significantly from those needed in technical roles. Just as a specialist once learned to program, becoming a manager is a time to learn how to work with people.

Constructive feedback for managers, backed by data and precise recommendations, is the first and most crucial stepping stone for improvement. Develop your leaders’ managerial competencies with a 360-degree feedback survey.

3. Employee performance review

Start your performance review discussions in February. How often do your managers have in-depth conversations with employees? Not about daily tasks or the spreadsheet filled out today, but rather dedicating quality time for self-reflection, semi-annual and quarterly assessments, and expressing expectations? From experience, such discussions are rare. These conversations provide an opportunity for meaningful dialogue, allowing both managers and employees to align on performance and goals.

Methods and progress in rolling out the organisation’s research plan

The plan is set, now it’s time to align the efforts for the upcoming stages:

1. Choose how you will proceed: on your own or with an external partner. We are always ready to lend a hand. With UNLOCK Tests, you can purchase a tool and easily manage it on your own with our support, or we can handle the research plan from A to Z.

2. Determine which employees will participate in the research plan. For instance, in surveys on microclimate or 360-degree feedback, we recommend including employees who have been with the organisation for six months or more.

3. Establish the duration and progression of the research plan. We recommend following this sequence:

• Communicate to employees during meetings about the start of the surveys/ performance review. Explain the process and its purpose—everything is aimed at the growth of both the organisation and its employees.
• Send a general letter re-emphasizing the key points. Communicate through multiple channels several times—this way you reach more people and demonstrate the value.
• Begin filling out the survey forms or start the performance reviews—we recommend allocating two weeks for this stage. The more time you allow, the greater the risk that the initiative will be forgotten.
• Continuously remind about the survey /performance review during the process. For example, client experiences show that reminding employees about an ongoing engagement survey on the same day can increase responses by 20%, as employees often think: “Someone else will fill it out.” Not only HR but also managers must communicate this, showing that it matters not only to HR professionals but also to the leadership.
• If you have conducted employee engagement or 360 feedback reviews, analyse the data and present the results within two weeks of concluding the surveys. The results of the engagement survey should be presented to all employees, while it is crucial to present the results of the 360 feedback to the assessed managers. If you only conduct the surveys and they end up in a drawer, you risk employee dissatisfaction and subsequently lower participation in future surveys. And of course, without action on the results, no change will occur.

A well-thought-out and organized plan is the first and most crucial step toward success.

Are you looking to conduct employee surveys with precision? With UNLOCK Tests, you can purchase surveys and manage them easily on your own with our support, or we can handle everything from start to finish. Receive automatic reports with detailed descriptions and recommendations.

Try the UNLOCK Tests platform for free: register for a meeting after which you will receive access to a demo version.