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Michael Scott, Regional Manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company once said, “I have a very strong prejudice against Human Resources. I believe that the department is a breeding ground for monsters.”
We, of course, vehemently disagree with him, but Mr. Scott brings to light an interesting question–why are human resources employees treated so unfairly?
According to a study from LinkedIn, human resources has the highest turnover rate of any job, as more and more H.R. professionals feel disliked by their peers. There’s even a newsletter and podcast for H.R. professionals called “I Hate it Here,” that describes H.R. as “one of the most soul-crushing industries to work in.” Deserved or not, H.R. reps don’t always enjoy a great time at work right now.
Let’s be fair, H.R. has been forced to deal with extremely bizarre circumstances, headlined by a global pandemic that dramatically changed office culture. Stir in some widespread mental health crises and some economic troubles on top of everything else and you’ve got quite a complicated stew for H.R. professionals. It makes sense why some folks in HR feel like punching bags, continually pummeled from the budget concerns of higher-up executives and the daily challenges of normal employees.
Long-story short? Human resources folks tend to get the blame for factors out of their control. While Pendant can’t prevent any pandemics or change the global economy, it will certainly improve benefits communications and help employees feel more valued.
One of the goals of Pendant is to shift the focus away from what a company doesn’t offer, and instead, spotlight everything a company does offer. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that only 65% of private industry workers fully utilize their employee benefits. That means there’s hundreds of thousands of employees that don’t realize they can have an even better experience with their company. In fact, I used to number among that group, but Pendant helped me discover benefits I never knew my company paid for.
If you’re a company executive reading this, it probably feels baffling that you pay significant capital for employee benefits every year, yet a significant number of your employees might not even know that they exist, or how to use them. Likewise, if you’re an H.R. representative reading this, you’re probably wishing for an easy way to improve benefits communications and help employees get the best experience working at your company.
Well, this is where Pendant comes in.
Pendant takes all of your company’s benefits and puts them into one easily accessible place. For starters, employees have access to benefits pages that provide details for each specific perk, and even includes frequently asked questions.
And for the benefits that are more complex to set up, Pendant provides interactive checklists that walk employees through every step. Whether it’s setting up a 401(k), preparing for parental leave, or navigating open enrollment for insurance, employees can find resources whenever they need them.
If employees have any questions along the way, the Pendant AI assistant is ready and able to provide assistance at the drop of a hat. Imagine how much easier an H.R. representatives' lives would be without constant bombardment of benefits-related questions. Having these resources readily available for employees frees up time for H.R. folks to focus on more important tasks, like improving benefits.
Along with clearly communicating company benefits, another sure-fire way to improve H.R.’s reputation is through surveys. You can easily create and distribute surveys to your employees with Pendant that provide extremely meaningful data for a human resources team. With that survey data, you can find out what benefits people value the most, and what benefits you can more easily cut from the budget. Plus, employees can feel like their voices are heard as they submit feedback on your current offering of benefits.
The end goal of Pendant is to improve benefits communications to the point where the relationship between human resources and everyone else becomes completely copacetic. Employees can take full advantage of every benefit the company offers, and employers can reap the benefits of having a motivated, contented, and loyal workforce.
And our friendly friends in the middle, human resource representatives, can stop being the punching bag in between everything.
