Frequently Asked Questions

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First and foremost, business owners, leaders and the broader team need to share the same core values and purpose, and this needs to be underpinned by guiding principles or a culture canvas that spell out what this actually looks like on a daily basis. 

You can’t just talk about building a strong culture, you need to live and breathe it every day. There are many initiatives you can then implement that help build a strong culture which should all be supported by your culture canvas. Reach out, we can help! 

There is a LOT of paperwork and process in HR... 

By automating and streamlining all of the mundane (albeit necessary), the biggest benefit is that it frees up business owners and People & Culture teams to focus on building cultures that have the power to make a real impact in people’s lives.

HR automation can make managing the employee lifecycle simple. 

We see increased efficiency and consistency by reducing repetitive and manual tasks. Enhanced accuracy through minimising human error especially around things like payroll processing, data management and compliance reporting. Improved employee experience where staff can manage their own leave, submit reimbursement requests, recognise their colleagues and update personal information. Automated HR systems provide real-time insights and analytics which enables better decisions around recruitment, engagement and retention based concrete data. As a company grows, Automated HR systems can scale with it. 

Where you purchase ELMO Software through the Meraki People team, we then partner with you on the implementation journey. For us, it is not just an IT project, but a HR project and we work closely with you to achieve your desired output. 

Where you have purchased directly from ELMO we are still able to support your client-side implementation for you to ensure that your project runs smoothly and to save your internal team from having to find the bandwidth to start at step one. 

Employees engage when they feel valued. 

• Foster an environment for open communication where feedback is welcomed and valued. 
• Regularly acknowledge employee contributions to boost morale and facilitate an environment where people are celebrated. 
• Invest in training and development to demonstrate the value you place on your people and the commitment you are making to support their growth. 
• Offer flexibility where possible, and promote a positive work-life balance. 
• Connect employee’s roles with the company’s mission and ensure you hire the right people for the right positions.  
• And do not tolerate poor performers... nothing will disengage your top performers quicker! 

If HR / P&C doesn’t have a seat at the table, you are missing out. 

HR/P&C directly impacts key drivers of success. With people being a business’ greatest strength, ensuring that the HR/P&C function forms part of a business strategy is integral to ensure talent acquisition and management, employee engagement, culture, organisational development is all aligned to business goals. 

This helps to create a resilient and engaged workforce that can adapt to and support growth – meaning a direct benefit to your bottom line (and in the lives of your team) .

Measuring the impact of culture on company performance can be done via:

• Employee engagement surveys to determine eNPS
• Turnover and retention rates and productivity levels. 

High engagement and retention rates often correlate with improved performance. eNPS can provide insights on employee satisfaction and is a useful benchmark for identifying strengths and areas for improvement in company culture as well as predicting turnover and overall morale.   

Invest in a HRIS that has top ISO certification. The number of organisations that we see become subject to cyber attacks and lose all of their documentation (and at times paralysing the business) is scary and costly. 

If you aren’t intentional in how you attract, recruit, develop, engage and retain your team then you are leaving it up to chance... It also it means you may be missing out on:

• Getting top performers in the door
• Unlocking the potential of your existing team
• Stopping your top performers walking out the door.  

We think of it this way: 

Human Resources is the reactive focus to your workforce and the operational and compliance needs of the business. 

People & Culture is the proactive focus on your workforce and the strategic needs of the business. 

There is a whole host of ‘cultures’ out there and what one company is trying to achieve will be different to the next. 

If you have strong alignment, high performance, engaged employees and good retention then chances are that you have got it right. 

If you don't then we can help! 

People generally don't leave companies, they leave Managers. And conversely, great leadership has a direct impact on culture, performance and people thriving within a company. That is why it's so important to ensure your Management and Leadership teams have the skills and emotional intelligence to be in those positions. 

It's important to first understand the current state of the business and settle on a desired state. That will help you understand the gaps that currently exist between the two and formulate a roadmap to help you arrive at the desired state. This assessment could include surveys with staff and leadership, analysing eNPS scores, understanding business goals against current workforce capabilities as just some examples. The process requires a comprehensive look at things like internal communication, performance management, how your company celebrates wins, salary benchmarking and processes for salary reviews, the skills and capabilities of your current workforce and whether they have been placed in the best seats, along with understanding who your 'A' players are who of the 'B' and 'C' players can be moved to 'A' players. This Meraki People's area of expertise - we can help you undertake both the analysis but also formulate a People and Culture plan that helps you build a culture that supports your people to thrive - and in turn facilitates the growth of your business. 

Results are not where you want them to be, staff engagement is low, there is a disconnect between Management and the general workforce and you are seeing your people (especially your top performers) walk out the door. 

We have found the Culture Canvas to be an excellent tool for this! Get in touch and we'll take you through it. 

First and foremost those which are clear and consistent across the business. Working from home (WFH) is a grey area and we often see employees become disengaged through a lack of clarity around a company's WFH approach which could have easily been avoided with clarity and collaboration. 

We strongly encourage businesses to invest in this through things such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Mental Health First Aid for their Managers. On top of this, having a culture that has a focus on protecting the psychological safety of its team is paramount. 

Be kind. Focus on specific behaviours rather than personal attributes. Use a positive tone, provide examples for clarity and suggest actionable steps for improvement. Feedback should be timely, balanced with positives and invites a two-way conversation to foster understanding and growth.