The Shift to Whole-Person HR
While traditional human resources (HR) practices focus on skills, performance, and career development tied to the employee's job role, some organizations are adopting a Whole-Person approach to talent management, supporting employees’ interests beyond the workplace. This may seem like an overreach or too expensive to some business leaders, but it’s welcomed by employees and can deliver excellent results.
I expect Whole-Person HR to become the HR standard of the future. It’s about time. For those considering it, it's important to create a clear vision with guiding principles, then review your HR practices to see where changes may occur. Then craft a solid change management and training program.
Whole-Person HR
So what is the Whole-Person approach to HR? In his book, The Whole-Person Workplace, Scott Behson sees flexibility, work-from home, parental leave, child-care, elder-care, wellness programs, educational benefits, vacation time, support for volunteerism, compensation & benefits, employee onboarding, and workplace culture as key ways to create a Whole-Person workplace. Fundamental to the Whole-Person philosophy is to embrace employees’ lives, passions, and commitments outside of work and incorporate these into workplace practices. This can increase effective teaming, engagement, and retention. It’s an extension of the caring manager and caring company.
These practices are already on the increase with the well-being trend within total rewards and are likely to continue.
Flexible Work
Whole-Person HR helps integrate professional and personal priorities, breaking down what many had considered a sacred wall of separation. Flexible work schedules, remote work arrangements, and paid time-off policies empower employees to thrive in all aspects of life. This doesn’t mean the wild west of employee schedules, but intentional design in scheduling to synergize business and personal needs. In one, easy to implement example, an employee nearing retirement may want to reduce their time on the job, but maintain benefits. Instead of shifting from a standard 40 hour work week to 0 hours in retirement, companies adopting whole person HR might offer a flexible 32 hour work week at 80% pay as a step toward retirement. Thus recognizing the employee’s personal interests and giving them a step toward their new lifestyle while retaining their contributions. Parents of young children and even those with side hustles may also be able to take advantage of such options.
Integrating Unique Interests
One key principle is to move past one-size-fits-all programs by providing space for employees to express their unique needs and motivations. This is an extension of personalization often touted in modern HR systems. Listen, then tailor roles and development opportunities accordingly. The shifts may include supporting employees’ interests in moving on to graduate school or to another city, country, or even career. Well-planned and supported life moves are less likely to disrupt the business and can result in increased engagement and a supportive alumni network.
Similarly, incorporating employees' skills and interests outside of work is another approach. If an employee has photography skills, leverage them for corporate events. If another is active in community service, promote their community organization on volunteer days.
Whole-Person Careers and Goal Setting
Adopting a Whole-Person approach will have managers asking "How can I help you achieve your goals?" rather than "How will you contribute to our goals?". For example, some employees may have a primary goal of gaining more education to increase their career potential. Employees routinely feel more connected to their jobs and tend to produce better results when their know their managers are rooting for their overall success and not just success in the latest project. Naturally, managers can see which employee goals align with the company goals and can support appropriate tracking and coaching of those.
HR Systems are Seeing the Light
This is an extension of the experience and personalization trend that many HR systems are developing. While some systems focus on work experience only, there is trend to expand the experience model toward a whole person approach. For example:
SAP SuccessFactors is now branding its HRIS as a Human Experience Management Suite (HXM).
UKG’s tagline is “Build a people strategy that connects life and work”
Workday is touting its People Experience Portal,
Oracle is now promoting Oracle ME (my experience) to help employers create supportive, tailored employee experiences that meet workers where they are and take them where they want to be,
HiBob promotes using employee personas to promote employee happiness.
Some considerations
Be clear that adopting a whole person approach does not mean that managers’ become personal counselors to solve employee problems. As managers learn more about their team members, it may be tempting for team members to seek a manager’s support for problems at home. Managers need to be empathetic, and may make accommodations, but should not be burdened by employee’s personal issues or turn their management job into a life coach job. Instead managers become fully aware of the whole-person they are coaching so they can become better managers. Klodiana Lanaj's research on being a caring manager offers excellent insight on this. (see the link in the comment below on The Costs of Being a Caring Manager for her HBR article on the matter)
Adopting Whole-Person HR and talent practices requires thoughtful evolution of policies, culture, and mindsets. The result is a more supportive and inspiring workplace. By nurturing the full selves of employees, HR enables higher satisfaction, productivity, and loyalty.
