How do you create an HR function when the 45-year-old company you just joined has never had one?
The short answer – get your employees involved.
When Daniel Cassar joined Delta (Malta) Ltd in 2021, the company was developing its HR function and creating the necessary processes, frameworks and documentation was at the top of Daniel’s remit.
A few months after he joined the company, Delta surveyed its employees using our flagship employee engagement survey: the Benchmark Assessment. Upon reviewing the results, Daniel realised he had found a tool he could use to gather employee feedback, prioritise the work he was doing in HR and raise awareness of the changes he was putting in place.
Raising HR’s profile & responding to employee feedback
Delta’s employee engagement surveys have consistently high participation rates and deliver valuable employee feedback.
“I appreciate the anonymity and the fact that people feel free to say what they’re feeling. They are very straightforward, and it’s honest and genuine feedback,” Daniel told us.
The high level of employee involvement and the quality of their feedback has enabled Daniel to identify new opportunities for improving the employee experience, and he doesn’t shy away from big issues in the business: recent areas of focus have included salary structure and parental leave policy.
However, instead of relying upon company leadership to do all the heavy lifting, Daniel has created a novel approach that involves Delta employees by creating working groups to address a host of different topics and issues, and ensuring each group has at least two employee representatives.
The programme has been a success – nearly every employee is involved.
“The working groups do have an executive say, they have the power to alter policies. It makes no sense to give voice without power,” Daniel told us. “The employees appreciate being involved – they want to be involved.”
This approach has benefitted Delta Malta’s nascent HR department in other, less obvious ways. The routine engagement surveys and employee working groups have also raised awareness of the new HR initiatives amongst all employees.
Using employee surveys to refine & publicise new company initiatives
Creating the company’s first employee handbook is a top priority for Daniel, and he’s been using the anonymous Suggestion Box feature on the Engagement Multiplier platform to invite employee feedback about specific topics throughout the process.
“The more people who are involved, the more it will be used,” explains Daniel, who was quick to point out the awareness-building aspect of asking for employee commentary as the book is being developed. “And my goal is that it’s actually used!”
It may not be obvious at the outset, but employee surveys and feedback represent important employee communication channels that enable an organisation to develop a conversation with the entire team. Like any conversation, the quality relies upon the natural give-and-take that occurs with the conversational flow. When leadership responds to employee survey findings and employee input, they’re holding up their end of the conversation.
“We’re using feedback to close the gap between employees and management,” Daniel noted. “We’d like to avoid the “us versus them” situation.”
His advice to his peers who are thinking of gathering employee feedback?
“Look beyond the most direct comments to the underlying issues,” Daniel says. “Start with one goal and focus on that one thing. Start small.” Utilising this approach makes using the feedback more manageable, and more meaningful.
About Delta (Malta) Ltd.
Delta (Malta) Ltd. was founded in 1975 and forms part of Delta Elektronika, an independent manufacturer of DC power supplies. A family-owned company with a strong technical culture, Delta Elektronika was established in 1959 and is headquartered in the southwest of the Netherlands, on the island Schouwen-Duiveland.
