By Steven Kuhn, Vice President, CriterionHigher productivity, reduced turnover and increased customer satisfaction are all associated with high levels of employee engagement. So it’s no wonder that 85% of global executives and HR leaders say engagement is important or very important, as reported in Deloitte’s “2016 Global Human Capital Trends Study.”Yet only 11% of those same respondents said their organization’s engagement and retention programs were excellent. Clearly, organizations need to do a better job of promoting employee engagement, especially during the summer. And, perhaps surprisingly, human capital management (HCM) software can help them do just that.In fact, here are five ways that HCM software promotes greater employee engagement during the summer months:

1. Recruiting

People should start feeling a connection to your organization even before they become employees or you’ll fight an uphill engagement battle from the start. A quality applicant tracking system (ATS) can be a major ally here.First, the ATS can help you find more candidates who are likely to be engaged. You can track the quantity and quality of candidates coming in from your various talent sources, which allows you to optimize your sourcing to identify more talent that fits your organization and culture.Second, the ATS can help you provide a quality hiring process free of unnecessary delays and communication problems. This matters to candidates. According to CareerBuilder’s 2015 Candidate Behavior study, 77% of candidates are willing to accept a salary that is 5% lower than their expected offer if the employer created a great impression through the hiring process. Further, candidates carry this positive view of your company into their first days as employees, which is important because “pride in working for the company” is one of the three key drivers of employee engagement identified in a study by MSW Research and Dale Carnegie Training.

2. Onboarding

HCM software tools can help your organization create a more efficient and effective onboarding experience, which improves employee performance by 11.3% and increases employee engagement and retention, according to a report by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.HCM software helps promote engagement during on-boarding by:

• Ensuring that all the necessary paperwork is filled out correctly. This allows you to better focus on getting new employees integrated into your organization and its business practices.
• Ensuring better cultural integration as well. HCM tools enable you to share videos and content about your company, as well as manage onboarding tasks uniformly so all new employees receive the same quality onboarding experience.

3. Performance Management

According to a 2015 study by SHRM and Globoforce, 83% of respondents said their employee recognition efforts had a positive impact on employee engagement. Quality performance management systems support recognition efforts by providing automated tools that help you reward employees for going above and beyond in their duties, which supports employee engagement for all employees.Performance management systems also facilitate another engagement-nurturing practice—quality, consistent and relevant feedback. It does so in two notable areas:

• Periodic reviews—Performance management systems allow you to rate competencies and measure goals, and the relative importance of particular competencies and goals. The result is employees not only are more likely to be engaged, but also focused on what’s most critical to your organization.
• Continuous feedback—Performance management systems facilitate immediate and continuous feedback, encouraging employee productivity and engagement.

4. Manager Self-Service

Another key engagement driver identified by the MSW Research and Dale Carnegie Training study is an employee’s relationship with his or her immediate supervisor. When this relationship goes sour, often the problem is poor or slow communication.Manager self-service through HCM tools facilitates quality communication. Managers, for example, can quickly review time-off requests and performance appraisals, and use time management tools to optimize schedules for employees. The result: it’s easier for managers to address employees’ concerns quickly and effectively—which is essential for creating and sustaining a quality relationship.

5. Employee Self-Service

Quality HCM employee self-service tools give your employees access to their demographic, payroll and benefit information, as well as to information about your organization and your people. This empowers your employees and helps them forge stronger connections with your organization and their co-workers.Additional benefits of employee self-service include:

• It improves peer communication. The quality of employees’ experience is heavily influenced by the quality of their working relationships with colleagues.
• It enables employees to see how they fit into your company and how they can progress. By providing a visual view of your organization and your people, employees can see where they are, and where they can go—encouraging them to set goals for advancement.
• It assists in keeping employees integrated with your company culture. Employees can view information and media disseminated by your organization that are designed to instill common cultural values, and stay updated about your organization’s news and events.

[author] About the Author: Steven Kuhn is Vice President of Criterion, a leading provider of modern HCM software solutions that comprehensively manage HR, payroll and recruiting for mid-market companies. He possesses over 25 years of HCM software experience and has worked with some of the more recognizable enterprise software organizations and boutique software houses. Steve brings a unique perspective of the HCM space with his background in product development, marketing and sales of HCM solutions across most industries. [/author]