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(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Workhuman® [formerly known as Globoforce]. They help organizations energize their cultures and unlock employees’ passion and potential with the fastest-growing social recognition and continuous performance management platform. Enjoy the article!)
A few months ago, I shared with you an article about “4 Workplace Guarantees Every Employee Should Have.” The article is focused on the Workhuman Charter of Workplace Rights, which comes from the book, “Making Work Human: How Human-Centered Companies are Changing the Future of Work and the World,” by Eric Mosely and Derek Irvine.
The workplace guarantees that I mention in my article (i.e., the Charter of Workplace Rights) are principles that every employee should be able to rely on. It doesn’t matter what the employee’s job title is, or what size company they work for, or where the business is located, or even what industry it’s in. Consider it the baseline for the employee experience. Just as a reminder, the Charter outlines a place where:
- Environmental, social, and economic sustainability is supported.
- People feel secure expressing their views and ideas, with respect for themselves and others.
- Individuals can use their talents and voice for good.
- Employees deserve to grow to their greatest potential through training, feedback, and rewards.
But as we all know, it’s one thing to say that the organization believes in these principles and another to show it. For example, in my professional experience, I’ve worked with managers who told me that work-life balance was important, but they never showed it in their actions or worked to make it a reality for me. Their words and their actions didn’t match.
Workhuman understands that too. That’s why they created Workhuman® Certified. It’s a program for organizations and individuals to adopt the best practices outlined in the Workhuman Charter of Workplace Rights. There are two paths in the certified program: one for organizations and the other for individuals.
The Workhuman Certified Enterprise program walks organizations through the process of identifying the actions they will take to support each workplace pillar and document their accomplishments. Earning the certification is FREE and certified companies can promote their accomplishments as part of their internal and external branding efforts. They also have access to a community of other certified companies to connect and learn from.
The Workhuman Certified Professional program is a FREE, self-paced learning experience focused on supporting and implementing the principles outlined in the Charter of Workplace Rights. Individuals can complete the curriculum to earn their certification. Then like the Enterprise program, certified professionals can connect and learn from others in the community.
I can definitely see the value in both programs. I can also understand how some human resources professionals might want to test drive the individual program before developing a business case to pursue the Workhuman Certified Enterprise program. Personally, I’ve earned my Workhuman Certified Professional designation and found the program to be both engaging and thorough. The learning modality is a combination of listening and reading. At the end of each module is a self-assessment exercise, which can be printed for reflection and refresher. I would envision using the assessments as the foundation for the Enterprise business case.
As organizations start to focus on their economic future and what a “next normal” looks like, this could be a perfect time to look at organizational culture and the employee experience. And now that you know about these programs, I would encourage organizations and individuals to view the Workhuman Certified designation as more than a badge to be obtained.
Yes, obtaining a certification is worthy of celebration. However, as the old adage says – the journey is the destination. The Workhuman Certified designation is about turning words into action. It’s about saying to employees, “We believe you deserve everything that this Charter stands for and we’re going to show you.”
There’s one last thing that I want to mention about the Workhuman Certified programs. That’s the part about them being free. There are plenty of organizational awards and recognition programs. Many of them charge fees to participate. And that’s fine. I’m not here to trash talk those programs. If you know Workhuman, then you know they’ve always been an organization that puts humans first. When the pandemic started making global headlines, the first thing they did was offer some of their products for free. To me, that’s a clear indicator of putting words into action. There’s tremendous value in learning how to create a great employee experience from a company that lives it every day.
During a period in time when organizational resources might be limited, this is a great way to put something meaningful in place for your employees. And by taking action, you’re benefitting both your workplace and your bottom-line. To learn more about Workhuman Certified Enterprise and Workhuman Certified Professional programs, visit their website.
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