According to the latest Deloitte Universtity Global Human Capital Trends research, the HR department will need to undergo an extreme makeover in the year 2016. The great majority of the 3,300 businesses surveyed across 106 countries consider their HR department to be inadequately prepared. What is even more peculiar, even the HR departments agree that their work and effort is not producing desired results since, when compared to the results of the year 2014, there has been very little progress in productivity and successful talent acquisition.

Business owners and HR mangers both rated this division as a low performing sector. The rising trend of hiring non-professional CHROs certainly hasn’t helped the issue. The Human Resources Officers are encouraged to use the full potential of data and analytics to simplify their work, in fact, that is the main trend that business owners consider vital for further progress of their companies. Both business owners and HR departments consider their work environment and business practices as very complex or complex.

In this sort of working environment, with extremely aggressive growth plans and constant pressure, HR managers are also advised to refine their approach to the employees. They should understand the importance of work-life balance and, what is more important, the importance of conditions that add up to a productive work performance.

The following are five most common issues that both employees and business owners consider harmful for their performance.

1. You do not listen

Employees at all levels should feel free to talk to their superiors at any given moment, and to know that they will be met with supportive understanding. However, too many higher-ups fail to listen, even though they declare that their doors are always opened. Sometimes, this can be involuntary – for example, Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication cites a study that shows that after 48 hours, an average person only retains 25% of what was said in a conversation. Therefore, no matter how good of a listener you think you are, there is always room for progress, so you have to recognize the importance of listening and commit yourself to improving this fundamental skill.

2. Your meetings are not effective and last too long

Most of the companies are required to conduct obligatory training meetings for all employees throughout the year. Do you ever notice during the meeting that the employees are not listening to you? Well, according to a recent study, the average time spend in meetings is 1 hour and 19 minutes, while the people’s attention drops after about 52 minutes into the meeting  – so the odds are already stacked against you. Therefore, it is recommendable that you use the first 30 minutes of the meeting to convey your message, then take a quick breather and leave room for an in-depth discussion among the attendees after you come back from the break.

3. You employ people that are not a good fit for your environment

It may seem exhausting, but you have to take time with each candidate you are interviewing. Many people going through the hiring process are tired and unfocused because they have interviewed tons of candidates that day. A negative cultural fit can harm someone’s self-esteem and make him or her feel incapable of carrying out their work to the best of their abilities. This is why it is crucial for CHROs to attract top talent for suiting positions. Always put you’re your employees first and consult them thoroughly and more frequently until you are positive that the position assigned is fitting.

4. You have “favorites”

It is understandable that you like spending time with some employees more than others, but you have to be aware that having “favorites” is not a good defense in court when your company is facing legal actions. When you look at someone who leaves a company and feels like he was ill-treated – it will probably come up as a protected class issue. Therefore, you have to make sure that you are treating everybody equally because it will, of course, make your workers feel more comfortable and encouraged. There should be no favorites in a team.

5. You overlook accomplishments and withhold constructive feedback

Try to remember when was the last time you congratulated your employee on a job well done? Or when was the last time you sat down with someone one-on-one and had constructive coaching? If you do not praise those good employees who you want to stick around, you may not have them on your team for much longer. Also, when you notice that someone is not meeting your expectations, you have to sit down and talk to them so that you can realize how you can help them, of course. Feedback is vital for every progress.

The aforementioned should be old news for an experienced CHRO. However, it can’t do you any wrong if you decide to revisit your training before you start adapting to the latest trends.