Download Our Guide: Improve the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Your HR
Download this guide to learn about how you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your human resources.
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Most people want to do their jobs well. But HR professionals are especially driven to do well at their jobs—because the better they are, the better other employees can be, and the better the entire organization will be.
What HR can do to become more effective isn’t all that different from what any role does to be more efficient. But doing these three things can have a large impact on the human resource function.
Though every role can benefit from automation, HR functions can be particularly impacted. HR is full of administrative work—arguably more than any other job. According to research by Deloitte, 41% of human resource’s time is spent on necessary, but tactical work.
Just think about where you spend the majority of your time. Chances are it’s payroll and benefits administration and talent management. These two areas of human resources provide an opportunity for automation.
By using an HR information system (HRIS), many of the most tedious and time-consuming HR tasks can be automated, such as:
Many HR information systems can handle everything noted above. However, if you don’t currently have one, it can be an expense. Luckily, if you have an HR partner, their system should handle all of this for you.
If you don’t have HR support, consider which of the aspects above are taking up most of your time and opt for a solution for one or two of them. For example, there are specific payroll and employee performance platforms available for a low monthly subscription cost that can still save you time and effort.
However, keep in mind that these solutions are only short-term options for automating your HR. Eventually, as your business grows, you’ll benefit most from a full-service HR partner or HRIS.
More often than not, HR functions are treated as reactive positions. In other words, until a problem or question occurs, HR isn’t contacted. But if HR is solely reactive then it’s not living up to its potential.
To be a more efficient and effective HR professional, you have to have a proactive HR strategy. Proactive HR studies the business and its goals to identify potential problems and create practices to prevent or address issues before they occur.
A proactive approach can apply to your overall HR strategy, but also your day-to-day responsibilities. Often data is required to create a successful proactive HR strategy—this is where an HRIS would also come in handy.
There are lots of activities that can go into crafting a proactive HR strategy, such as:
You don’t need to do all of these things. Think about what the future should look like in your organization and how HR will help you get there. Focus on those activities that will support your business goals the most. Is your objective growth? Then prioritize workforce planning. Do you need to cut costs? Then take a look at your compensation planning.
Each year, many companies conduct an employee satisfaction survey or similar. While this is great for benchmarking and tracking progress, gathering regular feedback from employees is also important.
HR can use active listening as a tool to make their employees feel heard, but also improve their activities. Conversations with employees can identify potential issues before they cause serious problems. Active listening is also a device for conflict resolution that can make potential HR nightmares more manageable.
One way to improve your active listening skills is through the EAAR listening model:
Employee feedback is critical for HR professionals to define expectations, identify problems, and learn from mistakes. Often the best HR ideas are born out of conversations with employees.
To learn more about how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your HR, download the guide below.
Download this guide to learn about how you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your human resources.
