HR professionals provide indispensable benefits to companies, whether it’s for administrative, strategic, or cultural purposes. As a business grows, the HR team becomes more essential in recruiting top talents that can add significant value to the company. This is why running a more effective HR department is key.
HR is also responsible for retaining, engaging, and developing hired employees.
Alongside recruitment, internal development, and engagement, there are many areas in which companies can still improve to fully optimize the potential of this vital department.
Here are 4 ways HR managers can run a more effective HR department:
Utilize digital tools
HR departments receive piles of resumes for a single position and devote a substantial amount of time to sifting through applicants to find ideal candidates. If you find that your department is in a similar situation, then it’s time that you adopt digital tools that can help streamline several processes.
This could mean integrating your applicant tracking services and your background screening solution for more efficient onboarding processes. Digital tools can also be used for other redundant tasks such as payroll and benefits management.
These technologies are especially important now, given the changing dynamic of workplaces to remote setups. In this increasingly digital workplace, key HR personnel also need to act as diplomats, regulatory experts, nurses, and even company tech liaisons.
Filling these roles will be much easier to do if your HR department is armed with the necessary digital tools — along with training in their proper usage.
Harness your data
Data is crucial in running a more effective HR department and getting a clearer picture of the state of your company and its employees. After all, aggregated data can help your HR department identify certain patterns and even get a better understanding of your staff’s attitudes and performance.
This behavioral data could prove useful in assessing areas that need improvement and in analyzing any complaints or concerns that employees have.
However, to maximize the insight you gather from your data, you’re going to need help from professionals in analytics. One of the most in-demand careers in data analytics right now is an operations research analyst, with projected job growth of 27%.
These people use high-level math, like statistical analysis and data mining, to develop solutions that can help businesses operate more efficiently. Operations research analysts will allow you to cover metrics such as employee turnover and retention rate, engagement, as well as other areas to help your HR team create more informed and analytical action plans.
Improve visibility
HR departments often get a bad rap among other employees if they don’t make themselves visible or seen. This could breed a culture of secrecy, and employees may perceive that the best strategy to succeed is to avoid HR altogether. However, this could cause unwanted implosions within the company.
To address this common sentiment, HR departments should establish platforms for employees to come forward to air out their concerns.
Given the possibility of hesitation, HR departments should have anonymous avenues or surveys where employees can contribute ideas, tip off suspicious behavior, discuss their grievances, or even request career assistance.
When HR departments open these channels of communication, they can become more effective in serving everyone’s best interests.
Think about the employee experience
Recruitment and paychecks are only a small part of HR’s job. The department’s main duty is to ensure that employees get the best company experience possible. In fact, at least 83% of HR leaders deem employee experience as “important” or “very important” to the business’ success.
After all, a satisfied employee tends to produce better work and stay longer, decreasing turnover rates and the costs associated with unhappy employees.
The employee experience starts the moment one applies for a role in the company up until they leave, including everything in between.
Questions like: “What can we do to make their stay comfortable?” and “What activities can we introduce to promote personal growth?” all fall under your jurisdiction. A truly effective HR department is one that does its best to care for its organization’s people — and that’s what employee experience is all about.
Today’s HR professionals are already equipped with the knowledge and background to be able to perform their jobs as well as they were trained to do, including running a more effective HR department.
Their role in your company is critical as they bridge the gaps between other employees, departments, and leaders. Supplying them with the right tools, plans, and general approach will help them reach their full potential and ensure that they become more effective moving forward.
