What are the Top Five HR Challenges?
They are:
1) Strategy
2) People
3) Performance
4) Continues Improvement
5) Culture
Unfortunately, there will always be issues in any business, and they will continue unless you have a strategy.
Human Resources has a framework of five main areas.
1) Organisational measurement and planning.
2) Human Resources processes and systems.
3) Governance and compliance.
4) Performance management.
5) Workplace improvement.
If you have an HR plan that addresses those five issues, you will always proactively manage your culture, people, performance and staffing issues.
Let’s break this down.
1) Organisational measurement and planning.
You should have employee benchmarks, employee analysis, and an annual HR plan from an organisation, measurement and planning perspective. You would then use this information and integrate it into your business strategy.
2) Processes and systems.
From a human resources perspective, you need policies and procedures, an attraction and recruitment strategy, retention, reward and recognition program, position reporting structures, position descriptions, record keeping, employee records and payroll systems and performance management procedures.
3) Governance and compliance.
You will need to have an annual legislation audit from a governance and compliance perspective, including an internal audit for compliance. You should have a compliance policy and procedure and orientation, and an annual reorientation program.
4) Performance management.
From a performance management perspective, best practice says that you have performance reviews and evaluations, coaching frameworks, peer coaching, individual development programs, emotional intelligence coaching programs, and organisational capability.
5) Workplace improvement.
The fifth area of the HR framework should include workplace improvement programs, workshop and group development programs and client and supplier joint programs.
Do you have an annual HR plan? Not having an HR plan is similar to making a cake with no recipe.
You know you need the right ingredients to make a cake, such as eggs, butter, milk, and flour. But what is the quantity required for each component, and what is the method to make the cake? How long do you mix the batter for, and what temperature do you set the oven? How long do you bake the cake?
Without a recipe, you are only guessing how the cake will turn out.
Without an HR plan, you have no idea how your business will turn out. How do you ensure that your employees are productive, performing and profitable? You may have staff, systems and processes; however, what is the plan? What is the recipe?
For example:
One of our clients we worked with had 50 staff and no one doing human resources, other than the business owner. We recommended that they recruit a dedicated team member to oversee the HR details for one day a week, and on that day, they were to benchmark the organisation from a staffing perspective. They then developed a 12-month plan, which minimised the risk of systems, processes and compliance, and maximised their people’s performance and profitability. This positive change was done by training and development, upscaling coaching, and holding staff accountable. The result is a benchmark with a more dynamic organisation, which further results in
increased productivity and profitability for the business.
Another client we work with has a fantastic team. They have one person that recruits 950 people each year. However, 600 of those 950 recruits either did not commence employment or were terminated in the first year. Without an HR plan, they could not address the risks of a high recruitment turnover.
So by implementing an HR plan, we have been able to address their issues of what they thought was a high performing organisation with such a high performing recruiter. Although this has significantly reduced the number of people recruited, the recruits are more highly qualified, emotionally intelligent, and have the right personality profile staff.
The result is more profitability, productivity and performance.