Human Resources Guide For Business Managers

THE ROLE OF HR LEADERSHIP

The HR leader is a key link between HR managers and staff.

High-performing HR leaders can be an internal hire or you can outsource this function, and their role creates exceptional value for the business, reducing turnover, enhancing appeal as an employer, and building greater adaptability in the face of disruptive change from technology. Performance management, business change and growth planning, and lean HR are the core areas HR leaders focus on in a business. The following explores these initiatives and how they benefit the organisation as a whole.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance management is one of the most important duties for HR leaders as well managers and senior leadership. The organisation’s performance management system could be viewed from the perspective of a number of stages.

Prior to appraisal, there’s performance planning. This step should include setting goals and objectives, with clear metrics linked to the organisation’s broader strategic goals, so employees and managers are clear on expectations. Then throughout the year, managers and supervisors should provide regular feedback, along with direction and support for performance coaching to guide employees to success. Then reviews or appraisals can take place. Managers should make it clear why appraisals are done so employees feel included and understand the process.

Benefits of performance management:

Creating an appropriate performance management process for your organisation’s unique needs can boost the bottom line by highlighting your training needs, addressing employee skill gaps, and boosting accountability and productivity. The right technology tools could make the process easier and more successful. Fair performance appraisals can enhance employee satisfaction and improve productivity. From line managers to senior leadership, mastering constructive feedback and how to conduct unbiased, accurate assessments through a consistent, uniform performance management system is essential. It can raise morale and reduce turnover by recognising employee contribution and identifying the right employees for promotion.

A comprehensive performance management system not only ensures consistency; it can deliver the effectiveness required to funnel employees through their time at the organisation. Performance management can assist with identifying the best career paths for employees and inform your workforce planning. Performance management can reduce employee stress by deepening communication and supporting transparency. With a clear process, you’ll have better documentation, improved compliance with employment laws, and reduced risk of legal issues.

BUSINESS CHANGE & GROWTH PLANNING

Businesses are experiencing many changes at the moment. Whether economic or otherwise, having a systematic change-management approach can enable organisations to cultivate a truly agile working culture and deal with any changes that may affect their growth.

Creating a growth plan is essential for any company. Daily changes – negative or positive – can lead to many problems including the failure to attract and retain staff, neglecting employee needs or training, and not having the capabilities to keep up with a rapidly expanding business.

One common mistake for growing companies is not defining roles and responsibilities. This can make it hard for staff to know what needs to be accomplished and what skills or experience are required to perform their role effectively.

For the HR leadership, their contribution to successful change management entails good planning and execution, for a smooth transformation. HR can assist with consultations with stakeholders before firm decisions are made, so employees who will be most affected by the proposed changes can voice any concerns. Facilitating dialogue on feedback before creating and executing a strategic communication plan can also be part of the HR department’s contribution. The changes may require employees to upskill, and so HR will play an important role in the training and support for employees in this case.

LEAN HR PRINCIPLE

At Employment Innovations, our decades of experience in HR have led us to incorporate a set of core principles that have enabled us to be successful with managing HR for businesses. Encapsulated in the Lean HR model, these eight principles are based on the idea that your line managers can absorb many HR responsibilities and play a principal role in successful talent management when given access to the right tools, training, and expertise.

Our experience has taught us the benefits of the following for innovative, best-practice HR:

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HR can support employees by guiding them on their career path and helping them make informed decisions as well as be granted access to relevant training and benefit schemes.

If an employee wants progression within your company, then it is the job of the HR department to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses and provide a roadmap to reach their goal.

It is expected that the HR department always focuses on the success of the people within your business. From hiring the right employees to managing relationships, building a stronger workplace culture will deliver measurable benefits for your business.

WORKPLACE CULTURE

Your organisation’s workplace culture underpins your employee satisfaction, brand, and business serviceability. Workplace culture can have a wide range of definitions depending on your opinion.

Good workplace culture should be welcoming, non-discriminatory, and supportive of employee needs. From offering flexible or remote work, recognising and rewarding valuable contributions and promoting a team atmosphere – improving your company’s organisational culture will encourage an ongoing positive atmosphere and happier, more productive employees.

RECOGNISE AND REWARD YOUR EMPLOYEES

Ensuring your rewards and incentives are fit for purpose is key to keeping your staff focused and happy in their jobs. Employees who feel appreciated and recognised for their contribution may feel more satisfied and, in turn, their morale and productivity could rise. The sense of achievement can motivate them to achieve further milestones. These translate into bottom-line benefits for businesses. So how do you ensure rewards and incentives are fit for purpose? A pay and total rewards strategy ensures that you attract the talent your business needs to thrive and obtain the best performance from them. It also helps you retain your valued talent for the long haul.

Some great ways to increase employee motivation include:

• Recognise their passions and hobbies outside of work. Bring it up in conversation and figure out ways they can apply this passion to their work.
• Use social media to publicise accomplishments

Employee recognition and rewards are powerful ways to get the most out of staff and improve workplace culture. Such incentives prevent employees from feeling like they’re just cogs in the business machine, and can really boost morale among staff and departments. It also shows that your company’s most valuable resource is your staff.

RETAINING THE RIGHT TALENT

It’s well established that high turnover costs businesses. Standards for tenure can range depending on the industry, but ultimately, creating a workplace where your employees are engaged, have the opportunity to learn and grow, and enjoy professional success can maximise retention for your business.

As stated above, recognition and rewards can be a great way to retain staff. Your employees want to be recognised for their achievements and valued for their contribution, so these factors are essential as well. At the same time, as a leader, offer transparent and honest communication and give employees the opportunity to provide feedback. Asking questions to gain insights on employees gives HR managers a chance to help guide staff to their ideal learning opportunities to gain more from their employment. You can organise one-on-one meetings to facilitate this and use the time to inquire about any areas they are struggling in.

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THE METRICS OF HR THAT MATTER

TURNOVER

Turnover refers to the rate at which employees you intend to replace depart over a given period of time. Turnover is costly for businesses, with some estimates suggesting each instance costs around 33% of the relevant employee’s annual salary. The costs related to the replacement of the employee, with recruitment, onboarding, and training expenses. As such, it’s important for HR departments to monitor turnover trends so they can minimise the causes.

The average of this is the average figure you obtain from your HR department’s regular headcounts, whether that’s two, three, or more times a month. Separations should include both voluntary and involuntary departures. For an annual turnover rate, add all the monthly turnover rates for the year.

ATTRITION

Attrition refers to situations where employees depart and the company doesn’t intend to fill the vacancy. In situations of attrition, the employee may leave due to causes ranging from retirement and resignation to restructuring eliminating certain roles.

In a post-pandemic era, HR teams should rethink their priorities to better manage employee turnover.

For example, companies can manage attrition by determining how they’re going to ensure the safety of employees who have to work but cannot do so remotely, as well as those who have been forced to work remotely. This can include establishing effective communication between HR leaders and staff to organise a safe working environment and access to psychological or financial support.

For HR departments, responding to attrition can be a matter of leveraging policies to retain existing valuable talent. Creating new positions that drive business productivity and strategic goals can also be an appropriate response. Supporting leaving employees with suitable offboarding programs could see employees leaving the enterprise on a positive note, thereby minimising potential legal issues and security risks.

ABSENTEEISM

Employees have to show up to be productive. As such, absenteeism remains a critical metric for organisations and HR departments. Generally, absenteeism refers to employees not turning up to work when they’re not sick or on holiday. Absenteeism can reflect engagement, morale, and workplace culture. High absenteeism could be linked to workplace stress, toxic management culture, burnout, and other related factors.

Unexcused absences can be defined as everything except for sick days and sick leave, personal days, paid time off, and unpaid time off.

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Your HR plan should encompass and take into account technology tools, and the vital role of HR leadership. It should include compliance and best-practice standards along with how to best nurture the human resources in your business. A sound plan also draws upon the key metrics that indicate how effective your HR function and plan is. So what should your HR plan look like?

As your company expands, you’ll need to ensure your human resources can keep up with your needs. Your HR plan should allow you to recruit the best people, train them where necessary, and it should identify the essential roles to support your growth.

The 5 Elements of an HR Strategy:

To help you with your strategic HR planning, we’ve created the Strategic HR Planning Made Simpler eBook. This free downloadable resource can help you create a one-page HR plan for your business to focus on key issues. These considerations may include compliance and workplace regulations. They also cover concerns like whether your managers have the appropriate skills and tools to lead, and how you could start planning now for the talent you need next year.