Recruitment is a crucial focus for fast-growing companies. No one can deny it. After all, how will an organization grow without growing its workforce? This forces the HR teams at these companies to invest a considerable chunk of their entire focus on recruitment. After all, it is part of their job description to fulfill the talent requirements of their company. On the other hand, organizations are continuously losing their best employees due to the various repercussions of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This further creates a gap in the company’s resources and what it needs to fulfill its growth. Result? HR needs to hire more people to backfill. This deviates them from other best practices of HR, which are highly important.
According to a study conducted by the job search platform Glassdoor, most HR leaders in companies with over 500 employees focus on recruitment alone. It suggests that there might not be a clear mandate or direction for HR leaders in these companies, which can pose some challenges and risks down the line. After all, many other responsibilities and practices are part of HR’s job description that they need to do for the greater effectiveness of their organization.
Focusing just on recruitment and ignoring other essential responsibilities leads these organizations to a highly negative impact. Employee turnover is at an all-time high, with higher costs associated with it. The eLTV (employee lifetime value) is dropping significantly in these organizations as HR cannot focus on employee development.
If this focus doesn’t shift or get distributed to other crucial responsibilities, organizations will get stuck in a constant loop of losing employees and backfilling. To avoid these circumstances, HR needs to go beyond just focusing on recruitment. But what are these other responsibilities that require HR’s attention? Let’s dig into it in our next section.
The 4 significant HR responsibilities
Hiring & Onboarding
For any fast-growing company, hiring and onboarding new employees are one of the most critical functions of HR. Hiring or recruiting the right people is key to a company’s success. The wrong hire can cost not only the company money but also damage morale, productivity, and customer relationships. Onboarding is important because it helps new employees get up to speed quickly and be productive from day one. A study by SHRM suggests that around 69% of employees who went through a good onboarding process stay in that company for more than three years. It can be challenging to find suitable candidates and ensure that they are adequately integrated into the company. It’s essential to get them up to speed quickly and ensure that they are productive team members.
Talent Development
Developing the skills and abilities of employees is essential to organizational success and helps employees reach their full potential.
HR is responsible for implementing policies and procedures that support the workforce’s talent development. This includes mapping the areas that need development, developing and managing employee training and development programs, setting and enforcing standards for employee behavior, setting growth expectations for employees, and maintaining a healthy work environment that can facilitate that growth. By taking these steps, HR can ensure that employees are equipped with the skills they need to do their jobs effectively and meet the company’s objectives.
When done well, talent development can lead to a plethora of benefits such as increased productivity, higher retention rates, and overall improved organizational performance. These development programs will also attract new talent to the organization.
Employee Experience
Ensuring a good employee experience is one of the most critical responsibilities of HR. According to a study by Gallup, employees with good experience are more likely to stay with their company, be productive, and be less likely to leave. Therefore, for effectively managing the company’s human resources, HR needs to focus on employee experience significantly. So, how does a good employee experience sound? Employees with good experience are emotionally and intellectually connected to their work and their company. There are several things that HR can do to foster the best possible employee experience. Some of the most important ones include creating a positive work environment, providing opportunities for growth and development, and establishing a clear vision for the organization.
Employee Retention
The cost of losing an employee can be very high, both in terms of the money it costs to find and train a new employee and the lost productivity of the departed employee. According to data from SHRM, the average cost of replacing a salaried employee is 21% of their annual salary. This number goes up to 21.3% when you factor in the price of lost productivity. So it’s vital to have systems in place that will keep your best employees happy and engaged. The average time it takes to fill an open position is 42 days, so it’s essential to have a strategy to retain employees.
There are six best practices that HR need to undertake to fulfill their responsibilities and become highly effective in human resource management in fast-growing companies. What are these six best practices? Let’s figure it out in the next section.
The 6 best practices of HR Leadership
In fast-growing companies, the majority of the focus goes on hiring. Yes, hiring talent is critical for a business’s success and growth. But at the same time, HR teams must also focus on several other crucial responsibilities. Hence, HR teams must also prepare for these other equally critical areas. Here are six best practices of HR that will help HR effectively manage their organization’s human resources.
1. Put structured processes in place for managing talent
HR should move away from ad-hoc process implementation as early as possible. They should put a well-structured process for managing their organization’s human resources or employees. They should also ensure that each employee goes through this process without fail. What to include in this process? Well, there are four critical things to have here:
Hiring
A successful HR process starts with the proper hiring. Ensure that you thoroughly assess all the candidates and selection processes to find the best fit for the role. Before hiring, there should be a thorough check, as hiring the wrong candidate will cost your organization both time and money, and it will also negatively affect your image as HR.
Onboarding
It involves getting new employees acquainted with company culture and ensuring that they feel comfortable and welcome in their new workplace. The HR team should work in tandem with other departments to ensure that the new hire can adapt quickly.
Performance management
One of the essential steps is performance management. HR needs to view the performance from a 360-degree perspective and ensure that employee satisfaction is at the forefront of their minds throughout the process. It ensures that employees meet expectations and that their efforts are duly rewarded. By using multiple metrics, performance management helps identify areas where employees could be further developed. It also provides the framework for addressing any potential issues.
Learning and Development
The HR process should also involve employee training and development programs. This way, you can help your employees grow and learn new skills, enhancing their productivity and overall performance. Additionally, it will also help keep your employees happy and content in their roles, which is essential for a smooth workplace. It will ensure that the organization has the best talent possible to accomplish its goals. It will also help employees fulfill their career goals by providing that they grow and evolve into high potential individuals.
2. Focus on designing and embedding the company’s values in the workforce
Another critical practice that HR must adopt is to focus on designing and embedding the company’s values in the workforce. It will help create an environment where employees are aligned toward an expected behavior and feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for the company’s success. It is crucial not only for the sake of the company but also for the employees themselves. The right values will motivate and inspire employees to put their best foot forward, both at work and outside of work. Furthermore, it is important to ensure that these values are communicated to all company levels, from the top down.
3. Have a well-rounded employee engagement strategy
HR leaders should have a well-rounded employee engagement strategy that includes communication, motivation, compensation and benefits, coaching, development, and recognition. It will help maintain a positive working environment and cultivate a strong team to meet future challenges. HR leaders can ensure that the employees are happy, fulfilled, and prepared to tackle any future challenges by having a strategy in place. It will lead to a productive and engaged workforce, lower turnover rates, and high performance across all levels of employees. It can help improve your organization’s overall performance, enabling the organization to create a remarkable employee experience.
4. Building diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and belongingness in the workforce
As the workforce and generations evolve, the importance of diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and belongingness is also increasing. HR teams must give these topics due attention that they require. Diversity refers to considering all people, including different genders, races, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds. Equity means that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and that they are treated fairly and with respect. Inclusiveness means creating an environment where employees feel accepted, welcomed, and understood in the workplace and have a voice. It involves having empathy and compassion for other team members. Belongingness means creating a community where employees feel connected to the organization and its values. By building these, HR can create an environment that allows all employees to feel comfortable and respected and contribute their best work. It will lead to a healthier and more productive workforce, which will benefit the organization.
5. Prepare the organization for the future
HR should be fully aware of the future challenges and opportunities the organization might encounter to prepare for them. To achieve this, they must keep track of upcoming trends. More importantly, progressive HR leaders will lead the discussion by challenging the current systems and trends.
By keeping up with the latest trends and developments in HR management, an organization can stay ahead of the curve and ensure a successful future for itself. By doing so, HR will be better positioned to provide the necessary resources and support to the rest of the business for a smooth transition. Additionally, it will also help to identify any potential gaps or weaknesses in current HR practices. It will ensure that they can be corrected and upgraded as necessary.
6. Bring automation where ever possible. It is the key to the scale and success of the HR teams
At last, HR should bring as much automation as possible to help manage the workforce more effectively. HR teams are often tasked with various manual tasks, such as filling out forms, operating employee records, and conducting payroll. These tasks can easily be automated using the right software. Automation allows HR teams to focus on more strategic and higher-value tasks, such as developing and implementing employee policies, creating an effective onboarding program, providing inputs for business strategy, and more. HR teams can reduce the time and effort required to carry out their responsibilities by automating these tasks. This leads to a reduction in errors and faster processing of employee requests.
Conclusion
HR leaders have always been in a unique position to impact the entire organization. This is because what they do can shift an organization’s trajectory for the better. HR Leaders across the globe are constantly trying to redefine what HR does. To do so, they must first identify and understand their primary responsibilities, the limit to which is not just recruitment. They need to go beyond recruitment to bring the best out of their roles in organizations. In this blog, we have listed the 6 best practices of HR Leadership to help you achieve success in your role. By following these six best practices of HR leadership, you’ll be on your way to leading a successful HR function that exceeds recruitment alone.