Searching for the best HR activities to improve your team’s performance? Don’t worry, we have got you covered! In this article, we discuss the seven major functions of HR activities, as well as some new tools in the market that can help you better manage and streamline HR operations and workflows. Let’s get started!
1) Hiring
Hiring is one of HR’s major activities. HR has to recruit and hire people with certain skills and personality traits. HR can utilize a number of business communications tools to help it keep all parties informed about new openings as well as announcements regarding hiring decisions, interviews, and start dates. Most companies have HR automation tools in place to make much of an employee’s time in HR more efficient; these usually include databases that automate many aspects of employment, from tracking attendance to assisting payroll efforts. Automation helps keep large companies on track when it comes to hiring and other HR activities without having huge gaps in coverage.
2) Performance management
Performance management is a critical HR activity. It consists of regular reviews of employee performance, enabling managers to discuss strengths and weaknesses with employees, and to set targets for them to achieve. Performance management can take place formally or informally, as part of annual appraisals or ad hoc discussions about performance issues. A big advantage of using HR automation tools is that they make it easy for you to manage and track all your employee performance appraisals online without having to worry about administrative problems like lost paper records. You can keep clear notes on what you discussed in each review, who was involved, and how well it went—so there’s no need for extensive paperwork or filing!
3) Training and development
To attract talent, provide quality services, and support business goals, businesses must ensure their employees receive appropriate training and development. HR activities related to training and development include making sure your employees are qualified for their jobs, evaluating whether they’re mastering their work assignments in an efficient manner, and providing them with opportunities to learn new skills through workshops or conferences. Automation can help you manage all these things easily; it will also allow you to measure how successful your programs have been by giving you access to aggregated data about employee progress that’s clear and understandable. With an HR automation tool at your disposal, it’ll be much easier for you to evaluate which of your training methods are actually producing results.
4) Benefits administration
In order to keep employees in your company happy, it’s important to have a system for administering employee benefits. From health care and retirement plans to paid time off and flex-time, managing all of these can be a real headache. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive HR automation tools when there are so many great options out there that offer more than enough for small businesses. If you want to save money and ensure your employees get what they need, it may be time to switch over from pencil-and-paper methods into something that’s better equipped for HR tasks. Here are some benefits administration tips every business owner should consider
5) Employee relations
Employee relations are one of the most important facets of HR, as well as business communications overall. This includes listening to employees, keeping them updated on business activities and decisions that affect them, planning employee events such as outings or celebrations, and providing general support. Good employee relations can help your company improve its reputation among workers, who may feel more involved in company decisions; you might even see an uptick in team engagement and productivity. This translates into better customer service over all—and happy customers buy from companies they trust. For example, Gartner Group found that 73 percent of businesses consider caring about employees when choosing a vendor for a new contract.
6) Risk management
Risk management is typically business communications (or people) function of HR activities that enables an organization to anticipate, prevent, and handle potentially negative consequences. When it comes to corporate-level risk management, organizations generally prioritize financial risks over operational ones; understanding your company’s core competencies and ensuring that you never go beyond them are two ways to mitigate financial risks. With operational risks, you’ll need to consider how your company deals with emergencies like floods or fires and ensure your plans are in place to maintain operations in case of any unforeseen crisis.
7) Business communications
Learning how to communicate effectively within your business is an essential skill for any entrepreneur. After all, you’re essentially a one-person company. One of my favorite books on communication styles and interpersonal skills is Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. I highly recommend it! Another good book is How to Say It at Work: 100 Key Things You Need to Know to Get Your Point Across Without Getting Shot Down by Dr. Peter Sheard.
Final Thought
Modern business leaders recognize that an effective and productive workforce is essential to a healthy business. Whether it’s finding, hiring or retaining top talent, implementing HR practices help businesses meet their goals and objectives while providing employees with a great workplace experience. In recent years, advancements in technology have significantly changed how companies approach key HR activities like recruiting, onboarding and employee development. But no matter how much your company may depend on digital solutions, there will always be a place for traditional HR practices—there’s simply too much value in them to abandon completely.