6 Systems Your HR Department Must Have

Successfully running an HR department in any business is a challenge, but you can improve the department’s performance by establishing systems. From actively recruiting employees to managing payroll, having the right systems in place can increase your staff’s productivity and help your HR department better support the entire business.

Here are six systems your HR department needs.

Recruiting and Onboarding

Recruiting and onboarding systems are used regularly in most businesses, particularly those that are actively growing. According to 2017 research from Glassdoor, organizations that invested in a strong candidate experience improved the quality of new hires by 70 percent.  Establishing recruiting processes, including a database of job descriptions, a screening process, and interview procedures, can help streamline recruiting. 

It might also be helpful to invest in recruiting software, which can simplify interview scheduling, suggest interview questions, and even sort job applicants on the basis of their employee aptitude assessment results.

The onboarding process needs to be carefully planned as well, since it plays an important role in setting up new employees for success. If your business hasn’t yet digitized onboarding documents, doing so can help facilitate a smooth onboarding process. This will also demonstrate that the business is up to date with the latest technology.

Aside from onboarding paperwork, take some time to think through the entire onboarding process. Who is responsible for greeting the employee on the first day? Who will give the employee a tour and act as the initial supervisor? How do you decide which projects the employee should take part in when they start? Who will ensure the employee receives appropriate meeting invitations and gets connected with coworkers?

All of these steps contribute to a quality employee onboarding process. Additional efforts, like hosting a welcome or get-to-know-you gathering, or connecting the employee with a staff member who can act as a mentor, will also help position employees for success.

Personnel Data Management

Tracking personnel data is essential. This data can include everything from contact information to certifications and job titles. You need to gather this information during the onboarding process and update it periodically.

If you do this manually, that can mean significant data entry. Establishing a digital system where employees can input data changes themselves can reduce some of that data entry and reduce the risk of providing incorrect information. A customized digital form can help.

The data needs to be collected securely. A CRM can be useful for this, but spreadsheets can also work if they’re properly maintained and protected. Either of these options can make it easy to pull and sort employee data for necessary reporting, but a CRM is probably a better choice for large businesses with many employees.

Approval Processes

Depending on your business’s size, your HR department might deal with hundreds or even thousands of approval requests each month. These requests, including time-off requests and other important documentation, need to be addressed quickly. Overlooking them or falling behind on them can lead to potential issues, backlogs, and other complications.

An HR department needs to develop an approval process that ensures these requests get the prompt attention they require. From identifying priority requests to sorting requests and delivering them to the right staff member, this is a multistep process.

You could develop a manual operation where staff sort through the requests, but software can automate the process. A program that can create and automate approval flows will allow your staff to quickly review and respond to approval requests.

Time Tracking

It’s also important to implement an employee time tracking process. Traditional hand-filled time cards are prone to errors, both as staff complete them and as they’re transferred into your payroll system. A physical time card punch system can help solve this problem, but physical systems are really only practical for businesses where employees always work onsite.

A digital time tracking system is often the most versatile solution for your HR department. There are many online time clocks available that can help reduce timesheet errors, and you can integrate many of them with your payroll software to further reduce data entry. 

Using a digital time tracking system may even allow you to bypass some supervisor approvals, so your department is more likely to receive timesheets on time.

Payroll and Benefits Management

Payroll is a time-consuming and complex process, especially when it comes to complying with federal and state laws. Tax processing adds to the challenge.

Investing in a payroll service can greatly reduce the workload for your HR department, especially if you’ve been processing payroll by hand. A payroll service that guarantees compliance could also potentially save your business from costly fines that can result from an unintentional violation. 

These payroll services can improve the accuracy of your payroll processing while providing valuable reporting data that you can use to identify issues like unexpected fluctuations in payroll.

Many top payroll services also offer benefits management services, so you can roll these services into one platform. Consider choosing a service that offers a mobile app so that employees can monitor their paychecks and access their benefits information on the go. 

Systems that allow employees to perform their initial enrollment and make any necessary changes to their payroll or benefits plans will save your HR department time as they won’t have to manually process those changes.

Performance Assessments

Performance assessments are essential, but it’s not easy to do them well. A poor-quality performance assessment can leave an employee feeling frustrated and with little advice to go on, but a quality assessment can motivate employees to improve their performance.

In addition to outlining assessment procedures for the department, software can help improve your assessments. Many programs are capable of facilitating assessments and consolidating the results, so it’s easier for an HR department to use that data.

Taking the time to put these must-have HR systems in place can make your department and staff more successful. If you’re considering investing in new software to assist with process development, look into whether free trials are available. Some apps and programs can be expensive, but they can also pay off with increased staff productivity and a better-run HR department. 

Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash