Streamlining HR processes is nowadays a prerequisite for ensuring the quality of HR work. In its basic form, HR is all about taking care of the people in your organization. Concretized, it means helping employees navigate the different stages of the employee journey. But it’s also about making sure the business has the right talent in place to achieve its strategic goals. In this article, we describe some of the key HR processes, why they are important and how you can work with effective HR processes.

What is an HR process?

HR processes consist of a collection of “core processes”. The most central core functions for an HR department include recruitment, onboarding, scheduling, absence management, payroll, benefits, internal relations, skills development, offboarding et cetera. Still, these are just a few examples of the most common processes. What is important to note, in addition to the fact that there are multiple processes to manage, is that they are all equally important when it comes to the different stages that an employee goes through in the so-called “life cycle” as an employee.

While each HR process has its own specific parameters and objectives, they are all interdependent. And the core processes are there to define and ensure a successful experience when it comes to each stage of the employee lifecycle. In short, all these processes affect the employee, which is precisely why having effective HR processes in place is crucial. They play a key role in the success of the organization.

Why are HR processes important?

An HR process defines the way you manage operational excellence within your organization. HR processes are of strategic importance as they span almost every aspect of an organization. HR processes are also important because they help lay the foundations for employees to succeed in their roles, and for the business to flourish as a result. In a business where employees are happy and feel good, customer satisfaction and business profitability are higher. When the right HR processes are in place, they drive performance. This in turn increases the importance of HR and its role within the organization.

How to manage HR processes

For many organizations, HR processes are managed using a range of different tools or spreadsheets in the process of implementation and monitoring. While this can work relatively well, it can often be counterproductive when it comes to creating a seamless experience. It is also more difficult to monitor, as different tools and spreadsheets do not communicate with each other in real-time. And this stems from the fact that manual processes usually take longer, resulting in less reliable data, and are overall much less secure. While this may be perceived as a good way to start, these types of tools rarely work effectively and long-term. In addition, they create problems when it comes to growing with the needs of the business as they change, or as certain areas become more important.

With HR processes in place, not only is employee performance streamlined but so is engagement and organizational culture. Employees can develop in their roles, which in turn enhances the company’s reputation as a player to be trusted. In this way, attrition rates are slowed down. Losing talent means losing growth and other values.

When HR processes are automated and digitalized, valuable time is saved for everyone in your organization. This applies not only to those in HR but also to those in other roles in the business. So, shift your focus away from the minutiae of forms, emails, and spreadsheets for freeing up time to make an even bigger impact on the people in your organization by automating and streamlining HR processes!

Benefits of automating HR processes

By automating HR, you can design, streamline, integrate, and deploy all the necessary processes for your business. Below we list some key benefits of automating and streamlining your HR processes.

• Improved productivity with faster processing and data sharing
• Reduced employee turnover due to increased employee engagement
• Reduced storage and printing costs – paper-based processing is reduced
• More efficient recruitment processes
• More effective business decisions through real-time, insightful reports
• More time to analyze HR data and more effective decision-making

Streamlining your HR processes can be done today

Organizations today, more than ever, need to be proactive in preparing for the future of work. Having an effective HR system in place can make a huge difference, ensuring that all your processes are well thought out, efficient and save time for both operationally and strategically important work. HR processes can be advantageously managed in an all-in-one solution, like the Heartpace HR system. This way, all your core HR processes are managed in a single software package.

If you’re looking for a solution that gives you all these capabilities and benefits, feel free to contact us or sign up for a free trial to experience the Heartpace HR System.