Decision making in Human Resource Management

A lot of us make the mistake of thinking that human resource management is a contributory function and it follows the decisions that are set by top leadership or other business linked functions. Perhaps this might have been the case some years ago. But it is no longer the trend or the general belief. Organizations and the HR community itself, realize the importance of this function and how decision making is integral to the human resource roles in current times.

Many HR management courses will cover this thought process too.

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It involves all people processes – When we refer to decision making in HR, it means all people processes are involved. The decisions taken within this function or by it, cover the entire employee lifecycle from the time potential talent is identified, to the hiring, performance management, compensation and exit. HR relies on market data as well as internal feedback and insights, to enable faster and better decision making. For example, compensation increases are not linked only to how the company has performed, but also to how the jobs are being paid, size of the jobs and difference in the pay as compared to the external market. These aspects are part of HR’s role.

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It impacts all business processes– The decision making impacts all business processes. Unlike what was earlier believed, HR is truly a business partner now. Its decisions have a direct implication for all the businesses that the company operates in. For example, there is a need for new skills that are coming up for an upcoming business project. HR will be responsible for creating the Skills Matrix which in turn will impact the big decision of whether to build it internally or buy it externally. These are key business decisions which are driven by the practitioners in Human Resource Management.

It connects with organizational goals – All HR decisions have a direct and deep-rooted link to organizational goals. Given how teams now function, there is hardly any organization where HR operates in silos. Overall organizational goals such as what kind of business parameters are being assessed, will percolate down to the individuals in the form of performance goals. Also, if the organizational goal is to become a market leader, the culture of achievement orientation will be created through a great recognition policy that the HR will decide to roll out.

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These are some major ways in which decision making takes place and manifests itself in human resource management. Companies are now taking such aspects more seriously and laying emphasis on how HR’s decisions are becoming more and more critical to business operations.

The role of HR is becoming more complex and critical in both small and big firms. Companies understand the importance of recruiting highly skilled workers and retaining them. One of the ways that establishments can reduce costs is by avoiding employee turnover. The productivity of an organization also depends on its staff. In an era when there is heavy demand for highly skilled people, HR officials must perform their duties most efficiently. They are also responsible for employee satisfaction and compliance with laws. With so many duties, challenges also abound in this department.

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Attracting And Retaining Employees

Competition is faced by HR officials too. Firms of all sizes must compete with each other for recruiting a suitable workforce for their companies. The human resource department is responsible for this and they must adopt various methods for luring top talents that are available. But the competition doesn’t stop with recruiting. Good employees are constantly being tempted by other enterprises with better salaries and benefits. The online HR IIM Raipur course teaches you that retention of people is the toughest challenge that companies face today.

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Solution: Having a strong brand with an excellent reputation plays an important role in attracting the best employees to a firm. The organization must be known as a good employer offering outstanding experiences to their employees. Taking an active part in CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities helps attract a lot of good candidates as they want to work for such companies who contribute to society. Retention of people is possible through regular rewards and recognition for good work. HR officials must ensure that all workers get an opportunity to showcase their expertise.

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Getting People Who Fit in Culturally

Different companies have different working styles and cultures. A firm with a tradition of employees arriving for work in formals cannot be suitable for someone who is used to attending office in denim and t-shirts. The culture of workplaces can also vary with industries. The online program in HR can tell how important it is to ensure that a new recruit is a cultural fit for your company. Unless it is so, that person is sure to be looking at the exit door constantly.

Solution: Rushing the recruitment often prevents human resource officers from checking this fact. But that could prove costly if a firm must look for another person for the same post within a few months. One way is to do a careful screening of candidates before even calling them for interviews. HR personnel can visit social media sites to see the background of prospective employees. Hiring through manpower agencies could also solve this problem as they will have a complete profile of every candidate.

Offering Good Salaries And Benefits

There are certainly differences between large corporations and smaller companies. Though the digital age is helping them compete on an even platform, in matters like compensation and benefits, smaller firms cannot be at par with large enterprises. Online HR IIM Raipur courses can tell that this is a big challenge you will face. As the HR official of a small or medium establishment, it will be challenging to recruit good hands when compensation from large corporates don’t allow your organization to attract the best candidates.

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Solution: All good candidates don’t only look at compensation. It is the duty of an HR official to highlight the unique benefits of working for a smaller establishment. Recognition and progress in a career are easier and faster in a small company. Human resource personnel can also get talented people from areas where bigger corporations don’t concentrate too much. With adequate training, these workers can be excellent contributors to the success of a firm. You can also offer performance-linked benefits.

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Managing Change

Change is inevitable in a fast-paced industrial climate. There are different kinds of transitions that an organization must go through. There could be technological, managerial, geographical, or other variations. Technological developments are what will affect employees the most. Many staff members may not be able to accept them and adapt to them. An online program in HR could be due to the workers’ mentality, lack of skills, or training. But companies cannot progress unless people progress. It is the human resource department that must handle such a challenge.

Solution: What is most important here is communication. All employees must be told about the transformation happening well in advance. They must know why there is a change and what benefits they will receive. It is also necessary to understand that everyone cannot accept everything at the same speed. You must let your employees keep their own pace . There is also the need to give training to workers so that they are confident of being able to manage the new style of working.

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Training And Upskilling

The pace at which technology advances makes it difficult for companies to manage. But without integrating such developments, beating competition is not possible. It is essential to adopt all modern advancements to ensure the successful functioning of the firm. But employees must also have the skills to work with new tools. Online HR IIM Raipur stresses the need to constantly upskill individuals so that they can work efficiently using new techniques. HR managers must see that all staff members are trained for their present and future responsibilities in the company.

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Solution: It is not easy to have continuous learning processes in a firm. You must identify the training requirements of every person and ensure that it is being conducted. Adopting new methods like giving them case studies and having group discussions can make it easy for all members of a team to learn new skills in a short time. Offering the training online can help employees to learn even after office hours at their homes. Having some members of the team trained first and getting them to impart it to others will also work well.

All companies will continue to face different challenges. What is most important is to predict them in advance and have solutions ready. Keep the objectives of the company and employee welfare in mind while finding solutions to various problems. People are crucial for an establishment’s success and it is necessary to invest your time and money in them for organizational success.

The right people can turn a dwindling business into a flourishing one. It is then up to the HR managers to recruit, manage, track and retain the right talent for the long-term success of the organization. With improved technology, HR managers have access to all the information they need to do this successfully.

However, with a deluge of information, HR managers are often found struggling to utilize the information for best results.

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Here are 8 HR analytics that every manager should know about:

Capability analytics: Skills and capabilities of your employees are central to the success of your business. With the help of capability analytics, the exact capabilities that form the core for success of your organizational goals can be determined. Through this talent management process, the gaps in the current and the desired capabilities can be assessed.
Competency acquisition analytics: Certain core competencies are central to the success of your business. With the help of competency acquisition analysis, HR managers can determine the core competencies for the business. They can then use this process to determine whether the existing talent pool has these competencies. Using the same tool, HR managers can determine how to improve the competency level in-house or to recruit new talent.
Capacity analytics: Capacity utilization impacts business. Capacity analytics helps to determine whether the business is running at optimum capacity utilization. It can help spot if the resources are being misutilized or if the employees are working over-capacity. It can also help the business to determine how much and when to increase capacity.
Employee churn analytics: Attrition is one of HR managers’ biggest problems. Employee churn analytics is a useful tool in determining the historical churn rates and predicting the future attrition rates as well as reducing turnovers. This is made possible through determining satisfaction index, level of engagement of employees as well as advocacy score of employees.
Corporate culture analytics: Though difficult to determine, corporate culture is the general rules, behaviors and patterns among employees of a business unit. Through corporate culture analytics, HR managers can determine existing culture trends within the business and decide and track changes to be made.
Recruitment channel analytics: Employees constitute one of the major business expenses. Through recruitment channel analytics, managers can find out where their best employees come from and which recruitment channels are the most effective. For determining this, the process utilizes KPIs such as value of human capital added and the return per employee.
Leadership analytics: Leadership determines the success rate of the business. Through leadership analytics, managers can determine the performance of the leaders. The process utilizes surveys, focus group discussions, employee interviews and ethnography to furnish data related to leadership performance.
Employee performance analytics: Through employee performance analytics the performance of each employee can be tracked. With the data generated, managers can determine ways to enhance the performance of under-performers and incentivize the achievers to keep everyone motivated.