In the past years, HR has considerably evolved and it is evolving in the present days as well. From the “future of work” to the “now of work”. Covid has had a major impact on the HR department and human resource professionals have established a new set of practices that has proven to be very effective during the pandemic period and even after the post-pandemic period. The companies that have established and implemented these practices have noticed a major shift in the work culture. These companies have improved work culture and morale, improved productivity and increased the employee retention rate.
According to research by the University of Oxford, happy employees have 13% more productivity than unhappy employees. For sales employees, boosting happiness can increase closed deals by 37%. If, as an HR professional, you want to increase the productivity of your employees and the employee retention rate of your organisation, you must rethink some HR practices that will encourage your employees to work harder and stay in the organisation. This can help you improve the present situation and promise a great future. It will also help you align your human resource goals with the overall goal of the organisation.
Let’s cut to the chase and focus on some of the best practices that must be followed by every HR in any organisation.
Providing Security to Employees
This is the first and foremost practice of HR to provide a sense of security to the employees so that they feel that they belong somewhere. Life can be unpredictable and having a sense of security at the job not only helps to increase the productivity of the employee but also gives them a sense of satisfaction and increases the employee retention rate. When the employer instils a sense of job security, it becomes the number one reason for an employee to stay in an organisation and give their best. When the employers feel that their job security is threatened (like the company is going through restructuring or employers are getting laid off) then there will be a ripple in the organisation. Therefore, to maintain the harmony of the organisation, it is necessary to provide job security to the employees.
Hiring the Right People
Selective hiring or hiring the right people is among one of the best HR practices that every HR must follow. An HR cannot hire anyone and everyone. They have to be selective while the hiring process is going on. They must bring only such candidates on board who have the proper skillset and who will add value to the organisation. To ensure that, HR must have a fair selection process for the potential candidates so that they can give their best without feeling unjust. This will also help the organisation to hire the best and most exceptional talent. The key to building competitive advantage is hiring the right kind of people. Research has shown that the difference between an average performer and a high performer can be 400%. This is right for people from different industries and different job types.
Effective Teams
Teamwork is essential for achieving organisational goals. In order for a company to succeed, it must have high-performance teams. Teams add value because they bring together individuals with diverse perspectives who are working towards a similar objective. This implies that several suggestions are made to assist in achieving the objective. The best ones are chosen once these concepts have been merged and processed. HR must facilitate collaboration across various teams inside the company. A team typically belongs to a bigger organisation, such as a department or another team. These bigger organisations must cooperate as well. By facilitating this, you may create a productive organisation.
Fair and performance-based competition
The fourth best practice in human resources is contingent payment. Everything about it relates to pay and benefits. First and foremost, you should pay the right candidates more than average wages if you hire them. Since they will add the most value to your company, you want to keep them and compensate them fairly. This serves as an example of how combining different best practices—in this case, selective hiring, contingent remuneration, and employment security—can provide results that are more beneficial than they would be individually. Paying employees more than usual could also have some disadvantages. For example, it prevents unsatisfactory workers from leaving.
However, if you plan to keep hiring excellent staff, an above-average salary will be necessary. This kind of compensation package may contain benefits for the workers in addition to a base income. You must stay current with market developments in both your field and related fields because many of the best workers may come from a variety of job categories. You will then understand the normal pay rate and where your company stands in the compensation offer. Second, personal awards should be in line with the varied contributions made by employees. These are performance-based rewards. By tying individual rewards to corporate performance goals, people are encouraged to maximise this result. It also instils a sense of ownership in the employee.
Training in Relevant Skills
According to this HR best practice, businesses should spend a lot of money and time on staff training. You must make sure that the top candidates stay at the forefront of the field once you have hired them. Due to the exponential growth in the rate of technological advancement, this is now even more important. This is where growth and learning are important. How do we build a company where the pace of learning and change is equal? To remain inventive, advance quickly, and maintain a competitive advantage, learning has become a need. Employers are spending more money on training programmes that target certain talents. The Economist’s special study on lifelong learning indicates that the availability of on-demand courses has increased dramatically. Everyone has access to the internet, which allows them to learn anything at any time, from anywhere. On-the-job learning is equally as significant as formal education. Peer learning, coaching, and increased emphasis on feedback all contribute to this. This is an example of the frequently cited 70|20|10 rule:
- Roughly 70% of learning comes from difficult tasks.
- 20% of learning comes from forming relationships with others.
- 10% of learning comes from formal training and coursework.
Creating a Flat and Egalitarian Organisation
The egalitarian management practices of Japan are the source of this practice in HR concepts. Even if we just observed that some employees are more crucial to the success of the company than others, we shouldn’t communicate this information in such a way. Every employee is an integral part of the firm and should be treated as such. The use of common canteens, uniforms, and uniform sick leave and vacation policies in Japanese businesses serve as examples of this. An egalitarian society demonstrates that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, and it may foster the flow of ideas.
The six human resources best practices discussed in this article cover every aspect of HR, from hiring and training to providing job security and fostering an open environment where individuals can exchange ideas and expertise.
These best practices serve as the cornerstone of efficient human resource management when put into practice. Implementation by itself, though, is insufficient. Additionally, these best practices must be in line with what the rest of the company is doing.
Leave a Reply