HRM and How to Be Better at It

“Many people go through their whole lives having no real sense of what their talents may be, or if they have any to speak of. Human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep. You have to go looking for them; they’re not just lying around on the surface.” ― Ken Robinson

Human resources management (HRM) plays a critical role in a company’s productivity, as well as staff satisfaction and engagement. According to some estimates, HR work can take up to 25-35% of an entrepreneur’s time, and since businesses with fewer than 20 workers are known to have 60% higher compliance costs, it comes as no surprise to see more and more SMBs launching HR departments in view of optimizing the efficiency of human capital, minimizing business risk, and maximizing return on investment. But what exactly does the HR department do, what are its key responsibilities, and what tools can it use to boost efficacy with minimal expenses attached?

HRM Responsibilities: More Than Meets the Eye

The main responsibilities of the HR department within a company include recruitment, training, professional development and motivation, employee compensation and benefits, performance reviews and providing a definition and design of the workflow. Talent acquisition, development, and retention, change management, and labor law compliance are also an integral component of the HR department’s work. For this reason, the HR department has quite a few complex tasks on their hands, and it needs adequate tools to streamline its operations while at the same time ensuring minimal costs with a high ROI.

HRM Done Right: It’s always A Two-Way Street

When it comes to talent management, the HR department needs to figure out whether it pays more for the company to develop the critical talent internally or to recruit it, and it also needs to stay up-to-date with latest labor market tendencies and labor regulations to ensure observance of legal standards and smooth business operation.

An excellent example of HR work done right, Google is known to invest meticulous attention into talent recruitment and development for each of the strategic positions within the company. Another positive example of successful HRM efforts, HR experts at 3M and Genentech had the practice of encouraging the staff to pursue individual projects and develop new business ideas, thus boosting both employee engagement and satisfaction and attracting and developing critical talent.

Peak HR Performance: Tools of the HRM Trade

The work of the HR department covers a wide range of tasks, up to 7-25% of which boil down to handling employee paperwork. This is where smart tools and apps can come in handy: built to facilitate HR work and ensure superior employee experience, HR software solutions can serve as genuine time- and money-savers in matters related to labor market research, talent acquisition and training, data analysis, employee benefits records, and shift planning. Here are a few useful HR tools that can help an entrepreneur or HR department within a SMB dial up productivity with minimal costs involved.

Workable

A smart tool designed to streamline and facilitate all tasks pertaining to recruitment, Workable allows the HR team to stay on top of job postings across platforms, build a candidate database, track resumes and interview schedules, as well as scorecards and evaluations, and plan future hiring strategies. Easy-to-use and 100% reliable, Workable can make recruitment easier for the HR staff every step of the way.

WorkTango

Software built to facilitate communication between employees, management, and leadership, WorkTango allows workers to voice their real-time anonymous feedback and tap into career and personal development opportunities, while at the same time providing managerial bodies with key insights into team functioning required for report drafting. With the help of WorkTango, executives can boost employee productivity, engagement, and retention and devise strategic plans for corporate growth.

Manage With Success

A management tool used to consolidate and keep track of different administrative and strategic procedures within a single information system, Manage with Success features a straightforward dashboard which provides vital info on each employee and graphical portrayal of the business’ current state. Easy-to-use and customizable, Manage with Success is ideal for both small and mid-size companies looking to dial up their HR game and for large corporations in need of a simple yet comprehensive HR software system.

ShiftPlanning

A state-of-the-art call center scheduling software, ShiftPlanning is designed to assist HR experts in shift management, schedules, payrolls, reports, and other relevant tasks. With enhanced shift scheduling, higher employee retention, and better communication between the staff and managers, the smart software can save your small business time and money while ensuring glitch-free operation, performance tracking, increased transparency, and higher level of employee independence.

TalentOz

A cloud-based platform that covers all the Hire-to-Retire Processes, TalentOz is a one-in-all HRM tool that allows you to handle all phases of employee life cycle, from hiring to retirement, with a single easy-access software solution. A smart tool that will revolutionize the way entrepreneurs and SMBs handle talent recruitment and development, TalentOz covers strategic and transactional aspects of HCM and allows business leaders to access critical info anytime, anywhere.

HRM can make or break business success, which is why you shouldn’t neglect the role of the HR department in your private enterprise. If your eyes are set on steady and sustainable corporate growth, make sure you’ve handled the HR efforts like a pro, and arm yourself with one or more of the smart HRM tools listed above to curb waste of time and resources while optimizing the efficiency of employee benefits planning, talent acquisition, professional development, worker retention, performance tracking, and other relevant segments of HR work.