For many people, the typical Human Resources function is considered bureaucratic and steeped in process. And while you do need to be sensitive to legal compliance requirements there are ways to reduce an overload of HR processes.
For instance, in Silicon Valley operating a startup requires little to no HR processes. In startups, HR is a minimalist entity that offers employees basic amenities and only asks for a few government forms to be filled out. This mode of operation usually changes and eventually, like most large companies, HR processes creep in as the employee population grows. Soon the inevitable dilemma occurs between rigidly following policies in the employee handbook while simultaneously not stifling business operations. When grappling with this problem – can companies meet the needs of an expanding enterprise while keeping HR requirements to a minimum?
Tom Armor, co-founder of recruiting firm www.highreturnselection.com believes you can. Armor proved it when his firm reviewed their HR redundancies. “As we analyzed the various HR processes and data, we realized that HR was too involved in too many processes and often times interfered with the manager/employee relationship,” Armor said. Armor’s team did some rework and found success through better hiring, paper thin policy manuals, and placing the right people management tools in the hands of managers.
Erika Walker, HR Manager with www.bestessayhelp.com had a similar experience. Walker reviewed ways to reduce the burgeoning HR processes that created extra workload for her small firm. Looking at efficiencies of scale, her team significantly reduced the amount of decision making and approvals required for written requests for proposals. According to Walker, “We managed to get away from the written decision making process and focus on the final outcome by means of group discussions and personal communication.”
At the end of the day reducing the amount of processes in HR can be challenging. You certainly don’t want your organization to be caught off guard or at risk by lack of process, and you don’t want HR to be viewed as the police either. The trick is to find balance between baseline, essential policies HR must adhere to, and value driven policies that keep people productive and engaged.
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