Human Resources (HR) Best Practices

Develop an Online Knowledge Base that Answers Common Questions and Issues to Improve Customer Experience

Best Practice (Good)

Create an easily searchable external HR knowledge base (FAQs, benefit information, and more housed on the company Intranet, or similar) for the organization that allows employees find answers to common benefits and compensation-related questions. Ensure that the HR knowledge base is clear and easily understandable. Furthermore, ensure that the knowledge base is updated based on new benefits or compensation plans, feedback from employees and common inquiries.

Typical Practice (Bad)

Contact the HR team to answer all compensation-related inquiries. It is the responsibility of the HR team to keep all employees informed about their benefits and compensation plans.

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Benefits:

Creating an easily searchable and understandable external HR knowledge base allows employees to quickly find answers to simple benefits and compensation inquiries. This not only reduces the amount of time employees spend searching for answers, but it also frees up HR employees to focus on higher value, core tasks.

Invest in Employee Education and Development to Improve Customer Satisfaction and Retention Rates

Best Practice (Good)

Invest in employee education and development, through tuition reimbursement, leadership programs, and/or support or sponsorship for attending conferences or seminars that align with company goals. Educational investment will not only encourage employee retention and career growth, but it will also allow the employee to use their newfound knowledge for the benefit of the company.

Typical Practice (Bad)

Train and educate employees on all aspects required to complete their job in a successful and efficient manner. Ensure that employees are educated on company policies or procedures that have been recently updated (security, federal and state policy changes, etc.).

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Benefits:

While a company's training programs bring employees up to speed on company policies/procedures and what is required to successfully complete the tasks assigned to them, there are many subjects these programs are unable to supply. Investing in employee education and development therefore allows employees to bring in and use the knowledge they gained to benefit the company. Such investments, moreover, incentivize employees to do more for the company and increase employee retention rates.

Periodically Update and Audit the HR Employee Database to Improve Database Accuracy

Best Practice (Good)

Ensure that the HR employee database (PeopleSoft, or similar) undergoes periodic (monthly, quarterly) updates and data quality audits. Proactively communicate with departmental managers and employees, if necessary, to ensure data accuracy, correct errors and fill in any missing information. Furthermore, ensure that the database is updated when an employee leaves the organization.

Typical Practice (Bad)

Update relevant portions of the HR database only when a departmental manager or employee communicates that a particular piece of information needs to be changed (phone number, address, compensation, etc.). Major database updates and/or audits should be avoided, simply because it takes time away from completing other HR Generalist activities, which may be perceived to be more high value.

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Benefits:

An accurate and up-to-date HR database prevents errors from taking place in areas that rely on current employee information. For instance, employee payroll records should be updated when there is a pay raise to prevent the wrong amount of compensation from being delivered. Similarly, if an employee leaves the company, but the HR record is not updated, the ex-employee might not only erroneously continue to receive payment, but be able to access company systems. As such, keeping the HR employee database up-to-date ensures that employees are kept happy while reducing potential company liabilities.

Track Follow-Up Actions on Performance Issues to Encourage Employee Improvement

Best Practice (Good)

Proactively track follow-up actions related to performance issues to address organizational priorities and hold individuals accountable for making incremental and constant (daily, weekly) progress towards performance targets. To further incentivize performance improvement, link pay increases, awards and bonuses to organizational unit and individual performance through the use of a transparent performance management system. Daily dashboards and management "huddles" are effective tools in communicating performance targets and related best practices to staff members.

Typical Practice (Bad)

Address organizational priorities with employees with low productivity or quality of work and hold them accountable for tracking and improving their own work methods.

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Benefits:

Tracking follow-up actions on performance issues ensures that employees understand their responsibility in improving their performance and any resulting consequences (positive or negative). Incite employee ambition and their desire to succeed by using performance management systems that make meaningful distinctions in individual performance (e.g., through ratings and/or bonuses) to link pay increases, awards and bonuses to organizational unit and individual performance targets.