1Anyone who is an HR professional can tell you, there’s a lot to being successful in the job. One of the most important traits for anyone in the human resources field is patience. Here’s just a few of the challenges HR professionals have to deal with.
1. Long Lead Times for Hiring the Right Candidate: Getting the right candidate to fill a job vacancy can take up a significant amount of time. According to Glass Door in a survey conducted just last year, in the U.S. the average number of days it takes to hire anyone is roughly 22.9 days. In other industries, however, the number of days in the hiring process can more than double. In the area of healthcare, that number goes up to as much as 46.9 days.
Part of the reason for this lengthiness is the number of screens that are designed to weed out potential bad hires. The more screens there are for a candidate to go through, the more time it takes. Eliminating some of those screens that are redundant or less effective can make the hiring process go much faster.
2. Getting New Hires up to Speed: Most new hires complain of getting overloaded with information in order to get them onboard. This can cause a sense of being overwhelmed and really hit the self-confidence of new hires that doesn’t really rebound until 90 days after they are on the job. HR professionals can do much to help this onboarding process by asking feedback from new hires after the 90 day period. Ask them how the orientation process can be made better, or what made them uncomfortable. Also ask what part of their training or orientation was less necessary or could be eliminated to help them feel more comfortable faster.
3. Payroll Woes: The most time consuming process that most HR professionals face is doing payroll. The Hackett Group conducted a survey in 2014 that found it takes 25% of payroll personnel 50% of their time to more dealing with the tedious processes that are directly related to payroll. The more effective way to make it easier for HR departments in terms of how payroll is handled is to automate the processes, or employ other processes that can be employed that can make payroll tasks more effective so that HR personnel can focus on other areas.
4. Training: While most employees would welcome any kind of training that would help them be more effective at their jobs, some 33 percent of those surveyed felt that the training that they received was a waste of time. Perhaps the most effective way to find out what training programs are most beneficial to employees is to ask them what skills they would most like to learn in order to help them in their work. When training is offered, allow the employee to complete it at their own pace so that it doesn’t interfere with their current workload.
5. Feedback: Every employee wants and needs feedback. Unfortunately, however, for many, the feedback only comes at the annual performance review. This can often be too little too late, especially if a worker has multiple projects that they are working on. Having feedback at a time when it is most effective – when the employee can take action on the information is more effective than getting negative feedback long after anything can be done to correct the situation.
Human resource professionals have a difficult job to do. Companies often choose NetPEO for their human resource needs so that they can focus on the things that they do best.
Our wide range of services include payroll, employee benefits, liability management for employers, brokerage services, and employee leasing. Contact us today to discuss your company’s current needs and for a free, no risk assessment. Let NetPEO help you with all of your employee needs.