What are the most common HR mistakes companies make?
- Ineffective hiring practices
- Using outdated employee handbooks
- Failing to document performance issues
- Sticking to paper-based processes
- Incomplete employee files
- Not managing attendance
It’s easy to not think too hard about how your HR department is doing — especially when things seem to be flowing smoothly. After all, every day is filled with far more pressing concerns, right?
But being proactive about identifying problems and improving your HR practices can help prevent countless headaches, and protect your business from costly legal problems.
So, here are six of the most common HR mistakes, and how to resolve them:
Ineffective hiring practices
Many mistakes can be made in the recruitment and hiring process. Without proper training and protocol, your people could make costly errors, such as not hiring quick enough, neglecting employment laws, not verifying documents, or having an interview process that is too long.
So, go over your hiring process again. Set top-notch and well-thought-out practices, and read up on employment laws. Doing so will help your business find the best candidates for each role who will remain loyal to your organization. And, it’ll help you avoid any legal problems!
Using outdated employee handbooks
Every business should have an updated employee handbook — no exceptions. If you don’t put your company rules in writing, then you’re at risk of people exploiting loopholes or creating problems for your company.
Even a few pages outlining acceptable and expected behavior will provide a framework for your people to follow. Your handbook should be updated regularly, and all employees should be given a copy to read and sign. This will ensure they abide by its policies.
Remember to include the following basics:
- Code of conduct
- Data privacy and communication policies
- Nondiscrimination policy
- Compensation and benefits schema
- Employment and termination guidelines
Failing to document performance issues
Your HR team should always document any performance issues that they come across. It’s crucial for evaluating which employees need corrective action, and which employees should be considered for termination.
Having these issues go undocumented makes this process difficult, as you have no frame of reference regarding their past performance. So, always remember to highlight any misdemeanor or significant problems during performance check-ins.
Sticking to paper-based processes
That said, HR documentation should never be done on paper. For many businesses who have relied on paper-based processes since the beginning, making the switch to digital may seem unnecessary. However, you’ll be saving your people a lot of time and grief if you empower them with the right software and tools.
By moving away from those outdated practices, keeping track of important documents, memos, and other information will be much easier. Your HR team doesn’t have to break their backs trying to manually process and file hundreds of applicants, performance reviews, and disciplinary actions on paper. And, the risk of human error, misplacement, and fraudulent documents is decreased. All in all, switching to digital processes is just more efficient.
Incomplete employee files
For compliance reasons, it’s important that your employee files are always complete. However, many HR departments struggle with this task, as there are many different forms — such as leave forms, employee identity, contracts, health and welfare benefits — to take care of.
For that reason, it’s best to turn to digital solutions. This ensures that all documents are filed in one place, and are easily accessible when the need arises. Using a digital system also helps make the process of adding or updating files much easier, as your people no longer need to scan, write, print, and reupload documents manually.
Not managing attendance
The process of tracking attendance has always been a complicated task for HR departments. Not only do they have to record the time-in and time-out, they also have to monitor if employees are actually present and productive during work hours. Furthermore, they also have to keep track of leave requests, scheduling, overtime, and more attendance issues.
This puts a lot of strain on HR departments, especially when there are hundreds of employees to keep track of. However, there’s a simple solution: time tracking software. This tool enables your HR to get rid of traditional manual attendance tracking systems. Instead, they rely on automated time recording functions.
With this solution, you could help your HR team improve their productivity and efficiency — since many of the tasks involved with attendance become automated. And, since data is sent and checked electronically by the system, there is reduced risk of human error. Lastly, these systems prevent time stealing, which result in accurate payroll calculations. With these systems, less time is spent on attendance issues.
Key Takeaway
There are many common HR mistakes that your people can make. Luckily, most of these problems can be easily avoided by relying on a powerful HR tool like ELID’s CheK HRMS!
This HR solution packages modules for time management, human resource, and payroll in one easy-to-use software. Message us today to learn more about how this product can help your business manage HR processes and data!