5 HR Best Practices that You Need to Know

With technology upping the rules of the game, HR practitioners can no longer follow the same-old, same-old path that had been the norm, even a couple of years back. Because HR best practices are evolving at breakneck speed, it is essential to know what are the practices that are currently being adopted to hire right and retain staff. 

Implementing standard internal policies and procedures are not enough. They need to work for your business. There’s no one-size-fits-all system unfortunately. But knowledge about the latest practices can steer you in the right direction. Here are some reliable HR best practices to ensure continued business success through retention and growth of valuable employees.

Selective recruitment- As technology outpaces candidate experience and education, skill shortages are set to increase. Knowledge-based positions in organisations require a specific skill set and these are the positions that require more attention to detail on the part of the recruiter to avoid making a bad hire. 

Technical skills are easier to find than specialized soft skills and where technical skills can be assessed effectively through various tests, the same can’t be said about soft skills. This is where psychometric assessment can come in handy. 

The HR team of an organization needs to come up with a sound hiring strategy specially for these kinds of roles. A great step forward could be to join professional groups on social media where such candidates are likely to participate. Regular engagement can help you get in touch with the right people. 

Social media engagement and psychometric assessments are both popular HR best practices for very strong reasons. While social media can get you in touch with the right candidates while promoting your brand, psychometric assessments can help you in identifying invisible skills. 

Employee compensation- Satisfactory compensation (or a great one!) is one of the single most important ways to retain valuable employees. The HR should keep abreast of the current salary trends. If news leaks into the candidate market that the company does not pay as per industry standards, the organisation will fail to attract top talent. 

When putting out a job requirement, the hiring team should come up with a good employee compensation package that spells out the appropriate total rewards package (not just salary).This is an effective way to attract the best candidates. Employees who are well paid are less inclined to resign.

Maximise employee motivation by combining company performance outcomes with individual rewards. Stock options are a great way to create a sense of ownership among employees and makes them more committed to the organization’s long-term goals. Hence, compensation is a crucial part of successful talent management. 

Training and development- One of the most effective ways to ensure training for employees is to hire interns to reduce training costs before getting them onboard as  full-time employees. 

With technology rapidly evolving, you need to keep your employees at the top of their game by training them to keep up with the rest of the industry. 

Another important aspect of HR is to train resources according to specific skills required in that position. If you are teaching skills that don’t line up with work requirements, then it’s a futile exercise. 

Studies also show that employee turnover rate can drop significantly when young employees are given opportunities for growth and development. 

Avoid micromanagement- If there’s something that puts off people, that’s got to be micromanagement! Nobody wants the boss or the manager constantly breathing down his/her neck. From the very beginning, it should be made clear to candidates that if they get the role, they need to take complete ownership. That they will be the ones behind the wheel. And as long as the work gets done, deadlines are met and the quality is as expected, there will be no hiccups. 

Offering adequate security and coverage– Life is unpredictable. The workplace of an employee provides security and stability and that’s the number one reason why people come to work. Hence, employee security is an important HR best practice. Providing attractive security policies is a great way to retain your workforce. 

When organisations have to layoff employees, it is as damaging for them as it is for the employees. The process of selecting, hiring, training and retaining staff is an expensive one. And downsizing your workforce means that a lot of time, money and effort has been wasted. Hence, employee security is a dual edged sword and serves both parties equally well.