You may have a list of personal New Year’s resolutions a mile long — hit the gym, read more books, decrease screen time — all designed to help make you a better version of yourself in 2019. But what about resolutions to make your HR department better this year?
The new year is the perfect time to commit to making changes big and small. Here are four HR resolutions to make for your organization in 2019.
1. Update Policies and Procedures
Your employee handbook, policies and procedures took a lot of time and effort to create. Don’t let them become obsolete by failing to update them regularly.
The start of the new year is the perfect time to review and revise these documents. Account for changes to laws and regulations that impact your industry, but also consider shifts in your workforce, culture and day-to-day operations that may need to be addressed.
Do you have a social media policy?
Do you need guidelines for an increasing number of remote employees?
Do policies reflect your organization’s diversity and inclusion efforts?
And if you don’t have an employee handbook, now is the time to develop one.
2. Harness Your Data
Despite living in such a data-driven world, historically, HR as an industry has failed to leverage data analytics. However, data can be extremely valuable within almost every area of HR, whether it’s recruitment, employee satisfaction, turnover, education and training, or others.
Data can reveal patterns, challenges, successes and areas of opportunity, allowing you to become more efficient, improve employee satisfaction and ultimately help you reach your organizational goals. Learn more about using people analytics to improve business and HR decisions.
3. Use Your Goals to Prioritize
It’s not uncommon for a department or team to set goals at the beginning of the year — and then forget about them until Q4. Keep your business, department, team and personal goals top of mind all year long. Everything you do should roll up to those goals. Use them to prioritize the many projects and tasks on your list and help you allocate where you spend your time and resources.
4. Seek Support
Many organizations don’t have a large HR department — some don’t have HR-specific roles at all. Office managers, operations staff and even communications professionals can find themselves fulfilling what are technically HR functions. If you are responsible for HR functions in your organization, either as a sole HR professional, part of a lean HR team, or in a different role entirely, you may need some help.
The good news is there are many resources available. One of the most beneficial is a membership to your local SHRM chapter and National SHRM. As a member, just a few benefits you receive are continuing professional development and certification support, opportunities to connect and collaborate with professionals across the state, and regular news updates and education resources.
And of course, there is the HR Indiana Annual Conference, which brings together the best and brightest HR practitioners in the state and across the country to share their expertise and best practices.
Need help convincing your boss to send you to the 2019 HR Indiana Annual Conference? Share these four reasons.