5 New Year’s Resolutions for Strategic HR Leaders

New Year’s is upon us and who doesn’t love a fresh start? Of course, every quarter, every month or every Monday is a chance to start over. But, there’s nothing quite like the universally accepted “reset” button that is January 1. As you begin to think through your major goals for next year, we want to give you some inspiration. Here’s a list of strategic HR resolutions that will have hard-hitting results across your entire department.  

1. Put an end to bad habits and do a process audit.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of sticking with long-held processes simply because they get the job done. Especially when it’s hectic, the smartest move at the time seems like it’s to trudge through processes we’re familiar with, rather than take the time out to revaluate them. But, this cycle will always hold HR back from being strategic and keeping pace with change.

The new year is the perfect time to break this pattern. Get your stakeholders in a room, take a step back and look at what’s duplicative, where roadblocks occur and what can be improved. The upfront work will have huge payoffs down the line and pave the way for automation or shared services (if you’re not already there).

2. Finally break up with all that paper.

If you do the process audit mentioned above, it will become clear how much smoother certain tasks could be once scanning, copying, filing and faxing are eliminated. Replacing your paper files with digital files also makes it possible to introduce automation, the ultimate time saver. Practical reasons aside, going digital can enhance the perception of HR, internally and externally. Nothing reinforces the idea of an HR “paper pusher” more than, well, paper.

3. Feel confident when it comes to compliance.

Does a pit form in your stomach when you hear the word “audit?” It doesn’t have to be that way. This year, vow to not only convert to digital employee files, but centralize those files in a system that makes it easy to know which documents are missing or are about to expire. In other words, be proactive. The right employee file management system not only ensures you’ll pass an audit, but eases the process of going through one. Imagine being able to pull an employee’s I-9 form as easily as you search for a sweater online. Speaking of sweaters…

4. Deep clean your knowledge portal.

It’s often cited that we only wear about 20% of the clothing in our closets. The remaining 80% are items we never wear because they don’t fit, they’re out of style, or we bought a newer version and never tossed the old one. The same could be true of your knowledge portal. How much of the information in there is outdated or duplicated? Which topics do you have documentation on, but still get a ton of requests about?

Once you have all the right pieces in your knowledge portal, your employees can better self-serve and your team can reduce the time they spend responding to basic queries. The best way to determine the right pieces is to look at your knowledge base analytics. Which leads me to our final resolution…

5. Make better and quicker decisions by taking advantage of analytics.

All of the initiatives discussed so far are, without a doubt, resource-intensive. But, they can be done much more easily with the right analytics. For example, analytics can tell you exactly where in your processes bottlenecks occur, the percentage of your workforce that has completed a compliance-related document, and which knowledge base updates will likely save employee services’ time.

Analytics can be intimidating, especially if you’re not a numbers person. Luckily, today’s HR technology makes it super easy to access and interpret analytics. All you need to do is commit to making analytics a regular part of your decision-making process.

Now that you have some ideas for your 2018 goals, it’s time to take action. You didn’t think we’d leave you hanging, did you? Of course not.

We have all the information you need for a successful new year in our special holiday gift to you: Modern HR Service Delivery: The Ultimate Box Set for HR Service Leaders. It’s a collection of our very best eBooks, available all together in one convenient download. It’s only here for a short time, so make sure you claim your gift today!