2020 was one of (if not the most) challenging years HR Professionals have seen. The sudden need to work from home, parents monitoring their children’s education during work hours, constantly changing regulations, and endless zoom meetings were not what we expected when we started last year. While challenging, 2020 illustrated just how critical top-notch HR practices are for sustaining businesses and their employees through both good and bad times. Here’s what you need to know for ensuring excellent HR practices in 2021.
Start making your performance appraisal plan now
Performance appraisals are one of the most powerful tools HR can use to boost the operations of an organization. By using a holistic approach to employee performance management, HR becomes even more strategic! It allows us to not only keep the business’s goals in mind but the goals of the employee too. When these priorities are aligned, it leads to growth for everyone! Make the most of your performance appraisal by getting a head start with planning and strategy right now.
Analyze Your To-Do List
Businesses should make an effort to evaluate their HR procedures at the start of every year. We recommend your HR team design their to-do list for the year starting with four components:
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Yearly Training Schedule: Training is an ongoing process for every employee, no matter what stage they are in their career. Making sure that your workplace is engaged and working well together (respectfully) is key! We offer customized training sessions to help keep your team on track this year.
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Update Job Descriptions: Every manager should meet with their employees to ensure that they’re still on the same page about their job responsibilities. Updating the job description ensures that employees know what is expected of them and that it accurately reflects their current position.
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Measure and Reflect On Turnover: 2020 brought huge lifestyle changes for many people, causing them to leave their jobs. Add in financial struggles and layoffs, and turnover for last year may have looked starkly different than in previous years. This is important to consider when forecasting turnover for the coming year.
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Evaluate PTO Policies: With many people working from home and limiting their travel, PTO looked very different in 2020. Bearing in mind that more flexible work arrangements are likely to continue even after working in offices becomes safe again, it’s advisable to evaluate how your PTO is structured, and how employees are utilizing their leave.
Be a good Work From Home Boss
We’re still going to be working from home in 2021, and we’ll likely have more flexible work arrangements for the rest of our careers! By now your team should have all of the technical tools they need to do their jobs efficiently from home. But when was the last time you checked in with your own WFH management style? Working remotely while managing employees who are no longer just a few steps away is a new skill set for most managers. Make sure to set clear expectations while remaining flexible, and above all else: make sure you’re maintaining good communication with your employees!
Encourage employees to care for their mental health
2020 was filled with challenges none of us expected. More people are experiencing depression and anxiety than ever before. We’re now at a time where mental health is discussed more openly, and the stigma around mental health is becoming a thing of the past. A great HR team knows that you can’t ignore the mental health of the employees that they support. Here are our top tips for managing employee mental health moving forward.
Start planning now for HR 2025
The future of HR is what we’re doing right now. Great HR leadership will be setting the tone for the future of HR. Preparing ourselves and the businesses we work with for the next stage of the workforce is critical! This includes having conversations on inclusivity, redesigning benefits packages, and staying up to date with ever-changing regulations.
Even with the challenges we faced in 2020, we discovered how strong we were, and we can’t help but be hopeful for the future. We’re grateful and excited to keep working with awesome companies and nonprofits across the gulf south, bringing strategic HR to small and medium-sized organizations. Contact us today to set up a consultation to explore how HR can boost your business. We love HR so you don’t have to!
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