What are HR Best Practices?
HR best practices are the universal principles used by human resources that streamline business performance regardless of which sector you are working with.
It is the universal principle of Human resources management processes and actions that deliver organisations with optimal business performance regardless of any organisation. In HRM research, there are two techniques to manage people. The first idea is the best fit, and the second is best practices.
What is the difference between HR best practices and HR activities?
Before having a detailed description of HR best practices, it is essential to clarify the difference between HR practices and HR activities. HR practices cover the strategic operation of Human Resource specialists, and on the other hand, HR activity includes a detailed process of employee recruitment system from posting vacancies to onboarding employees, managing payroll and benefits, disciplining employees, etc.
In simple sentences, HR best practices identify a business’s needs, build plans, achieve targets, etc. And HR activities are all about executing plans and meeting business goals.
➔ Universal HR Best Practices of the company include:
- Planning the best Human Resources policies
- Setting the Human Resource Department goals
- Creating Plans for smooth Human Resources Department workflows,
- Showcasing performance parameters
- Designing diverse plans for maintaining quality.
- Formulating leadership programs
- Showcasing talent acquisition ideas.
- Building motivation amongst employees.
HR activities include daily activities and strategies to run the management system successfully.
➔ HR activities that maybe include:
- Surveys
- Vacancy Posting
- Selection and Recruitment
- Onboarding
- Development and Training
- Compensation and Favours
- Payroll and Attendance
- Retention
- Security and health
- Overtime and bonuses
But HR requires HR practices and activities to run employee management systems successfully.
Top 10 Best HR Best Practices for building a better workplace in 2024.
1. Quality Hiring-
Quality hiring means onboarding employees who add value. In this case, you can’t just continue the random hiring process, requiring people fit for the job. You can organize a structured and fair selection process by hiring people who are adequate for the company’s productivity.
The most valuable strategies to employ quality candidates are IQ tests, work tests, peer assessments, onboarding, and induction. HR can uncover the candidate features like,
▸ Dedication:
Whether the candidates commit to work and add value to the organization or showcase their abilities.
▸ Quick Learning:
Whether the candidates are fast learners or not. Is the provided training worthful for improving their skills?
▸ Adaptability and Flexibility
Is the person appropriate for the job? Does the person know and understand the right technical and soft skills well?
2. Inclusive Workplace
Onboard Understandably, a positive ambiance can create enthusiasm in employees’ work performance. It doesn’t matter how experienced or efficient your employees are. A positive people-first culture impacts delivering something creative and impactful, which is one of the best practices that lead to high company productivity.
Maintaining an inclusive workplace is trending now. Companies are following it. A comfortable work atmosphere brings a healthy relationship between employees and managers. They can relate to each other for the common good of the organization. Happy employees and managers spread the positive word about the organization attracting new talents. And new employees, flowing with a comfortable working ambiance, will adopt all these traits.
In conclusion, an inclusive workspace organization can maintain employee engagement and create a happy, comfortable, and balanced work life.
3. Prioritize Work Security
Employment contracts lead to employee job security. Employees must know their terms of employment and how much they’ll earn. It is the best HR policy, aligns with business strategy and trade conditions, and sets a realistic payroll budget. Offering job security is as much about business ethics as it is about business practices.
4. Performance-based Compensation
HR must follow current salary trends across the desired field and adjacent areas. They should keep up-to-date salary surveys, like PayScale, Appraisals, Salary Packages, etc. Including all the ins and outs of employee engagement in your company, salary compensation is the key to HR best practices.
But before commencing, you should understand the average pay market rate and where your company ranks in the compensation offer.
▸ How it works:
- Select only quality candidates.
- Discuss the employee compensation with the entire hiring team so that you can select the appropriate salary package for employees.
- You can reward the employees’ different performance-related contributions as well.
- Apart from budgets, it is also essential to know what candidates are worth and what the companies can afford.
- Before taking it as a Human Resources best practice, deciding what skillset you desire and the quantity you can invest in a position is essential.
5. Training and Development
One of the Human Resouces’ best practices is to invest in training and development. It is an essential solution to improving the current workforce by delivering skill-specific training, supporting and encouraging your employees to train well, and engaging them in their work and your organization. Employees also love their skill improvement.
▸ Skill-Specific training for experienced persons:
The HR department should provide skill-specific training or domain introduction. So that employees can focus on new learning and update their skill set, it is an essential tool for the Human Resources best practices.
▸ Freshers Employees Value Learning:
Providing training to freshers is one of the best factors of HR best practices. After joining a company, freshers need training and value-learning for their skills, ready to improve and train for new positions. This employee eagerness leads to high productivity and business growth.
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6. Business Transparency
Business transparency is the key element to maintaining the Human Resouces best practice. Complete transparency between the organization and employees brings trust, reflecting business growth and productivity. Success-failure leads to demotion and lack of productivity if there is a lack of employee-organization communication and never sharing business objectives.
There’s little value in building a good employer brand if everything is kept a secret from employees. Business transparency and easy access to information are reciprocal because it promotes trust and better employee engagement.
▸ How its work
What’s happening in an organization is best to be transparent with all. It brings out the best in people. Often sharing things is the best idea when the organization is going through anything serious.
7. Employee Incentives
Providing incentives based on performance management is one of the hr best practices. But it must be inducted correctly. Here are some of the best Human Resouce practices for effective employee incentives.
Know what Motivates Employees: Some organizations first research employee requirements like what motivates them, either by using commission or productivity or a limit raise to an annual bonus at the end of the year.
Every year raising wages regardless of performance is not incentivizing employees as employees expect the raise no matter what. But certain kinds of promotional announcements or some extra amount of credit encourage the employees to improve company productivity.
8. Employee Benefits
Employee benefit is one of the most acceptable options for the HR best practice. It curbs the employee retention rate in organizations. But first, it is essential to identify why you step back in recent market competition and the reason for struggling with employee retention.
To experience good productivity and minimal employee retention, an employer must consider what benefits bring excellent value to the employee. With human resource practices, employers can choose to provide medical coverage, travel coupon, fitness centers, some refreshing events, and other benefits, showing the value of their employees.
▸ How do Employee benefits work?
Here is an example from Google. With a survey, Google realized that a certain number of female workers gradually decreased daily. Those are mainly younger women who left to have children. Google implemented an extended five-month maternity leave policy with full pay benefits for female employees.
It isn’t feasible for all companies, and it is essential to identify what your employees require from the company. And one more fundamental point is that human resources must remember to treat employees like they are valuable to your company.
9. Recruitment and Selection
innovative recruitment and streamlined hiring are practical and are one of the best HR practices for good productivity. There are various creative hiring processes, but they are unsuitable for every company.
Before attending the particular recruitment and selection process, it is essential to identify whether the process is beneficial for the company’s business growth or not. Here are a few strategies to consider.
▸ Panel Interviews:
When it comes to interviewing panels, proper strategies and collaboration of the interviewers are essential to choosing a quality employee. Conducting panel interviews is one more effective way of HR best practices.
A panel interview is mainly a single-way process where candidates face multiple one-on-one interviews. The panel’s goal is to select the best candidate based on the information.
▸ Eye-catchy advertisement:
It is essential to advertise the job vacancy attractively so that more candidates reach the posts and apply for it. Suppose you are planning to hire experienced candidates or some high-performers. In that case, it is essential to provide details on your organization, such as what technology you use, what kind of products you create, your mission and vision, add-on learning sessions, and more. It is helpful for the candidate to choose your organization over another.
▸ Internships:
No one likes non-paid internships. So, if your company likes to hire interns, you should seriously consider paying them. If organizations can train them with some immediate learning skills in a particular desired field, they will indeed get some quality employees in the future. If there is a specific intention to move an intern to a full-time position, invest in them early on.
▸ Video Interviewing:
Video interviewing is in trending now. It is an excellent tool for saving time for both candidates and employers. Through this video interview, employers can identify the candidates who are serious about applying as video interviews represent the interest on the candidate’s part.
10. Terminations
It is the most challenging task as HR best practices because it will always be difficult for those involved. HR best practices, including termination, should be addressed before the employees reach the trigger. Some features employers can follow before the time of the termination process.
1. Show empathy
Show empathy to the employees, not sympathy. It is always important to clarify why organizations decide to let them go.
2. Stay stuck on a decision
Stay stuck on your decision even if the employee gets emotional or says they will do better.
3. Exit interview
Conduct a face-to-face or survey-based exit interview. An exit interview emphasizes full employment.
When implementing HR best practices, you may understand that employees leave soon, So it might be time you consider revamping your following hiring process.
HR best practices in the Renowned Companies
➔ FedEx
FedEx organization practices the “People-Service-Profit” philosophy in the case of the care and well-being of its employees. They conduct group surveys to meet goals, discuss results, address issues, and propose solutions, where employees can manage their problems at a fast pace.
The philosophy acknowledges the importance of employee satisfaction and safety. Accordingly, it reflects on innovative quality service, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
Google realized that a certain number of female workers gradually decreased daily. Those are mainly younger women who left to have children. Google implemented an extended five-month maternity leave policy with full pay benefits for female employees.
➔ OXFAM
As a charity, OXFAM continues with employee training and development as the HR best practices. OXFAM values their employees by investing in training so that employees share their best output in productivity.
➔ Accenture
Identifying the quotes sharing is caring; Accenture India has introduced a policy called ‘Hours That Help’. This policy allows employees to donate not needed leaves to their colleagues.
➔ BHEL
Bharat Heavy Electronics offers employees a flexible workload on any verticals they want. It is one of the best Human resource practices now. In this policy, if you are an engineer and you have a specific interest in accounts handling, you can look into both areas simultaneously.
➔ Godrej
Godrej decides to launch uncapping sick leaves for the employees. It means unlimited paid leave due to the sickness of employees. This policy improved employee engagement and productivity well. The company has set an excellent example for others to follow.
Besides, The company has also introduced programs like Godrej LOUD (Live Out Ur Dreams). It is an exclusive platform for the b-school student to signify their dreams. Through this platform, Godrej attracts the best talent from business schools who are passionate about their dream job but have not been able to fulfil because of either time or financial limitations.
A final thought on HR Best Practice
This article shows you the 10 Human Resource best practices and some significant company examples. It describes interviewing, hiring, and training to offer job security, open culture, a work atmosphere, etc. Human resource best practices seem like a bridge between employee satisfaction to business output.
Often, the Human Resources Management team becomes messed up while finalizing their HR best practices for their company. If your organization is ready to follow the HR best practices and tries to follow those 10 principles, you must see a higher employee retention rate, productivity, and outstanding business growth.
