As companies grow it is common to implement HR transformation strategies. The idea is to put an HR department in place that can handle business growth.
People are one of the biggest assets for a company. Making sure there is proper human resource strategy in place ensures that right people are being hired and also are being managed properly during their tenure.
But there are a lot of bumps on the road to implementing an HR transformation strategy. Garnered through experiences in the space of HR, here’s a list of common mistakes made by companies when implementing a HR transformation strategy
Mistake #1 – Missing the Bigger Picture
It is the tendency of an organization to focus on small things, mostly day-to-day tasks. They make sure these tasks are done efficiently without keeping the bigger picture on mind. By bigger picture, we mean the ultimate vision of your company and where does the company stand today.
Mistake #2 – Not Aligning HR Strategies with Business Goals
We have seen some companies implementing HR strategies that are created on an island, separate from the business goals. When starting with an HR transformation strategy, take the company’s top priorities and use them as guidelines for the new HR strategy.
See: HR Focus: Moving Towards a 360-degree Transformation
Mistake #3 – Losing Focus on Unified Processes
Processes make business efficient and effective. Successful HR departments focus on the processes and the people that will carry out those processes so that the business can operate efficiently. Without a focus on the processes it’s easy to lose efficiency and effectiveness.
Mistake #4 – Not Giving Employees Ways to Make Process Improvements
Finding employees to complete tasks and carry out processes is one aspect of the HR department, but one mistake we usually see is that employees aren’t given the power to suggest process improvements.
HR department’s work is to make sure that there is continuous process improvement. The way to get improvements in place is to give employees various ways to make improvements.
This doesn’t mean employees can make changes at will, but through the proper channels that HR can manage and monitor.
Mistake #5 – Avoiding Communication with Employees Early In the Transformation
This mistake is most often observed. Company’s executives will move to implementing HR changes, but they won’t tell their employees until it’s time for implementation. Surprising employees in this manner can lead to a pushback. Change is difficult and employees often feel threatened by big, sweeping changes.
Communicate with your employees about HR changes. Let them know the reason for the change and why it’s good for the business and for their professional development.
Conclusion
It’s exciting to make changes in human resources because it usually means that your company is growing. But as you grow there are usually a few pains. While it’s difficult to avoid every mistake, but hopefully you can avoid the ones listed above by planning for them now.
Content Attribution:
Rolling Arrays is Asia’s premier award winning HR transformation company, headquartered in Singapore with offices in 6 countries. Since its inception in 2009, Rolling Arrays has successfully delivered more than 100 HR transformation projects for more than 50 blue-chip clients across Asia. A consultative approach to HR Processes, HR Functions and HR Software is Rolling Arrays core expertise and the primary catalyst for its’ success.
