This month we have been sending out reminders on HR best practices: reviewing and updating your employment posters and making sure your employee handbook is current. Our last New Year’s HR resolution is to recommend you conduct an HR audit. An HR audit is simply a review of processes and activities to ensure you are working efficiently, effectively, and in a compliant manner. There are probably many priorities you are dealing with right now. You have probably just wrapped up your annual enrollment and are already working on performance reviews and merit increases. While you may not be able to dive into an audit until the second quarter, getting your plan together now can help you get started quickly once the end-of-the-year / beginning-of-the-year activities subside. It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing things the same way each year. But there are so many new tools to help get the HR paperwork handled more efficiently, it’s worth taking a step back and assessing what you are doing and ask yourself: Why is it done this way? Are there ways I solve similar problems in other aspects of my life that I can apply here? Where do I spend most of my time? Does it add value? Do other perceive this work as meaningful? For any given process, if I review the number of steps involved, can I combine or reduce some? What else could I do if some of these other tasks took less time? How should you go about reviewing your HR processes? Break it down…start with employee relations, then work on training, recruitment, compensation, etc. If you cannot conduct a complete audit at once, select a function and work on it over the month. The following month move on to the next one. Document the steps involved in each task and then see what can be reduced or combined. Pro tip: turn your documentation into a policy and procedure, so that if you need to train someone else to back you up, you have it all documented. Get some third-party input. You can have an HR consultant spend some time performing the review for you. The value of this approach is that you can get...
Read More
Are you a newer organization that has to develop your Human Resources function? Recently, Organizational Architecture worked with a company that was just starting on the path of building its HR function, and needed some help assessing what they were doing and how to build their HR processes the right way. ALICE Training Institute was founded in 2013. The ALICE [Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate] Training instructor-led classes provide preparation and a plan for individuals and organizations on how to more proactively handle the threat of an aggressive intruder or active shooter event. Whether it is an attack by an individual person or by an international group of professionals intent on conveying a political message through violence, ALICE Training option based tactics have become the accepted response, versus the traditional “lockdown only” approach. Since they had been in business for several years, we performed a review of their HR practices to make sure they were in full compliance. Then, we turned our focus to improving processes to ensure the HR function was operating effectively and efficiently. Dave Mueller, Chief Executive Officer, said: We contacted Organizational Architecture to help us make sure we were operating in a compliant manner, and to ensure we were building effective processes to ensure our people were treated in a fair and consistent manner. They didn’t let us down. Not only did they review our programs and make recommendations to ensure we were compliant and efficient, they also assisted us with building an employee relations model that was responsive to employees and helped our supervisors become more effective at leading their people. The mission of ALICE Training Institute is to SAVE MORE LIVES. Their program is critical to helping ensure people have an effective response to active shooter situations. Most organizations could benefit from their training. If you would like to learn more, contact us and we can connect you with their Program Management team to get your training scheduled. Do you need to review your HR function for compliance and efficiency? Learn more about our HR consulting services and check out our blog. Then, contact us to see how we can help...
Read More
This month’s success story highlights how Organizational Architecture has assisted their client Montefiore conduct an HR operations audit. For more than 130 years, Montefiore has cared for Cleveland’s aging Jewish and general community. They continue to provide excellent and comprehensive care to individuals as they age and support to families by offering a full continuum of care services. Seth Vilensky, President and CEO of Montefiore, said, “As our organization and healthcare industry has grown and evolved over the years, we recognized that new developments have presented new challenges to the way our Human Resources department provides service to our employees and organization. And it can be difficult to address these challenges internally. Organizational Architecture has provided us with exactly what we needed to face these challenges: an outside perspective to assess our entire human resources function, paired with a thorough analysis of findings and suggestions of best practices to improve specific areas. Our leadership team feels much more comfortable with how we can stay strategic and proactive in addressing HR challenges as our organization continues to grow and our industry continues to evolve”. When current processes and procedures are faced with new challenges, conducting an audit of your HR function provide a strategic approach to identifying and solving any issues, whether it’s your entire HR operations or a specific function within HR like compensation or talent management. OA also assisted with recruitment for some challenging health care professional positions and supported the HR team for almost a year with sourcing and screening candidates for tough-to-fill positions. Want to learn more about our HR operations audit services, as well as our other HR consulting services? Contact us and check out our blog for more helpful...
Read MoreToday’s success story highlights how Organizational Architecture can assess their client’s overall human resource function through a meaningful, focused, and thorough HR operations audit. Starting in October 2016, Organizational Architecture conducted an HR operations audit for a local nursing home and assisted-living facility to identify and address any compliance issues or areas of improvement. Senior Leadership and the Human Resources department initially contacted us to help them assess their HR function and make suggestions in areas they could improve their service. We started the assessment by conducting on-site audit meetings and interviews with key leadership members and the Human Resources department to collect data and gain a thorough, in-depth look at their current human resources processes and procedures. Areas of assessment included talent acquisition; compensation and benefits; employee and labor relations; performance management; succession planning; training, development, and orientation; legal and regulatory compliance; and recordkeeping, administration, and HR systems. Once we concluded our HR operations review, we were able to provide our client with specific findings and action items including a detailed report of the analysis, findings, and recommendations based on data collected during the audits and interviews. With our analysis, our client feels equipped with the right tools and resources to improve their current human resources function to help better service employees and the overall organization. Do you need assistance with identifying areas of opportunity within your HR function to develop your workforce strategy? Contact us and check out our blog for more helpful...
Read More