To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of 10 things your HR department can do to start the new year off on the right foot:
1. Refine Your Performance Management Tactics
Performance reviews are crucial in working toward any company’s success. However, 45% of HR leaders do not believe that performance reviews are accurate measures of employee value. Performance reviews often happen at the end of the year, so now is a great opportunity to review how they went and highlight the areas that would benefit from a refresh. Reviews are an opportunity to open the dialogue between managers and employees to receive valuable two-way feedback, so ensuring they’re productive is critical to your employee development plan. And the statistics back this up: Recognition and feedback not only increases employee engagement but also leads to an 8.9% greater profitability for managers.
Bonus Content: Download our Guide to Delivering Constructive Feedback
2. Focus On Engagement
On average, a disengaged employee costs your company nearly 34% of their total salary. The downtime usually found at the end of the year is a great opportunity to focus on your engagement strategy by adding a little recognition to your holiday festivities. Employee recognition is an excellent and low-cost way to engage individuals. Fine-tune your recognition strategies to what your staff responds best to, and demonstrate how you appreciate the value they add to the company. Identify where you could have improved your engagement levels this past year, and address them in the year ahead. Need help? ClearCompany added Shout Outs and Celebrations this year, so you can recognize employees and get the team to participate in real-time.
3. Get Your Team On Board
Set your department up for success in 2020 by gathering as a team and running through the past year. Highlight your team’s accomplishments, acknowledge those employees who have gone above and beyond, and foster excitement for 2020 by outlining new goals. Provide all team members the opportunity to give input, and determine as a team what goals are most essential to your department’s success. Once these goals have been identified, set-up quarterly meetings to follow-up on these goals and measure your team’s progress. By including everyone as part of the process, they’ll be invested in next year’s success, too.
4. Get Ready For New Regulations
The end of the calendar year is a perfect time to step back and ensure your HR department is prepared for all the upcoming compliance requirements. Every year there are new conversations surrounding legislation on topics like workplace immigration, labor unions, and minimum wage laws, so here are a few key topics to prepare for 2020:
Minimum Wage:
States that have implemented a $15 minimum wage increased significantly in 2019, so prepare for the conversation around state and federal minimums to heat up. Make sure your department is prepared for any increases, and what happens to your hiring plan if that’s the case. This is a good opportunity to think proactively, rather than reactively.
Labor Unions:
2019 was a busy year for labor unions. It is essential to stay educated on the discussions, as the workplace environment is slated to become a topic that Congress battles over throughout the next year. Leave space in your 2019 plan to accommodate any changes to benefits, wages, and other labor regulations coming down the pipeline.
Overtime Pay:
The Department of Labor delivered a final rule on overtime in late September, with the new ruling taking place starting January 1, 2020. Schedule time at the end of the year to read up on the specifics of this new law and ensure your company prepares for the changes that will occur, and how they’ll affect your workers.
5. Schedule Time for Self-Examination
With the end of the year around the corner, it can often feel as though you are sprinting to the finish line. Take a moment to step back with your department and reflect on the last 4 quarters. Ask your team important questions that open up assessments of your current processes. What aspects are working well? What processes need a bit of a refresher for the new year? Here are a few questions to start the discussion off on the right foot:
- Are we providing our employees with the right tools for success?
- What are the strengths of our HR department? What are the weaknesses?
- How can we improve upon our strengths/weaknesses to better meet our goals?
- Is our hiring pipeline outlined and prepared for the new year?
Work as a team with your department to get answers to these questions and to create a strategy for success in 2020.
6. Hyper-Personalize Your Leadership Strategies
A one-size-fits-all strategy for leadership is not an effective way to motivate and engage employees. Utilize performance reviews and surveys to gather information on what methods of leadership work best for motivating your employees. Now that companies are managing such a diverse pool of human capital, it is imperative that hyper-personalization is implemented into HR services in order to retain skilled employees. It is important to practice flexibility and continual learning at all levels of leadership in your company; as your business evolves throughout the year you should be evolving your leadership methods as well.
7. Concentrate on Turnover
Spend the last few weeks of 2019 touching on the roadblocks your department faced in the hiring process. Focus on the data and facts surrounding the decisions made in the past year. Ask yourself:
- Who did we let go in the past 12 months, and why?
- How many people left our company voluntarily? Are they moving on to competitors?
- What can we do to better retain employees? Do we need to update our onboarding practices?
Challenge your department to view themselves from an outside perspective. Work as a group to identify areas that could use improvement, and focus your efforts on strategies for successful hiring in the new year.
Read more on how onboarding is essential to employee success.
8. Arrange Your Calendar Early
HR conferences are great opportunities to meet peers in your industry, learn about new trends and practices, and encourage continual learning to refine your team’s skills throughout the whole year. Capitalize on these opportunities by mapping out which conferences and events you want to attend before the new year begins. One recommended conference: the Talent Success Conference in September. TSC is always a great opportunity to learn from the pioneers and barrier-breakers in the HR Industry and keep your company ahead of the pack.
9. Budget for 2020
2019 is nearly over, and it is time to lock in spending and plan for the new year’s budget. ClearCompany helps to streamline spending by making the hiring process and talent management processes more efficient and effective. Our recruiting, applicant tracking and onboarding systems assist your HR department in all stages of the hiring process, and all offer free demos. For assistance further down the line, utilize our performance management systems to analyze talent, track and measure success, and continuously develop and engage your team. 2019 was jam-packed with improvements, and we’re looking forward to an even busier 2020. Carve out the budget to make sure you’re getting the tools you need most to be successful.
10. Ask The Tough Questions
Feedback is essential to improving both yourself and your department’s processes. However, you don’t always receive feedback you can act on. End 2019 by asking the tough questions — the ones that will give you the answers you need. Constructive criticism is the best way to evaluate the success of your current processes and identify areas that need improvement. Forbes calls this mentality “fearless listening”. Open yourself to honest feedback from your employees and you will be able to transform their comments into real, effective change that impacts your HR processes.
Preparing your HR department will bring a positive start to the new year. By taking the necessary time to reflect on your current processes and identify priorities for the new year, your team can look forward to 2020 with optimism and excitement. For more information on how to reach your professional goals in the new year, visit the ClearCompany website and connect with one of our experts today.
This post was originally published on the ClearCompany blog and was written by Meredith Wholley.
