When was the last time you gave your HR processes a thorough health check? In the same way your car needs a service every year to keep it running smoothly, a HR health check ensures your business stays compliant, efficient, and can take care of your most important business asset – your people.
When you’re busy running a growing business, it’s easy to forget about some of the important foundational elements that are going to keep your people focused and productive whilst ensuring your business stays compliant.
An annual HR health check can look different for every business, but here are some of the things that it might include:
Compliance check and risk assessment
New employment legislation that has recently been announced, including Employment Rights Bill, new National Insurance Contributions and protection against third-party harassment may require an update to your HR policies and procedures to ensure you stay compliant.
Everything from your employment contracts, policies and termination notices for both existing and new employees should comply with the latest legislation so you can avoid any potential legal headaches before they arise.
Recruitment and onboarding
An annual review of your recruitment and onboarding processes will make sure you are well-placed to attract the best talent, keep your team productive and happy, and that you stay up to date with the latest employment laws. Your job descriptions and adverts need to include the relevant diversity and inclusion wording and are structured in a way to attract the right candidates across social media and job search platforms.
Managers and team leaders may need additional training on conducting interviews to ensure their questions remain fair and unbiased.
Employee engagement and wellbeing
Employee wellness has changed significantly, especially since the pandemic, shifting from offering basic health benefits to a more holistic approach that includes mental health, work-life balance and even financial wellbeing. If you aren’t addressing the changing needs of your employees by offering the right wellbeing initiatives, perks, or benefits, you risk losing out on talent and employee engagement.
To stay competitive, businesses need to prioritise employee wellness, ensuring they provide a supportive and flexible environment where employees can thrive both professionally and personally.
Learning and development
If you’re not providing your employees with enough opportunities to grow and develop new skills, they’re likely to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Research has highlighted that 83% of employees see learning and development (L&D) as a “vital factor” behind their choice of employer, so it pays to continually review what training you are offering and making sure that it fits with the growing needs of your business as well as meeting employee expectations.
By reviewing your L&D initiatives, you can make sure they are aligned with what your employees want and your business objectives. This helps keep your team engaged and motivated, while also delivering more value to your clients.
Onboarding and exit process
Onboarding and exiting have evolved significantly in recent years, driven by remote work, digital transformation, and changing employee expectations. A thorough and considered onboarding process can improve employee retention and will be remembered in years to come by your new starters, so it’s important to be continually refining and improving this.
We can create onboarding and offboarding checklists for your managers to easily follow, giving a memorable, inclusive and welcoming experience for all new employees.
An annual health check can uncover ways to automate elements of employee onboarding to allow your managers to be more productive and focus on other areas of their role.
When you start to consider all the HR factors that influence the success of your people, and in turn, the growth of your business, it becomes clear how crucial it is to make your HR processes work for you, not against you.
Your employees are your greatest asset, and we’re here to help you make small yet impactful improvements that will lead to a thriving business and a positive, vibrant culture. Contact us to request an Annual HR Health Check.
