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HR Resolutions Wish List For 2017

Human resource managers will face their fair share of frustrations in 2017, but a new year also means optimism around some targeted goals.

Ashley White wants to take bold and innovative steps in 2017, the Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports. White is executive director of HR for The American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), a Houston-based nonprofit that focuses on benchmarking and best practices research. 

APQC’s expertise is in collecting data about processes and then using what they learned to help better other organizations’ processes. But “in over 40 years of work, our culture has evolved to a point that we ‘process’ everything to death,” White said.

"We don't allow ourselves to just say 'Why not?' and actually consider an out-of-the-box idea," she said. "In the HR world, we are boxed in by culture, laws [and] company policy … leaving little room for bold moves. The risk of admitting failure should be thought of as a small price to pay for creating something meaningful, engaging, innovative and exciting.”

“Remember [that] … HR stands for human resources, not hired robots” White added.

The big growth in headcount that eaHelp experienced last year, where new hires jumped 30%, means focusing on boosting efficiencies and cutting down on outdated processes. The Georgia-based virtual assistant company has already shifted from paper to electronic benefit enrollment forms, but is looking to make the process more user-friendly.

"We experienced a lot of growth in 2016, which has led to awareness that some of our processes that worked well in the past now need to be revamped to remain effective," said HR manager Krisha Buehler. "My main focus will be on streamlining, reducing re-work, leveraging technology and increasing quality within the HR department."

For behemoths, such as Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group, which employs more than 200,000 in 33 countries, developing talent and leadership are key priorities for 2017. Being such a large company means “new employees can feel lost or overwhelmed,” says Sommer Sherrod, human capital partner at UnitedHealth Group. "We have great practices like assigning new hire coaches, but I would like to continue implementing practical ideas that make new employees feel at home more quickly.”

Illinois-Based John Deere is focusing on improving employee engagement to not only boost productivity and safety, but also to “take more time to make sure employees feel valued,” says Sarah Clausen, director of global IT, finance, HR and enabling solutions. To accomplish this, John Deere is conducting so-called “stay interviews” where employees and their managers meet so employees can talk about their current job responsibilities.

The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated noted five workplace trends this year including human resources focusing on developing middle managers and applying the same attention to employee satisfaction as firms do for their customers. “It is often said that employees join companies, but leave managers,” Kronos noted in its report. “2017 will see a renewed focus on giving people managers–-many of whom are Millennials managing for the first time--the skills, abilities, tools, and technologies needed to develop connections with their employees, nurture top talent, and execute the organization’s vision on the front lines.”

Companies also need to be agile to deal with a host of legislative and economic uncertainties, to use big data to better measure and address challenges and to arm HR to be more tech savvy. “The human resources function has evolved from the transaction-driven personnel department of decades past into a strategic business partner thanks to a growing foundation of data-driven practices,” Kronos found. “However, many HR leaders still spend more than a third of their time on manual tasks, have limited insight into the entire business, and are continually inundated by basic employee FAQs.”

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