Human resources management (HRM) is an essential function of any organization - especially fast-growing ones. It is responsible for hiring, managing the workforce, ensuring employee satisfaction and productivity, and achieving the company's product map and growth goals. When it comes to hiring, there are several hiring process steps involved in HR management, including interviewing, compensation planning, staffing, and more. In this article, we'll dive into the key processes in HR management, their importance, and how they are carried out.

The hiring process is one of the most critical HR management functions. It involves identifying the job requirements, writing unbiased job descriptions, posting job ads, screening resumes, conducting interviews, utilizing tools like interview intelligence software, and using the data collected at each step to select the right candidates for each role to get them onboarded and integrated into the team.

Throughout the hiring process, HR aims to be fair and unbiased while still identifying top talent. To do this, they carefully curate the entire process so that the most suitable candidates for the job rise to the top of the pool - ensuring that the organization has the right talent to achieve its objectives. HR professionals must ensure that the hiring process is fair, transparent, and in line with legal requirements.

Once a candidate has begun their new journey with the company, HR then takes on the role of managing their engagement, performance, and health within the organization - no small feat. HR must oversee salary and compensation reviews, performance evaluations, training and development opportunities, employee feedback systems, and other activities that ensure employees are satisfied with their experience.

Human Resource Management Process

To build effective companies, HR professionals must ensure that the organization has the right people with the necessary skills and knowledge to achieve its goals. To be sure that good talent is always on-hand to fill open roles, HR must perform a range of functions to keep their workforce up-to-date and prepared for any issue or challenge. 

We saw the need for this level of preparedness when COVID-19 shifted the way we all work and HR teams sprang into action to create home office packages to keep employees productive while also adhering to stay-at-home orders across the world.

There are a lot of functions within an HR team's care - but there are basic human resource management processes, here at the functions behind them:

1. Recruitment and Selection: Identifying needs and determining job roles, writing job descriptions, advertising open positions, screening resumes, and interviewing candidates.

2. Onboarding: Once a selection is made HR orients new employees to their new team and company, ensuring they receive proper training and have access to necessary tools, setting expectations, and helping them become acclimated within the organization.

3. Employee Training and Development: Identifying trends in employee engagement, facilitating professional development opportunities for employees, providing coaching

4. Performance Management: This involves setting performance goals, conducting performance evaluations, providing feedback, and developing performance improvement plans.

5. Employee Relations: This includes managing employee complaints, disputes, and grievances as well as handling incidents of misconduct or disciplinary action.

6. Compensation and Benefits Administration: Establishing competitive salary and benefits packages for employees that are in line with current market rates and organizational goals.

7. Workplace Safety: Ensuring safety standards and regulations are met to keep employees safe.

8. Legal Compliance: This involves ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws, such as minimum wage laws, anti-discrimination laws, and health and safety regulations.

9. HR Data Management: This involves managing employee records, such as employment contracts, performance evaluations, and benefits enrollment forms.

10. HR Strategy and Planning: This involves developing HR strategies that align with the company's overall business goals and growth objectives.

To perform well in human resource management, HR professionals must have strong communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills that manage each core aspect of these functions. They must also have a thorough understanding of employment laws and regulations, as well as the ability to use HR software, interview intelligence tools, and KPIs to manage employee data and track performance metrics.

But one of the most important functions for an HR professional in today's world is their ability to build positive relationships with employees and bring people together. HR teams today are faced with more diversity in the workplace than we've seen historically, and this means that creating a warm, welcoming, and equitable work environment for everyone is a bigger challenge, but also part of an encouraging and supportive workforce.

What Is Compensation Planning

In this ever-evolving world of business, economies are constantly changing and the global workforce is adapting to new roles and introducing fresh faces every single day. To keep up with these changes, and ensure that your workforce is prepared for the challenges ahead, they must be compensated fairly for their role.

What is compensation planning? Compensation planning is the process of creating packages to compensate and reward your team. This can include salary, benefits, bonuses, stock options, educational compensation, and many other things.

The importance of compensation planning should be stressed especially as the economy shifts rapidly to adjust for inflation and other factors.

Creating an effective compensation plan requires careful consideration of the organization's goals, financial resources, the industry as a whole, and the competitive landscape. Here are the core objectives of compensation planning and considerations to account for when creating your plan:

1. Define the Compensation Philosophy:

The first step in creating a compensation plan is to define the organization's compensation philosophy. This philosophy should align with the company's overall goals, culture, and values. For example, if the company values innovation and risk-taking, the compensation plan should incentivize employees to take risks and come up with new ideas.

2. Conduct Job Analysis:

A job analysis is a critical step in creating a compensation plan. It involves evaluating job roles, responsibilities, and the skills required for each position. By doing so, you can determine the relative value of each job within the organization, which is essential for developing an equitable compensation plan.

3. Benchmarking:

Benchmarking involves comparing your compensation plan with those of other companies in the same industry or region. This step is crucial to ensure that the organization's compensation plan is competitive and attractive to potential hires. Benchmarking can also reveal areas where the company may need to adjust compensation to remain competitive.

4. Determine the Compensation Structure:

The compensation structure refers to the method of payment, such as hourly, salary, or commission-based pay. Determining the compensation structure involves considering factors such as job type, industry norms, and the company's financial resources.

5. Set Compensation Levels:

After determining the compensation structure, the next step is to set compensation levels for each position. This involves determining the appropriate salary range, including the minimum and maximum salary for each role. Factors such as experience, skills, education, and performance should be considered when setting compensation levels.

6. Performance Metrics and Incentives:

Performance metrics and incentives are essential components of a compensation plan. These should align with the organization's goals and values and incentivize employees to perform at their best. For example, an incentive program could reward employees for meeting or exceeding performance targets or taking on additional responsibilities.

7. Monitor and Adjust the Plan:

Finally, once the compensation plan is in place, it is crucial to monitor and adjust it regularly to ensure that it remains effective and aligned with the organization's goals. This may involve conducting annual reviews, gathering feedback from employees, or making adjustments to the plan based on changes in the industry or the organization's financial situation.

The compensation review process involves identifying the objectives of compensation planning, reviewing the current compensation packages, identifying areas for improvement, and developing new compensation plans that align with the company's goals. This should be done half-yearly to take into account economic and inflationary shifts that could be causing salaries to change.

Staffing Management

Staffing management involves ensuring that the organization has the right number of employees with the necessary skills and knowledge to achieve its objectives. It involves the planning, recruitment, selection, and retention of employees, ensuring that the right people are in the right roles to achieve the company's goals. 

Staffing management differs slightly from what we've talked about in this article as its primary focus is "manpower planning." The following are a few staffing process steps:

1. Manpower Planning: The first step in the staffing process is to assess the company's current and future workforce needs. This involves analyzing the current workforce, identifying skills gaps, and forecasting future workforce requirements.

2. Job Analysis: The next step is to conduct a job analysis to determine the skills, knowledge, and abilities required for each position. This involves identifying the duties and responsibilities of each role, as well as the qualifications and experience required.

3. Recruitment: The recruitment process involves sourcing, attracting, and selecting candidates for job vacancies. Recruitment methods can include job postings, referrals, and recruitment agencies.

4. Selection: The selection process involves assessing the suitability of candidates for the job roles. This can involve interviews, assessments, and reference checks.

5. Onboarding and Orientation: Once the candidates have been selected, the next step is to onboard and orient them to the company's policies, culture, and work environment.

An example of a staffing process could be a company that wants to expand its marketing department. The company would begin by assessing its current workforce and identifying any skills gaps. After conducting a job analysis, the company would develop job descriptions for the new roles and begin recruiting candidates. The selection process would involve conducting interviews and reference checks, and the successful candidates would be onboarded and oriented to the company.

There are different types of staffing processes that organizations can use depending on their needs. These include internal staffing, where the organization fills job vacancies from within, and external staffing, where the organization recruits candidates from outside the company. By following these steps, organizations can ensure that they have the right people in the right roles to achieve their goals.

If you're struggling to keep up with your "manpower" needs and would like to see how Pillar's video interview platform and a suite of tools are helping companies make better hires faster and for less, schedule a demo to chat with someone from our team.