Setting up HR teams for success

The world record for “tallest stack of hats worn at once” is currently held by Andre Ortolf of Germany, who managed to wear a stack of hats just over four feet and nine inches tall. But let’s be real: any human resources (HR) professional breaks that record every day. Sorry, Andre. 

HR pros wear a lot of hats, juggling responsibilities from talent acquisition and employee engagement to workplace benefits and culture. If you work in HR, from time to time, you might feel like there are never enough hours in a day. But does it ever feel like your record-setting stack of hats is about to come crashing down?

It might be time for a reset. 

Reviewing and revising your processes and how your team collaborates can pave the way for greater success. You don't have to wait until the beginning of a new quarter to make these changes. Read on for actionable tips to help you and your team of HR superstars make serious progress on those never-ending to-do lists.

1. Invest in learning and development

The HR landscape is ever-evolving, with trends like remote work–and then, a mass return to office–requiring constant vigilance. Providing your HR team with ongoing training ensures they stay agile and keep up with the shifting demands of the industry. Consider offering:

• Workshops, conferences, and seminars: Provide access and financial support for your team to attend industry-specific events to gain insights into best practices.  
  • 💡Pro tip: Create a process or template that HR pros can use to record and present what they have learned with the rest of your team, maximizing the potential knowledge-sharing with each opportunity. 
• Certifications: Support certifications like SHRM-CP or PHR to deepen expertise and set up your team for more responsibilities and promotions. Ideally, your team can use some time during their regular workday (even once a month) to make progress towards these certifications–they’re juggling enough in their personal lives.
• Online learning platforms: Make platforms like Coursera or LinkedIn Learning available to your team for flexible upskilling. 
  • 💡Pro tip: gamify progress on online learning and motivate your team with a friendly contest, or use rewards and recognition to celebrate employees’ continuous learning.

2. Leverage technology to streamline operations

Menial administrative tasks probably take up too much of your time and distract from the creative and meaningful work that brought you to HR in the first place. Researching and investing in HR technology can streamline processes and enhance your efficiency, leaving more time for the fun stuff. Look into:

• Recruitment tools: Applicant tracking systems simplify hiring workflows–Lever, for example, manages the whole talent lifecycle from beginning to end.
• Payroll and benefits platforms: Solutions like ZayZoon provide employees with financial flexibility through earned wage access (EWA). EWA allows employees to access portions of their earned wages between paydays. It completely automates any manual and time-consuming pay advance process you might currently be using.
  • 💡Pro tip: when looking for EWA solutions, make sure they’re already embedded into your payroll provider to save even more time. 

• Employee management systems: HR management systems like Lattice automate tasks like performance-tracking, managing 1-on-1 agendas, and goal-setting. We wrote a whole blog about the HR tech that will make your daily life easier across the five biggest responsibilities in human resources–be sure to check it out. 
  

3. Foster collaboration across departments

You know that feeling of trying to explain your job to an out-of-touch relative? Some bad news: it’s not just your meemaw who doesn’t quite understand what HR does. Unfortunately, as you know, HR can tend to operate in a silo, and it slows you down. Encourage cross-functional partnerships in the workplace with:

• Regular check-ins: Hold meetings with department heads to understand their team’s challenges and engage in some knowledge transfers. This can result in a less-siloed view of important metrics that should matter to everyone, not just HR. Learn more in our blog “Holistic HR metrics and predictive HR analytics 101,” where we sat down with Otto Berkes, CEO at HireRoad (Co-Founder of Xbox and former CTO of HBO).
• Shared goals: Connect your everyday work and priorities to company-wide initiatives and OKRs so you can unite departments under a common purpose.
• Feedback loops: Use surveys or other open forums to gather input from employees at all levels. 
  • 💡Pro tip: share the insights from those surveys at town halls or in newsletters along with your takeaways. Employees feel more encouraged to share feedback if they sense that you’re actually listening.  

4. Prioritize HR wellness and recognition

HR professionals often take on the emotional labor of supporting employees, which can lead to burnout. You’re always reminding other people to use their benefits… but are you using your benefits? Employee wellness includes your wellness too, HR pros! 

Support your HR team by:

• Promoting self-care: You can provide access to mental health resources and espouse work-life balance all you want, but it’s important to lead by example here. Your HR team will feel safer taking time off or speaking up when they need help if that is demonstrated on a leadership level. 
• Recognizing efforts: Acknowledge your team’s achievements in group meetings or newsletters–or better yet, with tangible rewards like gift cards or extra vacation days. Encourage executives to highlight HR’s achievements in company-wide communications. 
• Encouraging open conversation: Ensure your HR team has adequate time to reflect, regroup, and de-stress, whether it’s over a recurring 30-minute group check-in or during ongoing projects. 
  • 💡Pro tip: this can occasionally take on a fun theme like “‘Whine’ and Cheese” (commiserate over some charcuterie) or “Sauce and Goss” (we’re not not promoting some healthy gossip). 

5. Empower HR through data-driven insights

A high-functioning HR team relies on data to make informed decisions. Equipping your team with tools that provide actionable insights into company culture will help them prioritize their time and effort. Consider focusing on: 

• Employee engagement surveys: Measure morale and regularly identify areas for improvement across the organization. Check out our blog that covers the top 5 metrics to track employee engagement with insights from our own HR team. 

• Turnover analytics: Understand why employees leave and develop strategies to retain talent.
  • 💡Pro tip: Find creative solutions for turnover by focusing on holistic employee wellness. Earned wage access is proven to increase engagement and retention because it improves employee financial wellness. 
• Monitor absenteeism rates: Absenteeism–the frequent unplanned absence of an employee–usually indicates more pervasive issues within an organization that can be addressed through mental health and financial support. Our blog “Understanding and addressing chronic workplace absenteeism” covers this in more detail. 

6. Implement financial wellness programs

HR professionals are at the forefront of advocating for employee wellness, yet they also benefit from financial wellness initiatives. Solutions like ZayZoon’s earned wage access (EWA) not only improve employees’ financial stability but also alleviate the administrative burden on HR.

What is a financial wellness program?

Financial wellness programs insist on a company-wide effort to reduce employee financial stress through education, EAPs, access to financial tools, and more. 

Offering financial wellness programs can:

• Reduce employee stress. Help employees manage unexpected expenses without payday loans or having to ask for pay advances at work. 
• Improve retention. Show your commitment to employee well-being and you’ll see increased loyalty–which means less time spent in the eternal cycle of hiring and re-hiring. 
• Provide education. ZayZoon’s financial education tools include smart insights, low balance alerts to avoid overdraft fees, and our academic-backed yet easy-to-understand financial quiz, Money Mindsets. Money Mindsets empowers individuals with essential knowledge including a personalized financial toolkit. Additionally, when employees feel confident about their financial situation, it can foster a more positive workplace culture.
• Streamline processes. Automate financial wellness benefits, saving HR time and effort. 
  • 💡Pro tip: Use ZayZoon’s Employer Connect feature to unlock insights and drive awareness and adoption of financial wellness benefits–then use the data from Connect to flex your success. Hello, Q3 budget increase!
    
    

Final thoughts

Setting up HR teams for success is not just about providing tools and training. it’s about creating an environment where HR professionals feel valued, supported, and empowered to make an impact. By investing in continuous learning, leveraging technology, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing wellness, organizations can unlock the full potential of their HR teams. 

Ready to explore a no-cost financial wellness solution that will make HR pros’ lives easier? Book a demo to chat with a representative from our team about ZayZoon.