The 3 Best Practices for Remarkable HR in 2023

There have been huge shifts in human resources (HR) within the past decade. Trends continue to transform the field by steering HR departments in the right direction and prompting positive change. HR professionals played a significant part in creating frameworks for the post-pandemic workplace and easing organisations through digital transformation.

But nowadays, where does HR stand in the face of the current economic climate? What are some HR best practices that teams can leverage to adapt to a turmoiled landscape? 

We’ve pinpointed the 3 most influential HR trends and best practices of 2023, including new employee onboarding best practices, good HR practices, and the best HR policies. Let's have a look at how these HR best practices, along with others such as employee relations best practices, HR communications best practices, and human resources best practices checklist can help organizations navigate the current economic climate and drive success 👇

A Top HR Trend for 2023: Strong Performance Management

Encouraging teams to perform well is at the heart of HR. Organisational value is now powered by continuous feedback through technology, which has changed the core of performance management. Managers are able to predict future issues thanks to current employee performance and effortlessly initiate measures. 

Let’s understand what performance management is exactly, going over the recent rise in automated processes, and finding out how HR leaders can improve performance management with today’s best practices. 

What Is Performance Management?

Performance management is the term used to describe the optimisation of value created by employees. It also implies maintaining and monitoring a team’s performance against clear objectives and indicators. Performance management comes with a whole range of insinuations, including:

• Holding team members accountable for the quality of their performance

• Establishing distinct goals employees should aim to reach

• Linking performance to rewards

• Fostering an environment of two-way discussion and constructive feedback

• Constantly reviewing objectives at every level 

However, organisations have long lacked thorough performance management strategies. In fact, the typical worker doesn’t benefit from traditional performance management – 80% of employees would rather have immediate feedback than an annual performance review. 

That’s where continuous performance management comes in. Many organisations are automating processes, which results in the streamlining of employee performance management for better strategies and higher efficiency. In fact, 89% of HR managers now view continuous performance management as more useful than traditional performance management. 

The Power of Continuous Performance Management

Continuous performance management has a myriad of benefits. First of all, it keeps employees and HR teams constantly informed about changes in objectives and goals. 

Another great advantage is that employees feel more valued, as managers express more interest in their team’s work. When goals are mutually known, both sides try harder to meet them. As a result, employees who have discussed objectives and successes within the past six months are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged.

Continuous performance management also fosters a growth mindset by encouraging informal, spontaneous feedback that keeps teams looking forward. It has also been shown to strengthen healthy relationships between management and employees through substantially improved communication.  

This style of performance management has recently been widely adopted thanks to automation. That’s because new tools and technologies allow goals to be set and shared throughout teams in an effortless way. These tools, called smart performance management systems, also allow feedback to be easily shared across organisations. 

Smart performance management systems deliver crucial data and create connections by existing in a multilateral way. With a continuous input of data, HR is able to deeply understand how effective each performance management approach is. 

How to Improve Performance Management

The 2023 trend for continuous performance management seems to be finding the balance between a human approach to growth and setting up clever automation. Our tips are:

• Finding an agile way to set goals, taking into account both employees’ objectives and the organisation’s targets

• Always having the easy option to change goals

• Facilitate interaction between team members and managers to keep communication flowing freely 

• Make booking meetings easy with automated scheduling tools to encourage frequent feedback between employees and managers

• Continuously consider positive employee feedback to motivate and inspire

• Automated notifications surrounding progress and meeting goals 

A Top HR Trend for 2023: Organisational Restructure

What Does Organisational Restructuring Really Mean?

When an organisation’s vision or values shift, it isn’t uncommon for an organisational restructure to happen. This could be prompted by an effort to cut costs, or a desire to change direction for various different reasons. Whatever the cause, an organisational restructure will inevitably result in a changed workforce, which impacts HR. 

How can HR participate in the success of an organisational restructure? Handling a restructure efficiently is crucial, and this comes with a few essential best practices. Let’s explore.

How Can HR Improve Organisational Restructuring?

The structure of an organisation determines a lot of things and has a great impact on the way business is conducted. That’s why it’s always best to keep the company’s overall strategy at the heart of organisational decisions. 

This can be done with tools like workplace assessments, which act as an inventory of employees’ skills as well as their turnover, level of experience, and skill sets. HR can then advise as to how the current workforce should be approached in the context of a restructure. 

A workplace assessment also helps when it comes to matching employees with new, updated positions. Some jobs could require skills they don’t yet have, so having aptitude tests at hand is crucial for HR to figure out how to move things around. 

Organisational restructuring might also involve job cuts, which calls for an objective and precise procedure to determine which employees are subject to cuts. HR should also put in place an appeals process and financial measures to make the job cuts more comfortable as well as support for employees to find new employment. 

As restructuring is inevitably a bit of an unnerving process for both management and employees, HR should put in place re-engagement strategies early on. A best practice here is to create communication with staff members to describe new goals, explain how the changes will unroll, and detail why the restructure came about. This puts staff at ease and eliminates the potential for miscommunication. 

Need more ideas? The Society for Human Resources Management has a handy toolkit for navigating organisational restructuring.

A Top HR Trend for 2023: Reimagining Workplace Culture

The Great Resignation, with 47 million Americans quitting their jobs in 2021 alone, has pushed HR to be more creative than ever in building healthy, attractive workplaces that teams truly want to be a part of. 

At the same time, the Society of Human Resources Managers (SHRM) estimates that a quarter of a trillion dollars has been lost to subpar workplace culture in the past five years. In the past, before HR could access automation and the powerful technological solutions we now have, it was difficult to manage culture. 

Nowadays though, progressive companies are appointing Heads of Culture left right and centre, which must be a testament to the importance of culture in the workplace. But what exactly is the role of HR in setting out positive culture change? What are some HR best practices for building a healthy workplace?

The Role of HR in Culture and Change - Best Practices for Healthy Workplace Culture 

HR’s key role in culture and change is analysing, measuring and conveying culture between management and the wider team. HR has a real opportunity to realistically define what an organisation’s culture looks like today and what it should be tomorrow. 

Often though, workplace culture is played out through interactions between managers and employees, which is difficult for HR to have control over. HR needs to constantly make sure management is articulating the culture that has been set out and is reflecting the behaviour it is encouraging. 

Positive workplace culture also comes from a healthy amount of perks offered to employees, such as:

• Sufficient leave policies like longer parental time

• A culture that leaves room for scheduling around family needs

• Prize catalogues based on performance

• Flexible schedules with hybrid or remote work available

• Professional development training opportunities

• Wellness programs

• Outside of work team activities 

The bottom line when it comes to culture is creating an environment that employees want to stay in, and that motivates team members to achieve goals. This can happen through simple acts of communication such as anonymously asking employees what would improve their workplace…

Takeaway

2023 is a year of great opportunity as well as challenges for HR. HR leaders are expected to place the well-being of employees at the heart of their considerations. This could prove difficult to manage in an uncertain economic climate which prompts management to cut costs wherever possible. 

Powerful automation will open up new worlds of possibilities for HR, but will also expose teams to challenges in keeping things humane. It will take a carefully articulated balance of clear communication and the use of clever automated tools to keep up with an increasingly fast-paced environment.

Want to find out more? Check out our free whitepaper about storytelling for HR, which will help you find that balance and tell the stories that really matter. 

All in all, there is a huge array of best practices you can make the most of as an HR professional. Here at Subscribe HR, we help HR teams make decisions faster by automating employee life-cycle management data and processes. 

We enable effortless access to core employee information so that HR teams can easily leverage continuous performance management, organise organisational restructuring and build culture change. 

What are the best practices you’re most likely to leverage as an HR professional? 👇 

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

How has technology impacted performance management?

Technology has streamlined employee performance management through automation, which allows for continuous feedback, easy goal setting, and real-time data analysis. Smart performance management systems also deliver crucial data and create connections by existing in a multilateral way.

How can HR improve organizational restructuring?

HR can improve organizational restructuring by using tools like workplace assessments to inventory employees' skills, experience, and skill sets. This information can then be used to advise management on how to approach the workforce in the context of a restructure. Additionally, HR should put in place re-engagement strategies early on, such as creating communication with staff members to describe new goals, explain how the changes will unroll, and detail why the restructure came about.

What is the role of HR in culture and change?

HR's key role in culture and change is analyzing, measuring, and conveying culture between management and the wider team. HR has a real opportunity to realistically define what an organization's culture looks like today and what it should be tomorrow. Additionally, HR needs to constantly make sure management is articulating the culture that has been set out and is reflecting the behavior it is encouraging.

How can HR build a healthy workplace culture?

HR can build a healthy workplace culture by offering sufficient leave policies, scheduling around family needs, offering prize catalogues based on performance, providing flexible schedules with hybrid or remote work available, providing professional development training opportunities, offering wellness programs, and arranging outside of work team activities. The bottom line when it comes to culture is creating an environment that employees want to stay in and that motivates team members to achieve goals.

What challenges do HR leaders face in 2023?

 HR leaders are expected to place the well-being of employees at the heart of their considerations in a year of great opportunity as well as challenges. HR teams need to balance the use of clever automated tools with clear communication to keep up with an increasingly fast-paced environment. It may also be difficult to manage well-being in an uncertain economic climate that prompts management to cut costs wherever possible.

What are some HR best practices?

HR best practices refer to the most effective and efficient methods or strategies for managing human resources within an organization. Examples of HR best practices include performance management, organizational restructuring, and employee engagement.

Is there a checklist for human resources best practices?

Yes, there are several checklists available online for human resources best practices. These checklists typically cover areas such as recruitment and selection, onboarding, training and development, performance management, employee relations, and compliance.

What are some of the best HR strategies?

Some of the best HR strategies include developing a strong employer brand, offering competitive compensation and benefits, implementing flexible work arrangements, promoting diversity and inclusion, and providing ongoing training and development opportunities.

What are some good HR practices?

Good HR practices include effective communication, regular feedback and coaching, promoting work-life balance, fostering employee engagement, maintaining a positive workplace culture, and complying with all relevant laws and regulations.

What are some examples of human resources best practices?

Examples of human resources best practices include using data-driven recruiting methods, providing opportunities for professional growth and development, offering flexible work arrangements, implementing a strong performance management system, and prioritizing employee well-being and work-life balance.

What are some new employee orientation best practices?

New employee orientation best practices include providing a comprehensive introduction to the company and its culture, introducing new employees to their colleagues and coworkers, providing necessary training and resources, and setting clear expectations for job performance.

What are some employee relations best practices?

Employee relations best practices include promoting open and honest communication, establishing clear policies and procedures, conducting regular performance evaluations, addressing employee concerns and grievances promptly and fairly, and promoting a positive workplace culture.

What are the best HR policies?

The best HR policies are those that align with an organization's goals and values, comply with all relevant laws and regulations, and prioritize the well-being and development of employees. Examples of best HR policies include equal employment opportunity policies, anti-harassment policies, and policies promoting work-life balance.

What are some best practices in human resource management?

Best practices in human resource management include developing effective recruitment and retention strategies, implementing a strong performance management system, promoting employee engagement and development, maintaining compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, and prioritizing employee well-being and work-life balance.

What are some new employee onboarding best practices?

New employee onboarding best practices include providing a clear and comprehensive introduction to the company and its culture, assigning a mentor or buddy to help the new employee navigate their role, providing necessary training and resources, and soliciting regular feedback and evaluation to ensure a smooth transition.