Human resources professionals need good HR toolkits to get their jobs done. Within typical HR frameworks, the right tools, whether organizational or technological, are just as important as hammers and nails are to carpenters. As a professional in the field, you'll tailor your HR toolkits to meet the particulars of your office, but some needs are universal. Here are five of the indispensable elements of most HR toolkits.
If you're working as an HR manager or staffer—even if you're just getting started in the field—you need a social media profile. In fact, you need at least two of them. One social media profile should be under your company's name and used to recruit new talent from sites such as LinkedIn and Google+, while the other can be under your own name. The personal social media profile is useful mainly for networking among other HR professionals and keeping yourself up to speed on the opportunities out there. HR managers are always in demand, after all, and it never hurts to keep your resume viewable.
Another essential for HR toolkits is a list of standardized interview questions. Assuming your role in the HR department entails a significant portion of your company's hiring, you're going to be much better off with a standard interview template that you can customize for each department. Some questions will be the same regardless of the position you're filling—e.g., "Why are you leaving your last job?"—while others will require a tighter focus—e.g., "Do you know Excel?" Either way, a standard set of questions saves you time with every new applicant, especially when you have hundreds of interviews to conduct in a limited time.
A standardized discipline policy is another time and trouble saver for your HR department. Few issues encourage complaints more than uneven application of discipline for routine issues such as tardiness and absences. Having a one-size-fits-all plan in place for progressive discipline prevents these concerns.
No HR professional today can be without mobile HR apps. Some of these are as simple as the mobile versions of your existing social media apps that let you recruit and make public updates on the go. Others, such as Halogen Software, offer sophisticated features that help you organize timecards, vacation requests, and employee files.
Voicemail is critical to most professionals' HR toolkits. Whether it's at work, at home, or on your cellphone, voicemail helps you prioritize your workload and allows you to take a few hours off in the evening without missing important messages.
A smart HR manager will build up a store of time-saving tricks before tackling the job of running an HR department. The typical HR professional handles so many different tasks and is called on with such urgency that not being able to organize, prioritize, and respond to every request can sabotage even the best-organized offices. Tucking these items into the HR toolkits of all members of your department creates more efficient HR frameworks, so necessary jobs are done with a minimum of fuss.
(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)
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