5 Secrets of Successful HR Departments

As the backbone of any reputable and successful organization, the HR department is responsible for planning and executing administrative functions—including recruiting, interviewing, shortlisting, and hiring top tier candidates.

In addition, an effective Human Resources department efficiently creates a bridge between management and employees, ensuring timely communication and collaborations with executives and the workforce.

And with today’s historically low unemployment rates, implementing unique strategies to attract and retain talented candidates has become imperative.

We’ve rounded up five of the best-kept HR practices to give you insight into winning strategies that double company growth, sales, and profit.

Read on!

1. Optimizing Your Brand Recognition with Social Media

Creating strong brand recognition via social media is a terrific way to spread the word about what a wonderful place your company is to work. We have recently seen some fantastic videos put out by companies, highlighting ‘a day in the life of…”. There are ways to have your ads targeted to your specific candidate profiles, ensuring that your messages are delivered.

Praising successful employees on social media is an ingenious way to maximize your investment. Not only are you giving accolades to hard working employees, but also showing prospective employees that you care about your workers and are ready to give praise when earned.

Research shows that for the majority of workers in the US, many would forfeit a bonus of up to $100 in exchange for public recognition. The value of public praise cannot be overemphasized.

There are several options to leverage with regard to social media, and it is important to determine which channel will work best for your target audience. Options include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. We have also recently seen success with Snapchat filters.

2. Invest in the Right Technology for Your HR Needs

Utilizing cutting-edge software and hardware solutions to play the numbers game better than competitors is one of the top winning strategies that are employed by leading HR managers.

There is some phenomenal technology now available that we recommend to help in creating best practices. Focus on developing strong insights into methodology. This will help you propose programs and ideas efficiently and effectively.

What technologies offer seamless integration with your existing software suite? What automation is required by your HR Team to improve efficiency and provide better customer service to internal stakeholders? It is important to understand your current needs and processes before looking at the different platforms on the market.

Once you understand your current needs and the options available, there’s a greater chance of receiving approval and leading your team to success.

3. Developing Best Practices for Employee-Employer Interactions

The HR department plays a central role in facilitating conversations between employees and management.

Competent HR teams have implemented best practices that are consistently used when handling employee issues. In today’s litigious society, it is more important than ever to have strong policies in place. As with all policies, a review will need to be conducted periodically to ensure they are still relevant to current operations.

It is more than having policies in place; however, it is key to ensure the policies and any changes are communicated to employees and are easily accessible for reference. From posting a policy in a breakroom to mass email distribution, please be sure to use the form of communication that works best for your employees.

4. Hiring Professional Executive Recruiters

Hiring professional recruiters is a game-changer!

Smart HR departments see the value in partnering with successful 3rd party executive recruitment firms that specialize in their niche. Equipped with the latest insights into hiring trends, executive recruiters are highly trained and can target top performers from direct competitors, that internal recruiters are not typically comfortable in calling. Successful recruiters invest time in building relationships with top talent within their area of focus and learn what types of opportunities they would be willing to make a move for. Often times recruiters are able to deliver passive candidates that a company would not normally have access to.

Invest the time in speaking with various executive recruiters that work within your industry, and find a team that has strong relationships within your sector, that has invested in some of the amazing technology that is available to conduct strategic searches for very specific skill sets. Long time recruiters typically have databases of exceptional talent that are not actively looking, but open to learning about various opportunities.

Many HR departments look at 3rd party recruiters as a terrific way to identify top candidates when they have critical fill job openings. The recruiters are trained, have already invested in the tools to enable them to conduct strategic searches, and are able to quickly provide candidates. Looking at recruiters as an outsourced recruiting department makes a lot of sense for many reasons, including from a financial standpoint.

5. Taking the Right Risks at the Right Time

While most successful HR professionals are instinctively risk-averse, they ultimately have to evaluate the candidate pool available for a specific hiring need, and strike the perfect balance between taking the right risks at the right time.

While analyzing each potential candidate with an emphasis on metrics and experience is essential, we recommend leaving some room for your gut feeling. It is not only imperative to match candidates with the skill sets and background needed; but to ensure a long-term match, it is equally important to evaluate them in terms of how they will blend into your corporate culture.

Ultimately, you may end up hiring a brilliant candidate who may not have stellar work experience but wins you over with their strong soft skills. By taking the right risks at the right time, you’ll manage to hire the best-suited candidates for your company.

International Search Consultants has been a leader in executive recruiting since 1999. As one of the leading executive recruiting firms in America, we specialize in identifying top tier professionals for companies belonging to a range of industries—including banking and finance, construction, HR, sales, manufacturing, healthcare, IT, and many more.

With over 21 years of experience, we’re equipped with the knowledge, insight, and cutting-edge technology required to equip our clients with talented and highly skilled employees.

For more information about our services, call us at 888-866-7276 or drop us an email at [email protected].

Lisa Finch is Senior Recruiter at International Search Consultants, and can be reached directly at 888-771-1488 or via email at [email protected]