Outlook for human resource management 2022 (1)

Happy New year!!!

Many of us are coming back to work after a few days off work. To be honest I don’t know how rested I am since I have a large family that I love cooking for. They came from their homes to partake at my table frequently in the last ten days.

I know that many companies sat down a while ago to put together a strategic plan to help them with the achievement of their goals for the next few years. I also know that a few companies have either not put together such a plan or they can no longer follow the original plans because the world has changed.

One thing we must all agree to is whether you are government or the newest tech company on the block. This will not be the same again whether because of the pandemic, technology taking over the world or the leadership age change. If you are doing things only manually, this must change. If you have in your employ, rude and entitled people, this must change. If you had a monopoly on anything and you think this will be for another year, change that mindset immediately because change is happening at the speed of thought or both. Almost everything hinges on this. This will not change in importance.

Nobody can afford this year to just hire anybody for just any position at any time they want it. Ensure that you have your plan in place and you follow it

The quality of your recruitment process will also not change but the quality of the process has to change if not highly regarded right now. This just means that moving forward you must have a recruitment process that is not challenged by time and speed. Nobody can afford this year to just hire anybody for just any position at any time they want it. Ensure that you have your plan in place and you follow it.

The recruitment plan should start with both a skills audit and a manpower plan. A skills audit (also called an assessment of needs analysis) will make it clear whether employee skills or a thorough knowledge of tasks are at the heart of the question not some specific hiring problems understaffing or inadequate equipment. This must be done thoroughly and can be done in at least four steps, understanding the short and long-time business goals. Identifying the desired performance outcomes. Examine the current performance outcomes and identify any gaps. Plan, either to recruit or conduct capacity building.

Read also: Solutions to human challenges: The imperative of culture and values

A new company must have a manpower plan that is tweaked from time to time especially in relation to the current goals. Once the needs analysis aligns with the manpower plan and organisational goals the recruitment process must be designed and adhered to. This need for good recruitment cannot and must not be circumvented this year. Culturally we get sent resumes of cousins, friends’ children (the list is endless). This is not the time to take anybody who does not excel in the recruitment process.

Looking at the above our processes must be in place. Processes make an organisation world-class, and this will not change. This may seem tricky in view of all the current changes and the possibilities that they may or may not be long term changes. I believe we should have processes (and I am talking about HRM processes) for various scenarios as best as we can. For example, the process for work from home and work from the office.

There are many systems we use in HRM and they will not change per ce. There will always be the Performance Management system. However, what the process looks like may change.

Some of the parameters for performance may vary from time to time depending on what is going on. There is a great need for being nimble as regards the processes.

Again I advise an audit of current processes to ensure they align with company goals which ultimately should be about satisfying the customer and not making money as many people seem to think. Will your current people use the current processes to deliver on the current goal?

Have a great weekend. We will be having a photoshoot before everybody goes back to their stations. Something that we should all incorporate into our lives this year that will make a big impact on our bottom lines is time spent with family. Enjoy!