HR Services
HR Services vary depending on internal user level the list can go on, but majorly this is how HR service an organization:
| Internal User | Key Needs |
| Executive Management: Senior management Directors, VPs…etc. | Statistics: Needed for forecasting and budgeting |
| Personnel data: To influence their decisions (especially financial decisions) | |
| Line Managers: Department managers, section managers…etc. | Coaching: Coaching line managers in dealing with their staff. |
| Recruitment: sourcing and interviewing candidates to hire best candidates. | |
| Disciplinary actions: Guide and assist managers in such cases. | |
| Staff: All other staff. | Grievances: Being a welcoming, supporting, understanding, and most importantly confidential |
| Training: Choosing the best training programs that helps in the growth of the employees | |
| Contracts: Making sure that contracts are done properly and within legal guidelines. |
Those three service users have to be prioritized effectively, some of the more effective methods include:
- Being realistic with customer expectations: In order to deliver superior results, the human resources department needs to agree with any/all other departments on a realistic, reachable, and agreeable time frame for all of its services. Not agreeing on this will lead to disappointment and sill even lead to disengaging the company from all the human resources initiatives.
- Discussing the issue with stakeholders/customers: In some cases some issues might arise with one of the services that the human resources department delivers to its customers/stakeholders, opening communication and discussing said issues will lead in more engagement and will end up resolving the issue in a more productive and faster manner.
- Adopting a structured approach: Structure is definitely needed to perform well, it will help by explaining everyone’s role and responsibilities.
Now that I have discussed the users and the prioritization of those users, I will talk about some of the methods of communications with the users:
- Email: Email is a very quick and effective tool, it has the benefit of being sent at any time and from anywhere, communicating with email allows to send attachments such as pictures, videos, PowerPoint presentations, Excel reports,…etc. Unfortunately communication through email can be impersonal, and the message can be misunderstood, emphasis and emotions may be disregarded.
- Telephone: The telephone serve better in delivering the correct message with the correct emphasis and correct emotions, people tend to understand the message more and that will result in resolving any issues that may arise. Although it is a better tool than emails, still people feel it is a bit impersonal and body language can’t be read through it, also the message has to be only verbal, no attachments can be included, and finally there won’t be any records of it (unless the call was recorded).
- Video Conferencing: Video conferencing has been trending, and for a very good reason too, it is a professional way of conducting business, and some body language can be visible (especially face expressions), it is inexpensive, and can connect people from all different parts of the world, and most of the time presentations and other documents can be shared with all the attendees. This method is one of the best, but, some disadvantages will arise, and one of the most common issues is the internet stability, even if it is guaranteed from one or more side, there comes occasions where lines disconnect, also, and as mentioned above, it can only show some of the body language.
- Face-to-Face meetings: This by far can be one of the most effective communication skills, it is extremely personal, full body language can be observed, also tone of voice can ease in delivering the correct message along with its emotion. But, it doesn’t allow you to communicate with people who aren’t physically in front of you, also, finding a meeting place can sometimes be problematic, especially if it was an urgent meeting.
The key components of an effective service delivery are:
| Key Components of an Effective Service Delivery | Description |
| Building and Maintaining Relationships | One of the most important aspects of being effective human resources professional is to build and maintain relationships between yourself and your internal and external customers, whether they are line managers, staff, or even potential candidates. |
| Managing Expectations | In order to deliver superior results, the human resources professional needs to agree with any/all other departments on realistic, reachable, and agreeable expectations for all of its services. |
| Handling and Resolving Complaints | As of it is the case of any service, some complaints will arise, whether it was a human error, a computer error, or even if it was something out of anyone’s hands. An HR professional has to deal with and resolve those complaints within the policy and legal work frame |
| Dealing with Difficult Customers | It is not always the case that you will be having an excellent customer experience, some customers can be over demanding, rude, and even disrespectful, as an HR professional, and you should always know how to deal with such cases. |
| Timely Service Delivery | As a service provider, an HR professional needs to complete all tasks and services within the agreed upon time frame to avoid any other issues. |
| Budget Implications | An HR professional also should be money savvy, and try to acquire the best results within the budget allocated to his/her department. |
| Continuous Improvements | Finally, an HR professional always finds ways to improve, whether it is a personal, process, department, or even organization wide development and improvement. |
