A personnel audit will help identify unobvious problems in the enterprise’s personnel policy. The main emphasis should be on employee surveys, but not only.
From the article you will learn:
A personnel audit allows you to assess the effectiveness of managing the personnel potential of an enterprise, as well as the ability of management to regulate social and labor relations.
The tasks of personnel audit of personnel include:
determining the compliance of the enterprise’s personnel potential with its main goal;
checking the correct use of the regulatory framework by company employees;
analysis of the effectiveness of the personnel management system in order to quickly solve the problems facing it;
detection of negative factors affecting human resources, as well as solving problems arising in this regard.
Audit of the HR department
When conducting a personnel audit of personnel management services, the main thing is not to evaluate the performance of department employees, but to identify shortcomings in the system itself. Start HR personnel audit better with a survey of employees. This will help identify weaknesses and strengths in the work of human resource management services.
To conduct a survey, make a list of questions related to the corporate culture of the enterprise. Thanks to the answers to such questions, it is possible to check whether the personnel department was able to convey to employees the meaning of the values and rules of the organization and achieve an understanding of its strategy.
In addition, you need to find out how well the company’s communications work between departments, between managers and subordinates. Are employees satisfied with the incentive system (bonuses, bonuses) and social package?
Questions for this can be used both general, for example, “Do you know what the purpose of your company is?”, and specific ones – “What are your actions when you see an error in the work of your colleague from the neighboring department?”
In addition, separate interviews should be conducted with line managers or department heads. This will identify existing problems in personnel management. At the same time, use the benchmarking method, that is, compare corporate rules and working conditions in competing companies with those in similar divisions of your enterprise.
Audit of the HR department
To organize the HR audit process, first issue an order to audit the work of the HR service. The order specifies the persons performing the inspection. It is advisable to create a commission for this purpose and include a company lawyer on it.
Prepare the required documents for verification:
- work books,
- Personal things,
- employment contracts,
- time sheet,
- staffing table,
- personal cards,
- vacation schedule,
- orders for personnel.
At the next stage, analyze the document registration system, check how the document storage system is organized at the enterprise, whether there are books and log books. A number of journals are required, for example, a journal for recording inspections and a book for recording the movement of work books and inserts for them.
Check that the documents are correct. The magazines must be laced, all sheets must be numbered, sealed with a wax seal, and certified by the head of the organization. Make sure the logs are free of corrections.
Check for the following local regulations:
salary regulations,
internal labor regulations,
provision on trade secrets.
See if they are properly signed by the employees and the company manager. Check the content of local regulations: does it contradict the law, does it worsen the situation of employees compared to what is established in. If there are any discrepancies, ask HR to resolve them immediately.
Recruitment audit
High-quality work of the HR service in personnel selection must satisfy three basic requirements:
quick filling of vacancies;
recruiting employees with a high level of professional training and good performance;
so that the search for candidates is cheaper and requires as few HR specialists as possible.
Helps optimize this process recruitment audit. To do this, create a step-by-step plan for recruiting employees, indicating the recruiter’s actions at each stage. Moreover, it is necessary to include in the plan those stages that occur in rare cases, for example, when searching for top or exclusive positions.
Compare the ideal selection scheme with the actual one. Look at which stages are missing and which are possibly unnecessary (see Figure 1).
Find out how attractive job advertisements are? You can ask the staff about this. Find out why they were attracted to the company’s vacancy at the time, ask them to remember how it was positioned. There is no need to interview everyone, 2-3 people from each department are enough, the main thing is to cover the category of personnel with the most problems in recruiting.
Analyze at what stages and why HR managers lose candidates. For example, when a recruiter conducts a telephone interview with an applicant, it is also necessary to assess the extent to which the applicant meets the key requirements of the available vacancy. If more than 60% compliance with the job profile is determined, the applicant should be invited for a personal interview.
Evaluate how work with a candidate occurs in the office. It is advisable to describe it in detail, for example, filling out a questionnaire, questionnaire, case interview. It is important that the applicant for the position does not feel uncomfortable. The HR manager must inform in advance how many stages of selection await the applicant, who he will meet with, and how long it will take to make a decision on it. Such an open approach significantly reduces the risk of applicants leaving on their own during the selection process.
If less than 70% of new hires complete their probationary period, update job profiles. This may indicate that insufficiently qualified personnel are being recruited; the workers do not reach the level required by the company. Perhaps the problem is that the tasks are too complex. Check what tasks managers set for newcomers. If training is provided, find out what results newcomers show, analyze feedback from managers.
Questions to be answered during the audit
Do recruiters monitor salaries on the market? If not, salaries may lag behind the average level, and professionals will not apply for the vacancy.
Are you tracking which employee search channels are most effective for your company? The most effective will be the one from the candidates, thus the cost of one resume is the lowest.
Is recruiters' workload high or low? On average, a full-time specialist can. If managers are clearly overloaded, consider how you can automate the process.
Determine the unit costs of hiring one employee. Find out how much on average it costs an enterprise to fill one vacancy using its recruiters (see an example of such a calculation). Calculate how much it will cost to recruit one employee using a third-party recruitment agency. Divide all costs for services by the number of employees who completed the probationary period, analyze the results.
Audit of corporate values
An audit of corporate values allows you to check the values that a company already has and assess how adequate they are to business objectives. It is desirable that the list of values be linked to business goals, the strategy of the enterprise, and woven into the personnel management system. In this case, corporate values will shape the desired behavior of employees.
Stage 1.
At the first stage, already existing values are determined. At the same time, you need to know exactly what management and ordinary employees mean by them, so that there are no discrepancies in the interpretation of values.
Stage 2.
Find out whether the values are consistent with the elements of strategic management and HR policies. The audit largely depends on what the company's management strategy is. For example, if your strategy states that you need to reduce production costs, you should analyze whether the values are consistent with this point. Those values that do not correspond are given a minus.
Stage 3.
Are employees' personal values consistent with corporate ones? Internal values and attitudes of employees can be determined using the Schwartz questionnaire, the “Career Anchors” technique and the “Value Orientations” test.
It is also necessary to conduct staff surveys and regularly measure the effectiveness of motivation factors. Since internal settings may change. The effectiveness of corporate values directly depends on whether they correspond to the values of employees.
Stage 4.
Determine whether corporate values permeate HR functions
The influence of corporate values should be felt on the main HR functions:
- selection,
- adaptation,
- Labour Organization,
- grade,
- motivation,
- education.
If the impact is obvious, then the values are developing and finding relevance in the enterprise, otherwise they will not work. Assess whether values permeate the organization's policies, procedures, and service standards.
Stage 5.
At the final stage, having discovered shortcomings and areas of development, it is necessary to develop a program of action on how to increase the role of values in the organization and their compliance with the company’s strategy. Read more about internal HR audit in.
In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that HR audit of any enterprise must be carried out with a full understanding of the tasks facing the commission. As a result of inspections, experts must provide management not only with an analysis of the current situation, but also prepare the measures necessary to solve problems.
I recently joined the company as HR Director, but I can already see that there is no order in the HR documentation. How can I insure myself, given that there was no transfer of cases from the previous HR director and no one ever checked the HR officers?
Solution
When is a HR audit needed:
- in the company, personnel audits are carried out regularly (for example, once a year), and only the documentation of the current (past) year is subject to verification;
- the company carried out a “problematic dismissal” of a specific employee, and a check is possible related to the correctness of the dismissal of this particular employee - in this case, all documentation related to him is checked;
- When bringing personnel documentation into compliance with the changed legislation, documents that will need to be amended are subject to verification.
Even if a personnel audit is initiated by the HR director, to give “weight” to this procedure, an appropriate order is needed, which defines the goals and objectives of this event, forms a commission, and also indicates the timing of the audit.
Depending on the situation in which the company begins an audit, the volume of documentation reviewed may vary.
There are two types of audit of personnel documentation: overview and general.
Target overview (selective) audit- identifying common errors in maintaining personnel documentation and developing ways to eliminate them. The information is checked on a sample basis, i.e. they check that part of the documents, the analysis of which will allow us to present a current picture of the state of personnel documentation.
Target general (continuous) audit- identification of all violations committed in maintaining personnel documentation. All personnel documents in the company are checked individually, violation of which may cause penalties from the Tax Inspectorate, Labor Inspectorate and other inspection bodies.
Dictionary
HR audit– a procedure for analyzing personnel records documentation for compliance with labor legislation, as well as the company’s internal requirements.
It is advisable to carry out such a check in a company in cases where it is necessary to restore complete order in the documents. But it must be remembered that a general audit requires a lot of labor (mainly in time), so the HR manager must make a choice as to how complete a documentation check is needed and whether the company is “able” to do it at the moment.
External consultants can be either employees of a specialized company (usually firms providing consulting services on personnel management issues also offer personnel audits), or a freelancer working independently.
In the case of an internal audit, a working group is created from them, responsible for the result of the audit; in the case of an external audit, they are entrusted with the responsibility of transmitting the necessary information to consultants, as well as comprehensive support for the audit.
If a company conducts an audit on its own, it is necessary to issue an order to conduct a personnel audit in the organization, determine the goals and objectives of this event, form an appropriate commission, and determine the timing of the audit.
If the company’s management decided to engage a third-party organization for the audit, the customer needs to select a provider (having carefully analyzed the market for such services) and enter into an agreement defining the goals, objectives, powers and responsibilities of the parties, deadlines, etc., and issue an order for the organization indicating the goals , tasks, as well as a working group assisting external consultants.
Conducting an audit
Determining the package of required documents
Note!
Depending on the goals, planned depth and time allocated for the audit, the company must decide whether the audit will be conducted with the help of invited consultants (external audit) or by its own employees (internal audit).
First of all, you need to make a list of documents that must be in the personnel service. The mandatory nature of some documents is directly defined in the Labor Code. For example, the mandatory nature of employment contracts is provided for in Art. 56 and 67, work books - art. 66, internal labor regulations - Art. 189, vacation schedule - art. 123, provisions on the protection of personal data - Chapter 14 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
The Labor Code speaks about many local regulations indirectly (for example, the staffing table is mentioned in Articles 15, 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). However, this does not mean that there is no need to have them in the personnel department. In addition to the Labor Code, the need for many documents is enshrined in other regulations, for example, the Book of Accounting for the movement of labor books and their inserts is mentioned in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 2003 No. 225.
Personnel audit participants:
- the first person of the company;
- employees of the HR department or personnel management department;
- lawyers;
- employees of the economic planning department (often they are the ones who develop the staffing table, shift schedules and calculate wages and other payments);
- employees responsible for labor protection in the organization.
Some documents are advisory in nature, for example, unified forms of personnel orders. But, despite this, personnel documentation must be maintained according to unified forms, since many documents are received by the organization’s accounting department (for example, for payroll) and in this case we can already talk about their mandatory nature. Then you need to add to this list documents that may become mandatory in certain situations (for example, if the company has a shift work schedule or if there are positions with hazardous working conditions).
As a result, auditors receive a list of documents that must be present in the company’s HR department.
Reconciliation of documents
After the members of the commission have compiled a list of documents required for the personnel service, it is necessary to reconcile what is and what should be in order to subsequently restore all the necessary personnel documents. To do this, they check not only the presence/absence of documents, but also carefully study their content, since even in the existing document there are violations of the law.
It is advisable to summarize the results of the reconciliation in a table. It will clearly show which local regulations require revision, and which need to be created again.
The next step will be to analyze the presence in the personnel service of documents that require processing or additions. Very often, organizations, using the right of “internal rule-making” granted to them by the legislator, violate the Basic Rule (Article 8 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) - the norms of local regulations that worsen the situation of workers in comparison with established labor legislation or adopted without compliance with the established Art. 372 of this Code, the procedure for taking into account the opinions of the representative body of employees, are not subject to application. In such cases, labor legislation and other regulatory legal acts containing labor law norms, collective agreements, and agreements are applied.
If there are few such violations, it is possible to include them in a previously compiled table, otherwise it is more convenient to make a separate table containing a list of identified violations in specific documents.
Checking other personnel documentation
When reviewing administrative documents, you need to check that orders for core activities are stored separately from orders for personnel. They also check how correctly the orders for the appointment of managers (general director, directors of structural divisions, chief accountant, production manager, etc.) are drawn up.
All personnel documents have different storage periods, therefore, after execution, documents must be formed into files in accordance with the nomenclature of files (within the file, documents are also systematized according to certain criteria), this allows you to store documents, ensure their safety, systematize, record, quickly find the necessary document, quickly transfer cases to archival storage.
Particular attention should be paid to the procedure for maintaining work books. First of all, you need to check the availability of a certified copy of the order for the main activity appointing someone responsible for maintaining work records.
When conducting an audit of work books and their inserts, you need to make sure that they are all registered in the Book of Accounting for the movement of work books and their inserts, all the books are available and all entries are made in them (based on the relevant orders).
Employees' personal cards must contain duplicate entries from work books (inserts) about hiring, transfers to another permanent job and dismissal, and next to it should be the employee's signature stating that he has read these records. Work books and their inserts must be kept together in a safe. Work with work books must be carried out in accordance with the Rules for maintaining and storing work books and the Instructions for filling out work books.
A moment to smile
Fragment from the resume of an applicant for the position of “advertising manager”
Key skills:
- non-standard thinking (.--. .-.....- -.. . .-.....--. ---);
- readiness to work in a team (including a football team);
- erudition (Hegel, Gogol, Babel, Bebel stand before my inner gaze);
- determination (without fanaticism - alas, Savonarola, I’m not on the same path with you);
- work for results (the question is, what results do you want?).
Generating a report
In conclusion, the commission for conducting a personnel audit draws up a report on the current state of personnel records, analyzes whether the goals of the audit have been achieved, records identified shortcomings, prescribes measures to be taken, and draws conclusions.
The more complete and detailed the report, the easier it is for HR employees to correct mistakes.
The report may include:
- analysis of the availability of all documents required by labor legislation;
- analysis of compliance of document preparation with the requirements of Labor legislation;
- assessment of the content of the organization’s internal local regulations;
- analysis of personnel procedures for compliance with legal requirements;
- analysis of documents’ compliance with the requirements of archival legislation;
- links to specific articles of regulations under which the company has violations;
- risk assessment: what violations may lead to labor disputes or penalties from inspection authorities;
- recommendations for correcting errors in personnel records management;
- setting priorities in further work with personnel documents.
It is usually presented in the form of a document containing both descriptive parts and a table with violations and recommendations for their elimination, which is drawn up as an Appendix to the report.
The report is presented to the audit customer (the company's chief executive officer) for approval and further actions (issuing an order to correct identified violations, distributing this work among HR employees, etc.)
Typically, the auditor presents the report in person, as clarification and additional information are often needed.
results
The result of a personnel audit is usually a work plan for the personnel service to eliminate identified deficiencies in record keeping, indicating the time frame for their correction and the officials responsible for this.
In addition, often immediately following the results of the first audit, a repeat audit is scheduled - in order to verify that the identified violations have been corrected.
Audit... For accountants and employees of financial departments, this topic causes a feeling of slight anxiety, and for people in creative professions, it brings outright boredom. But for every manager it is very important to know what is actually happening in the area of work entrusted to him. In addition, if you approach this issue “with soul,” then sincere interest will take the place of boredom.
Let's imagine a three-dimensional figure, for example, a cube. Dividing it by vertical and horizontal planes into a certain number of cells, we get n equal cubes. By placing hinges at the vertices of the cube, we can, while keeping the base in one place, tilt it in a vertical plane - left/right or forward/backward. We have obtained a flexible structure that, despite all changes, retains all the main parameters: height, width, depth (rice. 1).
Rice. 1. Illustration of the flexibility of matrix structures
The matrix structure of the Atlant-M holding can be likened to such a moving cube: it has departments -commercial And budget(in our company, a department is an independent company code).
The main functions of budget departments (for example, departmentpersonnel management , department business development ) include the development, implementation and control of the execution of management decisions, policies, regulations, procedures, etc. It is these units that create the framework of the “cube”, their activities ensure the strength of the entire structure, since they:
The components of the “cube” of our company are commercial branches - separate auto centers. Under pressure from external influences, its axes can shift, adapting to current events (for example, the global financial crisis). The management system created and protected by the budget departments does not allow the entire structure of the holding to crumble under the influence of “displacements” into individual cubes. Such tools that help maintain system integrity include audits.
The audit allows you to solve the following tasks:
Audits are carried out for each business process (based on the relevant Regulations) usingchecklist (check-list- checklist, list of questions, inspection plan), which consistently describes which processes and operations are mandatory for a particular department. The checklist is made in the form of a table with indicators (program fileExcelwith several "sheets" -rice. 2, 3).
Rice. 2. General view of the checklist
Rice. 3. View of a separate sheet
The audit technology was introduced into the management practice of our company by employees of the business development department. Our best specialists work here - experts in the sale of cars and spare parts, service and warranty service, disposition and logistics, and finance. Let me note that we constantly use working groups to solve new problems or create new technologies. The group that developed the audit methodology included HR specialists from Minsk, Moscow and Kyiv (8–10 people, the composition varied depending on the stage of work). The training was carried out on a specially created virtual platform using the Internet.
At the initial stage, initiatives from group members were collected - proposals regarding the inspection procedure and proposals on the content of the checklist. This information was consolidated, structured and presented to group members for study and adjustment. In total, several such iterations were carried out in the process of developing methods.
When developing the checklist, we aimed to:
1. Minimize the time required to fill it.
2. Use important and measurable(!) criteria, do not overload it with excessive detail.
To test the functionality of checklists before starting scheduled audits, several pilot projects were implemented.
How do audit data benefit us?
Paying a lot of attention to core business processes, we do not forget about budget departments (finance, information technology, marketing, personnel management), and regularly improve their activities.
The personnel management system at Atlant-M can be schematically represented as a star with five main rays - areas of activity (rice. 4): selection and use of human resources; development; grade; motivation; safety.
Rice. 4. HR management scheme in the Atlant-M holding
* “Personnel ballast” - maladapted employees who systematically make serious mistakes and mistakes in their work; people with low motivation who have not been performing their functions effectively for a long time; unwilling or unable to learn/repurpose their activities. If the manager considers their further work inappropriate, he begins either the dismissal procedure or (if appropriate) transfers lists of such employees to the human resources department for retraining.
The “Star” scheme helps young managers and specialists with no experience in personnel management to master the basics of people management, and young HR professionals to prepare for licensing. In our company, licensing is an internal exam confirming the presence of the necessary amount of knowledge to conduct a certain activity.
Audit of business process implementation"Human Resource Management" (HP) In the departments we conduct it in the form of performance assessment. The reasons for it are:
The purpose of the audit is to obtain reliable information about the compliance of the activities performed with corporate standards of work, and, if necessary, to develop measures to eliminate shortcomings in working with personnel. The audit process is described in the relevant Regulations, which are guidelines for commission members. The regulation helps department heads and commission members determine requirements for each criterion and consider controversial issues.
Each area of HR activity - the ray of the “star” - consists of several blocks and is reflected on a separate sheet of the checklist (rice. 3). The verification program includes:
We evaluate economic results in UE based on the plan/actual ratio: we check the deviation of current indicators from planned ones - productivity, profitability and staff turnover. Staff turnover, in turn, is assessed by two groups of indicators - overall staff turnover and staff turnover in key positions. The assessment is carried out on a three-point scale, where:
“1” - the work fully complies with the requirements described in the documentation;
“0.5” - the work is not being carried out in full, there are comments;
“0” - work is carried out to a minimum extent or not at all.
The audit is carried out by a commission consisting of at least two people. The checklist presents two groups of criteria:
Representatives of three groups of personnel are interviewed: managers; specialists; workers. The number of employees interviewed must be necessary and sufficient to ensure that auditors obtain a clear picture of the group of criteria being assessed. Our experience shows that to do this, it is enough to interview 10–20% of the department’s staff.
On a separate sheet of the checklist is presentedassessment model (rice. 5): each criterion is assigned a certain weight, the indicator is calculated based on the possible maximum score. Thus, the calculation clearly shows the deviation from the best possible result.
Rice. 5. Model for assessing the business process “Human Resources Management”
The results of the assessment are not only recorded digitally, but also illustrated using “emoticon” drawings (rice. 6). Such “visibility” of data presentation allows the inspector to quickly evaluate the result.
Rice. 6. Visualization of ratings
When giving assessments, each member of the commission works individually. At the end of the work, the commission meets to discuss the results, develop a common decision and prepare recommendations. Based on the results of the assessment, a report is drawn up. Within a month after the audit, the HR manager of the audited department prepares a plan for further work indicating specific activities (in accordance with the list of recommendations).All our enterprises are engaged in one line of business and have standard structures. At the same time, management is structured in such a way that department heads enjoy a sufficient degree of freedom in strategic and operational management (in order to take into account the specifics of the market as flexibly as possible). The organizational structures of the holding's divisions differ from each other, since the enterprises, like their leaders, are at different stages of development. Such unevenness often masked the complexities inherent in each individual department and did not make it possible to evaluate (and compare) the effectiveness of management decisions made by their directors.
Audits helped us identify ineffective top managers, as well as those who “pursue subjective interests.” For example, using the opportunities available within the framework of the given independence, some of them make adjustments to the organizational structure that lead to the emergence ofredundant levels of control And duplication of functions . On the other hand, it became clear to us that in each department it is necessary to introduce the position of a deputy director who would manage end-to-end functions (back office). All these problems became obvious based on the results of the inspections.
The obtained assessments also showed how important for effective people management is the qualified and stable work of the HR manager himself, his loyalty to the company, and, in addition, consistency and continuity in this activity at the level of the department and the holding as a whole.
The results of the HR audit convincingly demonstrated:
The assessments in the checklist helped us in our work with line managers. For example, we constantly tell them about the importance of the adaptation period: the less attention a new employee is given in the first days on the job, the higher the likelihood that he will leave the company or work with low productivity. An objective assessment of the commission, based on interviews with 10% of employees, turned out to be much more convincing for line managers than words.
How did the employees themselves react to the audits? At first, people were worried and asked members of the inspection team questions: “Are we being inspected? Is there something wrong?" During the interview, I once again told people about the general management system at Atlant-M, part of which are audits - systemic monitoring of the correct execution of business processes. When conducting them, we do not pursue any “repressive” goals (“inspection” is punishment); the results of the assessments are used only to improve the organizational structure and activities of the departments.
One of my colleagues printed out the texts of the Corporate Code and Internal Labor Regulations and gave them to employees on the eve of audits along with wages. This information helped explain to employees the essence of what was happening, and as a result, they began to feel more relaxed about the audit procedure. Since the questions asked during the interviews were not about the performance of an individual, but about the personnel management system as a whole, people were willing and open to talk about both problems and achievements. As a result, we received feedback from employees about the quality of work of the HR department, as well as an assessment of the work of their immediate supervisors and the department's HR manager. I recommend that HR staff regularly improve their interview skills!
Conducting audits (including HR audits) in our company has proven itself to be excellent; its results helped to identify shortcomings and find hidden reserves for further improvement and development.
- How does an audit of internal systems and assessment tools help HR determine what is working and what is not?
- How to painlessly make the transition from one assessment tools (outdated, ineffective) to others?
- How to work with resistance?
- How to plan internal PR for new tools?
HR audits typically focus on the extent to which HR professionals are helping the business.
If a request for such an audit arises, this means that either the company already has a culture of continuous improvement and a commitment to quality work, or the business has some dissatisfaction with the work of the HR service, or the HR service team is headed by a new manager.
In all these cases, it is necessary to collect information on how HR:
— examines the state of the company’s employees and identifies needs for its services
— satisfies stated needs and anticipates new areas of work with personnel
— resolves difficult situations with teams and individuals.
To do this, it is important to communicate with both sides of the process - both with HR employees and with their internal clients - employees and company managers.
Malfunctions are detected when analyzing the collected information and often relate to issues of interaction when making and implementing joint decisions.
Carrying out the will of management, HR employees may find themselves caught between two fires - on the one hand, demands for greater transparency, consistency and efficiency of work on the part of management, on the other hand, the reluctance of managers and employees “on the ground” to understand problems, learn new tools, and apply them in their practice and make decisions taking into account new information.
A typical situation is the issue of allocating a personnel reserve and appointing successors. What to rely on when solving this issue? In most organizations, the opinion of the employee’s immediate supervisor and the manager at a higher level is taken into account. Is it decisive, or is HR trying to collect other information to make an objective decision? Who makes this decision?
A company may have a whole set of tools for assessing people, but when opening a position, the assessment results do not influence decision making. This could mean, depending on other data collected:
— insufficient authority of HR employees in the eyes of business representatives,
- the presence in the organization of a culture in which personal connections and relationships are more important than the effectiveness and potential of the employee,
— the presence of “double standards” in the company, when some values are declared, but the actual choice of successors is carried out according to others,
- undeveloped for assessment, not reflecting the real set of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for success in a given company.
An audit helps determine what the role of HR is in an organization.
What do its employees do - collect and systematize important information about the effectiveness and potential of people to make the most accurate decisions, to create objective and transparent career paths, or just perform internal PR functions to create the appearance of all this? Depending on the answer to this question, you can make plans to improve the efficiency of HR or improve its communication with the business.
An audit may also reveal errors in the use of assessment tools.
For example, an organization conducts a staff satisfaction survey. The purpose of the survey is to collect information about how employees of the organization feel. It is expected that the data obtained will be used to develop ideas for increasing staff satisfaction and reducing staff turnover. However, an analysis of the survey procedure reveals that the information received can hardly be considered reliable and objective. The rules of anonymity and confidentiality of obtaining data are not observed, the work experience of respondents in the organization is not taken into account, people are completely unprepared to conduct a survey - or, on the contrary, over-prepared and incorrectly configured, the questionnaire includes uninformative or ambiguous questions, the survey results are used as justification for conducting sanctions against teams or individuals. Common survey errors reduce the value of the information obtained when people deliberately withhold or distort information, and can even lead to poor decisions. Those conducting the audit must carefully understand how the survey is initiated, prepared, conducted, and how its results are processed and used.
In one of the large Russian retail companies, the manager called on an independent consultant to look into the situation when the internal system for assessing communication between departments stopped working. While people initially reported problems with collaboration, over the last year and a half of using the system, everyone gave each other only top scores, despite the fact that problems in collaboration still existed. To understand the situation, it was necessary to understand not only how the assessment results were used, but also to analyze the way the data was collected, and even the scale with which the assessments were given. The changes introduced to the assessment procedure and scale allowed us to once again begin to receive reliable and important information both about failures of cross-functional interaction and about best practices in working with internal clients.
Another example is the use of tests when hiring or assessing the personnel reserve
It would never occur to anyone to put an untrained person in the place of a machine operator. And access to the use of psychological tests and ability assessment tests is sometimes given to untrained or only partially trained people. The auditor may then discover that the organization is using tests that are not suitable for assessment purposes, that the testing and data processing procedures are carried out with errors, that incorrect conclusions are drawn from the results obtained, that these conclusions are presented to management in a manner that excludes equal dialogue and is understandable to both sides communication.
It also happens that “psychologists” who grew up in non-professional communities give such feedback on testing to company employees that the latter become confused, feel humiliated and lose hope of an objective assessment of their abilities in this company. “It’s unlikely that they’ll hire me, it’s not even worth trying,” reports an employee who a couple of years ago received the following conclusion from the company’s “psychologist”: “Impulsive, often unable to cope with surging feelings, unable to restrain them even where they are unacceptable. Under the influence of feelings, he loses his critical perception of reality and can succumb to any persuasion from others. Prefers to defend his position, conflicts arise due to intractability.” (spelling, punctuation and style preserved - M.T.).
Often, the actions of internal employees that are egregious and alienate the company from its goals go unnoticed and are not analyzed, primarily because the head of the HR service himself is not particularly versed in assessment tools, trusting those who promoted them to the organization, or does not consider it necessary to check those that are obvious to everyone. , it seems, things. An audit helps to identify such “blind spots”, understand what is happening and change the situation, if desired by the main “stakeholders”.
Dealing with resistance can be relatively easy if the company does not already employ people who have set up processes in a certain way. If they continue to work and are adherents of questionable practices, the task becomes more difficult. They need to be dealt with separately or isolated relative to the new process, and the amount of positive coverage of new practices from people authoritative in the company should exceed the possible number of negative comments.