5 Tips for More Easily Managing Your Human Capital Simplifying the challenge of managing a growing workforce is better for the company and appreciated by employees.
By Matt Straz Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Successful companies regard employees as their most valuable asset and biggest investment. As the workforce grows, however, managing people within an organization becomes much more of a hassle for employers. In fact, according to a 2013 survey of 1,293 HR leaders conducted by Lumesse, 52 percent of respondents strongly agreed that their role has required them to manage increasing levels of complexity.
Managing human capital doesn't have to be such a challenge. Here are five ways to simplify human capital management (HCM) in an effort to develop and retain employees and make employers' jobs a little bit easier:
1. Create employee profiles.
Successfully managing employees in a workforce that is continuously growing is no easy feat, especially when employers can't connect a name to a face. Getting to know employees is easier with individual employee profiles. Regardless of the platform used, these profiles are a helpful tool for managing human capital. They allow managers to collect and store important employee information in one place while also encouraging sociability and comradery among coworkers.
Related: How Big Data Will Change Everything About Managing Employees
2. Streamline employee onboarding.
The onboarding process serves as a new hire's first impression of a company, which stresses the importance of having a smooth onboarding system in place. Technology plays a key role in simplifying HCM. It helps employers store, track and manage new hire paperwork, create new hire tasks and monitor progress, as well as foster socialization through online portals.
Unlike traditional onboarding methods, automated onboarding procedures can be used and referred to as often as needed -- saving companies both time and money on new hire training.
3. Revive the performance review.
While the annual performance review isn't dead, for many companies, it's on its last legs. Luckily, there is a lot that can be done to save performance appraisals in an effort to better manage employees.
For starters, employers should aim to keep the review process as simple as possible. This can easily be done by asking employees only key questions and focusing on core competencies.
Employers should also strive to build a regular feedback culture by incorporating self-ratings, peer reviews and manager assessments into the HCM system. Encouraging feedback from employees and their peers can give managers a perspective on performance they might not otherwise get.
Finally, automate portions of the performance review process with software. This way, more time can be spent on other aspects of HCM.
4. Offer unlimited PTO
Offering unlimited paid time-off is still new in the corporate world. In fact, only 1 percent of U.S. companies currently offer unlimited PTO, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's 2014 report on employee benefits.
Flexible paid time-off policies simplify HCM by eliminating the tedious process of calculating vacation accrual and tracking employee absences. It's also an attractive benefit to job seekers and boosts employee performance and morale.
Related: Unlimited Paid-Time Off? Seriously? How to Make It Work.
5. Embrace mobility in the workplace
With 1.75 billion smartphone users worldwide last year, as found in a 2014 report by eMarketer, it's no wonder mobile applications are on the rise in the workplace. Using mobile in the workplace has helped spur the improvement and management of the employee experience.
Mobility provides employers and employees alike the flexibility to work from anywhere, at any time (even while on the run). Let's not forget that it also simplifies communication within the workplace by encouraging feedback and removing time zone and location barriers. With mobile tools, employers and employees can integrate their personal and professional lives as needed.
Related: The Wisdom Behind Making Workplace Apps Easy to Use
