<h5>What is an HR audit?</h5>
A HR audit is a comprehensive evaluation of the current human resource development strategies, policies, processes, organization structure, systems and skills in the context of the short and long-term business plans of a company. A free HR audit is a golden opportunity for organizations to assess their HR processes with no financial liability.
<h5>Why perform an HR audit?</h5>
An HR audit provides multiple advantages to the senior leadership of an organization. Not only will an HR audit help a company ensure it’s in compliance and conformance with the law, but it will help it standardize processes, identify risk areas, and tie HR goals to strategic business goals. There are various types of audits designed to accomplish a variety of objectives. An HR audit can be as comprehensive as needed within the constraints of time, budgeting and resources.
An HR audit attempts to find out the future HR needs of the company after assessing the current HR policies, processes and activities being conducted in an organization. Organizations prefer to conduct an HR audit to get a clear judgment about the overall status of the organization and to find out whether certain systems put in place are yielding any results. HR audit also helps companies to figure out any gaps or lapses and the reason for the same. Since every company plans certain systems and targets, an HR audit compares the plans to actual implementation.
An HR audit is an independent, objective, and systematic evaluation that provides assurance that:
<ul>
<li>Compliance and governance requirements are being met.</li>
<li>Business and talent management objectives are being achieved.</li>
<li>Performance management, compensation and rewards are in line with best practices.</li>
<li>Human resource management risks are fully identified, assessed, and managed and</li>
<li>The organization’s human capital adds value</li>
</ul>
Under this definition, HR audits are more than an audit activity that solely collects and presents evidence of compliance. HR audits are increasingly expected to look beyond the organization’s present HR practices and to benchmark the organization’s processes and practices, and to provide the necessary consultative services that help the organization achieve its business goals and objectives.
<h5> What are the reasons of doing an HR audit? </h5>
Organizations undertake HR audits for many reasons:
<ul>
<li> To ensure effective utilization of human resources. </li>
<li> To benchmark the organization’s HR practices </li>
<li> To instill a sense of confidence in the human resource department that it is well-managed </li>
<li> To identify and address HR-related problems </li>
<li> To seek out HR-related opportunities </li>
</ul>
<h5> What all gets checked in an HR audit? </h5>
Most HR audits are conducted with the aim of measuring the various HR processes in an organization against an industry benchmark. The most popular model is the PCMM model (People Capability Maturity Model) which is a framework that helps organizations successfully address their critical people issues. Based on the best current practices in fields such as human resources, knowledge management, and organizational development, the People CMM guides organizations in improving their processes for managing and developing their workforces. As per the PCMM model, all organizations can be classified into 5 maturity models from level 1 to level 5. Once and HR audit is done and the maturity level of the organization assessed, the PCMM model provides guidelines to organizations on how to improve their level. The various HR aspects which get assessed in the audit are:
<ul>
<li> Work environment </li>
<li> Communication </li>
<li> Staffing </li>
<li> Managing performance </li>
<li> Training </li>
<li> Compensation </li>
<li> Competency development </li>
<li> Career development </li>
<li> Team building </li>
<li> Culture development </li>
</ul>
<h5> How does an organization use HR audit results? </h5>
Organizations generally have three options for dealing with audit results.
<ul>
<li> Use the HR audit as a blueprint or action plan for addressing HR needs. </li>
<li> Address as many needs as possible using the organization’s internal expertise and resources. </li>
<li> Contract out those need areas where internal expertise and resources are not available or do not fit the core competencies of the organization </li>
</ul>
An HR audit is much like an annual health check. It can perform the same function for the organization. An audit is a means by which an organization can measure where it currently stands and determine what it must accomplish to improve its HR functions.
Do reach out to us in case you would want to avail of the opportunity of having a free HR audit conducted for your organization.
Rajiv is the principal consultant at R Square Consulting. Rajiv can be reached at rajiv@rquareconsult.in forany query, discussion or professional requirements.
<b> About R Square consulting:</b> R Square consulting provides end to end services in the field of building leadership and managerial capability to include leadership development interventions based on a holistic blend of exploration, reflection, action learning, executive coaching, assessment centers and various Organizational development interventions.
R square consulting provides customised and holistic HR interventions for developing the human capital of an organization through:
Executive Coaching
Assessment and Development Centers
Organizational Development Interventions
Leadership and managerial development
Flexi HR support for SME
www.rsquareconsult.in
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