HR Critical Success Factors for Forward-Thinking Leaders

Top Critical HR Success Factors

1. Culture
At the heart of every organization is its culture—the attitudes and behaviors defining
how things get done. When you incorporate activities to build a great company culture,
your employees benefit, and you also attract candidates with similar values and cultural
ideals.

You can improve company culture by encouraging team-building activities and clear
communication at all levels of the organization. You can also provide employees with
tools that make their lives easier at work, for example, human capital management
software that features employee self-service access.

2. Talent Acquisition
Good talent is hard to find, particularly in a tight labor market. According to an XpertHR
survey, almost a third of surveyed HR professionals named recruiting and hiring as their
most critical challenge. Of those, 51 percent said they were “extremely challenged” in
finding high-quality candidates.

A well-crafted recruitment strategy and process will help you source, select, and hire the
talent required for your organization to succeed. Available HR software
provides reporting and data management tools to help you understand the effectiveness
of your recruiting activities and keep better track of candidates in your talent pipeline.

3. Workforce Planning
Being a forward-thinking HR leader means anticipating future talent needs. A critical
part of your success relies on being prepared to help the organization find new talent or
reskill existing employees, so they can tackle change and new ways of working. When
you have all-in-one HR technology to help you manage your workforce from one
convenient location, you can develop a more complete picture of your company’s
staffing and skill development needs.

4. Compensation
A recent Achievers study found that 52 percent of employees are looking or would
consider leaving their company because of compensation. To engage and retain your
employees, you need a competitive mix of salary and other rewards. To understand
workforce compensation trends and plan for salary adjustments and incentives, you
could benefit from an integrated payroll system that allows you to track employee pay
alongside performance and other factors.

5. Benefits and Employee Wellness

The safety and wellbeing of employees are always important, but due to COVID-19,
your organization may be facing new challenges in keeping employees healthy and
safe. Whether your employees are working remotely or beginning to return to the office,
you may need to consider a different or new mix of benefits to support their health and
wellness. Some of the benefit changes you may want to consider include:

 Expanded flexible work arrangements

 Additional paid time off and family leave options
 Virtual medical care coverage

6. Training 
Employee training can take many forms, from classroom training to on-the-job learning.
Not only do you need to track training participation and costs, but you also want to
understand the effectiveness of your existing training. With a clear picture of employee
skill levels and prior training attendance, you can identify which new programs and
experiences will aid further learning. 

7. Leadership Development
A strong pipeline of company leaders helps ensure a sufficient number of managers for
key roles, and it helps your organization prepare for the future. Tracking HR metrics,
such as turnover by manager, can help you understand the strength of your managers
and where they may need help leading and retaining members of their team. 

The following programs and activities can help you develop leaders in your
organization:

 Mentorship programs
 Stretch assignments
 Rotational programs
 Training and coaching

8. Employee Engagement
According to Gallup, only 35 percent of U.S. employees are engaged or highly
committed to their work and organization. To improve engagement, you first need to
understand which aspects of the employee experience are engaging for your
employees, and which are not. Conducting engagement surveys and tracking trends in
employee responses over time can help you identify the drivers of engagement in your
organization and how to build greater commitment among employees.

9. Employee Relations
If your organization is experiencing issues related to harassment, team communication,
or managers who struggle to lead, it can hurt employee retention and satisfaction. The
success of your HR function relies on the timely and fair resolution of those issues.
Managing employee relations issues helps employees see the value of HR, and also
prevents smaller problems from snowballing into bigger ones.

10. Performance Management 

A robust performance management program helps you understand employee
effectiveness and productivity. It also helps you identify areas where employees need
improvement. By using HR software with a module for performance management, you
can keep track of employee ratings, feedback notes, and productivity reports. When it’s
time for performance reviews, managers will have easy access to historical
performance data for their employees.

11. Diversity and Inclusion 

Creating an environment that brings together different people, experiences, and ways of
working supports creative decision-making and a culture of mutual respect. Whether
you’re designing a new diversity and inclusion program or you need help with standard
EEOC reporting, HR software can help you better understand the demographics of your
organization and how to build a more inclusive workplace.

12. Compliance
The SHRM digest of federal labor laws lists 58 distinct federal employment laws
covering just about every aspect of HR. There are also state laws and federal agencies
that set rules for the workplace. To meet your year-round compliance obligations, it’s
essential to keep track of regulations impacting the following areas: 

 Benefits and COBRA administration

 Paid leaves
 Payroll
 Workers compensation