HRM Five: End of year HR checklist
Yamini Chinnuswamy offers five important points on everything you wanted to know about HR practices today, but were too afraid to ask. Check out previous editions of HRM Five here.
For better or worse, another year is coming to a close, and it’s as good a time as any to get your (HR) house in order. Here are a few things HR can consider doing before ushering in the new year.
- Do a little spring cleaning
We’ve all let papers and other bric-a-brac clutter our desks and offices; often thinking, “I might need that later”. Documents should be archived or disposed per your employer’s retention policy, of course, but you can (and should) probably chuck out that old packet of biscuits from two years ago – and encourage your people to do the same. Why not even make a day out of it, and reward everyone with free food and drink afterwards? Decluttering physical spaces can help declutter minds, too.
- Spread some holiday cheer
Ideally, you’d be giving out some holiday bonuses at this time of year, but that isn’t always possible. Whatever the case, with the festive season bookending the year, it’s a good time to do something for your employees. This could be as small as giving out gingerbread cookies or sending out a company letter.
- Review the year that has just lapsed…
No doubt you have formal appraisal/review periods every year, but why not have an informal review within your own team about how HR has performed over the last year? HR are frequently caught up in firefighting and dealing with the minutiae of work – but this is an opportunity to stop and take stock of where you did (and didn’t) do well.
- … and plan out the year ahead
While you’re reviewing HR’s performance over the last year, you may as well re-configure your HR strategy as well – at least until the next formal appraisal period. If you’re lucky enough to get a free calendar or planner from a customer or vendor, it’s as good a time to break it in by pencilling in important dates like company events and project deadlines.
- Make your new year’s resolutions
There’s only one time in the year to make new year’s resolutions (NYRs), so don’t let the date pass you by. It’s worth making this a company-wide effort, whether that means working with senior management to decide on the company’s NYRs, or providing a structure for each department to develop their own.
