Top 5 HR Challenges and their Solutions

It is always a tricky business when it comes to managing people. With the advancement of the digital age, human resource management has become more complex due to the following things: the transparency of social media, the persistence of software updates and the remoteness of international teams. All these things make it extremely difficult for human resource professionals to manage people because they now have to devote additional time, money and effort to attract and retain employees in the organization.

Let us now focus our attention on the different HR challenges in the workplace and the different things that these professionals can do to overcome them.

1. Attracting top talent

As mentioned earlier in the blog, the number one challenge for an HR professional is to attract and retain the best talent. The reason being, it takes lots of commitment, time and hard work. To attract the right talent, it is important to specify the job requirements properly along with job role clarity and specifying the expectations from the selected candidates for the open position. The challenge is that the requirements for the open position keeps on changing and the organizational culture keeps on adapting which makes it very difficult to accomplish the objective of attracting top talent.

How to overcome this HR challenge?

Start by looking at the right online mediums where the job seekers are present. There are different platforms where it is possible for you to stay in contact with top talent segregated on the basis of skills, industry and job level. Visit different job boards to attract the right talent which will give you enough time to screen the candidates.

Once you start the screening candidates, concentrate on whether they are the right fit for your organization and then for the open position. Start looking for small cues that give you confidence that they love learning, are up for a challenge and are comfortable with change. Find out how technologically savvy, they are and how they deal with the feedback.

By focusing on these qualities, you will be able to attract the right talent and create a team of employees who are likely to achieve your business objectives even if they keep on evolving over time.

2. Compliance with employment laws and regulation

It is a constant struggle for HR professionals to keep up to date with the constantly evolving employment laws and regulations in their state and country. There are certain HR professionals who choose to ignore the employment laws by believing that they don’t apply to their business. But, by doing this they are attracting unnecessary lawsuits, audits, or even a big loss for the organization.

How to overcome this HR challenge?

To resolve this challenge, every HR professional irrespective of whether it is a big or small organization needs to ensure that they follow the local, state and federal labor laws to the “t”. There are different laws in the country from hiring practices, wage payment to workplace safety. If you need any resource, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Law Guide.

3. Embracing change with grace and ease

It is often said that the only thing that is certain is change. In an organization, change can act as a shapeshifter that can influence the business environment, competitors, customers, and workplace. Irrespective of whether the change affects the management, structure or technology of the organization, humans are always afraid of change because it gives them a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety.

The responsibility of the HR professionals is to ensure that the employees in an organization adapt to the change gracefully, which is one of the most recurring challenges faced by them. The problem is that the HR professionals are not only tasked with the management of employee morale, happiness, and cooperation in the event of a change but also constantly upskilling employees to meet the changing needs of an organization.

How to overcome this HR challenge?

There is no single way to overcome this HR challenge. The best thing that you can do is to effectively communicate with the employees before, during and after the times of change. Warn the employees of an upcoming change so that they get better equipped for the change. Provide training on the hard and soft skills to make employees overcome the fear of change. This way they will feel more secure and capable to embrace change.

4. Developing the leaders for tomorrow

The team leader is the captain of the ship and the performance of the team depends more and less on the leader. There are certain employees who leave the organization due to poor relationships with their direct managers. This makes it extremely critical for an HR professional to develop talented and aspiring leaders.

This is easier said than done. The reason being, grooming current employees for leadership positions does not work, especially when the leaders in the making keep leaving the organization. This is especially a case more often found in the Millennial heavy workforce. This makes it a critical challenge for HR professionals to overcome.

How to overcome this HR challenge?

The best way to overcome this challenge is by providing proper training to the employees with a clear career progression path. This gives an assurance to the employees about their job security and they understand that you value them as employees and see leadership potential in them.

5. Managing a diverse workforce

Today, due to globalization organizations have started to expand their business in different countries and states making it a global affair. Today, organizations have different offices across different countries with a head office. This means more sales and diversified employee experience, ideas, and perspectives.

But, with this diversity, it becomes very difficult for HR professionals to manage diverse cultures in the workplace. The HR professionals need to follow local policies and procedures to create a workplace which is comfortable, warming and free from any conflicts for everyone.

How to overcome this HR challenge?

Organize cultural awareness programs in your organization so that employees can recognize the benefits of diversity like better ideas, innovations and wider candidate reach. It is equally important for you to organize team building exercises so that it gives an opportunity for employees from different cultures to bond with each other so that they can accomplish a common business goal.

Credits @ https://www.talentnow.com/hr-challenges-solutions/