Big Problem Might Need a Simple Solution
Many organizations look to consultants to provide "big fixes" for their HR organization. If the processes being used are not producing efficient and positive results, then there must be a big problem or two hanging around the HR department, right?
After working with many inefficient HR organizations, particularly large ones, I'm not convinced that all big problems require big solutions. I was reminded of this today when the following discovery was made by one of my colleagues:
One of the organizations we work with has over 100,000 employees. As you can imagine, the hiring process can be cumbersome and the number of resumes in the system is astronomical. Unfortunately, there are quite literally thousands of old job postings in the system that have been forgotten, were intentionally ignored or otherwise have become "lost" in the employment/HR systems.
Our team has been asked to "clean-up" a large scope of work that has been transferred to us. Today, in reviewing a number of older forgotten electronic documents, my colleague found a record that was intended to shift an employee from one position to another. It was created back in 2005 but then never acted upon. When she discovered this old request for action, she contacted the listed Manager to determine what action, if any, needed be taken. She was told that the employee that was to be involved in the transfer had passed away well over one year ago!
The request to move the employee was never acted upon, the employee subsequently met an untimely fate, yet the request for employment action remained in the system as "New - waiting for action"...and it's been summarily ignored for over one year!
How can an organization possibly expect to act in an efficient manner when the employment system is FILLED with no longer valid data? A simple way to improve efficiency in any organization is to look inside the databases and HR Management Systems. If the information you find is not helping you, it is most certainly acting as an electronic speed bump.
In order to act with true efficiency, outdated and invalid information must be stored appropriately or expunged from the system. This is a "little" solution to what is often a big big problem. Large organizations do not have to live up to their slow, plodding, inefficient reputations. Instead, by keeping systems free of cyber-litter, employees can access data, evaluate information and ACT in a more timely manner.
After working with many inefficient HR organizations, particularly large ones, I'm not convinced that all big problems require big solutions. I was reminded of this today when the following discovery was made by one of my colleagues:
One of the organizations we work with has over 100,000 employees. As you can imagine, the hiring process can be cumbersome and the number of resumes in the system is astronomical. Unfortunately, there are quite literally thousands of old job postings in the system that have been forgotten, were intentionally ignored or otherwise have become "lost" in the employment/HR systems.
Our team has been asked to "clean-up" a large scope of work that has been transferred to us. Today, in reviewing a number of older forgotten electronic documents, my colleague found a record that was intended to shift an employee from one position to another. It was created back in 2005 but then never acted upon. When she discovered this old request for action, she contacted the listed Manager to determine what action, if any, needed be taken. She was told that the employee that was to be involved in the transfer had passed away well over one year ago!
The request to move the employee was never acted upon, the employee subsequently met an untimely fate, yet the request for employment action remained in the system as "New - waiting for action"...and it's been summarily ignored for over one year!
How can an organization possibly expect to act in an efficient manner when the employment system is FILLED with no longer valid data? A simple way to improve efficiency in any organization is to look inside the databases and HR Management Systems. If the information you find is not helping you, it is most certainly acting as an electronic speed bump.
In order to act with true efficiency, outdated and invalid information must be stored appropriately or expunged from the system. This is a "little" solution to what is often a big big problem. Large organizations do not have to live up to their slow, plodding, inefficient reputations. Instead, by keeping systems free of cyber-litter, employees can access data, evaluate information and ACT in a more timely manner.
Comments