In an expanding manufacturing SME, the HR department was under great pressure. The company had grown to around 300 employees in a short space of time following the acquisition of two sites. The new locations had different collective bargaining and company rules on remuneration and working hours. In addition, overarching HR work objectives had not been defined.
The interim manager and coach was hired to support the HR management. Clear objectives needed to be developed in connection with the company's growth strategy. In addition, structures and personnel organization were to be designed accordingly. In addition, the interim manager was to provide support and coaching to help implement the previously developed proposals.
Determining the use of HR resources by area of responsibility
In the first step, the interim manager analyzed the capacities and use of resources in the HR department with 3.5 full-time positions. Together with the HR team, he drew up a list of tasks, estimated the time required and extrapolated process volumes. This revealed:
- The HR department was 54 percent occupied with administrative tasks in personnel administration and payroll accounting.
- The supervision of seven commercial trainees and two dual students took up 12 percent of capacity.
- The recruitment of around 30 new employees per year required 12 percent and an additional €100,000 in external services.
- 6 percent was used for training and personnel development, supplemented by €200,000 for external service providers & trainers.
The remaining 16 percent was divided between various tasks, in many cases in connection with communication and coordination, particularly with works councils and other interest groups in the company.
There was no talent development or succession planning and no internally planned leadership development programs.
Time wasters identified in HR work
Many "time wasters" were identified, such as:
- Determining specific requirements by making enquiries
- Processing and checking applications
- Manual checks, corrections and entries in the system
In view of the results, all participants agreed that the effectiveness of HR processes should be increased. To this end, it was considered expedient to determine the needs and requirements of the HR department's internal customers.
Determining the needs and assessments of internal customers
The interim manager initiated an expert survey with 10 managers to determine the needs. In one-hour one-on-one interviews, he ascertained assessments of the current HR work and wishes of the internal customers. In the interviews, the focus was on open answers so that ideas for improving collaboration could be captured. The results in brief:
Management & structure: The employees in the HR department were described as always friendly and hard-working as well as personal and trusting in their dealings. However, the managers also described a lack of conflict resolution, which was reflected in the fact that everything was always done and "no" was never said.
Competence: Furthermore, the HR department was described as competent and its employees as empathetic. The lack of analytical skills in the HR department was viewed critically, which made it difficult to search for causes or find structured solutions, for example.
Collaboration and communication: The HR staff were described as collegial but inflexible. In one case, the description was typical: "Sometimes well-intentioned, but not well thought out", i.e. the subtle hint that a little more critical questioning of the facts at the beginning would have led to more effective solution processing. The lack of "performance promises" from the HR department was also mentioned. There was a certain lack of clarity among customers as to what services could and could not be called up from the HR department and under what conditions.
Effectiveness (usefulness): "Without the HR department, we would have much bigger problems" was one of the statements. Very good administration was often mentioned. In one case, however, there was the comment: "Many projects are started and use up resources without questioning their purpose."
Efficiency (simplicity and speed) of collaboration: There was clear criticism from internal customers in this area. The work of the HR department was described as less automated and inefficient, with the effect that many things take a long time.
Flexibility / availability: The HR department is available "around the clock" and works very reliably. Often, however, with "reliable delay reports", as was noted with a little irony.
Proposals for the reorganization of tasks and processes developed
By looking at the use of resources and the feedback, the interim manager developed ideas for improvement together with the HR team, which were sorted into the categories "Optimize", "Omit" and "New".
Optimize
- Create structured access to the HR department (ticket system), provide time-limited unstructured access
- Automation and optimization to improve the HR employee experience
- Experience
- Negotiate service agreements with internal customers
- Unify rules
- Further qualify employees in the HR department
Omit
- Clarify detailed requirements using processes and forms that are as transparent processes and forms
- (Manual) checks of data (entries)
- Duplicate work and (unnecessary) filing
New service areas
- Build up personnel development and talent management
- Introduce database for personnelIntroduce reporting database
Improvements are approved and implemented step by step
With the support of the interim manager, HR management consolidated the proposals. The company management approved the external services and investments required for implementation. This also included an additional position for recruiting and personnel development.
The interim manager provided support in planning the implementation and was then available as a coach and sparring partner for HR management as required.
