Why is it Important For HR to Have Appropriate Tools?


Wait, didn’t they tell you that the experience you get on the job is the single most important factor that determines your performance? We can notice that over time the tasks and responsibilities of HR have changed, although it is better to say that they have become more complicated.


In addition to internal activities concerning employees, staff development, and coaching trainings, there are also external activities. With the emergence of employer branding, being the most desirable employer, and being up to date with the latest employment practices, we have only mentioned some of them.

How do those additional activities that appear suddenly affect the performance of specific sectors in HR? Depending on how companies distribute HR tasks, will there be sectors that are in charge of one activity and others for other activities? HR can feel overbooked when a company is going through transition or exponential growth.

In speaking with numerous HR managers in various industries, I could see a pattern that repeats itself when companies go through major transitions. Due to the expansion of the scope of work, as it is usually said professionally, a message is sent throughout the company that there will be changes.

It is often the case that HR has to communicate this with the employees. It is almost an unwritten rule that due to any change within the company, they need a tool, software, or something that will take the “burden off their back” at least for the beginning of administrative work.

For the simple reason of focusing on the most crucial resource – talent and people. With the help of HR tools, how can we focus on making people inside the company feel appreciated, even when they themselves feel the burden of change?


Introducing balance in HR processes

Whether we want to admit it or not, new technological solutions are slowly being adopted by all industries. Regardless, the pandemic has shown us that managing teams and businesses can rely on technology and greater geographic diversity among employees. We can show the benefits of using tools in the most important HR processes:

  • Selection and recruitment. The first step in talent management with specific challenges. Prepared questions that will target the previous experience of the candidate with a review of the achieved results. But can we really gain insight into how the person achieved the stated results with standard questions and the traditional method? Is it because of potential, specific behavior, or because of above-average cognitive abilities? Tools from psychometric tests and questionnaires that operationalize these traits and skills are extremely valuable here.
  • Talent retention. We’ve heard stories of talent shortages being particularly felt in certain industries, especially when it comes to the strategy for hiring them to stay in your company. Although there are separate solutions, ie. tools that serve to show you in detail what new roles and challenges those employees would like and have the potential to try, the start is actually simpler. By looking into the “hidden potential” with the help of a personality questionnaire, we get insights about employees that can benefit both the company and themselves, while fulfilling the most important condition – that they really stay with you.
  • Talent development. More than ever, across the HR industry, efforts are being made to provide at least some form of employee career development plan. An extremely complex process that is in full swing due to the upcoming change of generations that will make up the majority of the working population. That is only one factor, everything else entails the question – “Do I have a talent pipeline that I can develop internally for future positions and goals?
  • Cultivating talent for high positions. Much has been said about leadership. How to approach the identification, development, and maintenance of your business, without too much risk of them going to the competition? Starting with leadership styles, numerous theories trying to place in their context who is suitable as a leader ignore one factor. Will they be equally successful in all business contexts regardless of talent?
  • Introduction of platforms. Almost 30% of the budget for new HR solutions goes to the introduction of platforms with which HR can manage all processes. ATS (Applicant Tracking Software) is not only important for the company, but also for employees who need to clearly and assertively communicate the goal of having such a program. For example: when giving feedback, managing internal projects within the company, and having all relevant information about employees.


The perfect equation?


We know that it is mathematically difficult to show how HR processes work, but we can draw a parallel. What is more important to you, to be sure that you have made the right decision about the candidate or that you have presented yourself as the best employer?

You will say that the focus is on both and that you want to achieve both. However, the talent market is now so competent that it is difficult to strike a balance between “being the most desirable employer” and “we have the best assessment tools.” Is there a solution?

You need something that will allow you to be competitive in both the factors that we mentioned in the previous paragraph. Tools and talent solutions that on the one hand give your HR the freedom to include their experience and that enable you to support in all HR processes: selection and recruitment, retention, and talent development.

Conclusion – for every HR question, there is an answer


Regardless of the job description of an HR generalist, talent acquisition specialist, or HR director, psychometric solutions and tools can provide answers to the industry’s recurring questions:

  • How can I respond to the current job market where the competition for talent is fierce?
  • What is the best way to gain insights into the potential of my employees if I want to improve them?
  • For starters, what psychometric tools do I currently need in HR activities that I need to change urgently?

We can extend this list of questions, but it always boils down to the fact that psychometric solutions put HR processes and business activities on the same level while taking into account the most important resource in companies – talent.

Strahinja Krstić – Marketing Communications Specialist at PsyConsulting an SHL Reseller Partner