Transformation of HR processes based on the Employee-Life Cycle IT team
Article author: Kirill Lavrenyuk
IT HR business partner at Sberlogistics (e-com Sbera)
One of the basic principles of the product approach is to focus on the real needs of its users when creating a product. REALLY, if you think for a second, then why create a product that does not have its consumer! It seems that everything is quite obvious! But, for example, in many non-IT companies that have their own IT team to solve problems of optimizing business processes and at the same time promote a product approach, the main customers for the creation and development of IT products are business representatives who think that their expertise allows them to do this. without CustDev (of course, I do not speak for absolutely the entire business).
Take the HR direction, which plans to launch an LMS, but it is not tested by various target groups of employees, but by the L&D department itself. Or C&B, which develops a “brilliant” bonus system for an IT unit, while all the hypotheses put forward do not reach the end users. Thus, in both the first and second cases, we get non-working products.
Within the framework of this article, I would like to offer a tool for the formation of HR products, the main purpose of which is to create an optimal and comfortable life cycle for employees (Employee Life Cycle) in a company for employees.
What is an Employee Life Cycle (ELC) and what are its stages?
ELC is a step-by-step description of the processes of interaction between an employee and a company. It consists of 9 main steps:
1. ATTRACTION (period until opening of vacancy) | As part of this stage, potential candidates directly or indirectly get acquainted with the company, its positioning in the market, products, development vector, work processes, vacancies and other public attributes (at the same time, acquaintance should take place through the most diverse channels).
2. SELECTION (the period from the opening of a vacancy to the acceptance of an offer) | Within the framework of this stage, the first formalized contacts of a potential candidate with the company and its representatives take place. It all starts with the candidate getting to know the vacancy (channels can be different: job sites, social networks, etc.). Then the candidate’s route goes through the recruiting funnel, where he gets to know the company, its unit team, work principles, etc. in more detail. This path looks different in each company, but the general meaning does not change: an initial interview with a recruiter, a technical interview, a test task , getting to know the product team, checking by the security service and issuing an offer.
3. EXPECTATION (period from accepting the offer to starting work) | As part of this stage, the recruiter (or HRBP) and the team leader interact with the candidate who has accepted the offer so that his interest in employment does not decrease. For example, this can happen as part of preboarding, i.e. The HRBP or team leader can tell the candidate about the company, features, structure and internal procedures, induction, etc.
4. ADAPTATION (first month of operation) | As part of this stage, the new employee is introduced to the main work and corporate processes of the company and the unit team, as well as deep immersion in the functional component of his role in the company. For example, it may include issuing merchandise, holding One-to-One meetings, visiting infrastructure, etc.
5. INTEGRATION (period from 1 to 6 months) | As part of this stage, the employee is fully integrated into the communication and business processes of the company and the unit team, as well as getting to know all the main stakeholders within these processes. Also here is the achievement of the required level of professionalism, which affects the output of the employee to optimal productivity.
6. DEVELOPMENT AND RETENTION (period of 6 months before the application for dismissal) | Within this stage, the employee, on the one hand, uses the opportunities and processes for developing his competencies (for example, internal LMS, external training, P2P training, etc.). On the other hand, he uses a set of processes that influence his decision to continue working in the company or leave it (for example, career development, financial development, an interesting backlog of tasks, etc.).
7. WORK-LIFE BALANCE (period from 1 year before the application for dismissal) | As part of this stage, the employee systematizes his interaction with the company and moves towards the formation of a balance between personal life and work (i.e., the employee, for example, seeks to minimize overtime, increase the number of days of work “from home”, is ready to take on the role of a mentor etc.).
8. RELEASE (period from resignation to retirement) | As part of this stage, the employee finalizes his relationship with the company as an employer. It goes through processes such as “transferring cases”, providing feedback, onboarding an employee to his place, etc.
9. NETWORKING (post-care period) | As part of this stage, the company strives to maintain positive communication with the most valuable former employees (sometimes even organizing “alumni” meetings).
At the first step, in-depth interviews are conducted with employees to describe the “AS IS” processes for each stage of the ELC, as well as highlighting and systematizing the main problems. Additionally, it is recommended to collect User Story during interviews to formalize the “TO BE” processes.
It is very convenient to form one-line User Story: I’m like X, I want Y to Z.
So, for example, take the SELECT stage.
During the interview on the description of the “AS IS” process, the following information was obtained:
“Maria (recruiter of the company) wrote to me in telegram. There was a good message that contained a description of the product, main tasks and requirements for the job. Also included is a link to the job posting. I carefully read the description and decided to chat. Note that I have never heard of the company before.
We got in touch with Maria on ZOOM. Our meeting lasted about 30 minutes. She asked standard HR questions, at some point I even got bored. But I note that she very well answered all my questions. We ended the meeting and agreed that she would show my CV to the head of the business unit and give me feedback within 3 working days via telegram.
Maria texted me the next day. First, she asked about my desire to continue communication and said that she received positive feedback about me from the manager. Then she offered me 3 slots to choose from for participation in a technical interview. We agreed on a time and platform for communication. After the end of our conversation, she sent me a reminder and a link in the mail…………………………………………………………………………”
Further, during the interview, the main problems that arose at the stage were identified:
“In general, I am more satisfied with the way the recruitment process is organized in the company than dissatisfied. Of the main negative points that can be identified:
– firstly, the security service questionnaire was very cumbersome and contained a lot of personal information that I did not want to provide. Secondly, I had difficulty filling it out, because it had to be printed first, then filled out by hand, and finally scanned and sent back. At some point in time, I thought about whether I really want to work in this company;
– a long absence of feedback on the results of checking the security service questionnaire prompted me to continue the active job search further. I even started interviewing when Maria said everything was OK ……………………………………………………”
And in conclusion, as part of the interview, sketch out the “wishlist” of the employee in the form of a User Story:
“1. As a candidate who needs to pass a security check, I want to fill out a security questionnaire so that I don’t have to print it out.
2. As a candidate for a job in your company, I want to receive prompt feedback so as not to speculate about the status of my candidacy.
3. As a candidate who has passed a technical interview, I want to receive detailed feedback in order to build a system for developing competencies for myself.
4. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….”
After collecting all the necessary information on the ELC stages, it is necessary to organize a BrainStorm with HR Competence Centers to generate hypotheses for improving the company’s ELC.
For general information.
Main stages brainstorm:
preparation (announcement of the event to participants 2-3 days before the event with an indication of the goal);
gathering of participants (informing participants about the venue, timing, etc.);
setting the task (starting the event and focusing on the main task);
warm-up (intellectual game to warm up the brain);
idea generation (formation of a pool of all possible ideas within the task);
systematization and evaluation of ideas (analysis and formation of the final pool of relevant ideas).
The company may have the following HR Competence Centers:
HRBP (solving business problems using HR tools);
MarHR (increasing HR brand awareness, increasing intracom efficiency);
Recruitment (generation of the incoming funnel of candidates, search and selection of employees);
HR-administration (organization of work with personnel processes and documents);
Onboarding (assistance in adapting to work processes and the team);
C&B (building motivation and compensation systems for employees, HR budgeting);
L&D (creation and development of a learning culture in the company);
Intracom (development of the communication platform, implementation of corporate events);
HR analytics (improving the effectiveness of HR through the collection and analysis of HR data).
Based on the results of BrainStorm, it is necessary to systematize all relevant hypotheses for the transformation of the company’s ELC. For example, for the SELECTION stage, this is:
Hypothesis 1: “If we create an electronic questionnaire for verification by the security service with the possibility of signing with a simple electronic signature, then this will reduce the time for filling it out and we will not lose potential employees who are simultaneously selected for other companies.”
Hypothesis 2: “If we write in the recruiting SLA that the recruiter is obliged to inform the candidate every day about the status of their candidacy, then recruiters will promptly provide feedback to candidates.”
Hypothesis 3: “If we write a stage in the recruitment SLA with mandatory feedback based on the results of a technical interview and provide those leaders with a feedback form, then they will promptly provide it to recruiters, and, therefore, candidates will receive it promptly.”
And so on …
The next step is to test the hypotheses. For example, launch an electronic questionnaire form for security checks in a Google Form. Ask several employees of the company to fill it out. Estimate the time of filling and compare with the labor costs for filling out the questionnaire in paper form. Collect feedback from employees who filled out the electronic questionnaire. Analyze the reasons for failures within the selection funnel at the stage of filling out the questionnaire. And so on…
It is also worth discussing in advance the possibilities of their implementation. For example, you need to evaluate the possibility of launching an electronic questionnaire for checking by the security service with representatives of the security service (as the main users), IT (to assess the timing of implementation), etc. And the finished electronic questionnaire should be tested on employees before launch.
After testing the hypotheses, some of them will be transformed into projects, and some into tasks. In conclusion, a backlog is formed, responsible performers are identified, and the transformation process is launched.
In conclusion, I would like to invite you to free lesson, in which we will talk about different HR hypotheses in the work of HRBP. Let’s analyze the tools for testing HR hypotheses. We will also consider practical projects that were launched as part of their confirmation
