HR parties of one already have an abundance of tasks to keep up with. From hiring to managing performance to maintaining compliance, being an HR leader is no easy feat.
But there’s no need to recreate the wheel every time. Having a well-documented set of processes can help you identify areas of improvement, streamline your responsibilities, and replicate them with ease. Additionally, when you’re ready to become an HR party of two or if you leave the organization, having well-documented processes can make HR department transitions more seamless.
1. Recruitment/Hiring
Perfecting your hiring process ensures you remain fair, consistent, and compliant. The hiring process starts the moment a new role opens or a position becomes vacant.
Key Elements to Document:
Having these details in place helps streamline hiring and ensures a consistent approach for all candidates.
2. Onboarding and Offboarding
How you onboard employees sets the tone for their journey at your organization, while offboarding formalizes their separation.
Onboarding Documentation Should Include:
Offboarding Checklist Elements:
For detailed guidance, check out our Offboarding Checklist Template.
3. Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable
Accounts payable (AP) refers to money owed to vendors, while accounts receivable (AR) tracks money owed to your organization. Both are critical to financial health, especially for small and midsize businesses.
What to Include in Documentation:
A clear AP and AR process helps you track cash flow and make informed financial decisions.
4. Open Enrollment
Open enrollment is a high-stakes period for HR. Guiding employees through making health coverage elections is not your responsibility, but you do have a lot of work to do in preparation for open enrollment.
Document Your Open Enrollment Process:
An HRIS can help the HR administrator automate the open enrollment process. For example, using BerniePortal’s Benefits Administration feature, HR administrators can set an enrollment window where the portal alerts employees to the beginning of the open enrollment period. BerniePortal can also send reminders/notices for you and host plan documents, including summary plan descriptions, so employees can review the information of each plan offering.
Read our blog on Smooth Open Enrollment for additional insights.
5. Payroll Process
Payroll involves many moving pieces, but documenting the process can ensure smooth operations.
Key Documentation Items:
Check out our Payroll Processing Checklist for a more in-depth look at the payroll process!
Keep in mind that processes are meant to change! The more time you spend running through a process– whether it’s accounts payable, payroll, or open enrollment– the more you will recognize areas of improvement. Practice makes perfect, and developing efficient and accurate HR processes is all about trial and error.