Online Self-Scheduling: – Simplifying HR Operations

Human Resources covers a lot of ground, and it’s not all contracts and managing sick leave. HR teams in large companies cover everything from recruitment to occupational health, complaints and learning and development. It might also fall on the HR teams to arrange 1-2-1 meetings as part of continuous appraisal within the company, especially if an HR representative is present at these meetings. Then you have to work around the people’s schedules in the company. Work doesn’t stop, and deadlines don’t disappear because of HR requirements. So this is where online self-scheduling can simplify the HR meeting process.

Managing HR Meetings

Any HR manager knows there are many meetings to arrange. They have to incorporate several business sections—hiring managers, staff members, and sometimes even legal and union representatives. Making self-scheduling a part of the process ensures more ready availability for everyone involved.
It’s not just the multi-person interviews and disciplinary measures. There are also sensitive, personal and confidential meetings between staff members and the HR team. These could be anything from discussing health issues and accommodations to making a bullying complaint against a co-worker or manager.

So let’s see how online self-scheduling can help HR teams handle the large number of meetings required for the smooth running of Human Resources, Recruitment and Learning & Development (L&D).

Recruitment  

One of the main functions of the HR team in any business is the recruitment of new staff members. Whether headhunting a specific person for the role or sifting through hundreds of resumés for the ideal candidates, there will always be a need for interviews. 

Scheduling interviews has become more of a two-way street. Candidates demand that potential employers respect their time as much as their own. Enabling online self-scheduling for interviews is one way to appreciate your candidates time while still ensuring that no one books an interview outside of the available periods.

The process is simple. Simply send a booking link for the appropriate interview meeting type when you request an interview with the candidate. You can ensure that your meeting type coordinates with a particular hiring manager and an HR representative. Maybe you also need to include a meeting room schedule for in-person interviews or available technology for multi-person remote meetings.

1-2-1s and Continuous Appraisals

Within every team, there are different responsibilities, schedules and tasks. When it comes around to annual (or whatever interval you use) appraisal time, you need to fit that into everyone’s schedules without impacting the work they are doing.

Online self-scheduling will allow managers, staff and potentially HR reps to ensure they all coordinate their time appropriately and within the confines of their schedules.

With SimplyMeet.me, you can do this by designating a meeting type “1-2-1” or “Performance Review” and allocating both specific managers and HR calendars to be checked for availability.

Confidential Meetings

There will always be times when you have to deal with confidential personnel issues, especially in larger companies. I saw somewhere recently that “HR is not for the staff but to protect the company (from legal backlash from improper HR management.).” While that is essentially true, any good HR manager knows that the best way to look after the interests of the company is to work with the staff to create a good working environment.

The fact is that often these meetings require confidentiality and privacy and may also need to be handled remotely. This also requires that people arrange to meet with an HR rep on their own timetable.

Depending on the reason for the meeting, you might have to allow for the scheduled attendance of a legal representative or occupational health professional.

Learning and Development

Sometimes Learning and Development can be a separate department on their own; at other times, they are part of a large Human Resources team.

Let’s start first with things such as compulsory training. This could be Cyber security seminars and training, diversity, sensitivity. While you might not be able to squeeze everyone into the same training date and time, online self-scheduling will enable people to attend a session of their choosing.

Enabling staff and teams to choose the most accessible and suitable session time means that you can log every attendee and follow up with those who don’t book their seat in a session.

Beyond compulsory training seminars, you might also offer option career development courses. If you have a training session on offer, you might want to send the booking link to all staff and give them the option to self-schedule their attendance. You don’t need to

Managing HR Remotely and with Flexibility through online self-scheduling

The world has changed significantly in the last two years. Working flexibility and remote working have become commonplace. However, these changes have also demanded that personal and human resource management change too.

Managing multiple remote staff in diverse locations from a central hub requires flexibility and respect for the personnel your team operates. Online self-scheduling is a handy tool to show that respect and put it into action. When you have flexibility in managing your HR meetings and also give it to the personnel, it respects everyone’s time.