HR AUDIT Questionnaire

The first section of this HR Audit questionnaire investigates the alignment between HR and business strategy. In this domain, you will find questions like these:


1. What was total revenue for the business unit for the most recently completed fiscal year?
2. What is the company business strategy?
3. Does the company business strategy link to Human Resources (HR)? Please describe.
4. What is your company's HR Strategy? Is the HR strategy aligned with the company's strategy?
5. Who develop the HR Strategy? Do you assemble a cross-functional team to develop the HR strategy?
6. What does HR do in supporting the implementation of organization's strategy?
7. Determine how the human resources department will support strategic goal and impact organization performance?
8. Do you perform a gap analysis of current versus desired organizational behavior and performance, and develop strategy to close the gap?

An HRMA (HR Management Audit) is a major organizational intervention. It raises expectations that something will be done in response to its findings. Therefore, careful consideration should be given to the organization's responsiveness to change. In particular, the following issues should be addressed.


1. Focus of Audit. What unit is to be analyzed? In large corporations, the focus of the audit can be the total corporate personnel/human resource management function, or it can be the divisional or subsidiary level. Whatever the focus, the audit's boundaries must be specified from the start.


2. Resources. What resources are available for conducting the audit? Staff time as well as money are key resources that must be available. In addition, line management's involvement should be given particular consideration. Pressures for change could well result from an HRMA. If the audit is likely to uncover areas requiring major policy changes but senior line management is not ready or willing to address these issues, it might be appropriate to delay or abort the audit. Line management's commitment, understanding, and involvement with the HRMA is essential if it is to be of real value to the organization.


3. Diagnostic Plan. The audit should begin with the development of a diagnostic work plan that specifically takes into account the data to be collected, the methods to be used in data collection, the individuals who will do the data collection, and the individuals responsible for analyzing the data.


4. Managing the HRMA. There are alternative methods for managing, overseeing, and carrying out an HRMA. The basic methods are (1) having an external consultant manage it, (2) having internal staff and an external consultant manage it jointly, and (3) having line management join internal staff and an external consultant in managing it.

The list below presents some of the specific questions that might be asked of interviewers to diagnose the degree of integration of the human resource systems in the HR cycle around a dominant value of performance.



1. How effective is the selection process in ensuring that people are placed in appropriate positions? Explain.
2. How effective is the appraisal process in accurately assessing performance? Explain.
3. How effective are rewards (financial and nonfinancial) in driving performance? Explain.
4. How effective are the training, development, and career planning activities in driving performance? Explain.
5. How effective is the appraisal process in differentiating performance levels for justifying reward allocation decisions? Explain.
6. How effective is the appraisal process in identifying developmental needs of individuals to guide training, development, and career planning? Explain.
7. How effective are the training, development, and career planning activities in preparing people for selection and placement into new positions in the organization? Explain.
8. Overall, how effectively are the five components integrated and mutually supportive? Explain.

There are five fundamental skill that need to be mastered by Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners: (1) needs assessment, (2) program design, development, and evaluation (including individual evaluation), (3) marketing of HRD programs, (4) cost/benefit analysis, and (5) facilitation of learning.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT
HRD practitioners must be proficient in designing and conducting needs assessments prior to designing and developing the learning programs and training activities. There are four reasons for this: (1) to identify specific problem areas in the organization; (2) to identify specific learning deficiencies to serve as the bases of programs and activities; (3) to determine the bases of future learner evaluations; and (4) to determine the costs and benefits of the programs and activities in order to get organizational support.

PROGRAM DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND EVALUATION
At the heart of all learning programs and training activities is their design, a blueprint from which to construct all learning in the organization. Without a properly designed program, learning will not be consistent, nor will desired results become evident. HRD practitioners wise enough to develop the competencies and skills they need will design and develop effective programs and activities and will be able to evaluate outcomes accurately.

MARKETING OF HRD PROGRAMS
Many HRD programs are severely reduced during financially difficult periods. Often they are eliminated altogether. HRD practitioners should therefore develop a clear understanding of and appreciation for marketing. By doing so they can improve the overall image of the program, the field, and its practitioners and help position HRD as a serious and vital component of the organization's strategic future.

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Cost-benefit analysis is often used as a means of justification or evidence of impact. It provides upper management with information they understand and moves the evaluation of HRD effectiveness from qualitative to quantitative.

FACILITATION OF LEARNING
HRD practitioners need to develop teaching skills and an ability to facilitate learning in a variety of settings. They must also understand how adults learn and know how to evaluate learning and behavioral change.

The following article describes ten key points of HRD effectiveness. These critical elements are discovered through an extensive empirical research conducted by Neal Chalofsky and Carlene Reinhart. These research findings will definitely provide the foundation from which HRD practitioners can begin to effectively deliver the resources their organization need.

1. The HRD Function Has the Expertise to Diagnose Problems in Order to Determine Appropriateness of Potential Solutions
Further analysis of the data break the responses under this critical event into three categories, all of which contribute to its significance:
1. Expertise to diagnose organizational problems.
2. Expertise to diagnose individual problems.
3. Expertise to identify solutions in terms of processes, products, and resources, and ultimately the expertise to recommend solutions.

2. The HRD Manager Maintains an Active Network with Other Key Managers in the Organization
Positioning this as the second most important contribution to effectiveness indicated that people recognize that more important information frequently resides in the informal networks within an organization than in any formal management information system.

3. There Is a Corporate Training and Development Mission Statement or Corporate HRD Policy
This, the third-ranked element, was seen as an essential framework for the HRD function. The mission statement or policies do not necessarily need to be overtly stated. They might exist in the form of an operating plan and budget; they might also be implied in the culture of the organization.

4. The Evaluation of Training Focuses on Behavioral Change or Organizational Results
Formal evaluation of training in an effective HRD function takes place in some form, but not the "smile sheets" or "happiness measures" still used by many trainers at the end of a training session. The effective HRD function generally uses competency-based training and evaluates against clearly stated course outcomes for accountability reasons: to find out if behaviors have indeed changed as stated in the course objectives, or if the course needs to be revised in some way, or to make decisions about HRD interventions.

Deepa, hope you can use this excellent tool to assess the effectiveness of your HR departement. Goodluck...

Here are some of best practices on managing employee career plan and development.

Providing Employee Assessment and Career Planning Workshops. Companies such as Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems hold on-site workshops where employees learn to take charge of their careers, beginning with assessing their abilities, interests, and values. They then engage in a planning process where they explore the organization's needs to determin

Conducting Career Coaching Workshops for Managers. While employees are learning to take charge of their careers, managers are learning how to support their efforts by becoming familiar with the career assessment and planning process, practicing career coaching techniques, preparing for various types of employee-initiated career discussions, and giving honest feedback.

Establishing Employee Career Centers. Companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, and Motorola, to name a few, have set up internal career centers where employees can come for self-assessment. Services may include computerized programs that incorporate 360-degree feedback, competency assessment, confidential counseling, career management and resilience training, lunch-and-learn seminars, and information, sometimes through an intranet system, about internal opportunities.

Giving Open Business Briefings. To meet employees halfway in planning their careers inside the organization, companies such as Sun Microsystems, 3Com, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Microsoft openly discuss strategic decisions and plans that may impact jobs or skills that will be required in the future. At 3Com, most departments hold weekly discussion sessions on the status of the business and what it may mean to employees.

What work-related variables determine job satisfaction? An extensive review of the literature indicates that the more important factors conducive to job satisfaction are mentally challenging work, equitable rewards, supportive working conditions, and supportive colleagues.

MENTALLY CHALLENGING WORK Employees tend to prefer jobs that give them opportunities to use their skills and abilities and offer a variety of tasks, freedom, and feedback on how well they are doing. These characteristics make work mentally challenging.

EQUITABLE REWARDS Employees want pay systems and promotion policies that they perceive as being just, unambiguous, and in line with their expectations. When pay is seen as fair based on job demands, individual skill level, and community pay standards, satisfaction is likely to result.

SUPPORTIVE WORKING CONDITIONS Employees are concerned with their work environment for both personal comfort and facilitating doing a good job. Studies demonstrate that employees prefer physical surroundings that are not dangerous or uncomfortable. Additionally, most employees prefer working relatively close to home, in clean and relatively modern facilities, and with adequate tools and equipment.

SUPPORTIVE COLLEAGUES People get more out of work than merely money or tangible achievements. For most employees, work also fills the need for social interaction. Not surprisingly, therefore, having friendly and supportive co-workers leads to increased job satisfaction. The behavior of one's boss also is a major determinant of satisfaction.

Studies generally find that employee satisfaction is increased when the immediate supervisor is understanding and friendly, offers praise for good performance, listens to employees' opinions, and shows a personal interest in them.

Hi Eric,
thanks a lottt for sharing....

You are welcome. Please also share your own experiences in conducting HR audit proccess.