Quality is Everywhere – Friday Distraction

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at Kronos, a leading provider of quality workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. For the first time, Kronos was named one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For according to global research and consulting firm Great Place to Work. Congrats to them! Enjoy the article.) 

Quality, Kronos, paychecks, perfect paychecks, time well spent

I know sometimes when I think of quality, I tend to think of traditional manufacturing. But I have to remind myself that quality exists everywhere. Our friends at Kronos remind us in today’s Time Well Spent that it includes human resources and payroll.

But how does HR and payroll measure quality? Well, the good news is we can draw a few ideas from traditional manufacturing. Here are four ways:

  1. Processing time. Does it take what the organization considers to be a reasonable amount of time to complete a task? One of the first processes that comes to mind is time to fill. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), average time to fill is 42 days. For some organizations, it could be longer. What steps can HR take to improve processing time?
  1. Delivery time. This relates to processing time. Does HR and payroll deliver results in a way that makes sense for the organization? I remember years ago going to work for a new company where the managers complained that my predecessor would always schedule training at the worst time. They wanted the training, just at a time that was better for the operation.
  1. Cost. I’m not talking about HR and payroll becoming revenue generating departments. We can save that conversation for another post. But HR and payroll should always be thinking of ways to streamline expenses. Cost also refers to value. The activities being managed by HR and payroll should be viewed as valuable to the rest of the organization.
  1. Reduced waste. I view this as more than a cost issue. Reduced waste is also about time. It’s true that HR and payroll are very process driven. And we have a compliance component to consider. But do we think of ways to reduce administration and bureaucracy? Technology can be a big help in reducing waste.

Quality measurements exist in every department. HR and payroll have to produce quality in their work by delivering results on-time and within budget. When that happens, they produce the value that the organization is looking for.

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