Modernize HR: Scaling Your Team For The Future

HR departments have navigated a lot of change over the last few years. From adopting remote and hybrid work models to juggling developing business needs, human resource leaders across all industries adapted. As the workforce modernizes around them, successful organizations are following suit. 

Modernization is now at the forefront of every HR leader’s mind. But what is a modern HR department, and how do you start building yours? Chris Courneen, Global Head of HR at MSI, helped us break down the essential qualities of a modern HR team and how to start building yours. 

Fundamental Skills of a Modern HR Department

Since the pandemic, successful HR departments have shifted away from a traditional organizational role to a more strategic one, where the growth and success of the organization rely heavily on HR’s effectiveness. 

In order to perform productively, HR departments must share specific skills and mindsets among their members. With insight from Chris Courneen, here are some of the essential qualities of modern HR teams:

• Comfort learning new technologies
• Ability to influence leaders across the organization
• Speak the language of your business
• Tell compelling stories with data
• Big picture thinking
• Enthusiasm to learn
• Extreme empathy
• Adaptability 

Providing value as an HR department in the new, modern business world requires scaling both your processes and employees for the future. Understanding the basics of a successful HR team will help you assess the current state of your department and how to modernize it. 

How To Modernize Your HR Team

Determine Your Goals and Needs

The first step to modernizing your HR department is defining your goals and ideal process. Setting the groundwork for your modernization strategy can help you easily determine what kind of technology, skills, and people you need to accomplish these goals. To learn more about designing your ideal, modernized state, watch our latest HR at the Table webinar, Beyond Tech: A Deeper Dive Into HR Modernization. 

Take Inventory of Your Team

Modernization does not entail starting over. It’s essential to evaluate your current state and determine the process that works best for your team. During this phase, take time to ask yourself important questions regarding the current state of your team. Some questions to consider include: 

1. What do I need on my team to meet this ideal state?
2. What do my team and I need to learn to accomplish these goals?
3. Are we capable of operating in this state?

In order to answer these questions, you should take some time to inventory your team and their skill sets. While skills can be extremely diverse, here are some practical ways to evaluate where your department currently stands in terms of your modernization goals: 

• Use projects to learn more about your team members. Assign different types of tasks and projects to different people. Be intentional about challenging team members here. 
• Understand the day-to-day work of your team. HR leaders need to talk to and engage with their department members to know what is and is not working. 
• Be explicit about goals and deadlines. Sharing direct goals and deadlines can help your team be on the same page and learn from past mistakes. Goals and deadlines can change, but leaders must determine why something was or wasn’t met. 

Modernizing HR With Verified First

The average cost of a bad hire is up to 30% of the employee’s salary, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That means making the right decision is essential. Our goal is to make your company great by helping you make effective hiring decisions. 

Our patented technology allows you to easily integrate our screening solutions into human resource and talent management platforms in minutes. With our VF Connector, you can run, manage, and review background checks, order drug tests, and more without having to leave your preferred talent acquisition solution. 

Start building your modern HR team with us. Get started today.