CIPD Notes Essay

Terms of ReferenceTo investigate how an HR practitioner within atomic number 99 Surrey College (ESC) should ensure that they deliver timely and good HR services to meet users needs. The report was requested by Charles Sleet, HR Director, on 11/11/2013 to be presented on 14/01/2014.Procedure1. Understanding different customer needs in HR.2. Communicating effectively in HR.3. Building and maintaining effective service in HR.1. Two HR colleagues were interviewed in order to determine who the 3 main customers of the HR department were. Furthermore, requests and enquiries that came through to HR were recorded via the homogeneous HR colleagues to identify the main needs of the customers during a period of three weeks from 13th November to 4th December. The way in which these needs are prioritised was recorded.2. A questionnaire was issued to 20 break throughgrowths of staff to discover the most effective communication method. Staff members were chosen through random sampling.3. An int erview was held with the HR personal credit line Partner to gain sagacity into the main areas of effective service delivery and how it is constructed.Findings1. Understanding Customers needsAfter interviews with the two HR Practitioners, the three main customers of the HR Department were identified as followsType of customerKey needsCandidates for interviewGaining information on the outcome of their interviewA swift pre-employment check process, ensuring a quick adopt into a new job Heads of Department (HoD)Absence levels of employeesMonitoring online training completionEmployeesRequesting a copy of their own CPD log these are updated and kept on HR records Enquiring intimately upcoming training eventsThe HR practitioners highlighted that the needs of different customers may conflict. An example could be a HoD enquiring about the completion of a member of staffs online training courses conflicting with an enquiry coming in at the same time of a staff member urgently trying to f ind out when the next Teaching and Learning forum is due to take place.Maximum service delivery has to be initiated with regards to these needs therefore the HR practitioners apprised on the ways these needs are prioritised. These prioritise areTimescales some requests may have longer timescales than others. These timescales therefore contribute to the importance of the arisen needs.Consequence and risk to the keep company discovering the consequences and risks to the company helps prioritise incoming needs and enquiries. For example, it would be seen as more important to provide a HoD with an absence level report for their department than it would to advise a member of staff on their current CPD record.2. Methods of communicationAfter analysing feedback from the completed questionnaires, highlighted below are 3 methods of communication appropriate to employees at ESC at different levelsCommunication methodAdvantagesDisadvantagesFace-to-faceImmediate feedbackGives a personal to uch, body language sight be readCan use facial nerve expressions to enhance communicationCan be lengthy if certain attendees are unavailable to meetNo chance to go away and think about an answerNo privacy as someone could overhearEmailCan take time over responseLarge amounts of information can be sent e.g. attachmentsAble to pass on information without interrupting someoneLack of body language and toneImpersonalEmails can be misinterpreted addressImmediate interaction with someone far awayMore personal than an emailAbility to transfer calls across locations/conference callsCan be interrupt by hindrance of poor signalLots of details over the phone can be hard to record3. The key components of effective HR Service DeliveryDelivering service on time SLAs need to be SMART, in particular they should be realistic and achievable. For example, in the HR Department at ESC HR practitioners aim employ a new member of staff in, at most, 4 weeks from thedate they were verbally offered the rol e. This is important as it earns the department appreciate and often means customers will look to reply in the same, efficient way.Delivering service on work out It is important to ensure that you keep within budget but still deliver a high level of service as going over budget can incur costs financially. be that need rectifying mean that other areas would then be restricted to an even lower budget.Dealing with difficult customers Identify the problem, stay calm, and understand how it can be resolved.Handing and resolving complaints With the secure SLA in place, the query should be met in a timely way to elude complaints. Any complaints that do arise should be dealt with in an equally timely and professional way . Keeping customers in the loop with updates on progress is key.Conclusions1. ESC use all 3 methods identified (phone, email, face-to-face) to communicate to employees at all levels, making sure the correct method is used2. Consequences and timescales were key as metho ds used to prioritise conflicting needs in the workplace.3. the HR Business Partner delivers and expresses a high level of service that fits with the four outlined objectives.