The 7 benefits of understanding human resource flow

Like in many aspects of life, there is a science to HR success - the trick is to know what formula you are looking for.

We often talk about there being a ‘science’ to cooking, being good at sport or even storytelling, but there are also many examples where this can apply to managing your workforce.

In this blog we’re planning to focus on just one – human resource flow, while also giving you tips on how to improve your business’ HR flow.

What is human resource flow?

Human resource flow is a term used to describe how employees pass through your organisation. It focuses on three main processes; inflow, throughflow and outflow, and often features five distinct stages; recruitment and hire, onboarding and integration, development and training, performance management and retention or succession.

Monitoring your human resource flow can help you to accurately plan your human resource requirements since it allows data to be collected that can help you to predict any shortfall or oversupply of employee numbers.

What are the 5 stages of human resource flow?

We touched on the five main stages above, but just wanted to go in a little further detail below about what happens during each stage and what HR activities may take place:

1.     Recruitment and Hire

What goes on? A business will identify their staffing needs and start the process of attracting, sourcing, and hiring new talent.

HR Activities during this stage: job posting, candidate sourcing, resume screening, interviews, and job offers. 

2.     Onboarding and Integration

What goes on? New employees are integrated into the organisation's culture, values, and workflows and provide the resources they need to succeed.

HR Activities during this stage: Orientation, training, introductions to team members, and resource allocation.

3.     Development and Training

What goes on? A process of continuous learning and skill development to enhance employee performance and career growth.

HR Activities during this stage: Training programs, workshop and mentorship.

4.     Performance Management

What goes on? A business will assess and manage employee performance through regular evaluations, feedback sessions, and goal-setting.

HR Activities during this stage: Performance reviews, goal and objective setting and appraisals.

5.     Retention or Succession Planning

What goes on? Retention aims to keep valuable employees engaged and satisfied in their roles, reducing turnover. While succession planning deals with employees who leave through retirement, redundancy, dismissal etc

HR Activities during this stage: Benefits packages, career progression discussions, internal shortlisting, employee termination, exit interviews.

These five stages collectively form the human resource flow, representing the lifecycle of employees within an organisation. Effective management at each stage contributes to the overall success and sustainability of the workforce.

What are the benefits to identifying your human resource flow?

Identifying and understanding the human resource flow within your business can yield several significant benefits to help you plan your growth and avoid short-term HR headaches. Benefits include:

 1.     Strategic Workforce Planning

By analysing human resource flow, you can strategically plan for current and future workforce needs. For example, by knowing the typical length of an employee’s tenure, or the average retirement age, you can predict when you may need to start recruitment activities in advance of notice being given.

2.     Cost Savings

Efficient human resource flow management helps reduce costs associated with recruitment, onboarding, and training. Understanding the patterns of employee movement allows you to optimise resources and allocate budgets more effectively.

3.     Improved Recruitment and Hiring Processes

Identifying trends in the human resource flow enables you to refine your recruitment strategy. This includes targeting specific talent pools, streamlining the hiring process, and improving the overall candidate experience.

4.     Enhanced Employee Engagement and Retention

Recognising the stages of human resource flow allows you to proactively address factors that influence employee engagement and satisfaction. For example, when an employee typically should start advanced training or leadership development.

5.     Tailored Training and Development Programs

Understanding the skills and competencies required at different stages of the human resource flow enables you to tailor training and development programs to meet their needs. This personalised approach enhances employee performance and fosters professional growth.

6.     Agile Succession Planning

Identifying potential future leaders within the organisation becomes more manageable with insights into human resource flow. This allows for effective succession planning, ensuring a smooth transition for the key roles at your business.

7.     Adaptation to Changing Market Conditions

If your business operates in a dynamic environment, this process can help you adapt more effectively to market changes by understanding how your workforce evolves. This is crucial for staying competitive and agile in response to shifting industry trends.

5 ways you might improve your organisation's flow

The best way to improve your human resource flow by far is to sit down and analyse all of the stages mentioned above, run through the provisions in place with a professional HR consultant team and draw up improved processes, plans and performance management systems to fully visualise and impact your human resource flow.

If you haven’t got the time to put all of those elements together, you might also benefit from focusing on a few individual activities (listed below) that can help drive positive change at your workplace:

1.     Invest in employee training and development

This provides improvement to both your throughflow (as a method to aid retention and also improve the performance of your staff) and to outflow, by reducing the frequency of staff moving on.

2.     Develop clear job descriptions and roles

Job descriptions should be written to fill the need for your organisation, not the skillset of an individual. This means that when an employee is promoted, moves laterally or leaves the business, it is quicker and easier to recruit.

3.     Implement an effective performance management system

It is important that your workforce knows what their goals are, whether they are achieving them, the rewards for success and that this data is recorded consistently across the organisation. This helps employees feel confident in being assessed and rewarded transparently – resulting in job satisfaction and retention.

4.     Streamline your HR processes

As in the above two tips, if your roles are well defined and your performance management is effective, it becomes much easier to streamline your HR processes which will lead to quicker decision-making and ultimately cost-saving for the business.

5.     Emphasise leadership development

The best way to retain your staff and improve your business’ performance is to grow from within by providing leadership development. Let staff take responsibility in their work and guide them towards growing within your organisational structure.

If you need any help identifying your human resource flow, or simply want to work out why your staff turnover is harming your business growth, you can always get in touch with dolen HR to receive professional HR support.