Lean Methodology for HR Management: Introduction
Post-pandemic, there has been a tremendous shift in work culture, employee hiring, and recruitment processes. The changing conditions in the job market and candidate’s demand for a hybrid or remote working model have posed numerous challenges for HR. With each passing year, there is a new set of challenges and complexities that HR departments across sectors face and try to tackle. This includes challenges related to recruitment, employee management, balancing remote, hybrid, and in-office work, and more.
How can HR departments ensure they hire the best talent for the position, offer value, and save the company’s costs? This is where Lean methodology stands as a strategic concept and when applied effectively, it enhances the efficiency of Human Resource Management.
What is Lean Methodology?
Lean Methodology is an approach that aims to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and drive value. This agile framework eliminates waste, duplicity, and redundancy and ensures quality-driven processes at every level. The ultimate goal of Lean application is to achieve operational excellence.
The term “Lean” as a concept, a philosophy, and a methodology was first used in the Toyota Production System. Lean is used to eliminate eight types of waste or “Muda” that lead to downtime, thereby increasing costs. It also establishes a culture of “continuous improvement” and generates favorable outcomes for an organisation. The eight types of waste in manufacturing and production are: Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Not utilizing talent, Transportation, Inventory excess, Motion waste, and Excess processing.
What is Lean HR?
Lean HR or Lean HR Management refers to the application of Lean principles in Human Resource processes and practices. Think of it this way: an HR department holds one of the most crucial aspects of business, i.e., to search, screen, and recruit the best talent for the job, manage, and retain them. If not conducted efficiently, the entire process can be an extremely time-consuming, costly, and inconsequential exercise for the organisation.
Lean HR or Lean management in HR identifies areas of inefficiencies, defects, and errors. It offers tangible solutions to problems related to hiring, onboarding, employee management, employee retention, and payroll processes.
The Eight Wastes Identified By Lean HR
The primary function of Lean HR would be to eliminate waste in HR processes that include long approval processes, streamline onboarding, and so on. The table below describes the eight types of waste that don’t add value to recruitment and onboarding. These eight wastes can be identified and eliminated by applying Lean HR.
| 1. | Defects | Defects in HR management refer to any errors or duplicity that occur in the processes. This could be a mistake in hiring the right candidate, a poor job description, a communication gap, duplicate entries of employees, etc. |
| 2. | Overproduction | Creating something that is not required or doesn’t align with the needs and demands of the organization. In HR, overproduction could be posting excessive job ads on online portals (which eventually will increase the costs). It could also be unnecessary job interviews for a single role. |
| 3. | Waiting | Any HR work or related tasks that get delayed due to seeking approval from the stakeholders. For instance, slow responses to the candidates or time wasted in manual reporting can be eliminated with automated responses using AI. |
| 4. | Not utilizing talent | A grave mistake made by HR managers is not utilizing the full potential of their current employees and upskilling them. Whereas hiring new talent lacking work experience can increase the company’s costs and resources. |
| 5. | Transportation | Any process that requires movement between multiple departments and teams. For instance, manual movement of hard copies for approval instead of using digital documents. Lack of clarity in assigning roles and responsibilities can lead to unnecessary reshuffling of employees within different departments. |
| 6. | Excess Inventory | HR managers sitting with a large number of obsolete employee data, excessive CVs, documents of ex-employees, etc. contributes to inventory excess. |
| 7. | Motion waste | Lean identifies motion waste as the unnecessary movement of workers and goods. For instance, an excessive distance between cross-functional teams working together on a project that leads to unnecessary walking is a motion waste. |
| 8. | Excess processing | This waste could be related to bureaucracy, manual data entry, and analysis or implementation of training programs that do not add any value to employees or the organization. |
What are the Advantages of Implementing Lean in HR?
Implementing Lean principles in HR provides multiple benefits to an organization. Here are the top advantages:
1. Elimination of Waste: Effective application of Lean HR leads to the elimination of waste or any process that does not serve any purpose or value to employees or the organisation at large.
2. Cost Reduction: When recruitment, onboarding, and payroll processes are streamlined and happen swiftly, it leads to time-saving, which translates to cost reduction.
3. Improved Quality: Implementation of Lean HR helps in placing smooth and streamlined hiring and onboarding processes. This leads to identifying and hiring good quality resources without wasting any time on excessive searching and screening.
4. Better Employee Engagement: It’s not just hiring new talent, the existing employees in an organisation also benefit tremendously from Lean HR. This involves offering valuable training programs, offering and receiving employee feedback, and communication.
5. Elimination of Redundant Tasks: The use of digital workflows and automation helps in automating responses that eliminate redundant tasks. Lean HR practices automate payroll, simplify approval, and reduce data entry or paperwork.
How can a Lean Consultant Help Your HR Department?
A lean consultant can help the HR department to reduce waste, minimize errors, and add value. This leads to freeing up time for more strategic work and contributing towards more efficient HR processes. Lean consultants begin their work by identifying key HR processes, identifying gaps or wastages, and offering tailored solutions. They use DMAIC approach, an acronym meaning:
- Define – (the problem)
- Measure – (relevant data)
- Analyze – (problems and opportunities)
- Improve – (processes to address problems)
- Control – (establish a system)
This tailored approach addresses the unique challenges and pain points of your HR management and pushes them on a successful trajectory.