A value statement isn’t some kind of jargon speak for “what we think matters”. It’s a statement of what your company is, what it stands for, and what everyone can expect from it.

It’s the “soul” of your team.

“Culture is living values.

Values are written words, and your culture is how you actually live [them].” – Jeff Lawson, Articulating Company Values & Living Them Authentically: Jeff Lawson

Whether you need to unite your team around a core set of ideals, show potential recruits what to expect and how to act or resonate with your core audience, these values are an essential part of any coherent company. Without defining them everyone will be working on their own assumptions.

So, how do you create a value statement that’s effective, concise, direct and, most importantly, accurately reflects your company?

To answer that, let’s dive straight in.

Scaling a business requires a joint effort between many stakeholders. 

This necessity for effective teamwork means that companies need to put the right people in the right positions.

Human resources departments need to have effective systems in place to execute core HR functions – especially in recruitment and onboarding. 

In this post for Process Street, we’re going to take a close look at how human resource management systems (HRMS) work and how they can give your company a leading edge in the war for talent. 

• What is HRMS?
• 5 essential benefits of HRMS
• Challenges of integrating an HRMS
• How to get started with an HRMS
• Integrating your HRMS with simple workflow software

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HR automation is the use of software to run repetitive human resources tasks, route handoffs, enforce required steps, and keep an auditable record of work. Guest post by Hanson Cheng, founder of Freedom to Ascend, who helps business owners build HR automation systems for growth.

The best HR workflows automate administration without automating accountability. They move information between recruiters, managers, IT, payroll, finance, security, and employees, while people retain control of exceptions and consequential decisions. This guide explains the benefits, safeguards, and seven employee-lifecycle processes that are strongest candidates for automation.

What if your business could establish a culture that harnesses quality as an operational weapon? What if you could make quality a repeatable, instinctive pattern of work that puts your company at the front of the pack?

The past couple of years haven’t been easy for businesses. The snail-paced unfolding of Brexit brought uncertainty and disruption for British and EU businesses, and anyone connected to them. 

Then the ravages of COVID-19 shut large swathes of the world economy down and brought the Great Resignation in its wake. And now, inflation is rocketing skyward, the ‘r’ word is on everyone’s lips, and the cheap debt of the last decade is set to be curtailed by the Federal Reserve’s hiking of interest rates. 

It’s clear that we’re in the middle of a rough patch. Businesses need to take measured, proactive steps now to weather the storm and make themselves as strong, healthy, and competitive as they can be.

In times like these, it can be tempting to reach for the nuclear option and take dramatic evasive action: diversification, cost-cutting, remodeling, and risk analysis are the order of the day. 

Culture doesn’t get much of a look-in. But here’s why that’s a mistake – and why focusing on quality, and how to graft it into the heart of your cultural DNA, is one of the best things your business can do to prepare for the next few years.

• What is a culture of quality?
• Why does a quality culture matter?
• The four corners of a quality culture
• The role of leadership in a culture of quality
• Choosing the right tools for a quality culture
• Conclusion: Make a quality culture your objective

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 It’s a competitive world out there. Your business is striving every day to outperform your competitors. 

That might mean lower pricing, better website design, or more engaging content. But it’s not easy to find new ideas that will differentiate you from the rest.

Maybe you’ve invested in excellent communications, including the best business VoIP plans. You may even have invested in better job-related training. 

But do your employees have the right skills for success? Not just hard skills like technical knowledge – we’re talking soft skills.

92% of talent professionals say that soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills when they’re hiring. 

80% also say soft skills are increasingly important to company success. 

And Deloitte forecasts that soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030.

What does that all mean? If you’re not nurturing your employees’ soft skills, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to make your business more successful. 

So, what can you do? 

• What are soft skills? 
• What are the soft skills you should be looking for? 
• 7 ways to develop soft skills in the workplace
• Soft skills help your business perform better 

As an HR manager, you know a company is only as strong as its employees.

Your employees are the backbone of your company. They are the ones who interact with customers, produce products, and provide services.

In many ways, they are the ambassadors of your brand, and their interactions with customers can either reinforce or undermine your brand identity. 

That’s why knowing what qualities to look for in new hires is essential.

By finding candidates who align with your company’s values and providing them with comprehensive training, employees will be able to represent your brand effectively. So, what should you look for? 

• Identifying the qualities of a good employee
• The 7 qualities of a good employee
• The importance of hiring the right people 
• Your employees with either make or break your business 

Employee onboarding best practices are the anchor to stop you from going adrift.

Surely, you’ve had that sinking feeling? The one where you’ve invested in a super new hire, but it didn’t work out. When it comes to new hires leaving early, you’re not the only fish in the sea. Gen Z spends just over two years in one job. That doesn’t seem long, leaving you with the feeling that something’s off.

What’s more worrying is that 30% of employees leave a job in the first 90 days. Maybe the answer is to be more realistic with new hires. By that, do we mean to tell them Gary in HR has a habit of misplacing paperwork, usually passports? No, there’s a better way. 

The truth is that excellent onboarding leads to 69% of employees staying with you for up to three years. Want in on some of the action? We thought so. That’s why Process Street has written this article to point you in the right direction.

These are the 5 best practices for employee onboarding:

• Onboarding tip #1: Use preboarding to get a quick start
• Onboarding tip #2: Have an onboarding roadmap
• Onboarding tip #3: Use your new hire’s insight
• Onboarding tip #4: Involve your entire organization
• Onboarding tip #5: Plan beyond the first year

You judge people all the time! 

But that’s okay, because we’re all guilty. This is specifically the case when we look at the workplace. Hiring managers make these snap judgments each day – and get paid for it. 

Our first impression of someone sticks. We’re then unconsciously looking for signs that confirm our first impression to be right – even when it’s not. 

Think of it this way: A candidate is late for their first day – the impression is that they’re always late. Now, whenever they arrive late, it confirms the impression that they’re always late. Even if they show up early or on-time most days. 

Please welcome unconscious and confirmation bias – the byproduct of the Halo and Horn Effect. 

This sociological theory doesn’t only exist on page. And it isn’t limited to our interpersonal interactions either. The workplace is a breeding ground for biased opinions and quick judgment calls, especially when hiring. 

To stop the Halo and Horn Effect from influencing your hiring decisions, you first need to understand how this bias creeps into how you perceive others.

• What is the Halo and Horn Effect? 
• How does the Halo and Horn Effect influence hiring decisions? 
• How the Halo and Horn Effect form part of unconscious bias 
• Why is the Halo and Horn Effect bad? 
• How can you limit the influence of the Halo and Horn Effect? 
• Stop judging a book by its cover 

HR digital transformation reminded me of South Korea.

On a recent trip to Seoul, I automated my whole journey. My train tickets, flight tickets, insurance, and apartment key were on my phone. As a result, I felt more engaged on holiday. Which made me wonder, did I ever want to carry paper documents again?

Okay, carrying paper isn’t a difficult task. But as a process, it’s convoluted. Plus, it’s slow. I wasted less time due to automation. By adapting to change, I had a lot more fun.

Adapting to change – technological change – is at the heart of an HR digital transformation. However, it’s not an easy one to get right. It’s often expensive, with HR tech spending up by 57%. But try not to worry. This Process Street post will explain how to do it without breaking the bank:

• What is HR digital transformation?
• HR digital transformation benefits
• HR digital transformation roadmap
• HR digital transformation examples

My psychological contract was beginning to wear thin. 

Rats surrounded me. Then two tons of glass nearly fell on top of me. My job description, at that time, did not include kindness, reciprocity, and understanding. But an unwritten agreement with my employer made me include those qualities in my work.

The agreement I’m describing is an intangible concept. Please don’t be embarrassed; I had to look that word up too. One thing you might want to look up is that 57% of employees quit their jobs due to feeling disrespected at work. That’s where understanding and respecting the psychological contract can help.

At Process Street, we know you can trawl Google like a fishing boat with a broken net. That’s why we write posts to make topics easily accessible. Here’s one about the psychological contract:

• What is the psychological contract?
• The importance of the psychological contract
• Psychological contract example
• What happens when you breach a psychological contract in the workplace?
• Ways to improve and maintain the psychological contract