Profile of HR Risk Management

It is common for people to ask, “what does an HR consultant actually DO?” The answer is largely based on the role of the person asking. To a hiring manager, it may be mounting a campaign to find their next great hire. To an employee, it may be helping them get information on their benefits package. But to the leadership team, that answer predominantly concerns managing risks in their human resource practices.

HR risk management covers 4 broad areas of managing people within an organization:

Legal compliance

Talent acquisition

Employee relations

Health and safety

When reviewing each area, I recommend using our R.I.S.E. model (see the About page): recognize the gaps in how the area is being managed (or not); identify where opportunities exist to make improvements; strategize and prioritize solutions you develop; and finally execute the project plan to address risks. This approach requires that key players be involved so the HR consultant can thoroughly understand the current state. In doing so, they are able to bring sound, new ideas and challenge the status quo resulting in the plan for a future state with lower risk.

While not comprehensive, here is a quick-start checklist for each of these risk areas to get leadership teams thinking about their exposures to HR-related risks.

Legal compliance

• When was your employee policy manual last updated?

• Are you aware of recent issued regulatory guidance or legislation related to employment practices?

• Have you received notice of an employee complaint?

• Did you include HR risks in the discussion with your insurance broker?

• When did you last conduct an audit of your HR practices?

• Do you have procedures to manage mandatory or discretionary employee leaves of absence?

Talent acquisition

• What is your process for redesigning existing jobs or creating new ones?

• Are job postings issued consistently for all open roles?

• Are questions during the screening, interviewing and disposition phases asked consistently?

• What contingencies do you include with an offer of employment?

• Do your job descriptions include required information as well as best-practice sections? When do employees receive a copy?

• How are pay rates determined?

• Have you reviewed pay levels across all employees for fairness and equity?

 Employee relations

• What regular communications are provided to your staff?

• Have you surveyed employees on benefits, culture or other topics?

• Are professional development assessments offered to employees?

• How effective is your performance management program?

• Are you providing training, coaching or mentoring to employees?

• Is there an established process for employee discipline?

• Do you have clear procedures for offboarding employees who leave?

 Health and Safety

• What is your record of workplace injuries and near misses?

• Do you have an active safety committee?

• Are employees from across departments involved with safety efforts?

• What health and/or safety training is available to your employees?

• Is your Employee Assistance Program regularly promoted?

As you read through these questions, you may find some that strike you as an area for consideration. If those questions tend to fall in one broad area, you may want to concentrate on that one first. You may already have internal expertise to aid in the review process. If not, engaging an HR consultant can save you time and energy for addressing HR-related risks.

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