What is HR problem analysis?
When it comes to human resources, problem analysis is a must-have skill that drives business success and increases organizational agility. Your company needs to regularly perform HR problem analysis, which entails assessing HR-related challenges and suggesting solutions, if it wants to remain competitive.
Human resources experts can learn what’s holding their company behind and how to fix it by looking for problems and finding effective solutions.
Human resource problem analysis is finding HR-related difficulties in a company, assessing them, and then suggesting remedies. This entails reviewing the company’s HR and workplace policies and procedures, looking for ways to make them better, and then putting those suggestions into action. Human resources departments are more able than ever before to conduct data-informed problem analyses, thanks to the proliferation of big-data insights in business.
If you want to keep up with the times and make sure your company can adapt to new demands, problem analysis is a must in human resources. Also, your team can start thinking more strategically and taking the initiative, which will help the company as a whole.
What is the purpose of a problem analysis for human resources?
Through a systematic approach to identifying problems, studying their causes, and properly evaluating potential solutions, problem analysis aids HR teams in comprehending both present and future challenges and in producing a variety of improvement opportunities. Additionally, your team can conduct comprehensive research to avoid making hasty assumptions that could have negative consequences for the organization.
Situations where a problem analysis could be useful in human resources include the following:
- Managing change
When an organization wants to change its structure from its present one to one that better suits its future needs, it needs a change management strategy to help people, groups, and departments make the shift. Systems, procedures, technology, team structures, and even cultural shifts can all play a role in this.
Reducing the negative effects of a shift while increasing its positive ones is what change management is all about. You may be aware that this is a major change to the way your business operates, and that numerous potential issues may emerge as a result.
Problems with communicating are typical during this time. Without proper communication, your staff might not understand the necessity of the change. Human resources may prevent this problem from ever happening by doing problem analysis to develop answers in advance.
- Organizing the workforce
The purpose of workforce planning is to foresee and coordinate an organization’s human resource requirements with its strategic objectives. Finding solutions to labor shortages or surpluses requires looking at historical data on the workforce, making predictions about what the future holds in terms of trends and skill sets, and then putting those predictions into action.
To satisfy the organization’s business needs, problem analysis can help your team make sure the appropriate people are in the right places at the right times with the right capabilities.
- Looking ahead to potential issues
This data analytics component combines statistical techniques and machine learning to forecast future developments based on historical data. It is also known as predictive analytics.
By studying trends and patterns in historical data, predictive analysis attempts to predict what will happen next. As part of HR’s problem analysis, it might foretell potential future concerns, including an employee’s decision to leave the organization.
- Leadership development
Recruiting, developing, inspiring, and retaining high-performing people is the goal of talent management, which is why it is a vital HR activity. In order to find issues with recruitment, employee engagement, or skill gaps, your HR staff might utilize problem analysis.
- Finding new candidates
When you’re in the business of finding, courting, and ultimately employing new employees, you’re engaging in recruiting. Job postings, resume reviews, interviews, and offers are the usual steps in this process.
Learning how to hire people quickly is a typical problem in the recruiting process. If your company wants to recruit top performers, you need to move fast since, according to OfficeVibe, top talent leaves the job market after 10 days. To expedite the hiring process, it is helpful to identify the bottleneck and potential solutions through problem analysis.
The five methods of problem analysis
In order to help teams solve problems, problem-solving strategies provide a methodical way to go through the steps of identifying the problem, brainstorming possible solutions, and finally, selecting the best answer. Complex challenges can be difficult to solve, but with the right strategy and procedure, your team can make the process much easier.
You can find your HR-related problems using one of many problem analysis methodologies. Let’s have a look at five important types:
- Problem tree analysis
A problem tree analysis, often known as a situational analysis, is a kind of flowchart that can aid in problem solving by outlining the key problems together with their underlying causes and consequences. The three steps of this analysis are:
Finding the bad parts of the present circumstance and what’s causing them.
Making a list of problems and their solutions, then organizing those goals into a goal tree.
In a strategy study, defining the scope of the solution project.
In order to get the most out of this problem analysis, HR teams should hold it as a workshop with all relevant parties so that everyone has a chance to voice their opinion.
The satisfaction and health of your employees is one area where this problem-solving framework could be useful. Assemble a focus group of employees to discuss what isn’t working for them on the job, brainstorm solutions (such more benefits) and then create a project scope to present to HR for implementation.
- Examining the basic causes
Your team may be aware that something is wrong, but they are unsure of its origin. If that’s the case, it could be time to conduct an RCA to zero in on the source of the problem and figure out how to fix it. Rather than merely masking the symptoms, root-cause analysis (RCA) seeks to identify and address the underlying cause of the problem.
Problems like poor morale, excessive staff turnover, or insufficient training programs can be detected and fixed with the use of root cause analysis in human resources. The first step is to collect data on the issue by means of surveys, exit interviews, and performance indicators. Then, you’ll analyze this data to determine what the problem’s origin is.
For instance, if HR determines that bad management practices are to blame for excessive employee turnover, they might collaborate with managers to design and launch new training programs to fix the problem. In order to increase employee happiness and decrease turnover, HR can use root cause analysis to create long-term solutions.
- CATWOE analysis
Systems thinking and soft systems methodology employ CATWOE as a tool for analyzing and evaluating complex situations and challenges. The components that make up the acronym are:
C – Customers: Who are the people this issue or its resolution will affect?
A. Actors: Who are the individuals who have something to do with the problem or answer that is being looked at?
T – Transformation process: To fix the issue, what processes need to be changed?
W-Worldview: What set of principles or worldview is foundational to the issue or its resolution?
O – Owner: Who is in charge of overseeing the analysis of the issue or its resolution?
E – Environmental constraints: Which economic, political, or physical aspects of the issue could affect how it is solved?
Each of these factors contributes to CATWOE analysis’s overall picture of a problem or solution, which in turn helps people and businesses make better decisions and come up with better strategies.
If morale is poor in the office, for instance, CATWOE analysis could reveal:
Customers: Employees
Actors: Supervisors and HR professionals
Transformation process: Ways to boost morale in the workplace
Worldview: the principles and goals of the organization
Owner: Management and HR
Environmental factors: financial resources, organizational norms, amount of work, etc.
With these factors in mind, HR can craft an all-encompassing plan to boost morale and enhance the work experience for workers.
- The Kepner-Tregoe test
Charles Kepner and Benjamin Tregoe established a particular approach to rational decision-making and problem-solving known as Kepner Tregoe (KT) Analysis. It is a methodical strategy for finding issues, solving them, making decisions, and assessing results that is based on structured data.
The four basic components of KT Analysis are:
- Assessment of the situation: Determine the nature of the issue and collect pertinent details.
- Analysis of the problem: zero in on the source of the issue.
- Using decision analysis, find the optimal course of action.
- Analyze possible issues: Think about anything that could go wrong with the selected solution and figure out how to fix it.
When it comes to human resources, KT Analysis can be a lifesaver when it comes to making judgments. For instance, it can be useful during change management or in determining where training and development could use some work and then creating a plan to fix those problems.
Another way KT Analysis stands out from the competition is that it provides room for a backup plan—just in case your initial answer doesn’t work.
- SCAMPER analysis
One way to come up with fresh concepts for services, products, and procedures is to use SCAMPER, a method for creative problem-solving. In the context of hiring, for instance, SCAMPER can inspire novel ways of screening and evaluating potential employees.
The abbreviation SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse.
In terms of hiring, this is how it works:
- Substitute: What if your team changed one part of the recruitment process to another? Think about the possibilities: instead of meeting in person, you could conduct interviews virtually or through video conference.
- Combine: Is it possible for your group to incorporate two or more hiring process components? Have you ever considered combining a behavioral interview with a written assignment?
- Adapt: How about incorporating an already-used procedure or method into the hiring process? For example, allowing applicants to sell themselves to the organization in the form of a sales pitch?
- Modify: Is your team able to alter, enlarge, or reduce a certain component of the hiring process, such as the size of the interview panel or its duration?
- Put to another use: Is there another way you could go about the hiring process? Think about the alternative to the standard interview: an assessment center. It would be a great way to gauge a candidate’s abilities.
- Eliminate: How about removing a certain phase or component from the hiring procedure? Take the existing interview process as an example; what if you did away with one round altogether?
- Rearrange: Is it possible for your group to modify the structure of the recruitment process or move the steps in the process’s order? Would it be possible to change the sequence of the evaluation tasks such that the hiring manager interview follows the completion of a technical assignment?
In order to enhance the recruitment process, HR professionals might use SCAMPER analysis to think creatively.
You can solve problems in countless different ways; these are only a handful of them. The issue at hand, the available resources, and the problem solvers’ personal preferences and skill sets will all play a role in the technique selection process. Picking a method that works for the current issue and then applying it in a methodical way will get you where you want to go.
A guide to performing a problem analysis
First, you need to decide how you’ll conduct your problem analysis. First, choose a method for problem analysis. The nature, complexity, and availability of the problem, as well as your team’s capabilities, will dictate the approach that is most suited to solving it. However, you shouldn’t fret too much; instead, pursue the method that you believe will best identify the issue.
The second step is to figure out what the issue is. Make sure that everyone participating in the analysis has a clear understanding of the problem at hand by stating it clearly and checking that it is well-defined.
Next, assess the problem. Investigate the issue thoroughly to identify its source(s) and back up your findings with evidence. In this way, you can make sure that you’ve grasped the issue thoroughly.
Then come up with remedies. Think of all the ways you can fix the issue. To make sure you have a lot of possibilities, think of a variety of solutions, from simple to complex.
Now you have to decide what to do next. Evaluate all of the possible solutions that were generated in the previous stage and pick the best one. Involve the correct people so you can gain their support and divide up the work of implementing the solution.
Put the solution into action. After everyone has agreed on the answer, put it into practice. Make sure you’ve given the implementation strategy plenty of thought and that you have all the resources you need.
Assess the solution’s efficacy by analyzing its implementation and outcomes. If you need to find and fix any remaining issues or make improvements to the solution, you can always go back and do the problem analysis again.
Main points to remember
- Analyzing HR-related challenges and coming up with solutions to make the company more effective and efficient is what problem analysis in HR is all about.
- Why does human resources employ problem analysis? Human resources groups learn about past, present, and future problems, conduct in-depth analyses, and base decisions on facts when they apply problem analysis.
- Cases where problem analysis is applicable include: Human resources can use problem analysis to address concerns with recruiting, talent management, workforce planning, change management, and future problem prediction.
- Here are five methods of problem analysis: Some of the systematic analysis tools that your team can use to tackle problems include problem tree analysis, CATWOE analysis, root cause analysis, Kepner Tregoe analysis, and SCAMPER analysis.
