Clear, simply written guidance on best practice in HR and people management.

This tool:

Examines and explains the policies and practices used by high-performing organizations to engage their staff, deliver business objectives and outperform the competition.
Includes case studies to illustrate the practical application of the proffered guidance.

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Attendance and Leave

Attendance Management

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses the management of attendance, including attendance procedures, attendance review meetings, possible causes of frequent non-attendance and ways of encouraging and promoting attendance.

Compensation and Benefits

Strategies for Managing Health Care Costs

Enhanced to improve breadth of content related to plan negotiation and selection, managing costs and fraud prevention.
Compensation Fundamentals: Building Blocks

Best practice guidance discussing the building blocks that are the foundation for establishing compensation systems, including base pay and adjustments to base pay according to cost-of-living increases; seniority; job performance; and the acquisition of new competencies, skills or knowledge sets.
Compensation Fundamentals: System Design Elements

Best practice guidance discussing the three goals of a successful employee compensation system: internal consistency, market competitiveness and recognition of employee contributions.
Compensation Fundamentals: Common Pay Structures

Best practice guidance discussing two of the most common pay structures in employee compensation: merit-based pay and person-focused pay.
Compensation Fundamentals: Legal Considerations and Assessing Effectiveness

Best practice guidance discussing the main compliance challenges that organizations face in employee compensation and the metrics that organizations can use to make sure their compensation system is meeting their goals.
Voluntary Benefits and Perks

Enhanced to refresh information on keeping up with trends in voluntary benefits, determining the right perks, assessing potential perks, and making the winning pitch for perks.
Benefit Planning and Design Strategies

Enhanced to refresh information on developing benefits strategies, determining employer objectives and how to assess employee needs.
Supporting Employees With Paid Time Off Benefits

Enhanced to add information on the importance of offering paid time off, why employees may not take time away from work and leadership's role in creating a culture that supports taking time away from work.
Total Rewards Strategy

Enhanced with information on developing a total rewards strategy.

Discipline and Termination

Handling Discipline

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses managing disciplinary issues, including disciplinary rules and procedures, setting up disciplinary interviews, the right to be accompanied, warnings, appeals, dismissal and dealing with misconduct that is suspected but not proven.
Conducting Disciplinary Interviews

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses disciplinary interviewing, including setting up and preparing for the interview, questioning techniques, listening skills and deciding the outcome of the interview.

Dispute Resolution

Handling Grievances

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses handling grievances, both formally and informally, and includes information on the structure of a grievance procedure, who should handle grievances, attitudes toward grievances and conducting grievance hearings.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Improving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace

Enhanced to improve the overall comprehensiveness, organization and scope of diversity, equity and inclusion coverage.
Transgender Employees and Applicants in the Workplace

Updated in relation to the Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ+ rights.
Religion

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual considers the key issues associated with religion in the workplace and identifies the steps that employers can take to address these issues fairly, while supporting the needs of the business.

Engagement and Recognition

Employee Engagement Surveys

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual identifies the steps employers should follow to conduct an effective employee engagement survey. It discusses the business case for conducting engagement surveys, their benefit to the organization and how to determine survey scope and design, improve employee response rates and take action on survey results.
Employee Recognition

This section of the XpertHR Best Practice Manual explains the benefits of implementing an employee recognition program and guides employers on how to design a day-to-day, informal or formal program and process.

Global Employers

Making Long-Term International Assignments Successful

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses long-term international assignments, including candidate selection, employee communication, relocation assistance and providing support for an employee for his or her return.

Health and Wellbeing

Understanding Workplace Mental Health Issues

This guide discusses the issues that employers need to understand to foster a mentally healthy workplace.
Supporting Employee Mental Health

This guide discusses how employers can support employees experiencing poor mental health and manage absence and return-to-work issues related to mental health conditions.
Stress Management

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses the business case for investing in employee stress management and explains how to develop and implement a framework for managing stress.
Well-Being

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses the business case for investing in employee well-being and explains how to develop and implement a well-being program.

Hiring and Onboarding

Onboarding and Orientation

Enhanced to improve the comprehensiveness, organization and scope of coverage.

HR Strategy and Management

Managing Workplace Flexibility

Enhanced with information on employer benefits regarding workplace flexibility; compensation planning and practices; remote work; hybrid work; variable hours or flextime; flexible scheduling; and extended leaves and other time off from work.
People Analytics

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses people analytics. It explains what people analytics is and how it fits into the overall structure of the HR department. It emphasizes the importance of identifying the objectives of a people analytics project and gaining buy-in from senior management and explores how engaging in people analytics can provide a firm foundation for making business decisions, which in turn can positively impact the organization's bottom line.
HR Transformation

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses HR transformation. It considers what HR transformation is and its benefits to the organization. It describes the tools for transforming HR and the methods for implementing a successful HR transformation, as well as how HR transformation can be sustained.
Mergers and Acquisitions

This section of the XpertHR Best Practice Manual explains why the acquisition of, or merger with, another organization requires consideration of both the financial details and human capital factors. It also assists HR professionals on the keys to merger and acquisition (M&A) success.

Labor Relations

Maintaining a Union-Free Workplace

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses steps an employer may take to remain union-free, including developing a proactive union-avoidance strategy, identifying employee concerns, training supervisors and engaging in ongoing communications with employees.

Performance and Promotions

Selecting Employees for Promotion

Updated to provide information on the use of algorithmic decision-making (AI) assessment tools.
Supporting New Supervisors in Their Role

Best practice guidance discussing why it is important to provide new supervisors support and training to ensure their success in their new role
Best Practices for Promoting Employees

Enhanced to refresh information on what constitutes a promotion in the current work environment and the value of promoting internally, and to add information on types of promotions, using promotions towards achieving strategic goals and promotions in a unionized workplace.
Performance Management

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses performance management, including day-to-day and formal performance management systems, how employees and managers can be encouraged to treat performance management seriously, and the ways in which performance management can be assessed.

Retention

Best Practices for Retaining Employees

Enhanced with information regarding the employee experience.
Creating an Employee Retention Strategy

This guide discusses the importance of having a retention strategy and identifies steps to consider when creating one.
Retention Strategies for Mergers and Acquisitions

Best practice guidance discussing retention strategies regarding mergers, acquisitions and restructurings.

Risk Management

Managing Risk in the Workplace

Enhanced to refresh and add information on HR’s role in identifying, assessing, managing and monitoring risk in the workplace.
HR's Role in Business Ethics

Enhanced to improve the comprehensiveness, organization and scope of coverage.
Whistleblowing

This section of the XpertHR Best Practice Manual explains the benefits of having effective internal whistleblowing procedures and guides employers on how to introduce and manage a whistleblowing policy and procedure, encourage employees to raise concerns and ensure that concerns are dealt with appropriately.

Training and Development

Professional Development for HR

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual provides HR professionals with information on professional development opportunities available to them, including earning certifications, networking through professional organizations or social media sites and other professional development tools.
Leadership Development

This section of the XpertHR best practice manual discusses how to deliver effective leadership development. It demonstrates why leadership development is important and addresses key issues to take into account when planning, designing, delivering and evaluating a leadership program.

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Best Practice Manual