Organisational insights and audits

Our approach for the HR function is both rooted in our research on best practice, and developmental.

We can be an adviser to the HR director, offer proposals for change, work with a redesign team, or facilitate change options. We can undertake this work for a single organisation or for several organisations considering a partnership.

Conducting an HR audit the IES way

Drawing on our research on HR metrics and on HR’s performance, the challenges we would make to the HR function are:

to be clear about purpose and alignment with the business strategy: business alignment;
to be organised to deliver functional aims and quality services to customers: the customer perspective;
to have efficient and effective processes and the right skills and experience in the HR function to achieve goals: the HR function capacity and capability;
to take note of what works well elsewhere: the good practice perspective; and
to ensure effective measurement of performance both in terms of cost effectiveness but also in terms of higher value added: the metrics dimension.

Contact: Duncan Brown

HR function audit

HR audit

Source: IES; 2008

The impact of back office reviews and re-organisations

We have a particular strength in HR shared services and continue to explore and comment on the benefits and challenges of the ‘Ulrich’ model.

Organisational culture audit

'How we do things around here' is intangible but critical to whether employees embrace or reject change. We can help you carry out a cultural audit and diagnosis, using different methods such as surveys, discussions, or workshops, and we can facilitate the use of pictures and metaphors to surface meaning and present surprising views of the organisation and the jobs people do.

Contact: Stephen Bevan

Performance management audit

We audit existing processes, evaluate schemes against specific criteria (especially equality and fairness), facilitate discussion on introducing fresh approaches, and design whole performance appraisal processes or significant parts like competency frameworks and performance-related pay links.

Contact: Peter Reilly

Reward audit

We support audits of current practice from a stakeholder or business perspective, or against operational criteria. This can involve the design of a new system in its entirety or component parts, the pricing of a pay system, including modelling transition and running costs, and implementation through help with training and communication of change.