5. HR Audit

Conducting a HR Audit

Conducting a HR Audit - or gap analysis - is a good way to confirm what you currently have in place with regards to HR, and to highlight any 'gaps'. An audit can help you prioritise as you can give each element a priority scoring. For example:

1 = immediate action required - the Company is at risk

2 = Action required within 6 months - no immediate risk or low risk

3 = Action required within 12 months - minimal risk or no risk.

An Audit will give you an action plan and then allow you to refer back to the original audit as you progress. It also gives you a document that you can present to senior management to help get 'buy-in' or agreement to the priorities to be addressed. 

The HR Audit (template) provided is a 'high-level' audit, covering the key areas of HR within an SME organisation. Further questions can then be asked to drill-down further. For example, the audit will ask 'do you have written contracts of employment'? The next question, to drill-down further, would be 'do they provide the organisation with protection and flexibility'? You can start to examine this further by reviewing the contract templates provided and comparing these to your own contracts of employment. 

The Audit covers the following main areas:

• Number of employees, FT, PT
• Number of other types of workers (self-employed / workers)
• New starters and HR administration
• Contracts of employment
• Equal Opportunities
• Absence
• Holidays
• Employee handbook and HR policy documents
• Communication
• Learning and Development. 

You can access the template HR Audit HERE.