Complete guide to HR service delivery

In 2024, it’s an undeniable fact that the workplace is evolving. A growing number of companies are moving to a hybrid or fully remote work environment, with employees spread across various locations and time zones. Despite these significant shifts, human resources departments must remain dedicated to attracting, hiring, and retaining talent in a way that supports a business’s overall objectives. 

While the traditional model of HR service delivery is still relevant for some businesses, more and more organizations are adopting digital tools and HR management platforms to help them meet the unique needs and demands of employees today. 

In this guide, we’ll discover some of the HR service delivery best practices in the modern workplace and discuss the important benefits of this process.

What is HR service delivery?

HR service delivery is a term that refers to the practice of providing HR-related support and solutions to employees within an organization. It is traditionally completed by the human resources department of the company, though modern technology advancements and emerging third-party solutions are enabling companies to outsource these functions to an outside provider, which we’ll cover in more detail below.

Human resources service delivery encompasses a broad set of functions, including recruitment, employee onboarding, payroll processing, benefits administration, performance monitoring, and more.

Importance of HR service delivery

HR service delivery is an important process for any organization because it’s how they provide workers with the support and resources they need to foster a satisfactory employee experience.

A well-structured HR service delivery model facilitates clear communication and transparent interactions between the HR department and employees. In turn, the team can gather valuable feedback and ensure they meet the staff’s needs for productive, compliant, and efficient operations.

Benefits of HR service delivery

Human resources has played a vital role in business for over a century. HR personnel are more than just paper pushers–they act as the liaison between the company and its employees, ensuring both parties have what they need to support successful operations. 

The following are just some of the benefits that come from effective HR service delivery. 

Cost-effective

Strategic HR service delivery can provide meaningful cost savings by reducing the time spent on tedious and resource-intensive work. Companies that leverage modern HR platforms with automation capabilities can reduce the team’s reliance on manual efforts to deliver critical services like payroll, onboarding, and other tasks. 

Plus, streamlining service delivery can improve employee satisfaction and retention rates, helping the company avoid costly recruiting and training costs to fill vacant positions. 

Enhanced efficiency and productivity

Companies that offer self-service portals give employees easy access to resources and information so they can answer questions or troubleshoot issues on their own time. 

This way, employees don’t need to take time out of their day to meet with someone from the HR department for basic inquiries. Plus, it helps HR personnel be more efficient with their resources, as they can reserve their time for handling more complex matters. 

Analytics reporting

A company that delivers comprehensive human resources service with an advanced system can enjoy better analytics. 

These platforms are designed to track key performance metrics, trends, and important HR-related data like employee turnover, cost-to-hire, and other figures that can help drive informed decision-making. HR teams can use this data to track how well they’re meeting their goals and see if they’re aligned with the organization’s overall objectives. 

Improved communication

HR service delivery can improve employee communication, ensuring their needs and concerns are promptly noted and addressed. This can improve employee engagement and satisfaction. 

Well-designed HR service delivery gives employees access to personalized resources and support whenever they need and provides them with a clear channel for submitting requests, asking questions, and voicing concerns.

Model examples of HR service delivery

HR services are no longer exclusively delivered by in-house teams. In the modern age, companies are finding ways to streamline operations and pare down their back-office processes, leading them to be more strategic in structuring certain departments, such as human resources.

Though HR may not be a revenue-driving segment of the company, it still offers crucial services that businesses must provide employees for practical and compliance purposes. The following are the most common HR service delivery models companies use today. 

Traditional

With the traditional model, human resources services are delivered by an in-house HR team. These staff members are typically considered HR generalists who handle the organization's daily HR needs. This might include processing payroll, interviewing candidates for open roles, managing benefits, making schedules, fielding complaints, etc. 

In most cases, companies will staff HR generalists in each region or location where they operate, ensuring that all employees can get the hands-on support they need for HR matters. 

Multi-tiered

The multi-tiered service model has grown more popular in recent decades. It separates human resources service delivery into different tiers, typically organized by the level of support required from the team. It also combines aspects of other models like shared and self-service, which we’ll discuss in more detail below. 

Specific HR personnel will be responsible for delivering a certain tier of service. This usually includes: 

• Tier 0: Employee self-service portals provide resources like chatbots, knowledge bases, FAQs, and more for gathering basic HR-related information

• Tier 1: HR generalists field and address basic questions and inquiries that the employee could not resolve on their own

• Tier 2: HR specialists have specific knowledge or expertise in a certain HR process and can handle more complex issues that generalists cannot

• Tier 3: HR business partners handle the matters that most impact the company and their overall strategy

Self-service

In a self-service model, employees have full control over when and how they access HR services. This is a more streamlined approach to HR service delivery, which organizations of all sizes can take advantage of. 

In general, companies will not exclusively rely on self-service delivery, though it allows HR personnel to lessen their workload and only handle more involved, strategic tasks that require their hands-on expertise. 

Shared

The shared model is also common and consists of HR generalists and specialists who work as a unit, though roles and responsibilities are split amongst each team member depending on current employee demand and team availability. 

In this model, HR staff develop expertise in various HR services and functions. Services may be delivered over a variety of channels according to the company’s operational and employee needs, such as over the phone, through an online service center, or in person.

HR service delivery best practices

HR service delivery touches every employee within an organization. As such, it should not be an afterthought. 

The quality of HR service delivery directly contributes to employee satisfaction, so following these best practices can help you best support your staff, even as the modern workplace evolves. 

Use the right HR tools

The use of cloud-based HR service management software allows organizations to provide a more consistent and efficient HR experience. This particularly benefits growing or remote business teams with employees across multiple locations. 

There are many HR solutions on the market, so businesses need to select the tool that’s best for their needs and will make human resources service delivery more efficient, not more siloed and inconvenient. 

Organizations should start by assessing their budget and specific HR functions that need support. This will ensure they find a tool with the right capabilities without overpaying for features they don’t need.

Provide self-service options to employees

Certain HR services can be delivered to employees on-demand through self-service portals to improve efficiency and empower staff with comprehensive information at their fingertips. 

Not all human resources functions can be hands-off, though the repetitive inquiries or requests that HR teams field most frequently may be handled more efficiently in a self-service portal with thorough FAQs, knowledge base articles, guides, and other resources. 

Self-service portals give employees access to critical information around the clock, and they no longer have to wait until normal business hours when someone in the HR department is available to meet with them. 

Leverage automation

HR automation can provide impressive benefits to both employees and HR staff members. It helps HR staff offload low-value tasks that distract them from more strategic work. This might include automatic approval routing between departments or automated employee onboarding processes for new employees. 

Employees benefit from automation because it enables more quick and efficient service delivery. One of the best practices for HR automation is to identify processes plagued by inefficiencies and start with small automation projects before ramping it up across additional HR functions. 

Offer transparency

Employees don’t want to feel like they’re left in the dark with HR matters. Especially with more sensitive subjects like recruitment, compensation, and payroll, human resources service delivery should be completed transparently to give employees a realistic expectation around timelines, outcomes, and other factors. 

Transparency gives employees the confidence that the HR team is attentive to their requests, inquiries, or problems. If the organization leverages an HR software system, staff members can provide status updates through a ticketing system or dashboard to keep employees informed. 

User friendly interface

Even if you offer an HR system available to employees 24/7, this won’t improve their satisfaction unless it’s easy to use. Otherwise, you could frustrate employees and make HR service delivery feel more clunky and inconvenient than the traditional model.

Prioritize tools and software systems with intuitive interfaces that are easy to navigate. Employees should be able to access the most relevant information, resources, and files with just a few clicks. HR personnel should be able to easily update the system and interact with employees, facilitating top-tier service delivery. 

Scale to business needs

A company with 12 employees runs much differently from a 2,000-person enterprise. Naturally, HR service delivery will vary greatly depending on company size and business needs, and no one-size-fits-all approach suits all companies in all industries. 

Growing businesses must evolve and adapt HR service delivery as they scale. For instance, some smaller organizations may not have a dedicated HR team or structured processes for onboarding or performance management. 

While this can be manageable on a small scale, companies need to continually refine and revamp their HR service delivery to ensure they’re meeting the needs of their growing workforce.

Measuring HR service delivery success

Organizations should constantly enhance and refine their HR service delivery practices to meet the evolving needs of their employees. But, how can they determine the success of their current practices? What data can they track to identify where they’re succeeding and where there’s room for improvement?

Here are some of the metrics that companies can use to measure the effectiveness of HR service delivery:

• Performance of new hires

• Employee satisfaction

• Training effectiveness

• Employee net promoter score

• Self-service adoption rate

• Failure rate of new hires

• First contact resolution

Keep in mind that each organization is unique, so they’ll need to find the best metrics that will help them track HR service delivery success as it relates to their business goals and objectives.

The future of HR service delivery in 2024 and beyond

Companies cannot remain stagnant with their current HR service delivery strategy. As technology advances, employee needs evolve, and workforce trends change, how HR teams effectively deliver service will need to adapt in lockstep. 

At the moment, there is a growing focus on personalization, with employees expecting HR service that is tailored to their needs. Meanwhile, continued digital transformation efforts across the workplace are making employees more accustomed to speed and convenience, wanting to connect with critical resources when and where they need them. 

It can be challenging to meet these trends through manual efforts alone, which is why organizations are implementing advanced HR service management software to help them automate critical workflows for better efficiency, foster employee engagement, and empower team members with AI-powered service delivery. 

Deliver seamless HR service with Freshservice

In today’s complex business environment, delivering effective and convenient HR services can enhance employee engagement and satisfaction, fostering long-term success for the organization. With the right tools, teams can simplify HR service delivery, removing roadblocks for managers and empowering employees to access HR resources at their convenience. 

With the Freshservice HR service management platform, organizations can embrace a digital strategy that’s built to accommodate the modern workforce. The solution makes it easy to offer reliable HR services, resolve employee requests quicker, and leverage AI and automation to improve operational efficiency. 

Try Freshservice for free today to see how easy it can be to elevate the service delivery experience.