Breaking Down Silos in HR: What You Need to Do Now to Support the Future of Work

In today's changing work environment, it is crucial for human resources departments to have a holistic view of the employee experience. Different HR functions are often working independently and have communication barriers despite an overlap of activities and data between functions.

Silos can lead to the spread of inconsistent and contradictory information, an influx of costly and delayed decisions, and a decrease in productivity.

When the recruiting team has limited interaction with employee resources and compensation teams, it can result in misalignment between hiring goals and the overall HR strategy. Similarly, a siloed talent and development team can lead to a gap between the skills and competencies needed by the organization and the training provided.

Here are seven ways to break down the silos.

Create a shared vision

Leaders must develop a clear HR strategy that aligns with the company's goals and share the vision regularly with all teams. Management should involve team members in the process of analyzing how they can contribute to the end goal within their team and role.

Establish channels of open communication

Set up forums and cross-functional meetings to discuss challenges and potential ways to tackle them to avoid information being trapped in silos. Team members from different backgrounds and roles can think outside the box and develop more creative solutions.

Identify interdepartmental processes

Analyze HR processes that require input from multiple functions, map out the workflows, and roll out standardized processes. Consider the whole employee journey, from hiring to termination.

Set metrics

Find metrics that different teams can align with and be held accountable for the outcomes. Monitor indicators that reflect interdepartmental efforts. You can even set incentives tied to those metrics.

Find a unified platform that supports all HR functions

Find a system that streamlines all HR processes and centralizes data. Often there are either too many channels to share information or no channels at all. Team members do not know where to find the information needed or cannot reach the right person in a timely manner. Workflows must be effortless.

Prepare employees for sustainable change

Breaking down silos is not a one-time effort, and it cannot be achieved by only one person. All teams must be committed and, if a new system is implemented, organizational change must go along with it to ensure proper adoption.

Soften physical barriers

Lastly, in today’s remote work environment, consider organizing regular in-person team events. If your team is working on-site, think about how you could reorganize the layout of the office to bring your team closer together.

To foster a good employee experience, productivity, and overall, a culture that employees enjoy working in, HR departments must dismantle the silos between their teams. By embracing a shared vision, fostering a culture of collaboration, establishing interdepartmental processes, enhancing communication channels, and implementing a unified platform, you can pave the way for a future-ready HR department that supports the evolving needs of your organization.

Using change management best practices allows you to get buy-in from all teams and promote sustainable change.