Auditing Credibility of the HR Department

The HR department has to have credibility if it has to implement HR policies and help the organization to derive benefits from it. Credibility is the extent to which employees rely, respect and believe in what is said. Credibility includes trust, faith, trust worthiness, and positive image and attitude towards that aspect. The dimensions for audit are listed below.

HR Staff are Trusted

• Promise keeping ability of HR staff.
• Trust level of employees, vis-à-vis HR staff.

HR Staff are seen as Professionally Competent

• Professional approach and preparation of HR staff.
• HR staff keeping in touch with recent development.

HR Department is seen as Humane and Helpful

• Sensitiveness of HR department towards need of the employees.
• Their helpfulness to employees.
• Approachability and openness to suggestions of HR department.

HR Policies are viewed with Respect and Positivity

• Nature of HR policies: Lopsided or good and appropriate.
• Helpfulness of policies in promoting competencies and employee motivation.

HR Staff are Seen as Genuine and not Indulging in Politics

• Extent of genuineness of HR staff.
• Extent to which they are indulged in politics.
• Their stand for employee motivation and utilization in front of top management.
• Transparency of HR staff.

HR Policies are seen as Unbiased

• HR policies reflecting objectivity and welfare of all and the organization.
• Biasness of HR policies to accommodate a few people close to the top management.

HR Communications are Trusted for What They Say

• HR policies and communications are taken on the face value by the employees.
• Trust of employees on HR policies and communications.
• Seriousness in reading HR policies and communications on the part of employees, when they are framed and circulated.

HR Systems and Practices are Viewed with Interest and Taken Seriously

• Extent to which systems introduced and managed by HR department have credibility.
• Positivity, hope and trust among employees for HR practices and systems.
• Seriousness among employees for them.

Auditing Methods and Techniques for HR Department credibility

• Interviews of the line managers and other employees: Interviews of the line managers and other employees can be conducted to get information on above dimensions.
• Questionnaire: Some components from HR Audit questionnaire can be used. A special tool can be developed and used to collect views from a random sample of employees.