HR Managers Guide: What is an HR meeting? | Dive

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As a Human Resource manager (HR), conducting HR meetings with employees is one of the most critical job functions you need to be a pro at. These meetings help create a strong bond between the company and the employee and create the right value within the organization.

If you have an upcoming meeting with your HR, this is a golden opportunity to communicate your thoughts and feedback to the company. This article will help you understand Human Resource Meetings and some top agenda items for meetings with HR.

What Is An HR Meeting?

A meeting with HR can be a gathering of HR professionals with the managers and employees or a 1-1 discussion where the HR can discuss a wide range of issues or topics. These meetings allow the HR team to share information, provide updates, and gather feedback on HR initiatives and policies.

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An HR meeting aims to improve communication and collaboration within the department and the organization.

What Exactly Is The Role Of The HR In Business?

HR plays a critical role in the success of any business and oversees employee-related functions for the business. The individual or the HR team manages the most valuable resource of any organization - its people.

Some of the critical responsibilities of an HR in a business include:

1. Recruitment and Talent Acquisition: The HR team is responsible for attracting, screening, and hiring new employees.
2. Employee Relations: HR is responsible for maintaining positive relationships between employees and management and resolving employee disputes.
3. Employee Development and Training: HR is responsible for developing and implementing training programs that help employees acquire new skills and knowledge and support their career development.
4. Compliance and Legal Matters: HR ensures the company policy complies with all relevant labor laws, regulations, and employment standards.
5. Performance Management: Human Resource professionals are also responsible for implementing performance improvement plans to help underperforming employees understand company expectations.
6. Employee Benefits and Compensation: HR is also responsible for designing and administering employee benefit programs and determining and negotiating compensation packages.

Different Types of HR Meetings

Now to the moot question - why would your HR want to meet you? An HR meeting agenda can cover a range of topics, the most prominent being the ones mentioned in this list:

Staffing

HR meetings focused on staffing involve discussions about current and future staffing needs and strategies for attracting and hiring new employees. This type of meeting is essential for ensuring the organization has the resources to meet its goals and objectives.

Job Interviews

HRs must conduct job interviews with potential hires focused on the orientation process for new employees, understanding employee expectations, and involving HR interview questions focused on several aspects of the job interview process.

Onboarding

HR meetings with prospective employees may involve discussions about the orientation process for new employees, including training, introductions to the company culture, and expectations for their role.

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One of the challenges of onboarding meetings is that they require significant time and resources to coordinate, particularly if employees are working remotely or across different time zones. Dive helps to solve this challenge by providing a user-friendly platform that can be accessed from anywhere and integrates with the tools used in your organization.

So be it Zoom, Google Meet, Slack, and Google Calendar, your HR teams can schedule onboarding meetings more efficiently and with greater flexibility.

Ongoing Training

HR meetings focused on ongoing training may involve discussions about developing and implementing training programs for employees and opportunities for professional development.

Benefits of HR Meetings

Human Resource employees can call meetings to discuss benefits involving employee benefits programs, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.

Performance Evaluation

One of the critical HR meeting agendas includes performance evaluations with employees to assess their job performance and provide feedback.

These discussions center on areas of growth, poor performance, communicating disciplinary actions, or helping underperforming employees understand their role and create a performance improvement plan.

Investigation

HRs can also call meetings to discuss conducting investigations into workplace incidents, employee disputes, or misconduct allegations. Investigations are critical for HR, as they help maintain a safe and respectful workplace and ensure a safe and productive workplace for all.

Disciplinary Issues

HR managers may hold disciplinary meetings with disgruntled employees to address performance or conduct issues. Disciplinary issues can be about employee behavior and performance, requiring a sensitive and transparent handling of the situation.

Exit Interviews

Human Resource professionals must hold exit interviews with departing employees to gather feedback about their experience with the company. Exit interviews are an essential tool for HR professionals to understand employee perspectives and make improvements to the workplace to reduce employee workplace concerns.

Transfers

HR meetings focused on transfers may involve transferring employees to different organizational roles or locations.

Each HR meeting has its purpose, but the tone shouldn't always be strict or highly professional. In today's remote environment, fostering open communication and building a culture of celebrating everyone's opinion is crucial for the business. It takes intentional effort from the HR manager as well as the employees.

With Dive, you can make meetings fun and interactive and use ready templates to set the tone of your meeting.

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Plus, you can take control of the meetings, plan several meetings (1-1, town halls, team meetings), and even host skip-level meetings with one simple tool, helping you increase employee engagement and productivity with your meetings. If you're looking for an easy way to get started, you can simply choose a template to help plan your meetings - find all available templates by visiting our templates page. 

What does an HR Want in a Meeting?

Here is a brief overview of what an HR would expect in any meeting:

Request for Help with a Project

In a meeting to request help with a project, HR may want to understand the project's scope, the resources required, and the timeline for completion. HR may also want to discuss any potential roadblocks or challenges and how they can be addressed.

Benefits Changes

The HR may want to communicate the changes to employees, including what is changing and why, and answer any questions employees may have about the changes.

Changes in Compensation

A crucial communication from HR is around company compensation changes or overall financials. An HR may want to communicate these changes, including what is changing and why, and answer any questions employees may have about the changes.

The HR may also want to assess the impact of the changes on employees and the organization and make any necessary modifications.

Discuss Transfering to Other Department

In a meeting to discuss transferring to another department, HR may want to understand the reasons for the transfer and its impact on the employee and the organization.

Training and Team Building

To discuss training and team building, HR may want to assess the current training and team building programs, identify any areas for improvement, and discuss strategies for enhancing these programs better to meet the needs of employees and the organization.

Ask Questions for Investigation

In a meeting to ask questions for an investigation, HR may want to gather information and evidence about the incident or allegation being investigated.

Performance Evaluation

Regarding performance evaluation, HR may want to assess an employee's job performance, provide feedback on areas for improvement, and discuss any necessary changes to the employee's job responsibilities.

Discuss Layoff or Termination

Finally, the most sensitive HR discussion with an employee is around layoffs and termination. HR may want to communicate the decision to the employee, answer any questions the employee may have, and provide information about any available resources and support.

Dive takes security and data privacy seriously, which can be especially important for HR meetings where sensitive information is often discussed. The platform uses encryption and other security measures to protect data and keep meetings private.

Handling Difficult HR Meetings With Employees

Employees may be jittery when meeting HR, but the same is true with HR managers who want to communicate a sensitive topic or have a serious discussion with an employee.

The challenging conversations with disgruntled employees around misconduct, dispute, termination, compensation, performance, or other areas require sensitive handling and proper communication.

To help make this effective, here are a few ways to handle HR meetings with employees.

Set an Agenda

Before the meeting, create an agenda that outlines the topics to be discussed and allocate time for each item. This will help keep the meeting organized and focused.

Prepare for Conversation

Before the meeting, it's vital to prepare by reviewing the purpose of the meeting, gathering any necessary data or documents, and determining what outcome you hope to achieve. This will help ensure that the meeting is productive and focused.

Document the Meeting

During the meeting, taking detailed notes to document what was discussed and any decisions made are essential. This will help ensure that all parties are on the same page and that there is a clear record of the meeting.

Set the Tone

The tone of the meeting is essential, as it can impact the outcome of the meeting. Therefore, it's important to be professional, respectful, and open-minded and to maintain a positive and solution-focused approach.

Keep Everyone's Emotions in Check

Emotions can run high in HR meetings, mainly when discussing sensitive topics. Therefore, it's essential to remain calm and neutral and ensure that you and the others in the room always maintain professional decorum.

Resolve the Issue

The ultimate goal of an HR meeting is to resolve the issue. Therefore, it's essential to work collaboratively and constructively to find a solution in the best interests of all parties involved.

This may involve reaching a compromise, coming up with an action plan, or making a decision everyone can agree on. And remember, the key to success is approaching each meeting with a positive, solution-focused attitude and being open to new ideas and approaches.

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With Dive agenda everywhere, you can take your notes, action plan, and engagement activities no matter which meeting platform you use, without requiring any switch workflows or migration. So what are you waiting for - tell your team to Dive in!

Transform Your HR Meetings

Transforming your HR meetings requires preparation, organization, and focus on finding solutions to the issues at hand. So, to improve your HR meetings and maximize your time and resources, start by implementing these tips and best practices. If you want to transform other meetings like you did HR, read our other blogs to find out how!

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With Dive, teams can increase their productivity and efficiency by utilizing the software's collaborative agenda-building feature and its ability to document decisions and hold team members accountable. Dive's meeting management tool is the ultimate solution for streamlined team collaboration.

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FAQs

How can I ensure that everyone stays engaged and focused during HR meetings?

A practical tip to keep your meetings engaging and focused on the agenda is to set clear objectives for the meeting and communicate them in advance. This helps you structure the meeting and helps the attendees know what is expected.

How can I ensure that action items and follow-up tasks are completed after an HR meeting?

To ensure your meetings are productive, start by creating a summary or minutes of the meeting for all attendees, outlining the key discussion points, decisions, and action items. This helps them stay accountable for their deliverables while you can easily track and follow up on any outstanding action items from the meeting.

How can I ensure that my HR meetings are inclusive and respectful of everyone's perspectives?

Start by setting a few ground rules for the meeting, such as avoiding interrupting others, actively listening, and refraining from personal attacks or judgmental language. It's also important to be aware of your biases and assumptions and to create opportunities for all attendees to share their perspectives.

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