End of year (EOY), whether it be calendar year or financial year is a busy time for HR professionals, and small business owners. The panic of trying to understand any changes in employment law for the following year, getting important documentation filled out, and considering recruitment needs is enough to have anyone tearing their hair out. 

But despite the to-do list being as long as your arm, it doesn’t have to feel like an impossible task. This is where human resource planning (HRP) comes into play. But what exactly is HRP? 

To find out everything you need to know about HR planning, download the guide. 

In The Ultimate End of Year HR Planning Guide, we cover:

• What is HRP
• The importance of end of year HR planning
• Challenges of human resource planning
• EOY human resources checklists
• Future trends
• Types of HR planning
• Steps of HR planning
• Goals & Important dates for 2025

What is HRP?

End of year HR planning (HRP)  is when human resource processes are analysed and reviewed for the following year. This involves considering documents that need to be completed and filed, compliance, hiring, employee management and payroll. By staying organised and methodically going through tasks, it will prevent the last minute rush. 

For most businesses, there are two times in the year in which HRP is a worthwhile activity:

• End of calendar year – this is the perfect time to reconsider policies and processes, take legal changes into account and start preparing strategy for the next twelve months. 
• End of financial year – this is an integral time for payroll and tax compliance 

If you feel intimidated by the thought of the end of the year, or HRP, don’t worry, we have you covered. 

Download the guide now.

The Importance of End of Year (EOY) HR planning

According to Employment Hero’s State of Wellbeing at Work Report, 65% of professionals have felt burnt out over the last six months. If this doesn’t indicate something needs to change, we don’t know what will. It’s clear that professionals in this sector are stressed, but effective HRP strategies can help to alleviate this. 

Not only does getting on top of end of year activities help the professionals that are heading up them, but it also sets the business up for success. If you’re still on the fence about the positive impact of HRP for the end of the year, here are some of the other main benefits: 

• Being aware of important dates
• Alignment with business goals 
• Strategic workforce planning
• Enhanced communication

Quick read HR EOY checklists 

As a small business owner, or busy human resource professional, we know time is of the essence. So, in our guide, we’ve put together some quick checklists you can use to make sure you have everything covered in your HRP. 

Although we take a deeper dive in the guide, the checklists we cover are:

Employee reminders: As a human resources professional or business owner, a large part of your job revolves around making sure your employees have the information they need. And as the year draws to a close, there are several things all employees need to be mindful of.

Human Resource compliance: Staying compliant is one of the hardest, but most important aspects of a business owner or human resources professionals role. The end of the year is the perfect time to consider compliance through assessing current policies and preparing policies for the future.  Elements that should be considered are:

Payroll tasks: Payroll and human resources go hand in hand, and this is why for a lot of businesses payroll should be a consideration during a HRP. The key payroll tasks that should be looked at as the year comes to a close are: 

Hiring and recruiting: One of the main responsibilities for human resources professionals, and business owners is to recruit new employees. This is especially important if you have identified the need for different skill sets in your team as you move into the new year. Therefore, you should make sure you set aside time to complete these hiring tasks before the end of the year: 

Steps of HR EOY planning

End of year preparations can feel like an overwhelming task, but our best advice is to break it down and go through it step by step. In our comprehensive guide, we look at the steps involved in end of year HR planning. 

The steps we cover are:

• How to analyse current processes
• Understanding business goals 
• Forecasting for future needs
• Developing strategies
• Setting KPI’s
• Reviewing success of HRP

To learn more about the steps you need to implement in HRP download our Ultimate Guide to End of Year HR Planning.

Software in HR planning

Human resources plays a pivotal role in ensuring that everyone in the company is productive, and effective people management is essential for business success. 

Human resources professionals have so many opportunities to have a positive impact on a business, but with limited time and resources, it’s often a matter of what can be prioritised. This holds true for business owners or directors who are also wearing other hats along with the HR mantle. 

The good news is there are ways to not only do the work better but also faster — freeing up some time along the way. The reality is that there are ways that processes can be streamlined and simplified in order to reduce workload and automate manual processes. 

This is where an Employment OS (operating system) comes into play. Employment software, like Employment Hero can help to streamline processes and automate manual tasks. Employment Hero is the world’s first Employment OS, and our powerful solution is improving the lives of business owners and human resources professionals for the better. 

Employment Hero has the goal of supercharging success by empowering users to be more productive every day, and offers everything your business needs to thrive. From  finding and hiring top talent, to seamlessly onboarding new hires, automating complex payroll and driving employee engagement, we have you covered. 

Employment Hero empowers over 300,000 businesses worldwide to spend less time on admin, so they can focus on what matters most – their people. 

To learn more, get in touch with our team today.