Why process mapping is a great idea

By Katrina Colling Ovenstad

Process mapping. Have a taste of the word. What does it really mean? And is it something you need to worry about?
During the pandemic, the importance of having a solid HR function has been high on the agenda for many companies. Because when all employees were suddenly placed in home offices, having optimal HR processes and a cracking good HR system was crucial for both follow-up and development of employees. The pandemic is now in a new phase, but the importance of HR as a function remains unchanged. This has led a number of companies to look for a new HR system, while others are looking to optimize the system and processes they already have.

Whether you are in one of the categories above or not, we will be bold enough to say that NOW is the the time to review your HR processes. How do they work for you? And how have they worked for your business during the pandemic?

Process mapping - your phase zero

So, why are we so concerned with process mapping? Every good HR system should be based on good HR processes, but it is not necessarily the case that the HR processes you have today are the very best. For example, it may be a while since your HR processes were drawn up, and the world is, as is well known, changing. Could it be that your business has grown, that you have changed direction, or perhaps your company has merged? An important question to ask is whether the map still matches the terrain.

Regardless of which direction you are going to take in the future, we will always recommend mapping your current processes to assess whether these are adapted to your way forward or not. In Sariba, we view the process mapping as a phase zero in all planned projects. By carrying out this phase before the project starts, we believe that both the precision, quality and result of a completed project increases considerably, and our experience indicates that this provides a more long-term benefit for our customers.

Let's take an example ..

Let us consider competence mapping as a process. Is this a process your business has under control? Do you have a good overview of the competence in your company, as well as which competence you need more, possibly less of, in the time to come? Is this related to the strategy that your company is pursuing? A process mapping will provide clear answers to all these questions, and the outcome will give you good opportunities to improve the work you do in just competence mapping.

"A bad process will beat a good person every time" W. Edwards Deming

So, why invest in a process review?

As we have already mentioned, a process review is a wise investment. You will be able to reduce costs and increase efficiency, while ensuring that the employees' goals are in line with your company's goals. You also facilitate the development of leadership and you create a future-oriented HR function.

The entry of the process map

We expect that you will now see the value of a process review. The next questions are where and how to start. A useful tool to use is a process map. But what exactly is a process map? What function does it have, and is this really something you should spend time and energy on?

A process map can help you see and understand all the processes in your organization, and what your organization does across functions. A process map can also show you the flow between different systems, customers and products. All process maps should be continuously both evaluated and optimized, and if you use them correctly, they can be useful guides for where you are going in the future.

Process mapping benefits:

• They describe how all activities are carried out in your company
• They describe the flow of activities
• They can easily be used for training new employees
• They help you understand where problems arise
• They allow you to understand why problems occur
• They help you understand where improvements need to be made
• They show you connections in your processes.

Ok - so process maps are useful, but where do I start?

When you are going to use a process map, there are several questions you should ask: How good is the flow in the organization's processes? Do we secure value-creating activities? Are all processes performed the same? How do we ensure quality in the processes? And are evaluations made on the various processes we have?

The questions you should ask are both many and important, and answering them is time consuming.