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Keys to conducting a Human Resources audit
Conducting a periodic human resources audit is essential for evaluating HR management processes in the company. Read us!
Isabel García
HR Consultant
2 of April, 2025
As a company, one of our objectives is to grow with maximum efficiency. To this end, the organization has access to all kinds of resources. One of these is the human resources audit, which allows us to analyze the performance of a key department.
Based on the results, we can apply the necessary improvements.
Human resources is a strategic department for the company. If HR works well, the rest of the company will do so too. Nevertheless, if it does not function properly the company will suffer.
Therefore, it is important to develop an HR report that determines whether its work is suitable and effective for the company.
What is a human resources audit?
An HR audit is simply the process of evaluating the performance and functioning of the human resources department.
In it, the department’s policies, processes, systems, and practices are scrutinized in their various tasks. Hiring, onboarding and offboarding, compensation, performance evaluation… Each process is evaluated in detail.
The objective of the audit can only be to detect opportunities and threats from a key department.
Once completed, we can use the human resources diagnostic report as a starting point to apply improvements. Thus, we take advantage of opportunities and reinforce ourselves against threats.
It is also a unique opportunity to review our policies, methods, and systems for retaining talent.
This is a key function of this team, and the annual HR report does not always provide all the keys. The human resources audit is much deeper.
How to conduct a human resources audit
The first step is to decide who carries out the human resources audit. The options are limited to two: internal audit or external audit?
In case of opting for the first option, it should be carried out by professionals with relevance in the organization. This is the only way to make sure their conclusions and proposals are taken into account.
In addition, these must be employees are capable of carrying out the audit. We cannot leave it in the hands of anyone.
External audits guarantee us a completely impartial human resources executive report. Sometimes, it is preferable to resort to this external help.
Types of HR audits
As important as choosing the auditor is knowing what kind of audit will be done. We have several options on the table, with the advantage that some can be combined.
Here are the 7 types of human resources audits:
- Statistical approach audit: first, a series of data about the company itself is taken. Decisions are made based on a quantified objective.
- Objective audit: There are a series of HR KPIs to be met. The audit analyzes the set objectives, the marked results, and the actual results of the department.
- Legal compliance audit: serves to ensure that we are up-to-date with all obligations. Here we can include the I-9 Audit (It ensures that all employees have the form I-9 that verifies valid work permits).
- Hiring audit: analyzes the hiring process to certify that it is efficient, coherent, and non-discriminatory.
- Salary and working day audit: seeks to detect faults in the company’s salary structure or workload.
- Safety audit: serves to ensure that the necessary requirements and conditions are met to guarantee employee health.
- Comparative approach audit: compares the HR department of the audited company with another that has already applied changes after an audit.
Development of the HR audit
Throughout the audit, it is necessary to answer a series of key questions. Answering them honestly and taking the time to do so is just as important as the information gathered will guide us in making improvements. We are in the phase of collecting information.
Having a human resources software like Sesame HR will be of great help at this stage. It provides us with information about working hours, we have payroll reports, a database of workers… and generally a lot of People Analytics data for making decisions.
This will allow us to speed up the process and ensure that we work with accurate information.
To evaluate the results we have achieved, they should be compared with those of similar-sized companies.
The ideal would be to do it with our own organization, as long as there is a historical record of audits. This way, we can contextualize the hard data and have a better understanding of where we stand.
The results obtained will be reflected in the human resources diagnostic report. It should be as complete as possible, a document easily reviewable for HR and the management of the company.
More than just presenting the results, it should include improvement proposals to optimize the human resources department.
HR audit reports with Artificial Intelligence
Preparing HR audit reports with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a significant evolution in the optimization and precision of the process.
The integration of Artificial Intelligence in HR allows for automated data collection, speeding up the initial phase of the audit.
By processing large data sets, AI identifies patterns, trends, and potential problem areas more quickly and accurately than traditional methods. This facilitates the identification of improvement opportunities and areas of risk in the HR department.
In addition, AI generates detailed and personalized reports efficiently. It translates complex data into understandable and structured analysis, simplifying the presentation of results.
The combination of human experience with the analytical and data processing capabilities of AI provides a more complete and accurate view of the state of the HR department. It provides more grounded recommendations for development and implementation of improvement strategies.
Introduction of improvements after the annual human resources evaluation
We cannot stop here, we are one step away from successfully completing the process. And this step is no other than to adopt the appropriate measures to improve human resources management.
This affects everyone equally: HR, management, and employees.
As HR managers, we should adopt a culture of continuous improvement of our policies and internal processes.
The management of the organization must support these changes. And the employees should accept the new way of working. Only in this way can we ensure constant evolution and a competitive advantage.
Among the measures taken could be the review of contracts.
The audit will tell us which type of contract is better for each worker, how it will be more efficient for the company’s activity. Sometimes, part-time workers are more efficient working full-time and vice versa.
Beyond modifying contracts, the human resources audit serves to analyze workforce documents, settlement acts, payments, vacations…
Not to forget the internal regulations and Safety and Health. In addition, it will ensure that they are complied with.
In short, the human resources audit is an opportunity to strengthen the work of this department and the well-being of the staff.
Conduct your HR audit with Sesame HR
Performing an effective HR audit becomes more efficient and accurate with the backing of the KPI software from Sesame HR. This type of software offers an integrated platform that simplifies each stage of the audit process, from data collection to the generation of detailed reports and corrective actions.
Sesame HR provides you with a centralized tool to collect all the information, from timekeeping data, performance evaluations, and more. This automated and systematic collection speeds up the initial phase of the audit, saving time and minimizing errors.
You will achieve several benefits with this system:
- Streamline data collection and organization through automation.
- Accurate analysis with the help of graphics and Artificial Intelligence.
- Early detection of problems through trend study.
- Generate detailed reports.
- Improvement in decision making.
Without doubt, Sesame HR facilitates the generation of comprehensive and personalized reports. If you want to know more about our HR software, do not miss the related content on the Sesame HR blog!
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I'm Marcos López, HR consultant at Sesame HR. Book a meeting with my team to help you.