8 core HR processes for 2025: elevate your people strategy

62% of HR leaders are now expected by CEOs to drive high-performing, productive organizations.* But while demands are rising, resources are shrinking; teams are getting leaner, and there’s no room for clunky tools or scattered spreadsheets. 

The solution? Streamlined, people-centered HR processes — elevated with data-driven insights, granular automations, and AI capabilities — that empower HR teams to work strategically and maximize impact. 

In this guide, we’ll break down the eight core HR processes today’s organizations need, explain why they matter, and show how Leapsome can help you automate and optimize your HR operations. 
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‍*Leapsome’s HR Insights Report, 2025
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What are HR processes?

HR processes are the structured systems and workflows that allow People teams to manage the employee lifecycle — from hiring and onboarding to development, retention, and offboarding. They’re the backbone of how organizations run their day-to-day people operations; some common examples include training, performance management, and goal setting. 

Critically, HR processes go much beyond admin. When designed and executed well, HR processes allow People teams to take a more strategic role and directly impact business outcomes. In fact, companies that effectively manage their HR processes are 22% more productive and 21% more profitable, according to Gallup.

Why are HR processes important?

Clear, well-structured HR processes help organizations stay productive, compliant, and aligned—especially as they scale. When HR processes are inconsistent or rely on manual work, they cause errors, confusion, delays, and extra admin for everyone.

On the other hand, companies that treat HR as a strategic partner across processes are 2.7x more likely to excel at generating and executing new ideas. With 92% of HR leaders saying overwhelming workloads are standing in the way of future success, this makes technology essential for tackling the problem and reducing anxiety and burnout. 
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How do HR processes impact organizations?

People are the beating heart of any business, making high-performing HR teams and effective processes essential to company survival. 

Solid HR processes improve the employee experience, help with retention, and increase efficiency — all of which positively impact business outcomes. Here’s how: 

• Employee experience. Solid HR processes reduce friction and make day-to-day workflows easier and more accessible for everyone, from managers to individual contributors.
  
  
• Retention. High-quality HR systems mean effective engagement initiatives, for example, leading to consistent, meaningful performance reviews and relevant learning and development initiatives. This builds loyalty, reduces churn, and encourages top talent to stay.
  
  
• Productivity. Streamlined HR workflows mean People teams can spend less time on admin, allowing them to work more efficiently and focus on high-value work.
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💡 Interested in what today’s top HR influencers have to say about the importance of HR processes in the current world of work? Check out our comprehensive list of influencers in the People space and give them a follow.

The 8 core HR processes your business needs to succeed

Every business’ HR processes will look different depending on company objectives and workforce needs — especially if your employee management systems are scattered across platforms. 

Still, every HR process strategy should cover essential topics to ensure teams have the tools and insights they need to manage employee performance.

Not sure where to start? Our people enablement experts have outlined the eight core processes to consider when planning a successful HR strategy in 2025.
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HR process #1: recruitment, onboarding & offboarding

Recruitment, onboarding, and offboarding are core HR systems that shape the employee journey, from first contact to final exit:

• Recruitment involves sourcing, evaluating, and hiring the right candidates to fill open roles.
  
  
• Onboarding helps new team members settle into their roles quickly and thoroughly by introducing them to the company tools, culture, and expectations.
  
  
• Offboarding ensures a smooth and respectful transition when employees leave, capturing their feedback and preserving their knowledge.

Together, these processes influence retention, performance, and employee experience from day one to departure.

Unfortunately, this stage of the employee’s lifecycle is often neglected. A well-planned onboarding process can set new joiners up for success, equipping them with the tools and knowledge they need to get off to a positive start. Ineffective onboarding can result in a turnover rate of up to 20% within the first 45 days of employment.

The same goes for offboarding. Leaving a job can be stressful for the employee and their team, but having a checklist of departure and handover actions will minimize disruption and protect your reputation as an employer.

Every business’ onboarding and offboarding systems are unique. However, using purpose-built platforms like Leapsome Learning and Leapsome Surveys can help standardize and automate these processes, enabling HR to support new and existing team members more effectively.
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2. HR process #2: performance management

Performance management involves collecting feedback, tracking goals, identifying development opportunities, and implementing performance improvement plans (PIPs), bonuses, merit increases, or promotions.

These are essential responsibilities for every people manager. However, without the right planning framework, defining, reviewing, and measuring performance metrics can be time-consuming and disorganized. Plus, recent LinkedIn research revealed organizations that prioritize career development as part of performance management outpace others on key indicators of success. 

So, it’s crucial to ensure your leaders cover the core phases of the performance management cycle — planning, monitoring, reviewing, and rewarding — and provide staff with a clear breakdown of their progress and goals.
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HR process #3: training & development

Training and development processes refer to the ongoing learning opportunities that companies provide to help employees build new skills, grow as professionals, and prepare for potential future responsibilities. This may include structured learning paths, formal courses, leadership programs, and on-the-job coaching — all tailored to various levels and departments.

Training and development initiatives are much more than just nice-to-haves. 94% of employees stay longer in companies that invest in their professional development.

With that in mind, HR managers must use performance data to identify skills gaps and schedule relevant, regular training and development programs for staff at all levels; this can improve employee engagement within your organization and help prevent skills gaps from impacting productivity during challenging recruitment periods.

Leapsome Learning streamlines learning paths across departments and experience levels, providing structure and data-backed insights to help your operations managers and people professionals build a culture of continuous improvement.
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HR process #4: workforce planning & management 

Workforce planning and management means ensuring you have the right number of people, with the right skills, in the right roles — now and into the future. It covers everything from tracking headcount, paid time off (PTO), and absences to forecasting future hiring needs, identifying skills gaps, and planning for internal mobility or succession.

‍Comprehensive HRIS platforms like Leapsome can assist with this by centralizing employee data and allowing People teams to manage admin tasks like absence tracking and document management with no manual effort, and all in one place. Even better, Leapsome gives HR professionals a strategic edge with integrated People analytics, People enablement features, as well as compensation and promotion management capabilities. 
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HR process #5: compensation planning & payroll

Compensation planning and payroll are core HR functions that ensure employees understand the organization’s compensation strategy and get paid accurately, on time, and in accordance with legal requirements. Implementing systems to automate tasks like payroll preparation and salary reviews can significantly reduce manual admin, improve consistency, and remove unnecessary friction from day-to-day operations.

Accessing a consolidated view of accurate payroll data, salary benchmarks, and bonus schemes makes it easier for HR teams to plan and deliver compensation efficiently. Plus, modern HR platforms with self-service capabilities allow employees to access their records at any time, making their lives easier and reducing the burden on your People professionals.

Platforms like Leapsome Compensation can help you build employee trust, increase retention, and empower leadership to make better compensation and promotion decisions with scalable, streamlined processes and reusable templates.
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HR process‍‍ #6: feedback & praise

Feedback and praise are about giving employees regular input on their performance — what they’re doing well, what they could improve on, and how their work contributes to wider team goals. Ideally, it should come from a 360° perspective — with self-assessments and input from managers, peers, reports, and even clients or other collaborators.

Exchanging multidirectional feedback is essential to building an inclusive and thriving company culture, which in turn increases productivity and retention.

‍But feedback alone won’t get these results. People professionals need to make it actionable by systematically collecting, categorizing, and analyzing feedback. 

‍These insights can come from 1:1 check-ins, performance reviews, informal feedback, or even watercooler conversations. No matter the source, keeping accurate records allows you to benchmark performance, identify areas for improvement, and trigger appropriate responses, ensuring you always give credit and encouragement where it’s due.

AI-powered tools like Leapsome Instant Feedback and Surveys can help HR professionals comb through data, extract insights, and take more meaningful action. For example, our platform can analyze feedback in seconds, extract common themes, and suggest next steps, eliminating hours of manual work.
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HR process #7: benefits & rewards

Replacing employees comes at a much higher price tag than investing in meaningful benefits. So, develop a generous benefits and rewards program to care for team members and ensure they’re happy to stay in the long term.

Benefits and rewards go beyond salary. They signal that your company values its people and is invested in their long-term success. A strong program can boost morale, improve retention, and give you a competitive edge in tight labor markets.

Developing, communicating, and maintaining employee benefits programs may include:

• Plan design — Developing or customizing a scheme in line with employee feedback, company culture and goals, as well as legal regulations

• Communication & enrollment — Outlining the details of employee benefits and ensuring staff have the information they need to access these perks

• Payroll integration — Coordinating with finance departments to ensure benefits deductions (when applicable) are accounted for.

• Compliance & reporting — Keeping records related to benefits administration and audits to ensure ongoing compliance. 

• Data management — Maintaining accurate records of benefits selection and updating them where appropriate over time.

• Evaluation & improvement — Updating benefits schemes consistent with staff feedback and business requirements. 

Common pitfalls include offering generic or outdated benefits, failing to communicate options clearly, and not gathering feedback on what employees actually value.
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HR process #8: employee relations

Employee relations refer to HR teams' day-to-day efforts to build strong relationships with team members. They include everything from handling workplace conflicts to ensuring employees feel heard, respected, and supported.

Shaping positive employee relations is essential for building a high-performing, engaged workforce. 

In practice, investing in strong employee relations might look like:

• Establishing clear channels of communication
• Defining and enforcing HR policies
• Creating and enriching performance management frameworks
• Issuing guidance for conflict resolution
• Conducting employee engagement analysis

Managing these strategic HR initiatives requires various systems and surveys that create large volumes of quantitative and qualitative data. That’s where holistic HR process management software like Leapsome comes in, providing the means to seamlessly implement various programs and analyze their results across your organization.

Streamline your core HR processes with Leapsome

HR processes are the core of future-ready organizations. When built, implemented, and maintained well, they mean smoother operations, a better employee experience, more engaged team members, and improved business outcomes.

Effective HR systems also empower People teams to allocate their resources wisely, work more strategically, and focus more of their attention on high-value work.

Holistic HR platforms like Leapsome are indispensable if you want to streamline and enrich your core HR processes. Our platform brings together a comprehensive HRIS and industry-leading people enablement features, so your HR team can tackle all the tasks we covered here and beyond. 
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