January
Set up the year
Review record retention rules, legal holds, recurring HR responsibilities, and key deadlines. Assign owners and create your annual calendar.
Plan your HR year
Your HR year, month by month
Give each month a clear HR priority, with monthly reviews, free resources, and practical tools to help you follow through.
How to use the calendar
A simple way to plan each review
Each review starts with a clear priority and ends with an owner, a completion date, and a record of decisions and follow-up dates.
01 · Define
Decide what to review
Start with the employees, locations, benefit plans, and policies the review covers.
02 · Assign
Choose an owner and due date
Give the review a clear owner and completion date.
03 · Review
Use the right resources
Choose the checklist, calculator, workbook, or conversation guide that fits the task.
04 · Document
Save the results
Keep decisions and supporting documents together, and put the next review date on the calendar.
Your year at a glance
Twelve priorities for your HR year
Adjust the monthly priorities to fit your fiscal year, benefits cycle, bargaining agreements, and busiest seasons.
February
Prepare for pay decisions
Review pay ranges, planned increases, job posting requirements, and the information managers need for compensation conversations.
March
Calibrate performance ratings
Compare employee ratings across departments using the same performance standards and supporting examples. Look for differences in how managers apply the criteria.
April
Strengthen hiring and onboarding
Review hiring from job approval through offer acceptance. Then look at how new employees receive expectations, training, and regular check-ins during their first 90 days.
May
Help managers lead consistently
Look at how managers set expectations, give feedback, document conversations, and respond to employee concerns. Give them practical tools for the conversations and decisions they handle every day.
June
Understand turnover and retention
Calculate turnover costs and use stay interviews to learn what employees value. Agree on specific actions and follow-up dates.
July
Plan staffing for the months ahead
Compare the work planned for the rest of the year with the staffing available to deliver it. Review open positions and the total cost of different hiring options.
August
Check pay structure and internal equity
Compare employee pay with salary ranges, identify pay compression, and evaluate proposed promotions and pay adjustments.
September
Review everyday HR policies
Identify the policies managers use most often. Check location-specific requirements and discuss how to apply them consistently.
October
Prepare for leave and accommodation requests
Follow a leave or accommodation request from the first conversation through the decision. Help managers prepare for year-end leave requests and benefits questions.
November
Plan next year's training and staffing needs
Schedule license and certification renewals, required training, and critical-role coverage. Confirm staffing needs for the coming year.
December
Close out the HR year
Finish the year's record reviews and carry remaining actions into next year's plan. Schedule follow-up reviews and keep supporting documents together for easy reference.
Tools for the full year
Keep your HR calendar and records together
The $79 HR Compliance Calendar and Document Audit Kit gives you a working calendar and tools for reviewing HR records. For broader HR planning, the $749 Complete TrueStep HR System brings together 17 kits and four analytics packs covering hiring, pay, performance, employee relations, and other recurring HR responsibilities. A one-hour Setup Session is also available for $149 to help you build your calendar using either resource.