If you were to invest in technology or machinery, you would utilise these to maximise their performance and return on investment. So, why should your people investment be any different?
In your business, people will be one of you biggest monthly investments and their performance will be critical to your success.
Any time or investment spent wisely will in turn be rewarded.
The role of HR is not simply to protect the business and owners from risk but also to help motivate employees through engagement to ultimately drive business performance.
As a business owner, you may have previously thought about bringing in a HR person, but some doubts may have crept in. Don’t worry as most of our clients go through this phase and some of the concerns they raise are:
Over bureaucratic – HR love a process and will stick to it whatever the situation, but I need to deal with things quickly and move on.
We say… HR can be as simple or as bureaucratic as you want to make it. For SME businesses we advocate a straightforward approach that can be understood by all, by setting out standards you refer to when dealing with issues.
A blocker – If we involve HR, it will only lead to delays and we won’t get the outcome we require.
We say… Involving HR at the earliest opportunity will ensure you make the right decision and avoid any back tracking or hand the initiative over to the employee
They stop me doing what I want – I have heard that HR are on the employees’ side and not the employers
We say… In many cases HR have stopped employers breaching legislation, which could have been a costly mistake for them. We work with our clients to ensure that simple, pragmatic solutions are in place to ensure employers are in control of their business and decisions
Gigantic waste of time – Why pay for HR when I can do it myself?
We say… As your business grows so does your HR risks and if not dealt with, in line with legislation, it could lead to additional costs in defending tribunal claims. Not only that but paying out for awards which in some cases can be uncapped.
All about form filling and processes – It’s my business and I make the decisions
We say… The decision making is always the business owners to make but HR can add value by ensuring that the decision was made with good judgement and supported by hard evidence.
So how can HR play its part day to day?
- Keeping you compliant and reducing your HR risks by providing up to date and relevant advice: For instance, are you aware that from 6th April all new employees need to have a Written Statement of Terms (Employment Contract) from day one?
- Administration: Including the legalities of employment such as payroll auto-enrolment of pensions.
- The recruitment of new staff: Making sure that the staff hired are the most appropriate people for a specific role, have the necessary skills, knowledge and behavior for the business. Do you have an induction plan for new staff as statistics show most new recruits leave within 3 months?
- Training: Having invested a significant amount of time and money employing staff, they need to grow and develop until they feel best equipped and qualified to perform their duties. With Brexit looking to reduce the employment pool, how will you upskill your teams to meet your business needs?
- Staff retention: What do they need now but what skills do they need in the next 6 – 12 months as your business grows?
- Dealing with performance and long-term sickness: One of the worst nightmares for a small business is when a member of staff is lost for a significant period due to illness or is underperforming. Is the illness related to physical, mental or financial matters? What should the business do to guard its own interests, but be fair to the employee, both legally and morally?
Now more than at anytime making the right HR decision about how to manage people is crucial to the ongoing success of your business. Think about HR as an investment rather than a cost.
If you would like to know more about our range of HR Support Packages, please click here