When you’re a small business owner, you have a whole host of tasks and responsibilities on your mind at any given moment. However, you quickly become familiar with how things should be run and as your knowledge grows, you are able to fall into a comfortable routine which alleviates stress. It’s usually when things start seeming smooth that your business progresses and expands. But when your company expands, you’re probably going to have to take on staff members and will find yourself in entirely new territory again as you become an employer. Not to worry though. As long as you strive to know as much as you can about the topic of being an employer, you’ll quickly get to grips with things and settle down again. So, to help you along the way, let’s take a look at one major aspect of any official employment that you will have to take into mind: HR.
What Exactly Is HR?
HR stands for “human relations” and positive human relations are a vital aspect of any expanding small business. So you can see why the phrase is thrown around quite a lot. The role of anybody working in HR is to maximize employees’ contribution to the achievement of your company’s goals. There are so many different things that go into ensuring that your staff are productive and content than you may initially think though. It involves distributing staff effectively, ensuring that each individual’s workload is manageable, that everyone receives the benefits of being an employee (such as allocated paid holiday and statutory sick pay), and that any conflicts between employees are brought to an agreeable conclusion.
HR staff provide a framework for the policies and procedures that should be in place in your organization and make sure that they are enforced at all times. They also serve as a reliable point of contact between you and your employees, as they will be able to inform you of any complaints, queries, or suggestions for improvement within your business. However, you can arrange a meeting with HR who will pass on everyone else’s views, rather than having to consult each member of staff individually. This will save you time and give you the opportunity to guarantee that everything is running smoothly while still having time to tackle other tasks and responsibilities that come hand in hand with being a small business owner.
A HR department is also responsible for developing a lot of critical skills of the staff. They may provide training or guide the staff towards best ways to improve their communication skills which can help both the company growth and the staff career success.
Outsourcing or Keeping Things In-House?
Now, your HR department doesn’t necessarily have to be in-house. If you don’t have sufficient office space for HR employees to work in, fear not. You can make good use of remote hr services. Individuals from these companies will be extremely familiar with employment law, so they will know what everyone’s rights are and will be able to fairly resolve any workplace conflicts or confusion. They can investigate claims of bullying, harassment, and theft that often arise in even the most agreeable workplaces, taking the responsibility off your shoulders and acting as a neutral party, as if they are working outside of your commercial property, they won’t be particularly familiar with anyone involved. They can also take care of day-to-day chores such as holiday tracking and the management of confidential employee files. In-house HR tends to be more appropriate for larger scale businesses who have more room and cash to spare. The benefit of keeping things in-house is that having an in-house department allows face-to-face meetings to be drawn up immediately.
Recomment reading: If you would like to learn more about outsourcing, this in-depth article will show you how and where to find the right resources: The Complete Guide to Outsourcing
What to Look for In an HR Employee
When you employ someone to work in HR (whether you’re searching for a third party worker or an in-house, full-time employee), you need to base your judgment largely on their personality. You don’t necessarily have to have any particular qualifications to work in HR. What you do need is to be a people person. Look for individuals who are friendly and approachable, yet firm. This means that employees will feel comfortable talking to them about issues, but won’t be able to influence them or push them about. They also need to have impressive communication skills – both verbal and written. This will ensure that conflicts are settled reasonably and that employees know where they stand at all times. Patience and compassion are also desirable traits. So, make sure to speak with any potential employee before taking them on. A brief interview will give you a good idea of whether they’re suitable for the job or not.
While HR may initially seem like a pretty intimidating area to delve into, it’s actually pretty simple as long as you find the right individual or agency to take on the work!
