Spring is nearly upon us and what better time to review your people processes?
Running a business is all consuming and there are countless distractions that take your time and attention away. As the old saying goes business owners are “too busy working in the business to work on the business”. It doesn’t have to be that way though. With a bit of planning and consideration, you can improve your businesses HR processes and the satisfaction of your employees – which will save you time and money in the long run.
To get you started, consider the following questions in the context of your business:
- How do we attract people?
- Do we have a thorough training and induction process?
- Do we have robust contracts of employment?
- Are we paying our employees in line with the relevant award rates?
- Do we measure our employee’s performance and have regular and meaningful performance conversations?
- Do we provide employees with sufficient training and development opportunities?
- Are our employees happy and engaged when at work?
Your answers to the above questions will give you a feel for the current state of your HR function. However, with small steps and the help of experts, you can quickly improve this area. There are some simple ways to ensure your HR function is robust and compliant:
- Develop an HR manual: with a suite of comprehensive policies to ensure compliance with legislation and consistent communication about business rules and practices.
- Seek feedback from your employees.
- Start reporting on key people metrics: staff turnover, time to hire, reasons for leaving – these are all very useful metrics to monitor and allow you to continuously improve.
- Engage an expert – such as HR Central! * Ensure you are familiar with the relevant awards: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/
- Ensure your employees are trained regularly in OH&S, EEO and bullying and harassment so that they are well versed in being able to recognise inappropriate workplace behaviour and know what to do if they are on the receiving end.
- Ask an HR or legal expert to review your employment contracts and ensure they are best supporting the business.
The above may sound overwhelming to implement if you do not have a dedicated HR person on staff. If your business is under around 50 employees, you probably don’t need to employ an HR professional on staff. There are other options for ensuring that your HR is managed well.
- HR consultants can also provide support to small businesses.
Owning or starting a new business can be exciting, but also daunting. However, it doesn’t have to be a nerve-wracking experience. Set up a healthy HR function as an essential tool in your business strategy to save you precious time and money, so you can get on with the job of growing your business.
The full article was published in n the September/October issue of Business Franchise Australia and New Zealand magazine:
Click here to read full article.