3 Ways to Use Resources to Help Humans
HR.
I’m not good at it.
I don’t particularly like it.
Honestly, it makes my blood pressure rise just thinking about it.
HR is one of those things that every company needs. It’s also the thing you put off until you REALLY need it. Until it’s too late, and a problem blows up in your face.
I’ve been there as a business owner, and I’d like to spare you that pain if possible.
It comes down to this: I care about human resources because I care deeply about people. You should care about your people, too. In a competitive market, finding, attracting, and keeping great people is top priority for many businesses.
And the nuts and bolts of the HR function can support those efforts.
Here are 3 ways that HR supports organizations (from a business owner’s perspective):
Make a Great First Impression
Some HR functions help recruit new team members; others pick up the baton during onboarding. Either way, HR plays a critical role in an employee’s earliest experiences with your company.
The impression you make matters. Organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82 percent. But a negative onboarding experience makes employees twice as likely to look for new opportunities in the near future.
Most companies are missing the mark: only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organization does a great job onboarding new employees.
The solve? Have an HR resource create and walk new employees through a comprehensive onboarding process with regular check-ins.
Set the Right Expectations
When it comes to company policy, open and honest conversation isn’t enough. You need clear documentation to make sure your policies are communicated clearly and being implemented fairly across the company.
An employee handbook is the right place to document policies and procedures (note: I’m not talking business processes here; that’s a different document). And most companies have one.
The challenge—and here’s where I break into a cold sweat—is keeping it compliant and up to date.
The solve? Have an HR resource own the creation and maintenance of your Employee Handbook, making sure it complies with all appropriate regulations.
Keep People Happy
Does your team absolutely love working with your company? They should—it’s one of the things that matters most if you want to grow.
It’s an employee’s market right now, so if you aren’t focused on retention, your people are going to go elsewhere fast.
On the one hand, turnover is inevitable, and you need to prepare for it. That’s why process documentation is so critical. On the other hand, turnover can inevitably cause chaos, especially if you’re a smaller company without much overlap between roles.
Either way, it doesn’t come cheap. You could spend up to 9 months’ worth of an employee’s salary to find and train their replacement.
The solve? Have an HR resource dedicate time to improving the employee experience and keeping your team happy.
HR Matters
I know from experience how hard it is to make the time and allocate the budget for HR support.
If you’re like me, the intention is there, but other business issues keep jumping the line to compete for your attention.
Two pieces of advice for you:
- Add this to your list of Challenges & Opportunities. Bring it up in your leadership meeting. Decide on next steps. Keep the ball moving forward.
- Don’t try to tackle this internally if you’re not resourced for it. It won’t work, and you’ll waste your team’s time and effort in the meantime.
At the end of the day, HR is about serving people. And if you love the people who work with you, let that motivate you to make some of these initiatives a priority.
P.S. If you do need an outside HR resource, we may have a solution for you. Contact us and we’ll see if we can help.
