If you own a small or mid-sized company, you may question the need to hire a human resources (HR) team.
The function of a human resources department is to:
- handle preliminary recruitment
- bring on new employees
- maintain hiring documents
- oversee employee trainings
- convey and administer healthcare benefit options
- terminate workers when necessary
Additionally, they evaluate work force needs, productivity, and make plans for future growth.
The truth is – a human resources team should be viewed as less of a budgeting challenge, and more of a long-term investment. If you find the following points to be true, it’s a sign you should invest in human resources:
1. Your Company Lacks Structure
A human resources team sets and maintains company standards. With systems in place like a formal interview process, your business is in a better position to grow. Additional tasks to systematize include reference checks, background screenings, and composing a hiring plan.
2. You’re Behind the Competition
Employee recruitment should be ongoing. Continuous recruitment ensures that you’re constantly seeking the best talent to come and work for your company. Otherwise, you’d be tripping over yourself to make last minute hires.
Or, you’d reinvent the wheel with each new hire – which is time-consuming.
3. You Lack an Onboarding Process
Onboarding is the act of welcoming new hires and helping them adjust to their job duties. This process also involves encouraging the new hire to assimilate into the company’s culture.
Human resources staff can create an onboarding plan for each job position, implement it, and then request feedback from each new employee at various time intervals.
4. You Don’t Know Your Employees’ Roles
When you aren’t clear on your employees’ roles, neither are they. Job descriptions are mutually beneficial informal contracts that outline
- job title
- duties
- candidate qualifications
- experience required
- salary
- benefits
- any specifications related to a given job position
5. You’re Unfamiliar with the Acronym OSHA
If you’re unfamiliar with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, then who’s upholding those policies within your company? Promoting employee safety in the workplace communicates that you value your employees and are concerned for their wellbeing.
In addition to safety training, you’ll want to know how to handle work-related injuries and OSHA regulation enforcement, or invest in a human resources staff that takes care of that for you.
6. Your Employees’ Concerns Go Unresolved
How do you handle an employee’s report against a coworker for inappropriate conduct or lewd remarks? When employees disagree on any topic, how do you resolve a conflict? Within what time frame would you have an employee file a harassment claim?
A human resources team could record and execute the report. They could also ensure that company policies are then updated accordingly.
7. Your Time is Better Spent On Business Tasks
When adopting HR duties interferes with execution of your business tasks, you may need to hand them over to an HR staff.
Another option would be to outsource human resources responsibilities. Either way, taking on tasks for which you have little to no skills – or interest – only complicates matters for you. And your business suffers when your skills are misappropriated.
So what do you think? Is a human resources team worth the investment? Let’s discuss in the comments section below.