Five HR Essentials for Small Businesses

HR, otherwise known as human resources, can prove to be a real headache for small businesses who can be low on both time and cash.

However, it is a huge mistake to ignore some of the key areas of HR and in doing so you risk, at best, wasting more time and money or, at worst, having to answer to the law.

To avoid any such eventualities, here are five tips for small businesses to follow, which can actually end up saving you precious time and money in the long run.

Have an effective hiring system in place.

You might feel like you don’t have enough time to be rigorous with your hiring procedure. By not taking the time to carry out a proper interview process and research your potential new employees, you are simply creating headaches to deal with further down the line.

For instance, taking someone on without the right skills leads to more time spent on training and in disciplinary action, and causes poor staff retention; meaning you’ll have to go back to the recruitment drawing board.

Verify workers’ rights to work.

This is not optional—by law you need to use the I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification form to check a person’s eligibility to work.

The form needs to be completed by both the employer and the employee regardless of whether they are an American citizen or not.

Penalties for not completing the I-9 form correctly range from $234 for paperwork or technical violations right up to $583-$4,667 for knowingly employing workers not authorized to work here.

Conduct performance reviews.

You may think performance reviews are a waste of time, but they are essential for keeping a productive workplace and a happy workforce, so it’s definitely not somewhere you should be cutting corners.

They offer the best opportunity to find out if your employees have any problems or concerns, if they have any training requirements, or if they have ambitions to take on more responsibility within your business.

Your staff in the field are often the best people to speak with in order to gain insights into what is going well or where improvements can be made. Workforce utilization and productivity management platform providers CoAmplifi have more information on common performance review mistakes on their website.

Have a training pathway.

Making sure you have a proper training pathway in place means you have continuity in your business. It means all employees are pulling in the same direction.

At the very least, you should offer initial training so staff understand how the business is run, and provide a handbook that covers everything from holiday entitlement to disciplinary processes.

Offer employee rewards and benefits.

Offering employee benefits makes workers feel valued and helps your business stand out as a good place to work.

Rewards can incentivize workers to give that little extra and lets them know their hard work is recognized, too.

Take the time to carry out these HR essentials and you should find that your small business becomes more productive, runs much more smoothly, and you can stop wasting time repeatedly hiring and firing.