There reaches a stage in business where effective management of your people becomes critical. To break through the thresholds of business growth, HR needs to take a much more prominent role. Organisation, structure, systems, processes, data and effective management of your people become vital if you want to continue to succeed at the next level. Here are 9 pillars of HR upon which you can build your team and therefore your business.
- First and foremost, get the legal boxes ticked.
Make sure everyone has got an up to date contract of employment and you have a signed copy on record. Also make sure that the staff handbook is relevant, with a full complement of appropriate policies, and issued to all staff. Getting this in place is critical in setting the benchmark and making sure the business is protected.
- Make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing.
As the company grows, it becomes more complex. More people doing more tasks. It is really important that everyone has up to date and relevant job descriptions setting out exactly what falls within their area of responsibility. The most effective way to get buy in from an employee on a JD is to involve the employee in putting it together.
- Make sure everyone knows where they sit in comparison to everyone else.
This sounds incredibly simple but is often completely overlooked. Staff knowing who they report to and exactly where they sit within the company structure is important. A lot of time gets wasted through overlapping instructions from different managers and staff carrying out the same job without realising. Clarity on this keeps the business streamlined, in-order and therefore efficient.
- Your managers must be trained.
As the number of employees increase, so does central control. You have to start relying upon your management team to manage their teams. They can only do this if they are effectively trained. As a bare minimum, they should understand basic HR and employment law rights so they can properly implement company rules and expectations.
- Accurate recording of data.
It might be time to move from various spreadsheets and invest in some HR software. Central recording of staff data is important for efficient and consistent staff management. Holidays, sickness, next of kin details, right to work checks, all need to be in one place which is secure and easy to access.
- Managing performance.
With further decentralisation, managing the performance of every team member is more challenging. As above, your managers are there to do that but they need to be given a framework to work within. A proper performance management system is crucial to ensure staff know what they’re aiming for and what ‘good’ looks like.
- Test engagement.
Genuine and real time feedback from your team is more important now. It’s a tough recruitment market out there and the best talent has choice. You therefore need to ensure you retain key members of staff. Measuring engagement is therefore vitally important – periodic surveys of your team, analysis of the results and, crucially, implementation of the findings will see engagement and therefore productivity remain strong.
- Refine recruitment.
Too much time and money is wasted through ineffective recruitment. Job analysis, specifications and a robust interview processes must come to fruition to ensure you are recruiting the right people for the business. This then has to be followed with a good induction and ‘onboarding’ process so new starters settle quickly and effectively.
- Put thought into reward and recognition.
Now you have to start thinking about your whole reward package to ensure it is robust, fair and importantly, future proof. This needs thought, looking at market forces but also your internal values and what type of company you want to be. Competitive salaries, pool tables, gym membership, death in service, more holidays, pension contributions, bonuses, time off for birthdays. The list is endless. A well-thought out pay and reward strategy is crucial at this juncture.
The above ‘9 Pillars of HR for growth’ are an introduction into how HR builds a business. Get in touch with the team at Howarths for support on how to implement this. With specific qualifications and years of technical experience across many business markets, our HR team are well placed to help you drive performance through your people.
