Seven ways HR can contribute to business growth
Businesses cannot afford to overlook the importance of a solid HR strategy for business growth. Your company’s largest single asset is your employees; if you treat your employees well, they can propel your company to new heights. It therefore makes sense to involve the HR team in the decision-making progress. As we know, a successful HR department will impact your ability to execute expansion plans, attract the right people, equip them with the skills they need to thrive in the organisation, and improve staff retention. Your HR strategy is the bedrock of a successful company; here are seven ways which I believe can contribute to the success of your business.
- Strategic recruitment
With a great team behind you, it’s possible to achieve so much. It is important to develop an effective system that helps you identify and hire the best candidates for a job. I believe that an effective recruitment process can help you identify suitable candidates and it is also beneficial to set up a thorough review system as part of this process.
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- Culture innovations
Organisational culture is a collection of values, expectations, and practices that inform how your team works together. Your organisational culture impacts the environment that your staff experience within the workplace. Culture is set at the top and then promoted and supported by HR Leaders across the business. Management should determine what they want to stand for as a company and how they want their staff to treat each other. If you can create a great organisational culture, you will find it much easier to attract and retain the best talent. Not only that but you will also reduce staff turnover.
- Effective onboarding
In my experience, the recruitment journey does not stop when the successful candidate signs on the dotted line. To formally welcome your new employee, it is really important that they are engaged in a formal onboarding process, which would ideally by led by HR, and will equip them with the skills and organisational knowledge they need, in order to succeed in their role.
- Successful growth planning
As your business grows, you will need to recruit new staff. Your HR team play a key role in growth planning. A professional HR team can provide valuable insights regarding how a team that you want to expand is operating, what problems are likely to arise, and even things like how long it is likely to take to fill positions.
- Employee retention
Sourcing, employing, and training new staff can be a significant expense for any business. The impacts of employee turnover are not just financial, it impacts service delivery, can lead to loss of productivity, and damage your team or company morale. It is vital to have robust employee retention practices in place, and I find that using tools such as Stay Interviews and regular review/appraisal meetings prove very effective.
- Engaging for success
In my experience, employee feedback is one of the most important ways that a business can gather information about employee voice and it also offers an insight into the company culture that already exists. One of the best tools for understanding employee feedback is an Employee Engagement Survey. A well-constructed survey can help you understand key business obstacles and opportunities, and if done thoughtfully and consistently, it offers critical insights that can make or break your success as a company. Howarths can offer this service to our clients, so please contact me if this is of interest to you.
- Appraisals
One of the most important aspects of a successful HR strategy for business growth, is current employee growth and a robust appraisal system. Performance management is key to monitoring employee development. It is also essential to ensure that any performance review process is rolled out to all employees, to ensure a consistently fair approach and to make sure that everyone feels valued and included. Paperwork in regards to this process does not have to be complicated, however it is essential to track and review any set objectives or action points.
Author: Sally Mason, HR Advisor at Howarths
