In a small business, it is fairly simple to observe the efficiency of employees on the front lines. Direct interaction with products and customers provide ample evidence for employers to track.Not all departments are this simple to monitor, however.
The Human Resources department of any small business may seem like it runs itself. On any given day, your HR professionals are likely able to go about their daily responsibilities unnoticed. An HR department doesn’t usually have direct contact with customers and does much of its work behind the scenes. It’s only when something goes awry that most employers’ attention is brought to their human resources team.
When a department runs as systematically as this, it can be easy to put your HR department on the backburner and focus your concerted efforts elsewhere. But this approach can be extremely detrimental to the growth of a small business. Here is just some of what’s at stake when you stick to business as usual.
Compliance Failure
One of the most important functions of an HR department is staying up to date on any and all new legislature. It is vital that employers take a proactive approach to ensuring that their human resources strategies involve properly informing all HR professionals of changing legislature and preparing them to keep themselves educated as laws evolve.
When employers take a reactive approach to human resources development, they risk waiting to address a problem until their business is out of compliance. In this case, the business may suffer any number of heavy consequences, costly lawsuits in particular.
Business owners who take an active approach to strategic human resources planning ensure that their human resources professionals are constantly educating themselves on current legislation and critically examining how the business meets compliance.
Missed Improvement Opportunities
One of the most beneficial elements of strategic human resources planning is that it offers a holistic evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of your small business.
This brings about beneficial troubleshooting, but it also illuminates improvement opportunities in certain facets of your business.
Proactive approaches to human resources development actively seize opportunities for employee growth and development. Without these concerted efforts, small business owners miss out on vital opportunities to develop the skills of their employees in HR departments and elsewhere.
Mismanaged Documentation
Human resources professionals oversee a great deal of complex documentation. From employee benefits to expense tracking to tax documentation, your HR staff needs to operate at optimal efficiency to keep this mountain of paperwork organized.
This can be an overwhelming task for small businesses, especially when compounded with other HR tasks such as recruiting and training new employees.
By sticking to business as usual, employers run the risk of an HR department that is so bogged down by daily tasks that long-term documentation gets pushed to the wayside and, inevitably, mismanaged.
A savvy employer will actively work toward ensuring that their HR staff is well-versed in the most efficient methods of employee benefit management, data tracking, and documentation for taxes.
Negative Workplace Environment
Quantifiable details like profits and costs are often at the forefront of a small business owner’s mind, which usually means that elements like workplace environment can remain unaddressed. Failure to actively work toward the development of workplace environment can naturally result in a multitude of issues among your business’ most important resource – your employees.
While it can be easy to shift your HR department’s attention to matters that seem more pressing, letting the workplace environment tend to itself puts every employer at risk of damaging the daily operations of their business.
On the surface, the Human Resources department can appear to be a fairly simplistic entity – hiring, training, and maintaining employees. In reality, however, your human resources professionals are a vital part of your business’ functionality. Be the best employer possible and take an active approach to improving your human resources strategies.
If you’ve been sticking to business as usual with your Human Resources department, contact the HR experts at Commonwealth Payroll & HR today to take your next steps toward excellence. Call us today at (978) 599-1500.
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