This article briefly describes all the aspects of human resources that every small business needs to know. No matter how few employees you may have or how little you think that you need human resources, as long as you have a business and people who work for it, then you do indeed need to have at least the basic human resource knowledge and a few basic structures and processes in place.
A small business doesn’t necessarily have the money for a dedicated HR team
Small business sectors can be a tough place to be, and the competitive nature means that you will need to have the best personnel possible to compete. However, the reality is that most small businesses won’t have the financial resources to establish an in-house HR department or even have a dedicated HR professional. It’s important to be realistic about this fact and look at all the alternatives to secure the human resources support and advice that your business will need. To hire and retain the right kind of personnel, think about HR-on-demand, or take on the role as an owner with some required external support and advice.However, You must also consider the drain on time resources and how trying to run all HR internally may impact the core business activities underpinning the enterprise.
Human resources is vital for business success, no matter how big or small the business is; why?
‘People-buy-people’ and as such it is generally the people in a business that will be able to drive the brand forward. Both through a holistic marketing process and through the level of productivity and attention to detail that only the right workers will be able to achieve on a consistent basis. It is thus imperative to have a professional system and process of hiring, training, retaining workers, and firing to ensure that you always have the right people representing your business and brand.
Monitoring employee performance also forms a key part of the HR process and systems you need to have. For a small business, this may remove the requirement for a certain level of middle management and provide a means to motivate and improve employee performance.
HR is a legal mandate
It needs to be realized from the outset of any HR planning process that it is not simply nice to have. The specialized skill set represented by the right Human Resource department or human resource professional is about providing the legal framework to employ, pay, develop, and safeguard your employees. Furthermore, small business HR is expected to provide all the guidelines for employee discipline, absence management, sickness pay, and holidays. These are all legal mandates and could lead to small business closure and protracted legal battles with disgruntled employees should your small business not have these human resources structures and processes in place.
Outsourced and yet local HR works best
It’s accepted that outsourced HR is one of the best means of providing a small company with the skills that they need. However, it is also widely argued that a local HR firm that has some knowledge of the local area, employment needs, culture, and lifestyle will present an inside route to the employee market of the area.So, if you were based in London,then an HR Dept in Chelsea would be of most use to you. Providing you with international-level competencies with a local office and an understanding of the local economy. Your small business could also mix and match and find various service providers to offer related and interrelated HR services and provisions for staff care and support.
There may be HR Apps available that could form the basis of all your HR requirements
The internet is awash with various business support services that can be accessed entirely online. As a small business, you will need to choose which aspects of the HR process that you require assistance with, and after doing your due diligence, select the apps that can perform these tasks for your business.From the onboarding software that can be used to bring in new staff to the generic psychometric tests and platforms for recruitment, all these applications can be accessed and implemented for the business if you know where to look.
Final remarks
These are the basic human resource requirements that all small businesses need to be aware of and ensure that they have in place. The best advice is to be able to perform these human resource requirements one step at a time and eventually implement the entire basket of HR structures and services that the business and its employees need.
