For many small businesses, having a full-blown human resources department isn’t always necessary or feasible.
But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have at least some baseline HR policies in place.
After all, if you have one or multiple employees, there’s a human element to your business that needs to be looked after.
So, if this sounds like your situation, we’ve compiled a few human resources, tips, and best practices for small businesses that you might find useful.
1. Create an Employee Handbook
If you’re even thinking of hiring one employee, it’s smart to develop an employee handbook. In it, you’ll want to outline your expectations of your staff as well as your company’s operating procedures so that everyone’s on the same page.
2. Establish a Performance Management System
It’s vital to have a performance management system in place. You need to know whether your employees are living up to their expectations and, on the flip side of that coin, they need to know what they’re doing well, if and how they can improve, and their path toward success.
The specifics of this system will vary depending on your industry and the type of work you do, but as a generality, your performance management system should be based on setting clear, defined goals and measurable metrics for achieving them.
Pro tip: Make sure to check in frequently with your team, don’t be afraid to be honest when changes need to be made, and always be proactive in giving positive feedback or recognition.
3. Understand Employment Law
You may want to spend some time understanding the generalities of employment law. This covers nearly every aspect of hiring, retaining, and letting go of employees, including things like compensation, benefits, and safety. Check out the Federal Employee Handbook and consider consulting an attorney before making a hire.
4. Get Familiar with Payroll
If you don’t have a bookkeeper or accountant, it’s smart to brush up on your payroll and taxation duties. This is especially important in scenarios where you’re hiring a remote employee who works out of state or even out of the country.
5. Stay Organized and Confidential
All files and paperwork related to human resources matters and employees need to be kept confidential. But the key word there is kept: this should include the employee’s resume, job application, forms, performance evaluation documents, salaries, and more. It should also include written documentation of any time the employee was reprimanded or rewarded. You never know when you may need to reference these items down the line.
You may also want to consider keeping all of your documents in the cloud.
6. Develop a Great Onboarding Process
For new employees, one of the most important–and challenging–aspects of starting a new job is getting up to speed with the company. So, a top-notch onboarding process is always valuable for both parties. This should include booking meetings with the person to discuss your systems, best practice, and any key information about the company’s history, mission, values, and more. This can also include booking meetings with other team members, if you have other staff.
Pro tip: Book an onboarding lunch with your new employees during the first week. If you can’t do this in person, send them a voucher to order themselves food or order food for them and then meet on a video conferencing platform to chat over your meal.
Whether you have five employees, one employee, or no employees but are planning to hire one soon, it’s never too late to start implementing a foundation of strong human resources practices into your business. It’ll benefit both you and your team as your company grows.
If you’re interested in learning how The Post supports the growth of small businesses, get in touch with us today. Our team is available to speak with you.