Human Resources | Ingenious Britain

Anyone setting up a new business has a lot to think about: financing, finding a market niche, sourcing and manufacturing products, establishing routes and channels to market. At the beginning you know every employee personally; many are likely to be family or friends. Then one day ? hopefully ? you look around at the Christmas party and realise you don?t know half those people.

Traditionally, that?s the moment when business owners begin to realise they need to formalise their hiring practices. In reality, HR becomes an issue as soon as the first staff are hired. Employment contracts, discrimination, sick pay, and dismissal are key areas all employers need to be aware of. At 50 employees, staff gain additional rights, such as the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004, which requires companies to inform their workforce about major economic issues in their enterprise and consult them about major changes such as redundancies.

Help needed

Compliance is not the only thing that makes life difficult; on top of that are the demands of dealing with a growing work force with all the everyday problems that people have. Logically enough at the beginning, many SMEs simply consult a solicitor on legal matters and perhaps an HR consultant for particular situations such as recruiting a number of people all at once or handling a dispute. But, says Andrew Walker, head of business partnerships for Croner, a subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer, approaching matters this way is ultimately more expensive and time-consuming.

?No one starts a business and says, I have a great idea, I?d better think about the implications of HR,? he says. ?But as a business grows it needs to become more professional. In an SME, the person who?s doing the hiring and firing is also the person who?s agreeing your holidays, doing your appraisals, hearing grievances, and disciplining. We assume that the managers and directors in small businesses can do all that, but it?s probably not their primary function. The sales director, for example, might also be expected to look after HR.?

The signs that people need help, he says, are things like having trouble recruiting and retaining staff or high staff turnover. So is seeing a lot of grievances coming through. Finally, high rates of absenteeism. ?Lots of sickness can be a sign that there?s a problem,? he says.

Risk management

As an example, Walker cites the case of a prospective customer whose business had grown to 800 people without ever hiring more than a part-time HR administrator. ?He does it all himself,? Walker says, ?trading off the fact that it?s his company and he owns it. He genuinely takes care of his employees, but you can?t take care of 800 people. It creates massive exposure for that organisation.?

The risks that owner-manager is taking, Walker says, range from losing a significant tribunal case to breaching health and safety rules or failing to have employment contracts in place and up-to-date to head off disputes. Getting those things wrong could cost a business tens of thousands of pounds. ?With 800 employees,? Walker says, ?the risk is greatly increased. It?s a numbers game.? This is especially true because the ultimate arbiter of disputes and arguments is the answer to two questions: what does the law say; what does the contract say?

?Getting HR right is part of running a good business,? Walker says, ?but it?s not the thing people think of. There?s a relationship between running things properly and being successful.?

Keeping it simple

One of Croner?s newer services is Croner Simplify, a proactive service intended to spot trouble before it develops and becomes expensive to resolve. Part technology, part expert local consultants, the service includes an online employee management system that offers step-by-step guidance in situations such as incoming new employees, disciplinary and grievance, maternity and redundancy. The online tools make it easy to record and track holidays, absence due to illness, time and attendance, and workplace accidents. The service can also create and audit employment contracts and employee handbooks, as well as relevant changes in legislation.

?It?s using a combination of ?online tools and ?our expert advice to help employers manage the situations they find themselves in with employees, identify what the issues are, and address them,? says Walker. ?We can see what issues our customers are going to have. For example, you started a disciplinary process today, a week from now you will need to do x, y, and z, here is the letter template for you, and so on.?

Croner Simplify would, for example, spot a developing trend such as rising absenteeism and offer practical advice how to handle the situation.

Source: http://www.ingeniousbritain.biz/2012/09/personal-care/

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