Be honest – when it comes to being an employer, do you know what you’re doing? There are many things that new employers fail to think about when it comes to their team of staff. While not all of these things are as equally important as each other, they should all be taken seriously. Some of the things listed below have the potential to land you in court if you don’t take note of them. The other things on the list may not land you in court, but they have the potential to impact how productive your team of staff are.
So, with that in mind, here’s a list of the four fatal mistakes that new employers should avoid making.
- Failing to take workplace harassment seriously
This is a highly common mistake, and yet it can cost you a lot if you make it. As an employer, it’s your job to take all workplace harassment complaints seriously. As an employer, it’s your job to investigate the situation and determine what exactly has happened. It may simply be a case of providing training on sexual harassment to the worker who has been accused of it. Or there may be a need to let them go. Regardless of what the claims are, they must always be taken seriously.
- Waiting too long to get a contract signed
For an employee work agreement to be enforceable, it needs to be signed before they start working for you. A mistake that a lot of new employers make is waiting too long to get a contract signed so that the team member has already started work. So, it’s crucial to ensure that all contracts are signed before an employee starts their first day of work.
- Dealing with scheduling yourself
Obviously, if you only have one or two team members, dealing with employee scheduling shouldn’t be a problem. However, once the size of your team increases, you won’t have the time to work out what hours each team member should be doing each day. So it’s best to outsource the task to a virtual HR company or invest in useful software, such as workforce management software by WorkSight. As the boss, you’ve got a lot of responsibilities, and so, can’t afford to spend all of your time focusing on one thing, like scheduling. Hence why outsourcing or investing in useful software is a good idea.
- Offering inadequate benefits
Recruiting new employees is expensive and time-consuming. That’s why, once you have a good team in place, you should aim to keep your employees for as long as possible. One of the most important things if you want to do this is offering adequate benefits. Fail to do this and not only will you use your team members, but you may struggle to hire more. (In the business industry, people talk – word will soon get around that you don’t offer benefits.) So, make sure to offer your employees benefits like private health and dental care, as well as childcare vouchers.
There you have it, four fatal mistakes that as an employer, it’s crucial you don’t make.
This article was provided by ellie jo