The human resources department. The world’s appreciation of HR departments seems to have dwindled in recent years. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest in one for your small business.
An HR department doesn’t have to be as formal as the HR departments you may have seen in offices over the years. Some big businesses hire several people to work in vague “HR” jobs. People will basically go to them when they don’t know who else to turn to. But there are several jobs that many offices have that could easily be counted as HR positions. The financial controller is one. The office manager is another. Anyone who is a health and safety expert should definitely be considered.
So why should you put a focus on HR? Consider these complex issues that can often only be handled by someone with a strong touch in this field.
The importance of human capital
You may know about the economic resources of labor, capital, and land. But what about another factor – human capital? Human capital refers to the particular, varying skills of your employees. If you want to increase the value of a worker, you need to train and develop them more. This is where HR can assist. HR can oversee the training that will make your workers safer and more productive.
Long-term payment issues
If there are any problems with payments, then the financial controller can solve them pretty easily. But some payment problems may take a bit more time to deal with. Let’s look, for example, at long-term things like retirement fund payments. It can take a bit more skill to deal with more complex financial management issues like this. You can look into recruitments for pension fund schemes at B&K Consulting.
Conflicts!
You may have thought that conflicts should e a thing of the past once you’re out of school. Unfortunately, that’s not the case! Workers may fall out over issues just when you need them to get along the most. Now, admittedly, this isn’t a common occurrence in modern offices. But if there is a conflict in the office, who exactly has time to resolve it? You might need to help of the HR department for this one.
Performance tracking
So how exactly is an employee’s performance measured? Quite often, their direct line manager has to deal with it. But even the direct line manager can only see so much. When dealing with feedback, you also want to know more about the employee’s long-term attendance record. And if the manager decides that the employee’s performance isn’t up to scratch, then who is going to oversee any improvement scheme?
Annual leave
Eventually, an employee is going to need some time off work. But it’s important to know the annual leave schedules of several employees before approving such a thing. Dealing with annual leave, as well as sick leave and lateness, is a job for the HR team. A direct manager is unlikely to know the schedules and annual leave situations of every other employee in the workplace, after all!