HR departments today have plenty on their collective plates. From hiring the right staff members for the company to administering benefits to avoiding employee litigation claims, HR professionals are as busy as worker bees. Many times these busy HR professionals have hard times finding time for a proper coffee break. However, by taking the time to avoid a few potentially costly HR blunders, you can save a lot of time for yourself while saving your company a lot of money.
These are a few things you can do to avoid some of the more common HR mistakes that often lead to big trouble.
Document Everything
This cannot be stressed enough. Document the good, the bad, and the ugly. From praises and promotions to censures and complaints, you need a paper trail. It’s also important to keep records regarding the reasons behind promotions or lack of promotions for an employee. Other things to include in your records, reports Inconcert Financial Group, include: customer complaints and compliments, work-related achievements, violations of company policies, disciplinary problems, and any issues that impact the employee and his or her continued employment or dismissal.
There will, on occasion, be lawsuits that are bogus and completely unfounded. There’s nothing you, as a business owner, can do to prevent that. You can, however, have all the documentation necessary to back up your decision if a lawsuit does come along – but only if you keep good records and have an established paper trail. In addition, you can make sure you have Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) in the event of an employee-related lawsuit.
Hire With Company Culture in Mind
You should always hire and fire very selectively. The hope is that by hiring selectively, firing will become far less frequent. Many companies expend a great deal of time and resources searching for the person with the perfect set of skills to do a certain job while spending little time focusing on the right fit for your current company culture.
It’s much easier to train someone with to have the right skills to do the job than it is to take someone who will not be a good fit, personality-wise, in your organization and try to make them fit in. Granted you want to find someone who can do the job, but not at the expense of team cohesion. It’s better to keep looking than to bring someone in who is going to work well as part of the team even if that person is moderately less qualified although highly capable, reports Chicago Job Resource.
Other great ways to make sure you don’t make costly HR mistakes include establishing a company handbook that includes company policies and procedures, rules, and even dress codes for the workplace, providing praise and constructive criticism freely, and protecting the intellectual property of your business through binding contracts, non-disclosure agreements, and intellectual property insurance. These things might seem like a bit of a hassle up front, but the benefits they bring to the company in terms of dollars saved are immeasurable
