Small Business HR Tips
Here are 10 more Small Business HR Tips for your company from a CYB HR Expert:
HR is strategically important to scaling your business if you have any number of employees! 😃
Many companies that come to us tell us that they didn’t even realize until it is too late just how important HR is to scale their business successfully!
Unfortunately, it can take something as drastic as an EEOC charge or a lawsuit for a company to learn they are doing something wrong.
This is why PROACTIVE HR is so important!
If you are teetering on the edge of thinking HR is something you may need in the near future, schedule a complimentary initial call with us today. We’d love to help guide you and assist you in seeing any red flags that may be an issue for you now or in the future.
Terminations are NEVER fun but of course, sometimes necessary. Know the law.
When terminating an employee, there are so many t’s to cross and I’s to dot.
Ensuring you have all your ducks in a row before you fire an employee can prevent EEOC charges and lawsuits! Ask an HR Expert to review your termination before proceeding.
The confidence that comes with understanding these requirements alongside utilization of our termination checklist has over the years helped our clients feel much more comfortable with managing their employees and growing their businesses.
3 HR Necessities all small businesses need
✅ Standard Operating Procedures – We start with Hiring, Corrective Actions/Terminations, and Injuries/Illnesses, however, there are so many HR SOPs that you should have in your HR SOP manual to prevent issues as you scale.
✅Training – Starting with Anti-Harassment & Management Training – Educating your team is of utmost importance if you are hoping and working hard to grow a healthy and successful company. Your managers are your first line of defense when it comes to preventing an issue, make sure that you are training them and preparing them properly. One small misstep or word can land a growing business in HOT WATER.
✅ An Unbiased HR Hotline – The best way to prevent a problem from escalating, is to face it head-on, no matter how uncomfortable it is. The best way to get yourself in trouble is to try to ignore issues. When issues are ignored, they are not going away, they are only gaining momentum to become a bigger issue in the future.
Provide employees with an unbiased outlet to discuss concerns, ask questions, and speak openly! Sometimes employees just want to be heard, and at a small business that is not always easy. Provide an option for employees to voice concerns and suggestions, and to speak freely without fear of retaliation. This will improve your culture and provide an opportunity for overall growth. You can learn about our Concierge HR Hotline here! This hotline is managed by our team of HR Experts – you can trust your issues are being handled professionally.
Remember…there is no common sense in Small Business HR and that is why this is included in our Small Business HR Tips.
Have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in place!
An employee assistance program (EAP) is something that you set up to provide support to your employees.
These programs are seen as early intervention programs and are designed to assist employees in resolving personal problems that may be adversely affecting the employee’s performance, such as alcohol abuse, depression, or anxiety.
By implementing an EAP, you are showing your employees that you care. In addition, we never want our clients’ names to be individually named in a lawsuit. By having an EAP in place, you are providing yourself an extra layer of protection when it comes to medical concerns or other issues that as a business owner, you do not want to get too involved in.
3 Things to be sure you have in your Job Description
Job descriptions are important for many reasons. Obviously, they provide clarity to your employee as to what their job entails.
Something that we hear from clients often is that they cannot create a job description because everyone wears multiple hats. That is very common in a small and growing business!
However, there are many reasons why you still must have accurate and up-to-date job descriptions in place.
Be sure that your Job Descriptions include:
- Responsibilities
- Work Requirements
- Physical Requirements
“At-Will” Does Not Mean What You Probably Think it Does!
One of the biggest questions we get asked is, “We are at-will, I just fire whomever I want whenever I want. Is that an issue?”
Short answer. YES. It could be a major issue.
Just because you are “at-will,” does not mean that you cannot be sued for discrimination, wrongful termination, or a host of other issues.
Making sure that you have your ducks in a row before terminating an employee can save you countless hours of time and dollars you could be spending elsewhere!
An ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure when it comes to scaling your small business. 😃
Managing Conflict is Never Easy. For a Business Owner, it could cost MUCH MORE than being temporarily uncomfortable.
When you have conflict in your business, ignoring it is not the route to take.
Ignoring a small issue only means that it will potentially continue to brew below the surface, eventually exploding.
Steps to take when managing workplace conflict.
✅ Don’t ignore the problem! Period
✅ Do address the problem as soon as you hear about it. Legal regulations are surrounding how and when issues such as harassment and bullying must be addressed
✅ Don’t assume – you are not the judge and jury, it is important to know the legal requirements when working with employees and managing their concerns.
✅ Provide an alternative for your employees to speak with someone other than yourself. This allows them to feel safe and comfortable, at the same time providing you, the owner or manager, with a buffer and a major issue that can occur from mismanagement of problems that arise.
Our clients utilize our proven HR Concierge Hotline daily to work through issues in a way that is legally compliant and efficient for all.
As you scale your business and hire employees in new states, there may be new legal requirements you must follow! This will always be on our list of Small Business HR Tips.
As an employer, if you have employees move to a new location, you are then responsible for reviewing your policies, practices, documents, and employee agreements to align with the requirements for their new location, including individual homes, where you may have your employees working. 😀
Some of those requirements can include:
- Paid sick and safe leave
- Paid family and medical leave programs and other protected leaves of absence
- Salary history inquiry bans
- Additional protected classes under anti-discrimination laws
- Broad anti-harassment protections, including training
- Final pay
- Different minimum wage
- Expanded overtime hours
- New hire forms and pamphlets
- Compliance posters and wage theft prevention act notices
- State WARN Acts for furloughs or permanent office closures
- Payroll tax registration and filings
and more!
Schedule an initial complimentary session with us today if you are scaling your business and looking to avoid major fines! Being aware of your legal requirements will always be in our top Small Business HR Tips.
5 Things You May Be Doing Wrong in Your Hiring Process
Hiring is NOT easy and is getting progressively more difficult.
The best way to avoid a long-term problem at your company is to nail down the hiring process! A good, thought-out, in-depth hiring process will help you decrease turnover and increase retention. What small business owner doesn’t want that?! 😉
As a business owner, I know that as we grow we need help. But not just ANY help. I will work extra time and get in there to get my hands dirty before I hire someone just because I am stressed out and unable to find the right fit.
One of CYB’s values is to always “do the next right thing,” and when you always do the next right thing, the right person will come into your life.
A bad hire can cost you endless time and money, let alone a possible major EEOC charge or lawsuit! These are some of our most important Small Business HR Tips.
Here are 5 things that you may be doing wrong in your hiring process:
- Inaccurate Job Description – Be sure that the JD is built for the position you are hoping to hire for (the best possible candidate!) Many companies build JD’s based on the person who happened to fall into that position, and then realize that was not what they needed.
- Lack of preparation – studies show 50% of job seekers turn down jobs just because of a poor recruiting or interview process. Upgrade that onboarding process!
- 80/20 rule – limit your talking to 20% and let the candidate speak for 80%
- Ask open-ended questions, not yes or no. Focus more on a behavioral interviewing technique.
- Not having a pre-screening process – References and Background screens should be a staple of your hiring process for so many reasons I cannot explain them all here. (Give us a call if you are curious to know more about why this is so important!
Pre-Employment Screening is a MUST When Hiring a New Team member!😵
Why is pre-screening so important?
- Avoid negligent hiring liability – Negligent hiring is a claim that can be made against an employer when an employee causes harm to others and the employer should have known of the individual’s potential to cause harm but did not take steps to mitigate the risk (i.e., a good pre-screening process that includes a background screen!)
- Hear what previous managers have to say – Be sure to request only managerial references, a good trick (one that we don’t really need to use much) to be sure they are managerial references, is to reach out to them at work!
- Understand the candidate better – Learn from experience, not every lesson needs to be learned twice! Ask their previous manager how you can best support this new employee!
- Be sure to protect your current employees, your time, and your company’s reputation.
Trust the experts, particularly HR Experts.
There are so many Small Business HR Tips and Tricks from our HR Experts that we do not have enough space to add them all.
We would love to learn more about your business!