When small businesses hire new talent, it often means they’re growing, which is great news. However, with higher staff levels comes greater responsibilities where human resources (HR) is concerned. You will need to make sure that your business remains compliant with existing and new regulations, as well as create a safe environment for your employees to flourish in. Below, we discuss the five highest HR priorities for small businesses.
Pensions and Payroll
Employees need to be paid on time, meaning you need to have a clear payment procedure in place, which is easier said than done if you’re not a maths whiz. Therefore, you should consider handing payroll to a professional. Using an HR outsourcing firm could save you money.
You will need to check state laws, but you may be legally responsible for getting your employees registered for a pension plan. Whether you’re legally bound to or not, having a quality pension scheme is a fantastic way of retaining talent.
Data Protection
Data protection is a hot topic of conversation across all industries, and the general public is becoming much more aware of how businesses are using theirs, especially after GDPR was introduced across Europe. Your data handling policy needs to include everything from storage methods to how long you retain information. For the most part, data handling policies are similar across all businesses, which means you can easily find a template to edit.
Health and Safety
The way your business functions internally and externally will be managed by a series of policies, with the most important being health and safety. If you don’t have such a policy in place using Gensuite EHS software, it means you’re knowingly putting your employees at risk, which means you’ll end up with a sizeable fine. When it comes to following the law, you need to demonstrate that you’re following the regulations set out in the OHSA Act.
Employee Handbook
Every person in your business needs to be singing from the same book, so create a detailed employee handbook. Your handbook will outline the general terms and conditions for employment, including what employees can expect from you and what you need from them. As well as this, you need to detail procedures for making complaints, booking vacation time, and disciplinary processes. If you hit a brick wall when you’re writing yours, consider this list of common employee handbook sections.
SMB Insurance
Setting up a successful business is great, but you need to protect it from the outside world. Therefore, you will need to have small business insurance, which protects you against professional errors, injury lawsuits, natural disasters, property damage, and much more. When choosing your insurance, we suggest finding a provider with years of experience and lots of positive testimonies.
Human resources account for an enormous amount of business processes, so it’s important to keep on top of it all. The areas discussed above barely scratch the surface but will give you a great starting point. Remember, if you’re spending too long on one area, consider outsourcing the task.