What are the signs you need more HR presence in your business?
Whether you’re a small, medium or large business, having some sort of Human Resources presence is essential for happy employees and ultimately the smooth running of your company. An HR team plays a significant role in ensuring a company copes with the fast-changing environment of legislation and in attracting more top-quality employees.
This article looks at how you can get the right balance of employees per HR employee and when you should look at expanding your HR function to fully maximise on business efficiency.
How do you know how many HR employees is enough for your business? While the ratio of 150 employees per HR member is a useful guide, it’s not definitive. It depends very much on industry as well as the size of your company.
Larger companies with more technological infrastructure will likely be able to use their in-house HR team more efficiently, so will need fewer HR employees. A smaller company may have just a few HR roles, which may also support the businesses in different areas. Small businesses may instead choose to work with a HR consultant; it’s worth noting that while this can be cost effective initially it has disadvantages when it comes to goal alignment and employee interaction and bonding.
Meanwhile, different industries will have differing demands; for example, professional service firms will have a higher level of training and personal development needs. In this sector, engaging and retaining their highly skilled professionals through training and development allows them to stay ahead of the competition.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought with it many HR considerations; such as safety at work, ensuring the office space is COVID-secure, furlough and payroll considerations and many more complications. The current climate means that now may be a time when your business needs more HR support than previously; with operational HR taking precedence over strategic.
If we remove the golden ratio from the equation, these are the signs you should look at investing in more HR presence in your business…
Employee turnover is high
A high turnover is expensive and time consuming, and of course constant change is unsettling for all the team. If you are regularly seeing new employees join full of zest but leave dissatisfied then it’s time to act fast! An HR manager will be able to identify why your employees are leaving and implement solutions to boost morale and retain your team.
Your employees are disengaged
If you’ve been seeing a higher number of sick days, a decrease in productivity or are finding lots of work hours being spent on employee relations cases, then it’s time to increase your HR presence. Employee engagement is critical to productivity and business success; disengaged employees means a higher staff turnover and lower productivity. Hiring a HR professional who can identify the reasons behind this shift and help turn that tide with engagement projects that will mean you will soon start seeing an upturn across the business.
Internal communication is a struggle
Communicating clearly with employees across the company is important – it ensure all team members receive key messages and supports employee engagement. In the current climate, making sure that all employees are up to date with office guidelines and social distancing measures means you can keep them safe while at work. If you are finding it hard to get this message across effectively, or struggling to include regular communications in your busy workload then it’s time to expand your HR support.
You’re growing fast
Employing more HR support now means that you will be able to cover both operational and strategic roles in these important times for your business. If you are seeing fast growth then strategic input from a HR expert will help to guide you as you grow.
Needing more pairs of hands means hiring multiple new employees. Having someone to take the recruiting and on-boarding tasks out of your hands will enable you to focus on business-critical areas and means your new starters will have everything they need to hit the ground running.
Training and development is not happening
On-going training and development for all employees isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ – not only does it feed into employee engagement and job satisfaction, it is an essential tool to enable your employees to do their job to the best of their abilities. In some sectors it’s even more important, such as in accountancy.
If you are finding your team is asking a lot of questions or do not seem equipped to handle the tasks you expect of them then it’s time to implement a solid training programme. HR will be able to keep on top of all the training requirements; keeping track of who needs what, booking in sessions and maintaining certifications.
You don’t know the answers
HR is an ever-changing landscape and staying on top of the legislation is a full time job in itself. With a pandemic and the dreaded word furlough thrown into the mix, staying abreast of the payroll consideration and internal operations is a real challenge! If you are spending too much time keeping up with the current changes to keep your business compliant and struggling to answer your employee’s questions about procedure then it’s time to invest in some HR support.
An experienced HR professional will take much of this burden off your shoulders and be able to provide operational support when it comes to payroll, legislation and COVID-secure workplace management.
Existing HR is crying out for help
The pandemic has put enormous pressure on HR teams. A transition to a more operational approach in order to cope with the extra demands has meant strategic HR activities have had to sit on the back burner. Bringing in more HR support will help ease the workload and allow your business to begin driving forward once again.
While the degree of HR needed is unique to each company, it’s important that you find the right level of support for your business. Getting this correct will enable your HR to be proactive rather than reactive, which will ultimately positively affect efficiency, productivity and your bottom line.