If you’re the owner of a small company, then you may have asked yourself the question of whether you really need a Human Resources Department within your business. It may be that you feel your company is too small to need it or benefit from it, or you may believe that you alone can handle the responsibilities of HR. Some small businesses may want to outsource HR but feel as if they may not be able to afford it.
These may be valid reasons for your company not having a human resources department, but rest assured that the work environment for your employees – whether you employ 2 or 200 – can quickly turn toxic without one and can have some nasty consequences for your business. Here are a few of the things that can happen when you don’t have HR management, and how good HR management can prevent them from happening:
You may be using inadequate hiring processes:
Without HR management, there is a strong likelihood that your hiring practices are poor and may include simply posting an ad online or in a paper, and you are doubtless not giving the whole interview process the attention it requires. This can lead to a failure to find and employ the best people for the job, and no business, large or small, can afford to take on bad staff.
Human resources management, whether it be in-house or outsourced, will focus on the hiring process from beginning to end and will help ensure that your employees are of the highest calibre and fit for their position.
The benefit schemes you opt for may be outdated or ineffective:
Not having good human resources management can mean that the benefits you offer your employees are not competitive or do not comply with legal requirements, both of which can lead to disgruntled employees or staff that will simply look elsewhere for work as benefit schemes are often more highly valued than pay rises.
HR management is all about getting the best results for both employer and employee, and staff who are receiving quality benefits are far more likely to be content in their work, resulting in a more effective workforce that naturally benefits the employer.
You may be overlooking many aspects of your employee’s career development:
Some employees will even take a pay cut if it will provide them with an opportunity to further their career within a company, and without an effective HR management team to ensure that they get the mentoring and training that they may need and want, you could risk losing them altogether.
This is where HR management really excels, and your employees will benefit greatly from their expertise and guidance in the field of career advancement.
Without HR, your work environment can quickly turn toxic:
This can cause a real problem for many employers and their businesses, be it tension between colleagues, a company culture that has become toxic or disagreements between staff and employer, and without a HR management team to act as a go between, entire companies can crumble.
Having a HR strategy to effectively tackle issues of all natures within the workplace, can greatly reduce the risk of arguments and even costly lawsuits from disgruntled staff.
Overall, the benefits of having a HR management team will far outweigh any costs, even if you end up outsourcing the department to a team of professionals not directly within your company’s employ.