Even if you've never worked in HR, you know that it requires the juggling of many different, and often complicated, tasks and responsibilities. Naturally, this can be overwhelming for smaller teams or companies without a dedicated HR professional.
If you don't have an internal HR manager, you probably have to rely on outside information from the internet. The good news is that many HR issues are common across all industries. As such, there's a wealth of information about how to solve them.
This article will focus on 3 common HR problems in the workplace and provide a solution for each.
1. Compliance with Federal, State, and Local Laws & Regulations
Issue: Making sure you are compliant with all laws and regulations in your area can be overwhelming, especially if you don't have anyone on your team who is experienced in the matter. The lack of time and understanding of local laws can cause any manager to pull their hair out! But failure to comply can lead to some serious consequences for a small business, including audits, lawsuits, and hefty fines.
Solution: Assign someone to be your company's representative for understanding and implementing all laws and regulations (whether that person is internal, or you outsource, is entirely up to you). Make sure you give said person the time and resources they need to succeed. It is also a good idea to audit your existing processes at least once a year to ensure your company's health and success.
2. Compensation Management
Issue: Any business with W2 employees has to deal with setting and managing compensation. It's the main concern for all employees and has a substantial impact on everything from productivity to performance. Knowing how to structure your Total Compensation Package to remain competitive in the market is both time-consuming and costly. Plus, it's no secret that small businesses struggle to compete against larger corporations.
Solution: There are plenty of free compensation tools to help benchmark your salary structures (try Glassdoor or Payscale). You can also follow competitors or other companies with similar roles to see what pay and benefits they are advertising on their job posts. If you cannot compete with their offerings, make sure you advertise the non-monetary benefits of working for your company (remote opportunities, casual dress code, bring-your-dog-to-work day, etc.).
3. Employee Retention
Issue: It's hard enough recruiting decent candidates, let alone retaining them! HR managers around the world struggle with the same issue. Once again, it's a time-consuming and costly problem that requires constant energy and attention. If you don't invest in employee retention, you could end up losing your top talent to other businesses.
Solution: Set aside time at least once a month to research similar businesses to ensure you are staying competitive with salary, benefits, and perks. Additionally, you'll want to monitor employee satisfaction (anonymous surveys, town halls, or one-on-ones are a few ways to accomplish this). Track employee complaints to monitor and address problems before they become major issues. Lastly, asking your employees for ideas and opinions about improving company culture can go a long way!
Ultimately, HR issues are seen throughout businesses of all sizes and industries, keeping HR professionals constantly busy. This becomes even more apparent in smaller companies that have fewer employees dedicated to these mission-critical tasks.
So, if you don't have a dedicated professional on your team to address the many common HR issues, you might want to consider getting outside help! That's where we come in! We are your dedicated HR professionals, here to assist with all your HR issues!
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