Learn from the experts; you will not live long enough to figure it out all by yourself
HR has come a long way since the days of Personnel but, despite the wealth of information on best practice that’s available online, there really is no ‘one size fits all’ approach – and finding a style that fits the culture and values of your small business whilst also meeting legal obligations can seem as daunting as keeping ‘Slimer’ away from a hot dog cart. In a small company, people issues have a big impact. So, before reaching for the proton packs whilst dodging the ectoplasm, here are 5 situations when an HR consultant can help:
As Ray, Egon, Peter, Janine and Winston would no doubt agree, having the right skills, experience and cultural fit within a small team is critical. It’s equally important to make sure you have all the basics in place, with a well-written contract that suits your company being top of the list. Working with an HR consultant means you’ll have tailored documentation (rather than generic freebies) and don’t need to worry that anything has been missed. You and your new employee can get on with growing your business.
Let’s be honest – if Peter Venkman was working for you in 2020 Britain, you’d likely have multiple complaints about his behaviour heading your way. In a small business, maintaining objectivity when disciplinary matters or grievances come up can be challenging – not to mention the simple logistics of finding the right people to hear appeals if needed. An HR Consultant can help you prepare for and navigate through people issues calmly and efficiently, using processes bespoke to you.
Dare I mention the spectre that was GDPR?! Taking time away from actually running your business to ensure that you’ll be compliant with legal developments is not how you want to spend your time. An HR Consultant can take (at least some) of this stress away by identifying what you need to do and working with you to implement any changes required. Whether that happens well in advance of the deadline or not is up to you…
While you might not be replacing your whole team with the opposite gender as per the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, undertaking a restructure has the potential to generate the same strength of response and opinion in a small business. An HR Consultant can help you design your new structure, identify where consultation may be needed and work with those affected in a commercial yet compassionate manner – all the while keeping you on the right side of the law.
The New York Police and Fire Departments knew they couldn’t deal with the supernatural epidemic alone, so they called in the specialists. If you have in-house HR, they will know the detail of your business inside out – but when a chunky people project (or the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man) comes along, they might need some extra bandwidth to deliver it whilst keeping the day-to-day running for your team. An HR Consultant can work with them for the duration of the project and be gone before the ticker-tape has settled.
So, if HR has got you spooked, please get in touch to arrange a free, no obligation chat about how I can help.
Employees are finally getting what many self employed business owners have almost taken for granted – working from home. But there is a growing realisation for the employees and employers that will not only be familiar to the self employed small business owners, but what potentially happens next could effect them for years to come.
Since the days of the Youth Training Scheme, the Government has always tried to publicly ‘push’ the idea of Apprentices and what they can do for businesses both large and small. However the reality of Apprenticeships is less a mixed bag of results, more a bag of pitiful re-engineering that is not fit for purpose.
Smaller businesses looking to reduce their workforces should urgently prepare for the costs of redundancies, following changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme made late last year.
That’s the warning from human resources experts The HR Dept, which provides human resources advice and support for more than 6,500 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) across the UK and Ireland.
Today, Friday 15th February, the Supreme Court gave its long awaited input into a long running legal fight from Uber – a case known as Uber v Aslam & Others. It has huge implications for small business owners and freelancers.
