Good Practice

Getting HR right and getting the best value for your business
Many HR professionals that we support would argue that ‘Good Practice’ is the minimum requirement of their role, their involvement being a core, strategic influence to operations and growth. However many smaller companies do not have a dedicated representative and may lack some of the fundamental principles, so the ‘basics’ are a great place to start.

Staff are the most important factor to the success of any business and the function of HR is to provide a structured framework and legislative governance to enable staff, on all levels, to concentrate on their responsibilities and undertake their duties productively.

Good HR Practice starts with Recruitment although typically operational demands can result in the appointment of an employee prior to implementation of this framework. Therefore many small businesses have to work retrospectively with existing employees, however, it is never too late to apply systems as long as they include any verbal or collective agreements made beforehand.

A clear understanding of the business objectives and subsequent staffing requirements for operation and advancement is crucial, not only from a budgeting perspective but to ensure that Job Descriptions and Person Specifications can be accurately created, reviewed and where necessary, during change, amended. These are consulted, in order to ensure the correct people are recruited, capability and performance is assessed and monitored consistently and if necessary, disciplinaries conducted, against the required criteria.

Recruitment of new employees is as important as talent development and succession planning whereby setting future objectives and forecasting business requirements can give existing personnel, who have already been invested with knowledge of the company’s products or services, the incentive and opportunity to be mentored, train and progress; especially on an island where specific expertise or technical skills can be in limited supply.

Engagement is critical at the beginning of the relationship, from attracting and selecting through to inducting a new candidate, ensuring they are aware of not only, the company’s ethos and standards, but by providing a Contract of Employment, what is expected of them and the obligations of their employer to ensure their continued commitment. In addition a Staff Handbook or intranet site is an excellent source of providing information on company policies and standard operating procedures which can then be referred to, for the avoidance of doubt, if any issues or concerns arise.

Needless to say employment legislation compliance is essential to all businesses and the aforementioned documentation sets out parameters to make sure it is adhered to and grounds for action if breeched, safeguarding the conforming party. As well as the legal necessity for maintaining detailed personnel records the benefits of recording information relating to recruitment, training, appraisals, attendance, working time, remuneration and staff turnover amongst others, assists in collating statistics and identifying trends which can assist with budgets, forecasting, overall performance monitoring and organisational development.

Employee Relations is vital and possibly the largest, most time consuming part of HR Good Practice where transparency is key to a positive working environment. Maintaining good communication channels across the workforce is essential, be it problem resolution, identifying areas for innovation or improvement, listening to feedback, managing expectations and working collaboratively towards individual and commercial goals. Recognising and rewarding achievements will incentivise the team. Supporting staff through change, not only consulting during restructures, redundancies and TUPE or new legislation explanation and realisation but also any adjustments in an employee’s personal circumstances, increases morale and sense of worth and reduces the likelihood of conflict.

To achieve Good Practice you need to work with every aspect of your business in order to nurture, motivate and retain staff, to ensure you get best value from your most significant assets.