As a result of this growing merit, the HR department has become a strong bearer of employee interests. HR managers now have a higher say in molding company policies in favor of employee welfare. One of the main roles of the HR team is to make the workplace optimal for employee productivity.
A positive work environment gives employees the confidence to speak up about issues that are upsetting them.
Listed below are the three primary ways through which the HR department creates a positive workplace culture. Maintains organization-wide diversity: Modern workplaces have employees of different religions, races, physical abilities, and genders working together. In such setups, fair and equal treatment of all employees is not only essential but also a legal obligation for companies. The HR department designs sensitization programs, creates codes of conduct, moderates employee-employer dialogs, and monitors employee data projects, promotions, etc.
Protects whistleblowers: Workplace misconduct and frauds often go unreported because victims or complainants feel intimidated or fear retaliation. In these cases, the HR department serves as a reliable confidant. Employees can report their issues without disclosing their identity. They are, thus, protected from the risk of losing their job or being victimized for making any disclosures.
Conducts employee surveys: Employee surveys let HR managers assess employee satisfaction levels and expectations. These surveys help the HR department gather insights about things that matter to employees—pain points, expectations, and areas of improvement. They also help managers measure the performance of existing processes and gauge the impact of new policies.
Another important role of the HR office is framing employee-related policies. HR policies do more than just help businesses comply with federal employment and labor laws. They also provide a framework for implementing employment-related processes, such as how to manage workplace harassment.
The guidelines for forming these policies are set by law, upper management, and the HR team. The HR office also revises these policies based on regulatory updates.
For instance, if the Department of Labor changes the number of annual leaves for employees, the HR department accordingly updates policies to ensure compliance. A well-designed orientation program makes new employees feel welcome. The HR department organizes and conducts these induction sessions.
It also assists with onboarding activities, such as documentation, workstation setup, and team introduction. Doing this helps prevent any unfavourable practices.
Plus, HR should encourage more peer-to-peer collaboration and transparent communication with the manager to dissuade any disagreeable situation.
Encouraging the spirit of creativity and innovation among employees is a great way to boost their engagement with the company, which will increase their efficiency and productivity. It will ultimately result in better growth in the careers of the employees. So, what do human resources do to bring in creativity and innovation? By setting the right expectations, goals and guidelines for employees, HR can provide them with the opportunity to be flexible and embrace creativity and innovation into their daily work culture.
The HR team should focus on enhancing innovation and creative skills instead of killing the instincts altogether in favour of business and profits. Provide your employees with a detailed framework within which they can experiment with their creative side.
After all, unchanneled creativity and innovation can end up in confusion and loss of direction. Many employees do better with a fixed work schedule, while some like a flexible workweek. It has been observed that some employees perform better when offered the flexibility of working from home or from a remote comfort location at a time of their convenience. The HR team can support such employees by introducing a flexible work culture for the desired.
They should start by creating well-defined procedures and policies to implement the plan. Further, they should also procure the necessary technology that will help them monitor the remote employees. As long as flexibility boosts performance and the employees feel connected with the company, it should be allowed and encouraged.
The best way to help an employee succeed within the company is by helping them with appropriate internal promotions based on their performance and experience. The HR team can let the employees know about the different internal vacancies through emails or portals. And then, seek the details of the most deserved employees, guide them and evaluate them rationally to find the best candidate for the position.
The HR team should ensure that internal promotions are transparent and fair to encourage more participation and engagement from existing employees. Doing so will hugely reduce the cost of searching for good talent outside. If an employee has a health problem or any member of their family as a health problem which is affecting their work, then they should inform the HR about the problem and seek proper guidance.
For instance, if you start taking unplanned leaves due to severe back pain, but you do not mention anything to the HR, then there is a possibility that you may be asked to leave due to unprofessional behaviour and violation of attendance policy.
However, if you discuss your medical issue with your manager and the HR, they may be able to provide you with the necessary assistance and guidance which may help you solve the problem without jeopardising your career. Sometimes, employees have some personal problems, which they would not feel comfortable to discuss with any other authority at work.
In this case, the employees should seek the help of HR to solve the problems. For instance, problems of physical or sexual harassment at the workplace should be brought to the notice of the HR. In fact, the HR representative is mandated by law to investigate the matter.
Also, other safety and security related problems at the workplace should be brought to the notice of the HR to find efficient solutions. There are certain employment laws that every HR member should know about. Once a payroll system is established, payroll must be administered regularly. The organization needs to determine if payroll administration will fall under human resources or finance.
The payroll administrator must understand federal and state wage and hour laws, including minimum wage, overtime pay and eligibility, meal and rest break laws, record-keeping, and how to determine hours worked. Complying with U. Wage and Hour and Wage Payment Laws.
Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor. HR should work with management to gain an understanding of the short- and long-term staffing needs and budget. A staffing plan will determine the composition and content of the workforce required to position the organization for current and future business objectives.
Working with the owners, founders or management, HR creates a three- to six-month staffing plan and budget to determine how much time and activity need to be expended on properly staffing the organization.
Longer-term staffing plans may influence HR department staffing needs as well. How do we develop a staffing plan? Practicing the Discipline of Workforce Planning. How does the use of trend analysis fit into the overall workplace planning process? If HR does not have an accurate list of open positions, the first step is to compile one. With the open position list in hand, HR works with hiring managers to lay out a recruiting plan.
This is a good time to raise concerns about the assignment, such as an insufficient budget allocation. The recruiting plan should include skill sets required, HR employees involved in the interviewing process and responsible for hiring decisions, sources to be used such as media, agencies, colleges or the Internet , realistic timelines, and resources required budget, staff time and training.
Next, HR should determine the best sourcing activities for meeting the organization's staffing needs. Available sources may include networking, organization website job postings, job boards, recruiting firms, social networking sites, employee referrals, job or career fairs, and college recruiting.
Recruiting Internally and Externally. Staffing in Special Markets: College Students. Staffing in Special Markets: Technology Professionals. A job description is a useful, plain-language tool that explains the tasks, duties, function and responsibilities of a position. It details who performs a specific type of work, how that work is to be completed, and the frequency and the purpose of the work as it relates to the organization's mission and goals.
Job descriptions are used for a variety of reasons, such as determining salary levels, conducting performance reviews, clarifying missions, establishing titles and pay grades, and creating reasonable accommodation controls, and as a tool for recruiting. Job descriptions are useful in career planning, offering training exercises and establishing legal requirements for compliance purposes. A job description gives an employee a clear and concise resource to be used as a guide for job performance.
Likewise, a supervisor can use a job description as a measuring tool to ensure that the employee is meeting job expectations. How to Develop a Job Description. Sample Job Descriptions. Developing a fair and competitive pay structure is one major aspect in attracting and retaining talent. Building a market-based pay structure from scratch encompasses several steps:. How to Establish Salary Ranges. Managing Pay Equity. Introduction to the Human Resources Discipline of Compensation.
The organization needs to determine what benefits are mandatory and what voluntary benefits it wants to provide employees. Does it want to offer any paid holidays or other paid time off PTO such as vacation, sick, personal days or a PTO bank that combines all leave?
Other valuable benefits include group health benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance , disability insurance short- or long-term disability , life insurance, flexible spending accounts, employee assistance programs, and pension and retirement plan options e. Mandatory benefits include workers' compensation insurance and unemployment insurance under state laws. Employers should check their states' laws for more information on required benefits.
State Workers' Compensation Officials. State Unemployment Insurance Benefits. Small organizations may start off providing only a few benefits and then offer more benefits as they grow. Other small employers may want to offer a comprehensive benefits package to help attract and retain talent. Organizations often enlist the help of a benefits broker to obtain benefits quotes from providers in the area and to compare benefits offerings against the budget. See What should my company consider when selecting a benefits broker?
Human resource professionals recognize the employee handbook as an essential tool for communicating workplace culture, benefits and employment policy information to employees. An employee handbook typically describes information about the employer's employment practices, benefits, equal opportunity commitments, attendance guidelines, pay practices, leave-of-absence procedures, safety issues, labor relations matters and consequences for misconduct.
Employees have the right to work in a safe and healthy work environment. The OSH Act's general duty clause requires every employer to "furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees. Knowing the relevant state laws related to safety is helpful as well. Whereas many states follow OSHA regulations, other states have passed more stringent or specific safety regulations.
Employers are required to post relevant federal and state employment law posters in each facility where employees can readily see them. See What posters do I need, and how do I comply with these requirements? The hiring process includes multiple steps and various practices, including the use of application forms, interviews and pre-employment testing. Whether to use a written employment contract and the terms of an employment offer also come into play at this stage. Finally, HR must oversee the process of organizational entry, referred to as "onboarding" or "orientation.
Managing the Employee Onboarding and Assimilation Process. New Employee Onboarding Guide. Designing and Implementing an Effective Onboarding Strategy. Guidelines on Interview and Employment Application Questions. Conducting Background Investigations and Reference Checks. All employees of a new business need to complete a Form I-9 verifying eligibility to work in the United States and federal and state tax withholding forms. Employers are also required to submit new-hire reports to state agencies.
Human resource records are the repository of personal, organizational and legal data and documents concerning individual employees and their relationship with the employer. Many liability issues can result from improperly maintaining employment records. See What should, and should not, be included in the personnel file? The performance review process includes both continuous informal feedback and periodic—usually annual—formal feedback.
An organization's HR department is typically the linchpin of the effective and efficient administration of the performance management system. Having an educated HR team that is well-prepared to train the organization's managers in the system and to assist them when they have issues or questions is critical to the smooth functioning of the process. Being charged with establishing a human resource department in an existing organization can appear overwhelming. Often HR professionals are just not sure where to start.
The key to success, as with most things, is to begin by listening, observing and learning about the organization. Finding out what the expectations are for the new job and the human resource department is essential. HR professionals can start by asking questions such as the following:.
Answers to these questions can best be gathered by conducting a needs assessment through informal interviews with key staff members and management, along with the HR manager's own assessment of the human resource policies currently in place. This type of assessment, or HR audit, helps determine an action plan for HR activities and staffing.
Even in an organization without a formal HR department, HR-related policies have been created, and tasks are being performed. Instead of starting from scratch, HR professionals can take stock of what HR activities are currently being done in the organization and evaluate them. HR audits can help evaluate the effectiveness and performance of HR programs and services and expose opportunities to enhance, change or remove programs and processes. Before conducting an audit, HR managers should determine where to start.
The overall HR health of the organization can be evaluated, followed by a more in-depth consideration of each functional area, as well as each program and service offered, so that the HR manager can make sure the organization is in compliance, is administered efficiently and cost-effectively, and is meeting employee and management needs.
Certain areas of HR oversight may make organizations particularly vulnerable to fines and other sanctions. Most lawsuits can be traced to issues related to hiring, performance management, discipline or termination. Some additional risk areas to carefully review include misclassification of exempt and nonexempt jobs, inadequate HR files, inaccurate time records, and insufficient documentation.
Below are some sample questions to start an HR assessment. As stated above, an in-depth review may be needed in certain areas. How to Conduct an I-9 Audit.
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