The Basics of Human Resources
Human resources management is a comprehensive understanding of how certain activities make a business successful. HR uses several technics to ensure businesses achieve the results they want. As a business owner, you should understand the seven basics of HR.
Recruiting and selection
Performance management
Learning & development
Succession planning
Compensation and benefits
HR Information systems
HR data and analytics
Let’s talk about the seven basics.
HR Basic #1: Recruiting and Selection
This is probably the HR function you are most familiar with. The non-HR world calls this hiring. Most business owners know they need to find people, interview them, pick the one they think is best, and get them started. What is important to know here is there are actually 15 steps to hiring someone correctly. Did you know that? There are 15 steps! And one of those steps has five things you need to do.
HR Basic #2: Performance Management
A lack of performance management reduces profitability for most businesses. Without performance management you won’t know if your employees are actually doing what they are capable of doing. Performance management is also what wins and losses cases when you fire someone. You win the lawsuit or unemployment claim with performance management long before the person becomes a problem.
HR Basic #3: Learning and Development
Did you know that there are four different learning styles? FOUR!!! And as an employer its important to ensure you tap into all four of those ways of learning so that your employees are successful. Do you know how to teach and train in four different ways? No? It’s ok, HR can manage these for you so that your people can perform their best.
HR Basic #4: Succession Planning
Succession planning is what happens when employees leave the position. I’m sorry to tell you that your employees won’t love your business the way you do, and 90% of them will leave you at some point.
Side note: If your employees are not related to you by blood or marriage, stop saying you’re “family.”
HR Basic #5: Compensation and Benefits
How you reward your employees for what they do is extremely important. What many small business owners blame on lazy people and the pandemic is really a lack of knowledge about what compensation and benefits will get great employees in the door.
HR Basic #6: HR Information Systems
HR information systems are what many small business owners are sold as HR. Get ADP and organize your HR. Buy this toolkit and have all your HR needs at your fingertips. HR information systems are all about what you do with the information about the people of your business.
Under 50 employees? Don’t sign up for ADP or Paychex, sign up for Gusto!! They have a flat fee instead of a per employee/per payroll run fee and you can manage all your HR data there as well. They even will integrate with your other systems.
HR Basic #7: HR data and analytics
Analytics is the turbo power for your business. HR analytics help you determine what activities make you the most money. If you should hire a new employee and even if you’re positioned right in the market.
Not sure what data you should be tracking? Set up a call to learn what you should be tracking and how to link it to what your employees do.
