I often find that many small businesses, especially start-ups, are quite fearful of HR. It conjures up notions of unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork, and more often than not, businesses feel that having an arrangement with a HR company is a form of insurance policy in case something goes wrong, rather than something that should help deliver great results so that the business will succeed.
We all know the HR stereotype – opinionated, legalistic and always, always process driven. But in today’s modern world, the truth is that HR needs to be insight driven, and it should act as a key support network to a company’s management structure. HR doesn’t need to be unnecessarily complicated – it should be focused on common decency coupled with common sense and a basic knowledge of employee rights.
The best HR professionals achieve much more than processes – they deal with people problems and issues that prohibit productivity, allowing the business to reap the rewards of happy, engaged staff.
As a HR professional for many years, I often take time to reflect on these negative images of HR and what I can do to change them and encourage people to see HR as a positive investment for business.
I once visited a business which had a 52 page absence policy and needed layers of HR staff just to manage it, let alone understand it! Being agile and flexible to any situation that may arise is crucial in the world of HR, and although you can try, a single 52 page policy just will not allow you do that.
Here at HR Alchemy, we delve into the nitty gritty of your HR issues, discovering the best way to solve your business needs. We ask questions you won’t have thought of, shake up current thinking and create solutions to problems you never thought possible, propelling your business towards success, but most importantly of all, we are straightforward, simple and honest.
