Running a small business can be both demanding and rewarding. From the early days of being a brand-new start-up through to running a thriving well-established business, managing people will always be part and parcel of being a business owner. Whether you have a team of 2 or 20, it is important to get the people side of things right. In this blog we explore some of the key reasons for why small businesses need HR support.
To have compliant documentation
Getting employees’ terms & conditions of employment is crucial from the start. Get pay or holiday entitlements wrong, and you won’t have a very happy workforce! Making mistakes here will also make it difficult for you to rely on the contract when you may need to, such as in a redundancy or TUPE situation.
Having HR support will ensure your employment contracts are legally compliant and your policies are tailored to your business’ needs. These documents are the bedrock of people management so it worth investing in some solid HR support to get this right.
The citrus HR expert HR and Legal Team can help you to create employment contracts and policies that are tailored to the specific needs of your business, giving you a sound legal relationship with your employees.
To improve overall business performance
Having solid HR practices in place is a good foundation for running a small business. Without them, employees and business owners alike can be left feeling confused over how people issues should be handled, or think they know but employment law may have changed! Although each situation is different, there needs to be consistency with managing HR to ensure fairness across the team.
Research shows that the benefits of HR practices are greater for small businesses than they are for medium-sized organisations. This was found to be because small businesses are more flexible and can adapt to new management practices easier than larger organisations are.
It is important to have HR practices in place to back up how you are managing your people but having HR support to then guide you through people issues and help you to manage your people effectively, contributes to overall business performance. Having engaged employees who come to work motivated to do a good job and feel properly supported at work will likely perform well, thus contributing to the success of your business.
To deal with HR issues fairly and effectively
Business owners want to treat employees fairly whatever the situation. With trickier people issues, taking action that is fair and in line with your own policies, as well as employment law, will help you to resolve to the problem at hand.
Flying solo to deal with difficult people issues can be costly for your business. If the wrong process is followed, you could find yourself in an expensive employment tribunal, which everyone wants to avoid at all costs. Having HR support means that you will be guided through any tricky employment issues, greatly reducing the risk of a dreaded costly employment tribunal.
The HR service for Armadillo members gives unlimited support from the citrus HR team on any aspect of managing your people, including those trickier issues such as employee disputes, redundancies, disciplinaries and capability issues.
To keep everything in one (GDPR compliant) place
As well as providing invaluable employment relations assistance, HR support can also help you to get all of your employee documentation in one secure place. Some HR support services may have a HR software you can use, or you may be given help with how to organise things with the systems you have in place already.
Either way, having your employee data stored securely and in one place will help greatly with managing your people. Being able to quickly check a particular clause in an employee’s contract, rather than having to spend ages flicking through folders attempting to track a document down, cuts down on time and hassle.
What’s more, a data breach can cost an organisation a fine of up to £18m from the ICO, plus severe damage to your reputation. With citrus HR’s secure online HR software, you can store your employee data in the cloud. It’s easy to access, simple to manage, and our comprehensive security measures keep it safe.
The benefits of HR support can be hugely felt by small businesses. From keeping your employees happy with having their terms & conditions clearly recorded to navigating complex people issues, you will reap the rewards of having HR support for your business, freeing you up to focus on running your business. That’s why small businesses need HR support.
Find out more about the affordable, unlimited service available to Armadillo members and their clients (with no long-tie ins, may we add!) here:https://citrushr.com/armadillo-referral-customers/
