You might be tempted to stick to your core business activities, such as creating products and servicing your customers, but as your business grows and you begin to hire employees, you'll need to turn your attention to human resources functions. HR functions can be strategic and transactional. Strategic functions deal with business goals, objectives and values, while transactional HR functions cover administrative activities such as documenting operational processes and maintaining employee records.
Recruitment involves developing and revising job descriptions, preparing and posting jobs on job boards and in classifieds and interviewing and selecting new employees. Your HR staff documents and tracks all recruitment activities, including candidates sourced and interviewed and the interviewers' feedback. HR verifies all relevant demographic details, such as identity, address, employment history and any other credentials the candidate claims, such as diplomas and licenses.
HR personnel are tasked with completing new employee processes, such as creating contracts, providing ID cards and conducting orientation. The first few days can be chaotic for new employees, and HR can step in and help them get comfortable within their new work environment. HR also checks in with your employees from time to time to see their training needs. Whether you train in house or outsource your training needs, follow up with your employees to make sure the training is successful.
To remain competitive, recruiting and retaining the best employees is a must. This means you'll need to offer competitive benefit packages, which can include compulsory benefits such as workers' compensation and fringe benefits such as medical and health coverage. Benefits administration involves multiple transactions, such as verifying employee eligibility and processing applications, and companies may hire additional staff or pay a third party to administer these benefits. Providing and administering benefits is costly, and small businesses often don't have the money or staff to manage them. Along with the cost of training and paid time off, for example, CNN Money reports that benefit packages could add 40 percent of base wages to your company's operating expenses.
If you have just a few employees, they may just meet with you anytime they need to discuss concerns. As your company grows, however, you might want to set up a formal evaluation process so you and your employees can address workplace concerns and plan for your future together. Conducting employee evaluations is a vital transactional HR function, and it involves reviewing employees' performance after a probationary period and at regular intervals throughout the their employment with you. Sometimes called appraisal or performance plans, periodic reviews allow you to assess each employee's fit with the job and the company. It can be used to identify areas where employees excel as well as areas that require further training.
