Navigating through HR and employment law can feel like a maze. We share our top four ways to make HR work for you.
For most businesses, employees are their most valuable asset. A settled, happy and engaged workforce drives and sustains growth and competitiveness.
Our HRExpress team support a variety of businesses. Below are the four most frequently occurring challenges they face and our solutions to overcome them.
Make HR work for you
1. The odds are against me
As an employer it can sometimes feel like everything is stacked against you and that it’s all set up for employees to ‘win’. You’re running a disciplinary and an employee throws in a grievance; you want to performance manage someone and they get themselves signed off; you’re making much-needed redundancies and suddenly find yourself accused of discrimination.
We work with our clients to make sure they have control over whatever situation they may be facing. That’s not by riding roughshod over your employees or their rights but by working with you to devise a roadmap and manageable way forward.
There will be unexpected developments along the way but our flexibility of approach means that you will be in the best possible place to tackle and overcome them.
2. Outsiders don’t understand my business
You’ve probably spent a long time building up your business, hand-selecting those you work with. Why would you seek professional support from a faceless call centre or a one-off, unplanned instruction?
By its very nature HR is all about people and personalities. If you want to get the best of your HR consultancy support, it’s important that you know and trust those you’re working with. That’s why we look to build long-lasting relationships with our clients.
Don’t come to us just when there’s a problem – see us as an investment for the future. We take time to get to know you, your business and those working in it and you’ll get to know us too. We might not always be physically in your workplace but we want you to see our team as an extension of yours.
3. I can’t see the wood for the trees
Worry about HR issues can have a very significant impact on your wellbeing. It can take up huge amounts of time and it can feel very isolated at the top sometimes. How do you know that what you did yesterday was the right way to go? Will it avoid an argument – or provoke one? It might have felt like the right decision but could you have missed something? How do you devise a strategy for your people or a particular situation? Whether you’re new to people management or not, the value of a professional opinion should not be underestimated.
By working with our team, you can have the confidence that the way you are approaching any given situation is the best one in the circumstances. We see our role as helping to make your life easier. By getting expert opinion early on any personnel situation, that gives us the best chance of supporting you through it and ensures you stay prepared for any situation.
4. I have too many costs already
It might be easy to see reducing your HR support as an effective cost-cutting measure, particularly as businesses are facing ever-increasing costs. However, having skeleton or no expert HR input at all is likely to be counter-productive and could well lead to you facing unexpected tribunal claims if something goes wrong or isn’t handled correctly.
That’s why HRExpress comes at a fixed fee cost, set for the year and without any automatic renewal terms. It’s a really affordable way of providing additional support for your organisation without adding headcount or overheads.
The HRExpress team at Stephens Scown advises businesses on HR and employment law changes as well as supporting clients on a day-to-day basis. To discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please email employment@stephens-scown.co.uk or call 01392 210700.
