As a small-business owner, you may be tempted to wear many hats while you are still starting out. This is completely normal and understandable. But eventually, you may have to delegate management-related tasks to a talented HR professional if you want your small business to succeed—yes, even if your company employs just five people.
Human resources actually holds great importance in every company, as your business is going to be run by the very people that you hire.
What is the Important of HR in Small Businesses
1. Understanding the Role of HR
Generally speaking, the role of human resources in a business is to bring out the best of your human resource, a.k.a. your employees. This involves hiring, training, coaching, and developing people into becoming great contributors to your business.
One of the greatest sources of strength for a startup is the creativity, energy and determination of its employees to prove themselves. This can be a great asset for the business.
However, some business owners may not have the knowledge and skills to channelize all this energy into productive work. To avoid losing out on this great resource, owners often decide to hire a business mentor or an experienced HR manager.
2. Upholding the Rules and Regulations
One of the many important functions of the HR department is to be knowledgeable of employment laws and to ensure that the business is compliant with such rules and regulations. Particularly, this refers to all aspects involving employee relationships—from hiring, to benefit administration, to workplace safety, and through termination.
Among such employment laws that the HR should uphold are the Equal Opportunity Laws, which ensure that your company does not practice discrimination in your hiring process based on gender, religion, race, age, or disability.
However, it is also imperative that the HR prioritizes workplace safety, which may include administering marijuana drug testing based on a strict drug-free-workplace policy.
All of the above issues are critical not only to ensure that employees remain satisfied, motivated and productive, but also to avoid litigation and legal expenses that could be a heavy drain on the financial resources of the business.
Read Also: Why It’s Important to Invest In Drug Testing for the Workplace
3. Developing Effective Hiring Processes
Your employees can make or break your business, which is why you need a skilled HR professional to help your company to attract and secure the best people for the job. The HR officer is responsible for knowing and implementing a functional recruitment process that will ensure a good hire—one whose skills, expertise, and experience match the job and the business culture well.
An effective way to minimize the chances of a bad hire is to require prospective applicants to pass a drug test prior to the job offer.
Many companies in several states are already implementing pre-employment drug testing to keep their workplace safe and productive as much as possible. A professional HR manager will be aware of the legally and ethically acceptable practices of recruiting, interviewing and evaluating candidates for various positions.
4. Providing Pay and Benefits
Part of the HR department’s administrative work is to process the pay and provide the necessary benefits to employees. The HR works to ensure that pay is of the right amount and given on time and that employees get the perks that they are promised. More importantly, your employees deserve transparency and access to their benefits, so make sure that your HR provides them so.
Last Words
Even small businesses need human resource management to get them up and running as effectively as possible. In the long run, this results in significant benefits because all you need to do is scale up the HR processes. You only need to find the right HR person or team, and you’re one step closer to success.
