Working in HR is much more complex than simply being the go-to for employee questions and complaints. An HR team is in charge of day-to-day functions of the office, from handling new hires all the way to weighing in on important company decisions. If you work in HR and are having trouble managing all of your various tasks, here are five tips that will help increase your productivity.
Manage Payroll Efficiently
Payroll is one of the most important tasks performed by HR—and all of the employees who expect regular paychecks agree. If you are finding yourself getting behind or having trouble keeping track of everyone’s hours, invest in a useful tool such as a time tracking app that will help you manage your coworkers’ earnings with no margin for error. Mismanagement of payroll is a surefire way to lose employee trust, so ensure that you are taking all of the proper steps to do it correctly.
Have an Updated Employee Handbook
Most people have had experience throughout their careers with awful, outdated employee handbooks that are best suited for the trash can. If your handbook is comically outdated, employees will not take it seriously and very likely won’t even bother reading it. Your manual should outline your employee expectations and your company’s operating procedures. Require every employee to sign it when hired and encourage them to review it annually to ensure that they haven’t forgotten anything. It’s also a good HR practice to review your handbook at least once a year and make any necessary changes.
Stay On Top of HR Laws
HR laws are constantly changing and evolving, and if you are not on top of things, you could put your company in some serious danger. Even though it may be time-consuming, take the time to ensure that you and everyone in the HR department are always up to speed on the current laws governing business practice. This is a very simple way to be proactive instead of reactive and avoid any unnecessary trouble.
Foster a Positive Environment
HR departments have a stigma of negativity. The HR staff are the people that employees complain to or “tattle” to when other employees are behaving badly. HR is the reason why payroll runs behind or you get in trouble for showing up to work late again.
Yet, it does not have to be this way. Do what you can to portray a friendly, helpful environment to your coworkers. Encourage them to perform well and praise them when they do. They will react much more positively, and may even perform better, when they are being patted on the back for a job well done instead of being chastised for an infraction.
When you recognize and reward your employees for hitting certain benchmarks or goals, they feel more valued by the company as a whole. This is also a great way to weed out the underperformers, since those who are not receiving regular praise for good work will be easy to spot.
Communicate Policies Effectively
The employee handbook is a great starting point for communicating company policies to employees. However, understand that some people may just not retain information written in handbook form as well as others, and work to ensure that they also understand the rules.
Helpful signage throughout the office is a good start. If your office has a hand washing or mask policy, posting little reminders throughout the office is a great way to let everyone know what the rules are in a friendly way. If you find that someone is continually breaking rules, sit them down and have a positive chat with them to ensure that they understand what they have done and why it is not acceptable before you get too heavy-handed and risk embarrassing them.
HR is not an easy department to work in. Follow these simple tips and you will have no trouble keeping your office running smoothly.
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