Five Tips for Creating a Strong HR Foundation

Most small businesses and nonprofit organizations start with a strong vision. The founder or owner then blazes the startup trail by taking bold steps to convince the world of its potential value. Whether your business exists to respond to a social need, or to deliver a product or service that solves problems for the market, you have likely poured the vast majority of your energy and resources into the service to customers and clients and doing what it takes to establish the value of your organization.

The reality is that by investing in this external (and essential) side of the business, the internal functions are given short shrift. The reality is that smaller organizations often operate without the infrastructure and financial resources required to establish formal Human Resources departments.  The result is often a “sink or swim” approach that requires staff to learn and perform human resources duties “on the fly” in addition to other responsibilities they may have.

This dynamic can result in costly mistakes that could have been avoided with better information and timelier resources. Ultimately it puts smaller organizations at greater risk for noncompliance, and it accelerates the negative bottom-line impact that comes from the failure to take care of the people-side of the organization.

If your organization has failed to create a reliable HR foundation for sustainable success, here are five tips that will create immediate improvement:

1. Stop Using Vague or Missing Job Descriptions and Start Interviewing and Hiring with Professional Tools That Reduce Failed Recruitments
2. Stop Delivering Ineffective Orientation of New Employees and Start Onboarding New Hires In a Strategic Manner
3. Stop Relying On Incomplete/Inconsistent Policies and Procedures and Start Building a Comprehensive, Consistent System for HR Management
4. Stop Addressing Performance Concerns Inconsistently and Start Confronting Bad Behavior from Difficult Employees That Can Affect Team Performance + Organization Culture
5. Stop Neglecting the Professional Development Needs of Employees and Supervisors and Start Delivering Valuable Resources That Engage and Develop Your People

Sostrin Consulting provides affordable HR Consulting packages for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. By providing this retained, expert consultation on an on-demand basis, we can solve a wide range of your organization’s HR issues while building the capacity for your administrative staff to effectively address their day-to-day HR responsibilities. Rather than reacting to problems after they have already surfaced and done damage, you can rely on Sostrin Consulting’s expert HR Consultation and support to proactively manage your workforce challenges.

Download the free HR Consulting Information Guide to find out how we can power your people to perform.