HR Accountabilities within a small company

If you’re responsible for the HR functions at your company, you face a variety of challenges. To get the job done, follow these guidelines:

1 - Keep job descriptions up to date. Job descriptions often come up in litigation whether discussing disability accommodation, quality of job performance, essential job functions, and so on. The best starting place is O*NET. Look for the relevant job and then cut and paste those provisions that relate to the position at your company. Have both the manager and the employee review the description for accuracy.

2 - Stay on top of wage and hour issues. Make sure that everybody gets paid properly and takes their vacation and sick days. Manage time and attendance, overtime obligations, exempt classifications, and perhaps sales commissions as well.

3 - Update policies and procedures. This involves not only legal compliance issues, but keeping up with the times. For example, yesterday’s performance evaluations just don’t work in today’s responsibility-based environments. Update such tools as leave notices, hiring forms, and the like.

4 - Develop training plans. Make sure your managers are getting proper training in such areas as sexual harassment, hiring, motivation, discipline, workplace injuries, and termination– as well as requests for disability accommodations, family, and medical leave.

5 - Maintain proper records. Retain personnel records for the time required and then no longer. Remember the importance of electronic storage as well.

6 - Get feedback. Ask your fellow managers and the rest of the workforce how you can help improve HR practices.

7 - Put out fires. By definition, HR folks deal with a lot of employee drama. This means that you must be a good communicator; know when to solve problems yourself or when to speak to upper-level management or seek professional advice.

8 - Finally, align your HR practices with the company’s strategic objectives. Are you clear about what strategic objectives the ownership would like from HR? If they haven’t told you, ask! Are you focused on meeting these objectives like a laser beam?