Knowing what works in human resources can give you the edge you need. Finding the right people for your company means knowing where to look, what to do, and the risks associated with the search.
Here are 5 small business HR trends you need to look out for. All these can promote your growth and give you the best talent pool that fits your needs.
1. Stronger Onboarding, Better Offboard
For onboarding, pre-training is vital to accelerate your fresh hire’s productivity index. HR departments are looking to improve pre-start training, as well as helping their talents connect through more extended admin and team introduction. You can also expect the company to look towards more virtual meetings for their growing remote workforce.
As for offboarding, you want to make sure that the entire process of parting with employees is as sensitive and amicable as possible. If you’re a small business, you want your ex-employees to remember your team fondly, even in the face of separation. In addition, you want ex-staffers to help spread a good reputation, especially if you plan on headhunting.
2. Improve Agility with Freelancers and Proper Compensation
You would need to consider pulling in part-timers for starters, especially if you have seasonal peak business traffic. Even hiring freelancers can be helpful if you need a certain level of agility if the hiring cycle is taking too long. Freelancers are great for project-based tasks, as well as getting a quick infusion of expertise without outright hiring.
For small businesses, especially if you’re a financial organization, you need to remember that proper compensation drives headhunting efforts. You want to be different in a new normal where people understand their value and won’t take below the minimum. So, keeping a good balance of compensation and job security needs delicate focus.
3. Social Media Hiring Is Getting Bigger
The problem with hiring in social media is the potential bias that may come out from seeing the job searcher’s profile. Of course, your attitude can be anything taken from Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, but an implicit bias may form from seeing a potential employee’s online behavior.
As we know, lifestyle, age, gender, and race are among the protected classes by law. There’s also the potential to perform pre-employment background checks by accident, which can be an issue under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
At the same time, you want to be careful with the potential for negligent hiring. On the other hand, you want to make sure that the person you hire does not become a trouble for the business. This careful balance is a must if to have an impartial hiring process for finding suitable candidates.
4. HR Teams Need to Look Towards Holistic Well-being
Employees are experiencing more stress than ever. The pandemic increased people’s pressure, together with familial concerns, job security, and productivity expectations. These make people feel burnt out and, together with potential health issues, create a dip in their well-being.
Apart from building skills, human resources teams now need to commit to helping their employees’ holistic health. A holistic view includes improving their mental health and teaching them additional life skills that enhance their outlook. Whether it’s better teambuilding, financial planning, or promoting connectivity, helping employees feel engaged can improve overall retention.
5. Cloud Automation is the Future of HR
Competing for the attention of valuable talent means faster processing and digitizing as much as possible. Moving to the cloud as soon as possible can help give you the level of agility your small business needs to compete. Small business HR needs efficiency, as well as better technological innovations.
Cloud-based automation can improve employee attrition while reducing costs for the business. It also helps with the general compliance requirements of the company, including management of legal requirements for hiring.
Privacy requirements and business regulations are ever-changing, and consistent compliance is possible with the right technology.
The Bottom Line
Follow these trends and make the most out of the people you hire. In today’s world, it’s hard to get the right people to do the job. As companies recover, you want to be on top of things from onboarding to offboarding. Each extra mile you take pays dividends for brand growth down the line.
For more information, consider our article on A Financial Survival Guide for Small Business Entrepreneurs. See your HR software choices at K2’s CPE website Accountingsoftwareworld.com. Additionally, consider our CPE courses on Accounting Software.