Starting a new business venture can be a challenging journey. There are hundreds of elements that you will need to consider that make up the greater scheme of the business. From product development, the strategic directory, marketing and web development, and then of course the people management element.
Many business owners state that the most challenging part of starting a new business and running it is the HR department. From hiring the right staff to their development and the day-to-day management of their expectations, thousands of business owners choose to outsource this.
But, if the budget is tight and you have no other choice but to manage them yourself, we thought we would give you a helping hand. We took a look at the main focus areas of HR that you need to consider and delved into a few tricks to effectively manage it. Let’s get stuck straight in.
Table of Contents
Focus on Your Company Culture
One of the first things that you should look at when kicking off your business is creating a company culture blueprint. In this, you will map out what the key values and morals are for the company. What can your staff expect and what will their working environment be like. How are they to act around other staff members? What will be tolerated and what won’t?
One of the first things you need to do is to prioritize diversity equity and inclusion in the workplace. Although this concept receives a lot of lip service, it is quite challenging for business owners to actually implement it in the company. The first place to start is by looking at who are the decision-makers at your company. How inclusive is your management team? Have you chosen a team that is diverse and inclusive and that represents the rest of your staff?
Next, look at introducing new policies throughout the organization. You will need to have everyone in the company on board. From high-level management and stakeholders to every member of the team; diversity, equity, and inclusion should not be a siloed concept.
Brush Up on Vital HR Skills
HR is certainly one of the most dynamic components of the company. People and people management are continuously changing and evolving, and ensuring that each member of staff is satisfied and productive is challenging. It is even more so now in 2022, after two years of COVID-19, work-from-home policies, and a shift in employee behavior.
Basic HR skills are now paramount to the success of the organization. They now include mental health management, visionary and adaptable leadership, dynamic and open communication, and flexibility for all staff members. Technology has also increased and adapted to the environment around it, and key HR skills are streamlined with this technology.
One of the top skills is thoughtful, outcome-driven communication. Having various communication channels for staff is critical, but being able to have open, truthful, yet appealing conversations can be tricky. This is especially true now in a world that is incredibly uncertain and a lot of work and communication is done remotely.
Remote Yet Collaborative Work
On that note, consider how many staff members are now remote. Whether you have a full work-from-home policy, or whether staff members pick and choose days to work remotely, managing a staff complement has become increasingly disjointed.
One of the key challenges is making each staff member feel like part of the team and maintaining a company culture while working with remote staff. This is especially true in the case of new employees who are only remote workers. Collaboration and unity can be tough but is achievable.
One of the proven methods of success is the integration of various collaborative channels. Solutions like monday.com and Trello allow you to create projects, assign staff members, set goals and deadlines, and carefully monitor the progress. These are then integrated with real-time instant communication channels like Slack. You and your staff can have a real-time, instant birds-eye view of the tasks at hand and the status of the projects.
Instilling a Work-Life Balance
If anything, COVID-19 has shifted the employee mindset significantly. Not only has it been proven that work can be achieved remotely, but there has been a lot more priority put on a work-life balance. In fact, countries all over the world are considering and starting to test a four-day workweek. The 9 to 5, five days a week concept has died, and if you are not adapting to this, you are at risk of losing employees.
While shifting to a 4-day work week may not be possible or viable right now, you can still consider instituting a work-life balance in your company culture. The key is creating a flexible working environment for your employees. Remember, each employee is completely different. They have different home environments, are productive at different times of the day, and have different motivating factors.
A work-life balance will mean something different for different people. So, it could be worth your while to spend some time communicating with your staff to find out just what flexibility means for them.
The Bottom Line
Your employees are undoubtedly your most valuable asset. So, open, transparent, and fair communication should be the foundation of your organization. From top tiers of management to each team member, everyone should have a voice and feel like part of the team.
