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When
is the Right Time for an HR Expert?
By
Roberta Chinsky Matuson
For
many companies, who have experienced rapid growth, Human Resources is an after
thought. You start out with two employees and before you know it, you've grown
to over 25. Life in the office goes from being fairly simple to highly complex.
When you are a small company, it is easy to operate on the fly. In fact some
employees find it thrilling to work in an environment where everything is
informal. Unfortunately, there are many others who have a difficult time
operating in an organization where the only thing that is predictable is change.
Like it or not, it may very well be time to formalize HR processes and
procedures in your organization. No need to panic. You can easily accomplish
this by hiring an HR Expert.
What's the role of an HR Expert?
Think of an HR Expert like you would a VP of HR. Only you don't have to provide
this person with a fancy office and a big salary. The services of an HR expert
vary depending on the company's needs and the consultant's depth of experience.
Just-in-time services range from writing an employee handbook to helping guide
you through complex HR issues.
Like most things in life, you get what you pay for. When evaluating consultants,
focus on the value they can bring to your organization. A small decrease in
turnover or an increase in productivity will more than pay for this investment.
So how do you know when it's the right time to hire an outside HR Expert? Here
are some clues:
You no longer know right from wrong - When you first started your business you
were feeling pretty comfortable addressing HR issues in your organization. After
all, how hard could it be making up policies, such as vacation time, as you
needed them? Now was it Bob or Mary that you promised an additional week of paid
vacation? If you can't remember, ask either one of them. They know exactly what
the other one has.
You are having a difficult time keeping up with all the rules and
regulations-Some leaders find it hard to let go, so they try to manage
everything. This requires a great deal of reading and a terrific memory. Before
you enroll in a three-day seminar on the fundamentals of HR management, ask
yourself if this time would be better spent dramatically improving your product
and enhancing your market position.
You believe you can do it all in house - Why hire an expert when you can use
software to automate all of HR? Take employee handbooks. For a few hundred
dollars you can do it yourself. Or can you? You probably could if you had the
knowledge that it took to answer the series of questions that need responses.
But if you could do this, then why would you need to buy the software?
Save yourself the money and aggravation. Hire an expert who can get the work
done right the first time and in a way that works for your company. Then cross
this important item off of your long list of things to do.
You are not Atlas - When you are experiencing rapid growth, it's easy to forget
that you need a strong foundation to support your company's growth. Imagine what
would happen if you decided to build a 5,000 square foot house on a foundation
that is meant to support a 2,000 square foot home. Your house will eventually
collapse.
The same is true for organizations that have grown rapidly and have not
established a strong base. Through luck, or by throwing out huge sums of money,
you might have attracted star players to your team. But few people will stay
once they realize that they have joined a squad that is experiencing lots of
growing pains. Invest in your infrastructure beforehand, to ensure you retain
those valuable resources.
You can no longer look around the office and call each employee by their name -
If you've reached this point, then you probably should have hired an expert
several years ago. That being said, it is not too late. Now where are those name
tags kept?
Despite what you might have heard, there is no magic formula for deciding when
it is time to bring in an HR Expert. The right time is when you are serious
about decreasing your legal exposure, enhancing employee engagement and
dramatically increasing productivity and profitability.
Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (www.yourhrexperts.com)
and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business
goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta
publishes a monthly newsletter "HR Matters"
http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources,
articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR
workforce issues. Click here to read her new blog on Generation Integration
http://generationintegration.typepad.com/matuson/. She can be reached at
413-582-1840 or
Roberta@yourhrexperts.com.
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