I’m a small business, do I really need policies and processes?

HR policies are vital to your growing business for so many reasons even if it does sound a bit dull.

As your business grows and develops, it’s important to introduce people policies to ensure a consistent and fair approach is adopted for everyone – both you and your team want to know what’s expected of them and where they stand.

I know dealing with a staff issue is not pleasant but having a structured policy and process to follow does help.  

You can get away with structure when everything is plain sailing but the moment there is an issue, whether it be performance, grievance, sickness issues, which can be common in the workplace, if you don’t have a robust policy to follow, what should be fairly straightforward to deal can become a headache.

Contracts of employment

When a new employee starts the contract of employment (which they need from day one) will probably be the first document they will see, make sure it is relevant and covers the key issues for your business.

Employee handbook

The contract of employment often refers the staff member to the employee handbook (otherwise the contract would be sooooo long).  It needs to address key employment issues for example your rules on employee behaviour and how you deal with absence, performance, leave.  Make it clear so your employees understand their responsibilities and the company’s expectations.

Employment law

You may have some policies from when you first set up, but they haven’t been reviewed for a few years?  Employment law, whilst a potentially dry subject, needs to be followed.  It is easier to do this when you know your policy mirrors it.

Business risk

If you do not have contracts or policies in place, you are leaving your business open to risks. Employment law is a complex grey area that evolves and can trip you up. Once you have your documents in place you need to adapt them over time if there are legislation changes.

Need some help?

 I can work through these steps with you and review what you have in place (or advise on what you need if you don’t have anything in place) and either recommend and implement changes if needed so they are compliant and user friendly or develop a fresh selection of procedures and processes that are tailored specifically for your business and for your people.