Employee HR Pitfalls to Avoid
Updated: Jan 16, 2020
Many small - medium sized businesses are vulnerable to costly HR issues because they usually lack a legal department or HR resources.
5 Pitfalls to Avoid
With a little planning and foresight, you can avoid these pitfalls and save your company valuable time, money, and employee morale.
1- No Employee Handbook
Every company with employees should have an employee handbook, as it helps employees to understand what their rights are, and what the company’s HR processes and policies are. It acts as a point of reference for employees whenever they are unsure of what to do in a given situation, helping to clarify what the right course of action is in unconventional circumstances and preventing HR issues from getting out of hand. The employee handbook reduces confusion surrounding HR processes, and reduces the time wasted resolving HR issues, which is particularly important for small businesses.
2- Not Enforcing HR Policies
Your employee handbook may include workplace policies like your office hours, vacation, paid time off, acceptable attire, and standards on technology use. But remember, the mere presence of a policy does not mean employees will follow it.
It's up to you to enforce your policies, since they can impact productivity, culture, workplace safety, and ultimately, your bottom line.
Some common things employees do that may not comply with your policies include arriving to work late or leaving early, taking long lunch breaks, and violations surrounding sick days and personal days.
Other common issues include workplace bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
3- No HR Employee Training
Compliance training is employee training mandated by the government laws, regulations or policies. It educates your employees on the laws or regulations applicable to their job function or industry.
These laws are predominantly in place to maintain the safety of the workplace and the dignity of the employee. These training initiatives should be mandatory, so you'll want an easy way to record completions.
Why is a smooth compliance training process important?
Good employee compliance programs help to prevent poor conduct and ensure proper governance in your organization. This helps to minimize risk, maintain your reputation and provides a better environment for your employees to work in - benefiting productivity in the long run.
Running compliance training programs
As mentioned, the main objectives are to get your employees trained, and to generate a record of training ‘completion’. Completion, in this case, is the meeting of the requirements and standards, e.g. pass a test, complete a 3-hour course etc.
To comply, you need a company like ComplyTrain with a Learning Management System (LMS) and online training that tracks every employee's progress and completions.
4- Using Unethical Hiring Practices
Many laws are in place to prevent employers from discriminating against job candidates during the hiring process; however, many hiring practices that are considered unfair may not actually be illegal. Most companies have a specific recruitment process in place to help avoid discrimination. The problem is that some of these processes may still include areas that could potentially be deemed unfair.
Although not illegal, unfair hiring practices can affect your company's reputation, which can make it more difficult to attract high-quality candidates in the long run. It can also discourage candidates from taking the job if you offer it to them if they feel like they were misled. It's why it's important that you analyze your hiring practices to make sure your hiring process is as fair and balanced as possible.
5- No HR Complaint Tracking
If you own a business or are a HR manager, maintaining unified employee relations is integral to your company’s success. Though you may constantly try to have a finger on the pulse of your company, you know that a plethora of unexpected problems can pop up on a dime. While this is inevitable, the key to dealing with common employee relations issues is having a plan and multiple supports in place so that when issues do arise, they can be addressed swiftly and effectively.
Common employee issues HR should be tracking to avoid legal ramifications.