When it comes to people…
Within a business, people are often the biggest asset. Astute businesses are aware of how proactive people solutions, that truly harness the amazing skills, knowledge, personality, and productivity of your team can be a game changer.
Focusing efforts on leadership and talent development, engagement and retention initiatives, and values and behaviour strategies can foster an engaging and high performing culture. The benefits of this can be immense and set you apart from your competition.
Conversely, there can be times when people can also be a businesses’ biggest liability. If you employ people, then it’s certain that you’ll have HR requirements that come with that side of running a business. From providing an employment agreement, to dealing with a performance issue, making changes in your business (restructure and/or redundancies), or creating company policies, these activities can take time and knowledge.
Time is something that’s limited when you’re managing a business, and knowledge is something that generally takes time. With Google and the arrival of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT it can be easy to believe that you can find something online or use a template from a company you’ve worked with before to get the job done. And simply, it can be that easy. However, there are pitfalls that can cost companies significantly.
Best intentions
Wrongly assessing or (unintentionally) mishandling a situation can create issues. Even if you believe you’ve done all the right things, and have been a great employer, this won’t amount to much if you’ve not completed the correct process under employment legislation. We know that most businesses want to do the right thing, but they can be sadly caught out when it’s not the case.
Employment legislation
A lot of employment legislation has been updated in the past few years, which has created changes to how situations are approached. Similarly, ‘precedent’ (i.e. what’s been determined in employment court situations) continues to evolve and this can change advice on how to handle HR situations.
Media
The number of articles on mainstream media about how people are getting large payouts from businesses who’ve handled an employment situation badly is relatively common. People are more aware of their employment rights, and what they can do if they believe they’ve had a bad deal.
What’s the solution?
When it comes to both the proactive and reactive sides of HR, having an on-call HR specialist can save you time and worry, and it’s usually more cost effective than you might think.
At HR Associate we work with your business when you need us, and you only pay for when you use us. We are qualified experts in HR, with experience in many industries across NZ and the world. You will work with a primary consultant who will get to know you, your people, and business and provide expert support that seamlessly balances people needs with your commercial objectives. We provide HR advice, support, and documentation via email and phone. If you need us onsite for something, we have that option for our Auckland based clients.
Want to know how HR Associate can support your business? Contact us for a no obligation discussion.
