Ah, spring time – who doesn’t love a good spring clean? Having a good clean out and refresh doesn’t need to be limited to your home; it is also a great time to apply the same principles to your business, and in particular the human resource side of your business.
Most of us have good intentions when it comes to our businesses, however when we get busy, pressured and stressed, some of the housekeeping tends to get overlooked. Spring is a great time to do a bit of a WOF on your business and ensure it is set and ready for the busy summer months ahead.
Ensuring your HR systems and procedures are in place, relevant and current will set your business up well. This ensures you have a solid platform for growth, enabling your business to focus on the bigger issues.
Spring is a good time to look at the basics – ask yourself, do you have up to date position descriptions, employment agreements and house rules?
How relevant and up to date are your policies and procedures, or do they need a refresh? Have you kept accurate and up to date staff files or do these need a refresh too?
Have you made time to sit with your staff, have a conversation about the roles they are doing and get their feedback, leading into a more formal review process if you do these?
This could also lead into looking at individual staff and team targets, and talking with your staff individually, and as a team, to chat to them about where they are at with their personal and team goals.
Do you ever ask your staff for feedback on their position, the team and the company?
Feedback should be welcomed. The good, the bad and the ugly. It may be a vital key to the culture and productivity within your business. As business owners and leaders, we also need to hear about areas that we too can improve, so don’t overlook the value and shy away from this type of feedback.
Knowing where your staff and team are at, and how they are working together can help you build a more cohesive work environment for the future, which will ultimately be more productive and profitable. This may also be a good time to consider a health and wellness survey which may lead to implementation of a wellness programme.
Having your human resource framework current will make it easier to manage your staff now and in the longer term as well as enable you to focus on the bigger picture. Every so often we come across businesses who have grown quickly but struggled to keep up with the basic processes and requirements for managing their staff.
This can often lead to staff dissatisfaction down the track, hinder growth, as well as raising compliance issues.
So, this Spring, give your human resource system a warrant of fitness, so that you can focus on the busy summer months ahead, growing your business, maximising profit and maybe even squeezing in a summer break.
