Strategies For Making HR More Effective For SMEs

A solid HR department is vital for businesses and SMEs of all sizes. It assures employees that legal and ethical considerations are at the root of a firm’s infrastructure.

Still, the necessity of HR departments is debated by some entrepreneurs. One founder and CEO of a billion-pound business refuses to implement an HR department entirely, questioning its purpose. While this business person has enjoyed success, to hold their view, they likely failed in managing an HR department.

SMEs must have an effective HR department to both recruit and nurture their talent. If it’s all managed effectively, the benefits would speak for themselves. Here are some strategies for making HR more effective in your SME.

Setting Active Goals

Many entrepreneurs use their HR department as a safety net. However, that’s only one of the functions it serves, and if things rarely go wrong, HR personnel will have little to do.

It’s important to outline active goals HR departments can constantly pursue. These could include:

• Developing and refining more complex recruitment campaigns.
• Monitoring employee activities to ensure positive working relationships and compliance procedures are followed.
• Identifying talent that’s most optimal for progression and management positions and developing systems to nurture that talent further.

Quality HR practices are tailored to the needs of your organisation. They aren’t copied and pasted from competitors. Keep your HR department busy and encourage them to optimise all their processes.

Partner with HR Consultancy Services

SMEs can be rough around the edges, and there’s no shame in admitting that you’re out of your depth in certain parts of your operations. HR can be one area that is typically more challenging to perfect.

Fortunately, there are firms out there with a lot of HR experience. For example, Citation provides HR consultancy services and offers advice and input in clear and direct language. They can also visit your premises and recommend courses of action based on their findings. Whether you require training solutions or advice on dealing with difficult employee conversations, they have viable and actionable answers for everything.

A lot of time can be saved by using services such as these. Leaders of SMEs are often overwhelmed at the best of times, so having some extra support to take the edge off HR can make a huge difference too. Lighten the work and stress load with quality guidance and support; your HR department’s effectiveness will improve in no time.

Improve Feedback Techniques

There is a lot of trial and error for SMEs, particularly in the early days as they find their footing. Only constructive criticism can help them build a roadmap towards improvement.

Some employees may hesitate to give feedback to HR. They may not want to risk upsetting the team that’s supposed to be on their side. Alternatively, they may view HR as ‘separate’ from the rest of the SME, perceiving them more as corporate-like representatives rather than genuine colleagues.

However, it is possible to get better at giving and receiving constructive criticism in ways that benefit the entirety of a business. If employees can express their honest feelings about HR’s role in the firm, processes will undoubtedly be improved. Instruct HR to curate in-depth surveys or create focus groups to determine where things could be bettered.