There are many areas of running and managing a business that cause a bit of headache for staff, a particularly when trying to keep up with all of the relevant changes that occur both in legislation and best practice. HR is one such area that can be a nightmare for companies to keep on top of. This is why many small and medium sized businesses are using hr outsourcing services like the ones provided by https://www.mushroombiz.co.uk/homepage/services/hr/. By using one of these kinds of companies a business can be assured that the knowledge and information that they are being given is up to date and relevant.
HR covers everything from recruitment right through to staff performance and training and everything else that you can think of in-between. One of the backbones of HR is the policies and procedures that are put in place often to reflect relevant legislation and to protect businesses and employees from litigation. Many people think that policies and procedures are only needed in larger companies and those that may operate in high risk areas such as manufacturing. However, there are a number of policies that companies of any size should ensure that they have in place with many of them being statutory. These include:
- Equal Opportunities – Policies that cover equal opportunities ensure that all staff are treated fairly and equally and this may include the way in which candidates are dealt with during the recruitment and selection process. This policy will refer and link to other policies including the recruitment policy, discrimination policy and any pay policy and maternity and paternity policies that are in place.
- Capability and Disciplinary – This is one policy that no one wants to have to use but it is extremely important that it is put into place to not only help ad protect employees or who are perhaps not performing at their best but also to protect the company and give a set procedure that should be followed in the event of having to deal with an employee in disciplinary terms.
- Grievance – Making sure that your employees feel like they have a mechanism to raise any issues is incredibly important and should form a part of your companies culture but a Grievance Policy allows for more serious issues to be dealt with in the correct manner and in a way that makes sure each person raising a grievance is dealt with equally and any outcomes are managed according to the company disciplinary policy.
- Social Media – with more and more people spending large amounts of time on social media and being more open about their opinions and views it is important to ensure that you protect your business. This may also include developing a computer usage policy to makes sure that staff are only using the business equipment for work related items. Social Media policies may cover whether staff are allowed to show where they work and the conduct that you expect of them. This will be closely linked to both the company Grievance and Disciplinary policies.
