A common conversation we have with smaller employers, growing businesses, and entrepreneurs is about how relevant workplace and HR focused policies truly are, in smaller businesses.

Smaller business owners tend to be fearful of creating HR policies out of concern they’ll remove the fluidity of the workplace and the flexibility their teams enjoy.

That effect isn’t imagined.

The modern HR professional’s understanding of business operations is typically learned in big corporates or at least, larger workforces. All too often, I’ve reviewed the policies HR pros and consultants have attempted to introduce into smaller businesses, and immediately advised to throw them away and start again.

Why?

They’ve plugged in a USB containing HR policies from previous workplaces, changed a few words, resulting in HR policies the smaller business has no chance of complying with, unless they employ another 5-admin staff to keep up with what the policy requires the employer to do.

They’re totally not-fit-for-purpose.

This is what happens when a HR pro goes ahead with HR policies and workplace rules without consultation of the workplace’s leaders, resulting in misalignment.

This is ‘Cut-n-Paste’ HR – and it’s prevalent in growing workplaces, startups, and smaller businesses.

Whether these documents are downloaded templates from an industry peak body or the Fair Work Ombudsman website, this one-size-fits-all solution (that is almost fit for nobody) is not supportive of any business in today’s over-regulated workplace.

Any of the above means your leaders and people are likely to operate so misaligned with your workplace policies, they’ll create workarounds, disrupting workflows, creating compliance risks, and leaving smaller business employers even more exposed than before the policies ever existed.

The biggest risk?

Your workplace is opening doors to multiple claims against itself that you’ll never be able to defend, because your leaders were unable to follow your own policies or rules.

When that happens, the Employer is the one (typically) to be found at fault by any regulator that investigates claims against you by employees.

How do you do create HR policies that propel your business?

Conversation. Consultation. Understanding. Whoever you assign the project of policy creation to must possess these 3 values.

Creating HR policies for a smaller business’ workplace requires a person to set aside their big-business-bias and listen to the small business operator to understand the most value elements of their world.

The conversation must be held around the needs of the business, in areas, like:

• Getting started, inductions, and what the business needs from employees.
• Pay, payroll processes, time recordings, and how pay errors are addressed.
• How you expect to manage work availability and closed down periods.
• How you’ll manage leave and time off.
• The rules that people your workplace must comply with.
• Expected behaviours.
• How you’ll manage disputes or conflict.
• General procedures, and
• Health and safety.

From there, you can start drafting policies, bearing in mind, they can be as simple as a paragraph or two long, or as detailed as you need them to be.

If you have the most important bases covered, you can now stand on your HR policies as a platform of minimum acceptable standards and start to manage for higher performance off the baseline.

For smaller employers, this is how you get your leaders (and owners) out of the nitty gritty and low-level conversations, and elevate the workforce setting their eyes on more valuable and meaningful issues.

Standardising and simplifying these minimum standards in your business by drafting HR policies removes the need to hold low-value conversations and will start to propel your business and your people forward.

 

Reach out to our team for more information, or to seek some assistance with your HR policies and workplace relations systems.

Call us on 1300 138 211, or send and enquiry here