Common HR Mistakes to Avoid

The HR department is the heart of any business. Without it functioning properly the business can run into many problems. HR support employees in every department meaning any mistakes have the potential to affect large areas of the business.

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An outdated employee handbook 

It's important that the employee handbook is updated regularly no matter how big or small your company is, around every 2 years is standard. Don't expect everything to be smooth sailing if everyone isn't on the same page with the current company rules.

Not to mention laws that may have changed so having an out of date handbook could land you in a heap of trouble.  Have you're employees sign a form stating that they have received, read and agreed to the policies. 

Include information such as your company's: 

• Code of conduct 
• Disciplinary rules and procedures
• Communications policy 
• Nondiscrimination policy 
• Compensation and benefits 
• Employment and termination guidelines
• Health and safety policy

Turning a blind eye to employee reports

One of HR's many duties is to resolve any office issues or conflicts but sometimes these issues can be overlooked and forgotten about. This isn't just frustrating for the employees involved but it can also become a much bigger issue way down the line which we'll discuss in the next point.  

Always make an effort to empathise with employees and resolve every concern that is brought to you and in a fair, professional and timely manner. All reports are serious and should be taken as such.  

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Not recording employee performance issues 

If employees have brought concerns to you and you've resolved them make sure to document them.  Of course, everyone knows to do this but it’s not always done. It may seem like a waste of time to file paperwork for small issues but if they keep occurring and haven’t been documented there's no way to take action as they may as well of not happened at all. Keep reports as important evidence to support your companies possible future decision to terminate that employee.

Speeding through the hiring process 

We've talked about the implications of hiring to slow before on this blog but never discussed the list of problems that can occur from hiring to fast.

In order to avoid hiring the wrong person make sure your job descriptions are detailed and have clear roles and responsibilities.

This starts from the moment you begin your hiring process. Before you even place a job listing online be sure to run through the entire scope of the role so you can be ready to inform your potential hire and be clear on their roles and responsibilities from the very beginning.   if you've been rigorous on these terms throughout your hiring process you're almost guaranteed to hire the best fit for the role in less time. 

The employee's job description is also an important document for future reference if the employee needs to make modifications to the essential and marginal functions of their job for personal or health reasons.

A confused onboarding process  

Your recruitment process doesn't stop once you've hired them. Companies lose 25% of their employees within the first year, so successful onboarding is essential. Ensuring your employees have a positive, engaging onboarding experience is just as important as making sure your application process goes well. 

You want your employees to feel involved and have the confidence to contribute asap. Have a great onboarding process mapped out and ready to go when your new hires first walk through the door.

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Managers at Google begin by completing these five tasks with their new hire: 

• Having a discussion about roles and responsibilities
• Matching the new hire with a peer buddy
• Helping the new hire build a social network
• Setting up employee on-boarding check-ins once a month for the new hire’s first six months
• Encouraging open dialogue 

An inattentive training process

Always have a thorough training period with your new hires. Foster an environment from the start where they can ask you questions and you provide the strong leadership they need. Training of new hires safeguards that they are happy in their new job and lessens the odds of the hire getting irritated in their role. If your employees haven’t been provided with adequate training their job satisfaction will quickly decline leading them to go work elsewhere not only this, but the quality of work won’t be up to standards.

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Want to have your HR team all on the same page? Involving your team at each stage of the recruitment process, from choosing hiring criteria to assessing each candidate’s fit, will help you hire the best candidate for the position and for your company culture.

If you’re ready to start building your recruitment dream team today, Occupop is here to help! Our recruitment software offers a centralised platform for your entire team to connect, collaborate and communicate about each stage of the hiring process, and you can even share individual tasks with each member. With our AI technology offering a helping hand during each part of the process, including sourcing CVs and scheduling interviews, your team can shave off up to 4-5 hours a week. That means you have more time to focus on welcoming your new hire to the team!