Is your people plan fit for purpose?

We all know that a well-designed people strategy should be one of any employer’s first and foremost priorities. It’s not just about happy employees – it’s about reducing the risk of something going wrong.

There have been reminders in the media recently about how important it is to get human resources right, whether your company is big or small. Pay and sound IR practices are just the foundation. Here’s a brief checklist to ensure your company is set up for success and reduce risk exposure.

1. Establish and or review your people policies early

It’s never too early to lay out the ground rules of behaviour in the workforce to save potential problems. If your organisation is small, external consultants can provide cost-effective solutions that work within your budget. The policy does not exist for people to hide behind or use as a barrier; it can be set up to enhance your culture, providing an understanding of where you want your business to go and thrive.

2. Empower your Human Resources function

Could you make sure your HR leader reports directly to the CEO? This ensures that the person at the top has direct insight and knowledge of what’s going on internally, and HR can align itself with the business goals and objectives. Placing the HR leader with the leadership team also shows that you value the team and culture of your company.

3. Adapt Human Resources as you grow

The HR resources or strategy you had as a start-up will need to evolve as your organisation grows and expands. It’s a good idea to place a regular review to ensure HR resources are appropriate for the growth rate.

4. Keep recruitment separate

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that HR and recruitment are interchangeable. Your HR strategy should be about culture and leadership, collecting feedback from the team, and managing performance and development goals. Recruitment is a whole other specialty in itself.

Every successful business has a sound Human Resources strategy in place. If you need clarification on where to start or need advice on who would be able to help you, feel free to give us a call for an obligation-free chat. We can help with a permanent or a temporary solution to make sure you’re on the right track.

This brings us to our temp of the week/century.

As the HRD this person was responsible for the provision of HR services across the 6 entities in their region. Each entity maintains its own discrete management, staffing and financial structures (balance sheets and P&L). The HR team under them (approx. 30) provided WH&S, ER, IR, OD, L&D, Payroll, Comp & Ben and Recruitment services across the entities within the region.

The HC within the overall region was 1200-1400 depending on project requirements. Their people were spread across approx. 20 sites.

This person is an experienced HR operations specialist and enjoys each and every discipline within the HR suite. Their strengths lie in Business Partnering, IR and systems. In their last role as a supplier of specialist services, the vast bulk of recruitment was for Medical and Allied Health positions. Their output was over 1,000 positions a year which included a thorough vetting process of Police checks, WWCC, AHPRA, BLS, ALS checks etc – they have to be very thorough as they are government contracts.

They are used to rapid and planned mobilisations of new staffing projects in semi-rural and remote areas. They have negotiated many EA’s across many different sectors (Metal Workers Union, Maritime Services & Maritimes Pilots and Nurses Union)  – Each sector has a vastly different style and approach.

They are experienced in Sarbanes-Oxley, ISO 15489 and other standards for records keeping. They have operated under and transformed various SLA agreements to ensure the business stakeholders are well managed and looked after.

This person has accumulated an enormous bank of HR knowledge over many years. Together with a passion for customer service,  they love seeing HR deliver to high standards and reaping the rewards for being valued.

Of course this is not the only amazing human ready to go – if you need help – just shout!