Five Easy-to-Overlook HR Mistakes Made by Small Businesses
1: Ignoring your brand as an employer.
A “company brand” is its reputation and public image in the minds of its customers. A strong, positive brand can encourage customer loyalty and engagement as well as attract new customers. But many businesses, especially smaller ones, fail to think about their “employer brand,” or their reputation and image in the employment market. With a strong employer brand, you can attract better quality job candidates and even boost retention among current employees.
2: Using inefficient recruitment practices.
Time is money, and small business owners work a lot. Well over half work more than 40 hours a week, and over a third work more than 50 hours. Far too many business owners allow inefficient practices to sap their time, and recruitment is one area that can suffer. In an effort to reduce time spent, many small business owners use “brute-force” recruitment tactics that inadvertently increase inefficiency.
3: Handling payroll themselves.
Payroll errors are rampant. According to the Workforce Institute, over half of American workers have faced some kind of payroll error. Underpayment can lead to back wages and, in some cases, litigation. Overpayments can leech from the bottom line. In fact, 13.6 million American workers report being overpaid, but they don’t all report it: workers say they’d have to be overpaid by $463 or more before they’d report the error. Prevent payroll problems before they occur: utilize a modern payroll service or system.
4: Refusing to get help.
Many small business owners try to “do it all”. They may feel cash-strapped, or they want all tasks completed to their personal approval (which can turn the owner into a workflow bottleneck). Often, the reason is simply due to misconceptions. Many small businesses, for example, think PEOs are for bigger companies or will take control of employees – neither of which is true. Here are six common misconceptions about PEOs.
5: Failing to take HR seriously.
All too often, small companies think that HR is something that only bigger businesses need to worry about. They’ll deal with it “someday,” failing to realize that HR failures can shut down their business before “someday” ever arrives.
CoAdvantage, one of the nation’s largest Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), helps small to mid-sized companies with HR administration, benefits, payroll, and compliance. To learn more about CoAdvantage’s ability to create a strategic HR function in your business that drives business growth potential, contact us today.