Use this handy HR Checklist to identify your human resources needs.
_____ Benefits – Group Insurance, Health Spending Accounts & Perks: Benefits promote job satisfaction through health, wellness and feeling valued. They can help to recruit and increase employee retention, and be fully sponsored or cost-shared.
_____ Compensation/Pay Structures: How confident are you that your wages are competitive? Have you evaluated a local salary survey? Do you have a pay structure and guidelines to ensure compensation is fair and equitable? Lack of wages can be a strong contributor to job dissatisfaction – don’t let it be the reason you lose good people and incur hiring expenses.
_____ Employee Policies Handbook: Provide clarity of employment terms and expectations such as employee conduct, performance management, vacation, sick leave and more. It ensures consistent, fair treatment that is legislation-compliant, thus minimizing employee questions and issues.
_____ Employee Relations: Are you uncomfortable or uncertain handling difficult/sensitive employee issues? Expert HR advice and assistance may be just what you need.
_____ Hiring/Recruitment: Making the best hiring decisions is much easier when you have the right skills and tools to post jobs, conduct interviews and reference checks to hire the right person for your culture, then agree to employment terms through a written employment offer/contract.
_____ Job Descriptions: These important documents serve as an important reference for establishing job responsibilities and qualifications, setting equitable pay grades, writing job advertisements, preparing interview questions, training new hires and evaluating performance.
_____ Onboarding/Orientation Program: Help new hires make a smooth transition into your organization; avert employment issues by setting a strong foundation for understanding the company, culture, structure, expectations and policies.
_____ Performance Management and Appraisals: Essential for encouraging optimum performance, they provide discussion opportunities correlated to achievements, short-comings, goals, training, pay increases, promotions and even lay-off decisions.
_____ Personnel Files: Comply with the privacy acts (e.g. PIPA/PIPEDA) by collecting and retaining only relevant information. Track key employment information, and implement a systematic approach that makes it easy to put your hands on information you need.
_____ Terminations: When improvement strategies haven’t worked out and termination is the best decision, it is important to understand both legislation and the common law. Litigation and unexpected costs can be avoided or contained when handled appropriately in employment contracts, severance calculations, termination letters, releases and respectful notification meetings.
_____ Training: Employees, teams and managers can become more effective in their roles as well as prepare them for change, additional responsibilities or promotion. Your support can pay dividends all-round.
