DIY HR: 3 Great Tips for Successful Small Businesses

I’m David Andrews, employment attorney. DIY HR, Three Great Tips for Successful Small Businesses.

Small businesses do not have large HR staffs to help you work through all the complicated employment laws, so we’ve come up with three really quick steps to help you manage and navigate your way through the complex web of employment regulations.

First is spend some time thinking about your employment policies. It’s always so much better when you’ve thought about what’s best for your business and what’s best for your employees before a situation presents itself. When a situation arises, you tend to make decisions based on who that person is, not necessarily what’s best for your business, so just take a little time, think through the policies, and you’ll be off to a great start with your HR.

Second is to document. Always people say, “Dave, I don’t have time to document. It takes way too much time to write up a form or come up with some disciplinary notice.” You don’t have to do that. All you have to do is spend 15 seconds and send yourself an email. If one of your employees is late and you’ve had to talk to them about it on a regular basis, just shoot yourself a short email. “Emily was late.” Right there on the email you’ve got the date and you’ve got the time. You’re all set to go for your documentation.

The third step is never make an emotional decision on your employment issues, whether it’s hiring or it’s firing. Most often, we see it in the firing situation. Somebody’s made you really mad. You’re upset about the situation. They’ve really damaged the company and hurt the productivity of the company, but don’t feel like you got to make a decision today. Send the person home. Buy yourself a little time. Preferably talk to your HR lawyer who can help you sort through the various laws that you have to consider before you make the final decision.

There you have it, three do it yourself simple HR steps to make your small business a great success.