The Department of Human Resources has the responsibility of protecting both the employer and the employee through the development of job duties, job manuals and company policy, which create a strong structure and company culture.
The documentation process starts from the moment a position has to be filled. Generally, the person (executive) that request the position be filled, should list out the position requirements (in writing) so HR can create a very thorough job posting that lays out expectations to the prospective applicant. The entire hiring process must be documented with written interview notes in the applicants file, (see interview dos and don'ts), a written offer letter, including a job description as to expectations. In this way, when the applicant accepts the offer, he or she also signs off that they have read the job description and are attesting they can carry out the duties. The next phase is the on-boarding phase and should include premise orientation and orientation to the employee handbook and the general company policies. (HR Policies and Procedures). The documentation process must continue further with the training of the new hire as to HOW to execute the job. Each company owner has their established protocols and "ways" they expect a job to be carried out. This all must be communicated to the new hire so they can be made to do the job successfully. (If you do not have job manuals - contact Personnel Matters and we will design and develop job manuals for each position within your company - Job Manual Assessment and Development). The new hire is on a 90-day introductory period. During this time, they should be continue to train for their position, gain an understanding and it would not hurt to re-read their job duties and all policies related to their job at least one more time after a month of doing the position. A lot of the policies and procedures will be in context and understandable. Again, this should be documented. The 90-day performance review should be done at the 90-day mark. Not 2 or 3 months later. The performance review should contain all the employee did correct and areas of improvements and a performance improvement plan (PIP) which documents expectations. If you do not have these. We can provide customized job performance forms, corrective actions forms, performance improvement plans, etc. HR Policies and Procedures Annual performance reviews should be conducted. These can be at the anniversary date or often times, executives may do all employee reviews in the last quarter of the year. Throughout the year, any verbal conversations should be followed up with an email to put everything in writing. Any corrective actions, training or discipline steps (whether verbal or written warnings) must be in writing with a copy to the personnel file. All corrective actions should refer back to company policy or procedures. If you follow your own hiring and on-boarding system, with a qualified candidate who was correctly on-boarded and trained properly, you should rarely have to discipline the employee. None-the-less, we do find that the discipline process is necessary and should be done fairly and with specifics. Never allow days or weeks to pass before disciplining the employee. The discipline should be done referring back to the employee handbook or company policies, as to what specifically was violated. Should the employee continue to make the same errors, despite corrective actions, training, corrective actions, discipline and more discipline, only then should they be terminated. (The employee handbook should be very clear as to what is considered immediate terminable offenses such as stealing, outright dishonesty, harming or putting an employee or the company in danger, etc). NO employee should ever be surprised when they are terminated, because they have been corrected along the way. As an employer, you will have all your documentation in place, so should never feel that you have to keep an employee. The work relationship works both ways. The employer who provides clear expectations and has the basic company structure in place to allow an employee to carry out those duties and an employee who is qualified and capable of carrying out those expectations, makes for a happy work scene, where both employer and employee are protected. Please visit www.achievestability.com for a free assessment of your company HR policies, job descriptions and job manuals.
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AuthorLorianne Isaacson - Owner of Personnel Matters, Inc. where we empower employees and employers to achieve stability in the work place. |
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What Our Clients Are Saying“I highly recommend Personnel Matters if you want and need more order, workable systems, and clearly stated policies for any division of your company. Personnel Matters helped us strengthen our procurement of willing employees and provided us with a handbook outlining policies and procedures to clearly delineate what is expected as a team member"... Arrow Rehabilitation, Palm Coast, FL |