Human Resources Policies - Execute Them

 The human resource is truly the greatest resource that any company has.  People are, and always will be, the lifeblood of an organization.  It is always easier to sit on the outside looking in and advise companies on how they should treat their employees.  However, there are some common themes that I see as they relate to the human resources function in small and middle market businesses.

 In the age of employee leasing and temporary staffing, many companies have made the conscious decision to outsource this portion of their business to a third party.  The company will provide benefits and administration, workers compensation, claims handling and “human resources” to their clients.  The first two items are pretty easy to define and understand.  The last leaves a little “grey area” to be interpreted.  Companies are scared to death to have and handle their own employees, so they pass the “hot potato” to a third party and rely solely on them for how to handle things.  While this works for some companies, it is not a model that works for everyone.

These may be my favorites.  They are the companies that hire you to come in and give you your expert opinion only to tell you that your recommendations won’t work.  They are the people that have faced EEOC complaints or OSHA violations in the past.  They have been sued or had an employment practices claim but never did anything to remedy the situation.  They are riverboat gamblers when it comes to their business.  They know they need to do something but aren’t sure what, so the only defense mechanism they have is to tell you that “it won’t work”.  Not surprisingly, many of these companies end  up as horrible clients for employee leasing firms, or get sued out of business.

This is the company that has actually embraced human resources and has some policies and procedures.  They realize that people are important and as a result have let the employees take over the business.  They have the policies and procedures in place but they don’t enforce them uniformly.  They attempt to enforce policies, but when challenged by the employee, the buckle.  Most often the infractions involve grooming, dress code, tardiness and attendance.  What is the problem?  The problem is that these are all visible infractions.  All of the other employees can see that this person violated the rules and got away with them.  They know that if they ever break the rules, you will have no chance of holding them accountable.  Organizations like these would literally be better served to have no policies at all as opposed to having policies they aren’t willing to execute.

Then there are the companies that have human resources policies and procedures in place.  They execute them uniformly across the work force.  They reward good performance and redirect bad.  They take the hiring process seriously.  They understand the probationary period and use it as a tool (as it was intended).  Not surprisingly, these companies also have a great culture.  It is kind of paradoxical that companies who bend the rules think they are gaining employee confidence.  However, it is the companies that have the rules and execute them that foster the most respect from their employees.  People are watching you.  They want to see if you will do what you promise because at some point it will impact them directly.  As a result of their execution these companies typically enjoy better than average employee retention and profitability.

If you have policies and procedures in place – EXECUTE THEM. If you refuse, you might as well let your company spiral out of control like the anarchy it already is. Why waste the time, money and headaches of trying to do something you just aren’t that committed to. You may actually come out ahead outsourcing it to someone who is a pro. While it costs a little money in the short term, it will save you long term. How you choose that partner is the topic for a whole different conversation.

David R. Carothers, CIC, CRM is a Risk Management Consultant and Licensed Insurance Agent with Praxiom based in Tampa, FL. To contact David Directly, please email him atdrc@praxiom-rm.com.