So it’s time to hire your first employee(s), congratulations! We bet you’re feeling both excited and overwhelmed, which are very reasonable emotions to be having right now. The first employee means an HR presence in the company is a non-negotiable, and that can increase the pressure to get it right. We encourage new employers to focus on the positive (their business is growing!) and to view the legal requirements as an opportunity to establish a strong foundation for all that growth.

In that vein, for this blog we will be outlining the necessary components that define an HR department.

Covering the bases in HR

Firstly, what is the purpose of HR? Put simply, it is a collection of policies and procedures that support the functions of a company and protect its’ employees, all the while diminishing legal risks.

HR will oversee the implementation of some of the most important tasks of your business, ensuring they are done legally and in the most efficient way possible. While this list is not comprehensive, it does comprise of the tasks that are the backbone of the HR department.

1. Department organization. What entails the responsibilities of each department, who heads them, and how they support one another.
2. Recruiting procedures. Everything from writing the unbiased job description, managing job boards, and interviewing candidates.
3. Onboarding process. A biggie! It’s how employees join the team: from paperwork, training, and measuring the progress of the process. We have a whole blog on it!
4. Compliance with laws. Making sure company policies and individual events are handled with care and do not break any local or federal laws. This includes safety, harassment, leave policies, rest and meal breaks, etc. The list is extensive and it takes a deep knowledge of the law to ensure compliance (by the way, Eos HR can help with that!).
5. Compensation transparency. Ensuring pay equity is especially important these days (deservedly). Major discrepancies heard in the news recently has resulted in employers implementing policies to safeguard against unfair pay scales.
6. Benefits. Your HR department will manage benefit packages, including open enrollment and any employee events or inquiries that occur during the year. 
7. Employee experience. HR plays a significant role in the safeguarding of employee rights, in managing their feedback and/or complaints, and in implementing new policies that support their ability to perform at work fairly and safely. Guess what? We wrote a blog on this too, it’s that important.

It’s quite typical for HR to be seen as a kind of policing of company behavior (hello one popular TV show) but it should be constructed and communicated as a support system for all employees, and implemented as a resource for meeting company goals (especially in regards to growth).

The development of an HR department is a considerable opportunity in both ensuring legal compliance AND strengthening the objectives of the company culture.

If you’re looking to build an HR department that can meet the demands of the modern workplace (and you should be!), you don’t have to do it alone. The team at Eos HR can help. With a deep understanding of the complexities in managing a growing business and its’ staff, we’re proficient at helping employers succeed in this exciting, yet challenging economic landscape.  Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.