If you are just starting your business, you may find yourself doing most of the work since your capital resources are limited. In fact, if you have the budget, you are more likely to hire a finance person than a human resource expert. Interestingly, you are not alone. Most startups rarely see the need to hire or plan for human resource department in the beginning. Apart from the extra costs that come with such professionalism, some people see personnel managers as being too demanding and strict with company policies. However, you shouldn’t believe this ideology because a human resource (HR) department is very important from the start.
The Changing Face of the HR Discipline
If you look at most tech start-ups, the HR department has been renamed to ‘people operations.’ This has been done to make it more about the employees and less about the policies. Nowadays, HR tends to focus more on the individual and what can be done to improve their work environment. The culture of bureaucracy in HR is slowly dying as more organizations work on using the HR department as a tool to motivate employees and encourage innovation.
Why your Start-up should have an HR Department
1. To Be At the Forefront of Change
As much as start-ups emphasize on the importance of employee freedom, the current worker wants to be part of something bigger. It’s not that the workers don’t enjoy the pool table in the lounge area or the foosball, they just want the organization to be more concerned about modern issues. Things such as global warming, poverty, and food security concern these workers. They want to make a difference in the world by helping out where they can. You need an HR department so that it can figure out the best ways to engage the workers on such issues.
2. To Have a Diverse Workforce
We all have personal biases towards things and people. Sometimes you hire more men than women because of a personal bias. Interestingly, you do this action subconsciously without even realizing it. Although the workers may deliver, their problem solving solutions and suggestions may feel cliché and similar every time. This is why you need to give the job to a professional HR manager. Your start-up needs diversity so that you can have different kinds of thinking. When you have a committed HR department, they can do their best to find the best diverse employees out there. The personnel manager will attend hr technology conferences, workshops, and networking events just to get leads on a particular candidate. Others can even outsource foreign hiring companies.
3. To Get Ahead of the Competition
If you start a company without an HR department, you are most likely to do the hiring on top of taking care of the day-to-day operations. As much as you’d like to think that you can manage both roles efficiently, you can’t. Both positions are demanding and have their difficult points. You have to be focused to understand the intricacies of any role. Since you try to do so much, you are likely to miss out on innovations or latest developments from both disciplines. When that happens, you lose out to the competition. Having a committed HR department can keep you on your toes and allow you to focus on running the business, focusing on the trends, and coming up with ways to beat the competition.
4. To Boost Worker Morale
When you have an HR department, your workers have someone to take care of their needs. The department can come up with programs to empower the employees and boost their energy and creativity. The department can also deal with conflicts in a way that allows both parties to resolve the quarrel in a non-violent manner.
Before you launch your start-up, make sure that you plan for an HR department. You need professionals to handle the workers and make sure that they are comfortable and motivated in the office. You can hire a consultant to help you with setting up the department if you are not sure about how to start.
