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You run your business with a business plan and a marketing plan. But do you have an HR plan? In this article, we share the essential elements of what belongs in your HR plan.

One of the questions we get most often from small business leaders is, “Do I really NEED an HR plan?”

The answer is yes: but only if you plan to grow your company and hire people in the future!

After all, you have a business plan that you follow. You also have a marketing plan to help you get new clients. But your planning isn’t complete until you add an HR plan to your planning process.

In this post, I’ll share the core elements that belong in your HR plan, along with recommendations for improving your HR infrastructure. At INFINITI HR, we uncomplicate HR and empower small businesses. That’s why what we will be sharing is simple and actionable!

HR PLANNING 101: THE CHECK-UP

At INFINITI HR, new clients and prospects take our HR Check-Up: a simple tool for evaluating your HR needs.

Before creating your HR Plan, follow our three-step model for assessing your current HR state and overall check-up:

1. Assess the basic HR infrastructure: for example, is your employee handbook up to date? Do you have up-to-date job descriptions? (Remember, there’s a difference between descriptions and job postings!)
2. Compare your business plan and future hiring plans: if you plan to grow your company, is your hiring plan aligned with your growth goals?
3. Define the kind of culture you want to drive at your company: are you clear on your ideal culture, and are there gaps in your ideal culture compared to your current culture?

With this assessment, you can decide where to focus your HR efforts and begin putting together your HR plan.

THE NEXT LEVEL OF HR PLANNING: EMPLOYEE HIRING AND RETENTION

Next, evaluate your HR systems and processes for hiring and retaining your employees.

As with a business or marketing plan, your HR plan should prompt you to evaluate your past performance and decide what you want future performance to be.

Here are prompter questions to evaluate your past performance so you can decide what to focus on next.

1. How often do you evaluate the effectiveness of your HR infrastructure? (Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly … or Never!)
2. What have you learned, observed, or measured in hiring and retention efforts?
3. Do you have individual development plans in place? (If not, what’s your plan for putting these development plans together for your employees?)
4. Are there skill gaps in your company that you need to solve? (For example, are you providing new services that require your employees to “skill up” to deliver better solutions for your clients?)
5. Are there knowledge gaps in your company that you need to solve? (The style, approach, and technology we use to run our businesses today are moving fast. Are your employees supported in their continued learning?)
6. Will you introduce new services or products to clients that your employees need to learn about and become experts in? (If so, make a plan for this.)
7. What is your entire employee community telling you about the work, the culture, and whether they are engaged? (This is where employee engagement surveys become highly valuable—especially when identifying whether or not your company is helping your employees to satisfy their career objectives. If you aren’t, you may have employees looking to leave for greener pastures.)
8. How can you roll up this assessment into a series of clear goals to work on and achieve over the next year?

ASSESS THE STATE OF YOUR HR INFRASTRUCTURE

As you create your HR plan, follow this core infrastructure model so you have a framework for leading your company and employees.

Culture and Vision

• Are your leaders in the trenches and know the “real” culture in the organization versus their perceived beliefs about what employees think and feel?
• Make sure your stated or desired culture and vision are aligned with the “boots on the ground” perspective.

Job Descriptions

• Are your job descriptions current? If not, make them up-to-date! Hiring without job descriptions is like playing tennis without a racquet.
• Your job descriptions, at minimum, should have a salary range attached to each job description and identify the key requirements for the job.

Onboarding & Performance Management

• Is your onboarding and performance management process effective? (Trouble signs are a high rate of bad hires and employees leaving after 60 or 90 days.)
• Many of today’s workers have a shorter attention span and prefer hands-on learning: is your performance management plan keeping pace with today’s workers’ expectations?

Benefits & Compensation

• Your benefits and compensation plan should be evaluated annually. Is your comp package attractive to the kinds of job candidates you seek? Gather data if you do not know!
• Remember, money isn’t the only thing people want from their employers. Money is part of an overall recipe to attract and retain great talent.

Employee Training

• Is your training program up-to-date and keeping pace with the rate of overall changes within your company?
• Do you have a well-documented plan for cultivating subject matter experts in your company? In this competitive business environment, you want your employees to know their stuff and be experts in their work. (Added benefit: when employees feel like their work is stimulating and encourages them to grow their skills and abilities, they are more likely to stay.)

Employee Handbook

• Is your employee handbook up-to-date with labor laws and policies?
• You may not want to hear this, but a good employee handbook is never done. Keep it up-to-date, so the handbook keeps pace with your business and state and federal laws.

EVALUATING EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGIES

We’re often asked by small business clients how they can keep their best employees. There are many ingredients to employee retention. Here’s a short list of questions to ask yourself to identify whether or not your employee retention strategies should be improved.

• Is the work culture helping or hurting retention efforts?
• Are employees’ schedules and work hours contributing to or reducing retention? In this era of burnout, it’s important to evaluate—and even change—your work schedule policy. For example, see our article on whether or not to offer a four-day workweek.
• Is your compensation and benefits package helping or hurting your ability to retain great people?
• What are the industry trends? Where does your retention rate stack against other companies in your industry?
• Do you have a history of bad hires? If so, evaluate the root causes and address them.
• How do you manage poor performance? Do you have a guide or tool you use to correct problematic behaviors? Is this tool shared across all your managers and leaders?

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS: ARE THEY PART OF YOUR HR PLAN?

Engagement surveys are exceptional tools for retention, a healthy, vibrant culture, and productivity.

Here are several reasons to conduct engagement surveys regularly:

1. Employees have a voice and can build trust with leaders
2. Identifies areas of opportunity
3. Can drive meaningful change
4. Can build trust with employees
5. Can share company culture
6. Holds leadership accountable
7. Provides a benchmark for future evaluations

The caveat is that if you conduct an engagement survey, you must apply the findings! Otherwise, you might unintentionally tell employees that you don’t care about their opinions and well-being.

CONDUCTING STAY INTERVIEWS IS PART OF YOUR HR PLAN

Too many companies rely on exit interviews to get feedback from employees. We think that’s a big mistake! Instead, conduct stay interviews: where you actively engage employees regularly. These one-to-one check-ins are vital for employee engagement, retention, great work, and a great culture.

In this era of remote work, hosting consistent one-to-one check-ins is vital. Here are seven reasons to get in the habit of conducting stay interviews.

1. Proactively address concerns
2. Builds relationships (trust and loyalty)
3. Retain top talent
4. Save money (rehiring can be expensive)
5. Feedback for leader improvement
6. Employee motivation
7. Employees feel heard and valued

HIRING STRATEGIES FOR YOUR HR PLAN

Every HR plan should have a section for hiring. Here is a checklist for evaluating your current hiring strategies to see what may need improvement.

• Are your job roles clearly defined and reflect the current work requirements?
• Do you have current job descriptions, and are you sharing them?
• Is your job posting strategy attracting the right candidates?
• Do you post pay ranges or plan to? (Many states are requiring this.)
• Are leaders trained to vet applicants and have good interviewing skills?
• Are there biases in your hiring manager selection? (We all have biases. Be open to evaluating and identifying if there are biases in your process.)

ONBOARDING STRATEGIES FOR YOUR HR PLAN

How fast are you losing new employees after hiring them? If you don’t know why you’re losing good employees, look closer at your onboarding plan: it might be a reason for why you are losing good talent.

Follow this checklist to identify the root causes and solutions.

• Do you have an up-to-date checklist for onboarding new employees?
• Have you trained managers to onboard well?
• Do you assign peer mentors or “buddies” to new employees?
• Are you checking in with new hires?
• Do you collect and provide summary feedback when the onboarding is completed?

What’s your plan for continuing to improve the onboarding process moving forward? When we consult with companies, we find these areas essential for improvement and a winning onboarding experience for both the new employee and the company.

Evaluate the following:

1. Is the new employee set up for success?
2. Is the onboarding pacing with the new employee, or are you “flooding” the employee with new information?
3. Are you matching the onboarding with the employee’s learning style?
4. Does the onboarding plan pair the new employee with a “learning buddy”?

Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: Cultivating Gratitude is Good for Business (And You) or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.

As a small business leader, you are focused on productivity, employee retention, and business growth. Leading with gratitude will help you achieve those results—and sustainable, long-term success.

When you think of the actions required for business success, you might first think about satisfying your client’s expectations, lowering your costs while increasing your profit margin, and being agile to changes in the marketplace. As the HR consultancy for small businesses, we want you to add another tool to your toolbox for business success: gratitude.

GRATITUDE MOTIVATES EMPLOYEES TO DO THEIR BEST

The American Psychological Association conducted a study that found that 93% of employees “who reported feeling valued said that they are motivated to do their best at work, and 88 percent reported feeling engaged.”

In this time of the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, don’t you want the majority of your workforce to feel motivated to do their best and be engaged in your company? 

Showing gratitude to your employees works on an individual level: employees feel more appreciated for their contributions and, as a result, are often more motivated to bring their best to work. Gratitude also can create what scientists describe as the “spillover effect”: individuals become more trusting with each other, and are more likely to help each other out.

IN A CHALLENGING BUSINESS MARKETPLACE, DON’T YOU WANT EMPLOYEES WHO RISE TO THE OCCASION AND WORK BETTER TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS? 

6 Simple Practices to Show Gratitude in the Workplace

John Templeton Foundation surveyed 2000 Americans. They found that saying “thank you” to colleagues “makes me feel happier and more fulfilled”—yet only 10 percent acted on that impulse on any given day.

We want you to be among the 10 percent who demonstrate gratitude consistently: so you feel better and your employees feel more appreciated, engaged, and committed to doing their best work.

Following are 5 simple ways to demonstrate gratitude at work: for better results and personal well-being.

1. Say Thank You 

Employees feel happier and more fulfilled when they are thanked. Make a point to acknowledge and thank your employees for their daily contributions.

2. Show Appreciation Publicly and Privately 

Acknowledge your employees in private settings, such as in one-to-one check-ins, and in more public settings, such as team meetings.

3. Write a Thank You Note

Take a few minutes to write a Thank You note to an employee. You’ll be surprised at how many people keep these notes at their desks or workspace as a reminder of your appreciation for their work and hard effort.

4. Be Intentional

Make sharing appreciation a part of your daily habits routine. Look for opportunities each day to demonstrate gratitude. As Melissa Hughes writes, “Decide that you will look for a reason to express gratitude every day.”

5. Create a Peer-Rewards Program

Many companies like Zappos have instituted peer-rewards programs, where employees can reward each other for a job well done.

6. Begin Gratitude at Home

Before your work day begins or as you close out your work day, take a moment to reflect on who and what you are grateful for. The practice of cultivating gratitude can have an immense impact on how you feel about your work, your employees, and your overall satisfaction and fulfillment in your job and career.

As we have written before, cultivating gratitude is good for business. Psychologist Robert Emmons says that making gratitude a policy and a practice “builds up a sort of psychological immune system that can cushion us when we fall. There is scientific evidence that grateful people are more resilient to stress, whether minor everyday hassles or major personal upheavals.”

Showing gratitude in the workplace does not need to be difficult or time-consuming. But it does require that you look for opportunities to demonstrate your appreciation. Try our suggestions and see how much better you feel—along with the positive ripple effects among your employees and colleagues.

Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: December Legal Updates or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.

Today’s business best practices focus on leaders helping employees find better work/life balance and setting healthier boundaries. We believe it’s time for small business leaders to check in with themselves and redefine and redraw their boundaries to be effective, productive, and thrive in their work.

Visit any business news and advice website these days, and you’ll see stories and columns about why leaders need to lean in and help employees with their work/life balance and set better boundaries. It would seem that as a manager, your sole job is the well-being of your employees! As an HR consultancy for small businesses, we advocate for our clients to engage their team members and help support their needs.

But devoting your focus on your employees at the expense of your own needs is not sustainable! That’s why it’s essential that you, the leader, maintain your optimum level of work/life balance. Our recommended solution is? Redraw your boundaries. 

IS WORK/LIFE BALANCE OUTDATED?

In business, we’ve talked for years about work/life balance. It’s a noble aspiration: finding that “sweet spot” when you’re giving your time and energy to advance your business goals while reserving the necessary time to enjoy your life outside of work.

I don’t know many people who feel they have got “work/life balance” figured out. Unfortunately, all it takes is a new business opportunity or a business setback to throw your balance off!

Work/Life balance is undoubtedly worthy of aspiring to achieve. But we believe a more practical way of thinking about your role as a leader in driving your business forward is to focus on improving your work/life boundaries.

What do I mean by this?

Do you find yourself:

• Overcommitting to projects?
• Being available 24/7?
• Thinking about work while you’re with family and friends?
• Working while on vacation?
• Shouldering more and more of your employees’ burdens and needs?

If you answered Yes to any of these, you might want to redraw your boundaries: what you are committed to saying yes and no to. After all, if you are feeling the signs of burnout or compassion fatigue, you are not serving your company—or yourself—as well as you could if you were more rested and relaxed.

Just consider these scenarios:

• A top employee begins missing deadlines and making mistakes
• A vital client announces she’s taking her business elsewhere
• Your business revenue goals are in jeopardy of not being achieved

Now, imagine that you’ve been running ragged, working late in the evening and on weekends. You’ve been feeling like you’re not taking the time to think and plan because there are too many fires.

Are you in the best position to address those three scenarios I described above? Or, are you more likely to “underthink” how to solve those challenges?

I know what my answer would be!

Now, imagine that you have been setting better boundaries for yourself:

• Employees know your availability window and honor it
• Your schedule is structured so that you create time for long-term projects AND putting out fires
• You go on vacation with your family and return to work refreshed and restored

How might you be even more capable and on point to address those common work challenge scenarios I described above?

That’s what I mean about redrawing your boundaries: when we are clear on what we need to be our best and maintain those boundaries, we show up better to our colleagues, clients, employees, and family.

SETTING BETTER WORK/LIFE BOUNDARIES

What boundaries have you let slip?

Here are typical examples we see:

• Being available 24/7 to employees and clients
• Putting off planning and reflection
• Blurring the lines between work and home life
• Taking on more and more without delegating or saying no to other projects and needs
• Not addressing the warning signs of burnout and fatigue
• Letting self-care practices go by the wayside

What boundaries have you let slip? What boundaries do you need to redraw?

You might be thinking, “But Mindy, you should see my schedule. I can’t stop everything to redraw my boundaries! I’ll let important opportunities slip through the cracks or let others down!”

I get it. I run a growing HR consultancy for small business owners and leaders. I speak from the experience of working with clients with multiple balls in the air, and I am juggling a lot myself! But it’s vital we set better boundaries. Or else, we’re likely to make mistakes, lose patience, snap at a team member (or client!), or not have the energy to do our best work.

Next, let’s explore practical ways to begin redrawing your boundaries.

REDRAWING YOUR BOUNDARIES

First, decide your most significant area of need for redrawing your boundaries. Following are several prompters. We’ll start by exploring what you want more of and what you want less. From there, we’ll begin redrawing better boundaries for your life.

MORE OF

• Do you want more time being OFF the work clock?
• Do you want to think less about work when you’re away from work?
• Do you want more time to devote to more significant projects (and spend less time putting out fires)?

LESS OF

• Do you want fewer disruptions in your work?
• Do you want fewer “3 AM Thoughts” about work that keeps you up at night or in a state of stress?
• Do you want to feel less fatigue and burnout?

REDRAWING THE BOUNDARY LINES

Now, let’s begin redrawing boundaries. But first, I want to caution you not to overcorrect! For example: announcing tomorrow morning to your team your “New Rules” of engagement, which are so radically different than the day before that you give everyone whiplash!

In other words, make gradual and incremental changes. You didn’t allow your boundaries to get trampled overnight. It was likely a gradual process. Apply that same incremental approach to redrawing your boundaries. It will not only help avoid giving your team whiplash, but you will probably find better success at improving and maintaining your healthier boundaries.

Ask yourself:

• What is one thing I can do beginning tomorrow to help bring me more time, energy, or focus in my work?
• What is one thing I’ve put off doing that will ultimately help me feel more balanced, grounded, and focused in my work?
• What is one thing that, if I do it consistently, will help me feel more productive in my work?
• What is one thing I can coach, teach or tell my employees that will help them perform better and lighten the stress I’ve been carrying?
• What is one boundary that I will declare is non-negotiable—and will defend no matter what?

If you’re reading this, you’re most likely a high-performer driven to succeed. So my last suggestion is probably the most crucial suggestion I can offer you!

WRITING YOURSELF PERMISSION SLIPS

It might not feel comfortable for you to say no or “not yet” to employees, clients, and other people who count on you. If you’re working from home or in a hybrid environment, you might recognize how hard it can be to maintain boundaries: after all, you work where you live. There’s no office commute to create separation between your home and work lives.

That’s why I suggest writing yourself permission slips:

• To close your work day at the same time each day so you can focus on family and personal activities
• To go on vacation and set clear boundaries when you are and are not available
• To spend the weekend enjoying your life and not sitting at the computer sending “one last email.”

So write yourself permission slips: literally, writing “I give myself permission to …” can interrupt your old patterns of blurring your boundary lines.

This suggestion is far from a “nice to have.” On the contrary, you need to enjoy the quality of your work and life and remain energized, creative and inspired.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the popular business articles and thought leadership of the day revolves around what to do for your employees to retain them and help them through their challenging moments. We advocate and help support our clients in creating and maintaining thriving, engaged work cultures. But we also know that one of the best ways to train and support employees is to lead by example.

When you demonstrate healthy boundaries, your employees model your behavior.

When you stay committed to your self-care practices, your employees model your behavior.

When you are honest about your limitations and needs and share proactively and respectfully, your employees model your behavior.

So lead by example. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see.”

Start by redrawing your boundaries. Then help your team to do the same.

Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: Hardwiring a Winning Small Business Culture or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.

This article does not constitute legal advice, and there are subtle variations in employment law as it pertains to this topic, depending on where your business operates. It is strongly suggested that you seek consultation or legal counsel before making policy decisions.

Remote and hybrid employees enjoy the perks of working from home. But working remotely can have a physical and emotional toll—especially during the holidays. Learn strategies to engage employees during the holiday season for better performance and connection.

Since the pandemic, the holiday season has been difficult for most people, including your employees. Many could not be with loved ones, and spending time with others meant concerns about COVID-19. As we head into the 2022 holiday season, your employees’ list of concerns continues to mount, including grief, inflation, financial stress, social unrest, and the continuation of remote and hybrid workplaces.

Many businesses have switched to long-term remote work or hybrid environments, which many employees have embraced and celebrated. However, working remotely can leave employees feeling more isolated from coworkers and family at a time of year that celebrates coming together and human connection.

As a leader, it’s important that you be aware of the mental and emotional dynamics impacting your employees. In addition to the emotional struggles during the holidays, an added challenge for your remote employees is often the reduction in physical activity.

According to a recent article from Forbes: 

“The ramifications of the extreme lifestyle shift in 2020 through early 2021 resulting from the pandemic are far-reaching, likely to have ripple effects for many years to come. 49 percent report having less energy for nonwork activities.”

Among other statistics, participating survey respondents reported to Forbes that:

• 60% of employees admit cutting their mobility by over 50% since working remotely.
• The average remote worker commutes just 16 steps from their bed to their workstation.
• On a typical remote workday, one in three workers sit in their work chairs the entire day, and 63% walk only to the bathroom or kitchen. Meanwhile, 24% of remote workers never leave their homes.
• Nearly half of all remote workers estimate they take fewer than 1,000 steps during work hours, despite the 8,000 steps per day recommended by health experts.

These struggles are likely to be exacerbated over the holiday season. But there are steps that companies can take to support staff through the holiday season.

STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT REMOTE EMPLOYEES DURING THE HOLIDAYS

One-to-One Meetings  

Proactively check in with your employees by setting up frequent one-to-one meetings and asking questions about how they are doing. Allow employees to provide feedback on where they stand on work-related matters and how they are coping with the holiday season on a personal level. Every employee will embrace the holidays differently. Listen and validate feelings while tackling year-end business demands. Treat information shared in these meetings as confidential and provide additional support when necessary.

Reward Physical Exercise via Work Schedule Flexibility  

The time crunch for the holidays can be challenging. Allowing employees flexible work schedules, 4-day work weeks, and PTO or other leave time could benefit productivity in the long run but also affords employees a chance for self-care and physical activity. Encourage employees who have not taken much leave this year to take some time off, if possible. If your business offers discounts on gym memberships or access to apps that focus on activity, be sure to remind employees through general communication campaigns so that individuals don’t feel targeted.

Actively Promote Self-Care

Long-term stress, or the “fight or flight” response, can lead to prolonged periods of elevated cortisol in the body, which can contribute to the development or worsening of conditions such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and weight gain. Managers should role model and encourage employees to set boundaries with work commitments, maintain a well-balanced diet, get daily exercise, plenty rest and hydration. Self-care also includes financial stability. If your business has access to financial coaching or resources for employees, be sure they know them as part of their holistic wellness routines.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Poor mental health and stress can affect an employee’s job performance, productivity, communication with coworkers and daily functioning.” Which makes the importance of addressing work-life balance and self-care routines to combat increased stress a critical investment in the health of your organization.

Schedule Holiday Virtual and In-Person Work Events during Regular Office Hours  

By doing so, this allows employees to use their valuable free time to take care of personal holiday responsibilities and activities. Workplace holiday events that occur during “after hours” can add stress to already busy schedules.

Acknowledge Those Who Are Dealing with Loss

Sadness during the holidays is common for those who have experienced the death of a loved one or a pet, a failed significant personal relationship or other loss. Employees could be facing recent loss and may not be spending as much time with family and friends who can support them. Being supportive and checking in on them is an important leadership practice.

Remind Employees about Outside Assistance Programs  

It is a good time to remind employees about the help that is available through employee assistance programs (EAP) if your company utilizes these services. Many EAPs have 24-hour phone crisis support and allow for confidential short-term counseling. Additional help an EAP can provide includes referrals for programs that offer specialized care, services that help manage stress, and programs for substance abuse. Regional and national teen and adult Suicide Prevention Hotlines are also available 24 hours a day at 800-273-8255 (national).

Reprioritize Year-End Goals and Deadlines

Company leaders should empower their managers to dedicate more time to employee engagement activities during this holiday season. Reprioritize year-end goals and deadlines, moving less critical ones to first quarter 2022 to help alleviate added pressure and stress on valued managers and employees.

Acknowledge Your Employees in New Ways Instead of Throwing Parties

If you have an all-remote or hybrid workforce, hosting an in-person party may not be feasible. In addition, you may have employees who cannot travel or would prefer not to travel. Instead, send gifts to employees at their homes, and write genuine notes of recognition, praise, and encouragement through internal organizational channels.

Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: Top HR Small Business Needs Checklist or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.

This article does not constitute legal advice, and there are subtle variations in employment law as it pertains to this topic, depending on where your business operates. It is strongly suggested that you seek consultation or legal counsel before making policy decisions.