The way that your HR department is run, and whether or not you even have one, can have a significant impact on your business. A recent article on the Wall Street Journal blog discusses some of the issues that companies are facing with HR departments. Having found the experience frustrating, some have opted to forego them completely.
One of the reasons behind this thinking is the belief that managers can handle everything that HR is normally responsible for. While this approach might be effective for smaller companies with fewer than 15 employees, it could cause headaches for larger ones.
The article describes the experience of one company that tried this approach. One of the aims was to create a more open company culture and to encourage employees to solve problems themselves instead of taking them to HR. However, leaving employees to fend for themselves can make them feel that they are on their own.
As the article details, HR departments use specialized knowledge that managers may not have. This could include knowledge of legal issues and policies that companies must adhere to. When managers are tasked with HR duties, it could interfere with their ability to complete their regular workload. Additionally, forgoing HR may lead to drawn-out hiring and can also make conflict resolution more complicated when employees are asked to sort things out themselves.
The responsibilities of HR like recruiting, hiring, training and writing job descriptions, can be a lot to take on, especially in a large or growing organization. A system that helps streamline the organization of the myriad details that HR specialists must manage can help reduce costs. HR software solutions can help determine the system that works best for your organization.