Category: Human Resources

HR For Small Businesses

6/16/2015

Cartoon of HR attempting to hire an skilled employee for very little pay.

The challenges of finding and retaining great employees is the same whether you are a small business owner or you run a large corporation. The good news is that the same principles and practices apply, and if you put the work in up front, you will save time and money in the long run. The four crucial areas to this process are:

1)    Identifying the need to hire
2)    Writing a comprehensive job description
3)    Recruitment
4)    Training/Orientation upon hiring

How do you know you need to hire someone? This may seem like a simple question but many small business owners are so busy that they may not even recognize that they should consider bringing in a new employee. You may be spending way too many hours working on tasks that someone else could be doing e.g. administrative duties, instead of focusing on running your business, or you could be missing important deadlines because you are overwhelmed with the day-to-day functioning of your business.

Once the need is recognized, the most important step is to write up a detailed job description. This becomes a tool that will assist you and your new employee every step of the way.

“A well put together job description is a good business investment because it can be used to support most HR functions: recruitment, selection, orientation, training, work plans, compensation, performance reviews and legal defence.” (Service Canada Job Analysis 2011-11-30).

This can seem like a daunting task if you have never written a job description, however there are lots of great templates to guide you in the process, including one in Microsoft Word. Another great resource is the HR Council of Canada (http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/right-people-job-descriptions.cfm) which provides a template and samples (NOTE: This website is for non-profit organizations, but the examples are still useful).

Recruitment is your next step, and there are several ways to go about this:

- Referrals (friends, colleagues, peers, family)
- Posting on your company website
- Online Job Boards (Kijiji, Job Bank which are free; Workopolis or Monster for a fee)
- Industry or Professional Associations

The job description can be used to write up your job posting, and once again, there are lots of great templates available to guide you through the process (Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses is a comprehensive resource for the whole recruitment process along with samples, templates and links).

Once you have hired your new employee, the last and often overlooked step is a good orientation and training plan. It can be as simple as spending time going over the job description, discussing your company goals, values, and standards, introductions to other staff members, and training on equipment and processes.

Hiring the right employee and retaining them is critical to the success of your business. The cost of hiring the wrong person can be massive; some statistics indicate that it can be as high as 30% of the employee’s annual salary; other statistics show that recruiting and training a new employee can cost up to 2.5 times their annual salary. Putting in the time and effort at the beginning of the process will contribute to success for your business and for the new employee.

Other Resources

1)    Alberta Human Rights Commission (Provides information on the Alberta Human Rights Act)
2)    Service Canada (Screening and Interviewing Job Applicants)
3)    Government of Canada (National Occupation Codes)
4)    HR Council (Selection and Hiring Tips)
5)    Alberta Government (Hiring and Keeping Employees, Business Tax, and Payroll)
6)    Alberta Employment and Labour Relations (Employment Standards and Labour Code; Employment Equity and Human Rights)
7)    Canada One (Effective Hiring for Small Businesses)
8)    Law Depot (Legal Forms and Documents for Canadian Businesses)

Author:    Loanne Benner - Benner Database Designs                                                    loanne@bennerdesigns.com

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