Need Help In These 4 Areas? It May Be Time To Invest In HR

Unless you are like me, human resources is probably not something that excites you. It may not even be something you give much thought to, but it's a critical part of any well-functioning organization. Ideally, an HR professional acts as a liaison between an employer and the employees, advocating for both the best interest of the company and the employee.

Because of this unique combination, HR should be a vital part of any organization. In the early stages of an organization, having someone on your staff whose sole job is HR does not usually make much sense. However, as you grow, the need for an HR professional becomes greater. It may be difficult to decide when the right time is to create that position. A good time to start looking into creating an HR role is when you begin to realize your organization needs help in the following four areas:

1. Compliance

There are employment laws for any size organization, but as a staff gets larger, so do the number of laws that apply to it. The Fair Labor Standard Act establishes minimum wage and overtime rules, and addresses child labor. The Family Medical Leave Act allows for medical related leave for eligible employees while protecting their job and is applicable to organizations with 50 or more employees. I-9’s need to be fully completed by employees and verified by an employer, as well as kept on file for a specific time frame after termination. There are also regulations around workplace safety, whistleblower protection, and how to notify employees about their rights. There is a lot of compliance related information to keep track of. Having someone on your staff who remains up-to-date on all this information is beneficial.

2. Employee Relations

While the job of an HR professional is not synonymous with a babysitter or referee (although sometimes it feels like it is), the work of employee relations is one of the most significant aspects of the position. Employee relations is managing the relationship between employee and employer. It often includes mediating relationships between colleagues as well. It is important for your organization’s policies to be applied fairly to everyone. Your supervisors may sometimes require some coaching when having performance issues with someone on their team, which often requires a difficult conversation and/or the creation of a performance improvement plan.

Unfortunately, at some point in time, someone within your organization may face allegations of harassment, abuse, or other behavior that requires an investigation. All these things are pertinent functions and can be completed by an HR professional.

"It is important for your organization’s policies to be applied fairly to everyone." 

3. Compensation & Benefits Administration

HR encompasses much of the employee experience and often includes benefits administration and compensation management. In the early stages of an organization, “compensation and benefits administration” may just be processing payroll semi-monthly. As you grow, so does the complexity of this area of HR. Some responsibilities of an HR representative include knowing who is eligible for benefits, how they should be administered, how much of a premium is covered by the employer, and what is the responsibility of the employee. Understanding taxes, particularly the nuanced taxes of ministers, overseeing W-2 administration at the end of the year, and managing the review/pay raise process often fall under the purview of HR.

Interested in a Compensation and Benefits Analysis for your church staff? Our team can help with a customized report on how your pay structure measures up. Read more about our Compensation & Benefits Analyses here.

4. Hiring And Onboarding

We’ve all heard, “You only get one chance to make a first impression,” and at Vanderbloemen, we believe a solid hiring and onboarding experience are imperative to making an excellent first impression. We wrote an eBook on how to streamline and improve onboarding. An HR person can create the onboarding schedule, make sure computers and access to systems are set up, and notify payroll and benefits providers of new hires. While hiring, welcoming, and getting a new employee up to speed is the direct responsibility of their supervisor and indirectly the responsibility of the entire team, having someone oversee this process ensures consistency.

"A solid hiring and onboarding experience are imperative to making an excellent first impression." 

There are so many responsibilities in human resources, and when an organization gets large, they can be separate roles. However, in the smaller stages of a church or company, those HR duties are often divvied up among other positions. It can be challenging knowing when it’s time to consolidate those duties into one job. If you find yourself needing more help in all the above areas, now is probably a good time to start looking into creating that position.

Is your company ready to hire an HR professional?