Tag Archives: HR

HR and Payroll

Top Abilities That Should Be Present In Every Human Resource Manager

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A Human Resource manager tackles numerous management and leadership facets within an organization. Therefore, it is very difficult to pinpoint the number of areas that a human resource manager should work on. However, there are some qualities, which are important in every manager in order to be successful at their job.

The biggest challenge in management success is the fact that a manager should be the kind of an individual everyone must love to follow and admire. Every action taken by a manager decides whether other people would like to follow him/her or not.

Following are some of the traits of successful Human Resource managers:

1- Ability to build interpersonal relationships

An effective manager should always be able to build responsive and effective interpersonal relationships with people in a business organization. Therefore, a manager in the true essence is the “people’s person”. Giving respect to executives, colleagues, and staff members is a quintessential in building interpersonal relationships.

Apart from that, a good manager also cares about people and tries to offer them support and assistance whenever required. Attentiveness is a key quality of a good manager as he tries to collaborate with the staff members, enabling them to reach their true potential.

2- Ability to communicate

Let it be in person, email or print, a good Human Resource manager knows how to communicate well and effectively with everyone present in a business organization. Ability to listen to people is also an important characteristic of good communication and must be practiced in a well-settled organization.

 A manager will not be able to get his message across or motivate his team until he listens to their problems and then effectively communicates the solutions to them.

3- Team building

The ability to build a team, motivate it, and lead it are all prime characteristics of a successful Human Resource manager. Under such a manager, the staff tends to be more productive, creative, and effective at their work. Inducing motivation in the staff is the fundamental job of the manager as this is the only thing that can work towards increasing their productivity levels.

4- Financial management

Financial management is an important aspect of a HR manager’s job and hence he/she is responsible to measure and set financial goals for a business organization. Analyzing and documenting the success and progress of the employees is also extremely important in human resource management.

5- Positivity

It is absolutely normal for business organization to sometimes fall into the pits of negativity and hence the role of a successful human resource manager is to foster recognition and positive morale in employees to keep them motivated so that an organization can reach its desired goals. If the workforce is recognized for their hard work, it will automatically be motivated to perform better for the business.

6- Promoting growth

An effective human resource manager is more interested in polishing out skills and natural talents present in the employees rather than giving them strict commands.

Benefit Plans, HR and Payroll

HR Audit – Paving Way for Your Business’s Success

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Businesses today are realizing the important role an HR department can play in determining a business’s success through deployment of a top class workforce. This realization has led HR to emerge as a strategic business partner as compared to being only a support function as it was in the old times.

A business is dependent not only on the quality of its products, but also on the quality of its people, especially if it is involved in providing services. Regardless of how proficient your processes are, if the people working for you are not performing for your business, your success will be limited.

The rule for success is quite simple, an engaged workforce can lead your business to success. The rules and regulations of the system that your HR has defined, determine how engaged your workforce is and whether that engaged workforce is doing the right things at the right time in the right way to achieve the right results.

So how would you know whether your HR is doing their job correctly or not? Just like you evaluate the performance of other departments in your business, you need to evaluate your HR department through an HR audit.

The HR Audit

HR audit allows businesses to evaluate how well the HR department is operating within the business. It makes visible the strengths and weaknesses of your HR function and allow you to identify areas for improvement. It allows you to determine whether your HR department is:

  • Effectively utilizing the available human resources with the business
  • Following the set policies, rules and regulations concerning human resources
  • Streamlining business goals with the goals of the human resources

By doing an HR audit, you are able to identify exactly where your HR department is currently standing. Divide the existing issues with the HR department into different categories including:

  • Whether the issue is critical and has a substantive impact on your business’s success or is a minor procedural issue that can be easily resolved without having much impact on existing processes;
  • Whether the issue is strategic in nature or more relevant to day-to-day operations of your business.

Once you have divided the identified issues, you can conduct the following analysis:

  • Those HR issues that are strategic in nature and also have a substantive impact on your business’s success are policy issues and thus require you to redesign your HR policies;
  • Those HR issues that are minor procedural issues but are strategic in nature require you to redefine your business’s culture because the culture is a strategic element that is inculcated in all your procedures;
  • Those HR issues that are inherent in the day-to-day operations of your business and are substantive in nature are efficiency issues and have a direct impact on how efficient your business is in the long term;
  • Those HR issues that are inherent in the day-to-day operations of your business but are minor can be fixed by improving the climatic or the working environment of your business.

Resolving issues identified during the HR audit can lead to creation of user friend HR systems that automatically help in engaging the workforce towards taking your business on the road to success!

Financial Planning, HR and Payroll

Human Resources Are the Driving Force of Any Business

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Human Resources are the group of individuals who specializes in forming, binding and maintaining the workforce of a firm, business sector or an industry. They play a vital part in any organization to get things done the right way. Therefore, it is imperative to setup an efficient human resource department because without it, businesses cannot carry out their day-to-day functions optimally.

An organization cannot build a great team of professionals without adequate human resources. Most of the small business owners do not have HR departments because they are the sole owner and operator of their business. The owners themselves take care of the hiring and firing of the employees and analyze the performance of each of the employees, and provide them with adequate benefits and compensations.

On the other hand, when we talk about large organizations, the HR department plays an important role in the success of the organization. What good would be a business without professionally trained employees who are ready to infuse their skills into the business? The main purpose of a HR department is to seek out individuals with potential and skills relevant to the business and motivate them to unleash their potential for the benefit of the organization.

Functions of a HR Department

The prominent functions of a Human Resource department include:

  • Recruiting people
  • Selection and Screening process
  • Training new employees
  • Compensation
  • Performance appraisals
  • Informing about the company policies on workplace safety
  • Motivating employees
  • Workplace communication
  • Organizational hierarchy

The basic function that the HR department performs before hiring an employee is participating in a decision-making process, where it outlines the staffing needs, the personal qualities of an individual, his/her abilities and skills necessary to be an asset to the business. HR compensation specialists scrutinize and conduct right compensation measures according to the duties of the new employee.

Another important role of the HR Department is to reduce the potential liability to the firm after a new recruitment and maintaining the company atmosphere. Through an effective selection and screening process, HR manages to lower the allegations of unfair practices in employment. They identify and resolve workplace issues that are unattended and could spiral out of control. They help keep the company safe from legal issues that can hold on for long periods.

Maintaining workplace atmosphere is essential to create a positive environment for employees that come every day and perform their duties with honesty and professionalism. The HR department makes sure that compliance is at every level of the organization from top to bottom.

Employee compensation is an important part of the HR management. Employees tend to get de-motivated when they are compensated inadequately. This breaks the sense of trust and responsibility in the employee, and the business may suffer due to poor performance. Payroll of employees should be according to the quality of work they deliver and each employee is to be treated differently rather than compensating everyone on the same level.

Therefore, HR plays a crucial role in binding the whole business together physically and mentally. It recognizes the need for human resources and the quality of work expected, and delivers individuals that are confident and motivated.

Financial Planning, HR and Payroll

Effective Accounting and Payroll is Crucial for a Booming Business

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Many of you might not exactly know the true essence of accounting and payroll, especially to those who are starting up a new business. An idea and a business plan are important to start a business and a strategy is paramount for building a business. However, no one has ever thought of accounting, which is the building block to a booming business.

Why is Accounting Important

Accounting provides entrepreneurs with a clear picture of the business, the rate of success and failure. Though entrepreneurs are not a fan of going through heaps of financial documents, though they are the most important and informative documents of a business. Effective record keeping is essential and helps keep owners informed of the expenses and revenues.

Owners also keep copious records for legal and tax purposes. Accounting is a collective term comprising of various types like cost, management, finance etc. Accounting helps focus on costs of running a business, which involves production and non-production costs, and management. For a new business, focusing on and managing costs is the key to success.

Payroll in Relation to Accounting

Another factor crucial to managing a business is payroll. It is a branch of accounting, which relates with production units, time or a fixed salary. It is the financial record of employees, their wages, salaries, net pay, bonuses and deductions. It is very important to pay your employees on time, no matter what size of amount is paid. Effective payroll calculations and timely transfer might not be as important to employer as it is to the employee.

Employers can also lose huge amounts if execution of the payroll process consists of errors. In small companies, an accountant will deal with all of the financial statements like, payroll, journals etc., whereas in large companies, different individuals are hired to perform different roles. A company’s payroll system influences the morale of its employees and motivates them to work harder especially if bonus payments or share options are linking to the basic pay.

Managing Payroll System

Managing payroll system is also important for tax deductions and lowering tax bills. Often companies use accounting and payroll software, who forget to ask themselves these important questions:

  • What are my ongoing annual costs, and what does it include?
  • Can I use the same software as my competitor?
  • Is the software compatible with others I use?
  • What are the limitations in functions offered by the software?
  • Is the support staff experienced enough to provide the technical support needed?
  • Is the software easy for everybody to use at my company?

Businesses spend a lot of time and money in searching for the right software. Integrating unsuitable software in the business system can be costly to replace and disrupt the day-to-day business functions. No software is compatible with every business and not all software covers every function of a specific business.

Outsourcing a business’s accounting and payroll functions is very common these days and effective results are achieved. Large firms often have their own accounts and payroll departments but outsourcing can help reduce costs and time spent, and a test run might help to lock in on your choice.

Financial Planning

Motivating Employees for More Productivity

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Motivating employees is one of the key tasks of the human resource department of any business. What most business owners and human resource managers fail to realize is that the aim is not to motivate people but to create an environment which instills motivation in all employees.

Letting Employees Use their Own Creativity

The traditional methods of financial rewards and extreme control by HR managers are likely to fail in today’s environment, where innovation and creativity are extreme necessities. What managers need to do to motivate people is allow them to use their strengths the way they think is best and make them genuinely interested in their work. One of the best ways of doing it is structuring the task at hand in a way that each employee can work using his personal style, without having to adapt much or fear punishment in case of failure.

For example, if you think that a particular employee is more of a follower than a leader, then, assign him tasks with set guidelines, where little or no innovation is required. If you feel that a particular employee will excel more as a leader, giving him a task with restrictions will most likely cause friction and result in failure. Instead, give him a more managerial task, where result is more important than the journey to the result and where he or she can innovate and put his or her ideas to test.

Hygiene and Motivational Factors

Furthermore, there are many other factors that help motivate employees. These can be divided in two groups: hygiene factors and motivational factors. The hygiene factors are important in a way that if they are not present, the employee will feel demotivated but on their own, they result in little motivation. This means that in spite of the presence of all the hygiene factors, there are likely to be situations where the motivation is below expected levels. These hygiene factors include salary, benefits, physical working environment, job status and job security.

These hygiene factors are all superficial and cannot contribute so much in motivating employees. What really makes the employees truly dedicated is work itself. If the work has little or no value, the employee will feel demotivated. The employees need to feel that his or her work is important to the organization and their contribution matters. They should feel that they are being given responsibility and acknowledged for all work done.

Let the Employees Grow

Furthermore, employees expect growth, not only in terms of financial salary and job status, but also in terms of work assigned. For example, if an employee has always been given a low level, basic task, he or she should gradually be assigned to a more difficult task that requires more skills and effort. This will make the employee feel important and recognized. It makes them feel productive and motivates them to work harder.

Materialistic factors like job status and salary can motivate employees to only an extent. What will really drive and motivate them to work harder and be more productive is their genuine love for the work that they do. Assign employees the work that they enjoy doing and reward them with growth prospects and acknowledgments. These motivational factors will go a long way in encouraging employees than the traditional hygiene factors.