HR Management & Compliance

Hallelujah! Help Arrives for the Small HR Department

If you (or just you and a couple of assistants) have to do it all in human resources at your company, you need all the help you can get. We’ve got some help just for you.

The hit Broadway musical, “A Chorus Line” kicks off with a song called “One.” It celebrates a young dancer, describing her as a “singular sensation,” “known for every move she makes.”

That could just as well describe a sole practitioner human resources manager.

These lone rangers operate HR departments all by themselves (or perhaps with one or two assistants), usually in companies of 50 to 100 employees. They have to handle all the tasks large departments take on in bigger organizations … legal compliance, comp and benefits, and training, not to mention strategic HR planning, but with very tight resources.

That many do it successfully is even more “singular” as this is often the first HR management position they’ve held. Some have stepped up from handling just one aspect of HR at a larger firm. Others got handed their HR hat with no experience at all.

There’s an upside in such a situation: Small companies are often growth companies, offering an opportunity to advance with the firm. But even if the organization is mature, it’s a shot at really making your mark on things. Of course, if those things go wrong, there’s no one else to blame.

Publishers have recently begun to focus on the needs of these HR heroes. BLR’s program is called Managing an HR Department of One. The editors recommended it and after looking at it, we agree that it’s a wonderful resource. But whether you use our book or others’, here’s what we think you should look for in a program for the solo professional or small department.

–Discussion of how HR supports organizational goals. This should include probing what your CEO and senior management really want, and how to build credibility in your ability to deliver it.

–Overview of compliance responsibilities. The BLR book includes a really useful two- page chart of 21 separate laws HR needs to comply with. These range from the well-publicized Fair Labor Standards, Family Medical Leave, and Americans with Disabilities Acts to less well-known, but just as critical, rules such as Executive Order 11246. Look also for both federal and state posting requirements. Posting violations are low-hanging fruit for inspectors looking to beef up their enforcement records.

–Training Guidelines. Training is one of HR’s key contributions to the company’s future. But what methods do you choose, what tools do you use, and how do you know if training is even the answer to your performance issues? Your reference should walk you through all these issues and teach you how to develop metrics to justify the training investments you seek. Managing an HR Department of One does.

–Prewritten forms, policies, and checklists. Solo practitioners, even more so than other HR professionals, have no time to make up their own forms and other paperwork. A solid bank of these will free you up for dealing with people, which is really what the job is all about. Managing an HR Department of One has 46 such forms, from job apps and background check sheets to performance appraisals and leave requests, each carefully thought through. What’s more, they’re all included in both ready-to-copy paper format and on a CD-ROM, allowing you to easily customize them with your company specifics before printing them out.

Summing up, no matter how good a book you get, managing an HR department by yourself isn’t easy. But do it successfully, and perhaps that chorus line of senior managers will be singing your praises.

You can “audition” Managing an HR Department of One in your own office for 30 days. Click on the link below for details.


Click for more information about Managing an HR Department of One or to order at no-risk.


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