Your company’s human resources leader is extremely valuable to you in developing a productive work force that has a high level of job satisfaction. If you have not yet appointed a human resources manager, determine your priorities in recruiting someone who will have the confidence, expertise and experience in leading a human resources department within a startup organization or a small business.
Human Resources Leadership
A newly selected human resources manager for your organization with a substantial amount of expertise and experience will arrive armed with a plan to develop a human resources department that will further increase your most valuable asset–your human capital. Human capital is the resource you have in every one of your employees. You recruit employees based on their core competencies, job and technical skills, and the promise that they will make significant contributions to your company’s success. An effective human resources leader is trained to develop and retain that talent using knowledge and tools available to her.
Forming Human Resources Department
The human resources department staff is one of the primary tools for a human resources manager in guiding your organization to a productive and profitable state. In startup companies, it’s sometimes difficult to balance the task of selecting human resources specialists and managing the duties of forming a human resources department. Forming a human resources department requires a great deal more than hiring staff members. Establishing a human resources department for a new company is itself similar to starting a new business. Aside from the amount of latitude you provide your human resources manager, the company must determine the functions and structure of this new department. In addition, the company must introduce the human resource department’s purpose to other departments. The tools available to your human resources leader include discussions with you about your business philosophy, vision and mission for your organization.
Hiring Human Resource Specialists
Selecting experienced human resources specialists require knowledge of the full-cycle recruitment process. Full-cycle recruiting means the process of attracting qualified applicants from the point at which they express interest in your organization to the day on which they actually begin working for you. With your human resources leader as the first staff person for the department, she will need to pull from her knowledge base the techniques used in previous roles as an HR leader. This is just one of the tools your manager will utilize in establishing your human resources department. In addition, another resource is the staff with whom she worked in her previous position. Many times, managers and executives consider bringing with them to a new company the support and professional staff they have worked with before. Recruiting potential candidates from a previous job is accomplished relatively easily, provided your human resources manager does this in a way that does not compromise her own professional ethics or the ethics set for your organization. That being said, another extremely valuable tool available to your human resources manager is forming a team of experienced specialists with whom she has excellent working relationships.
Executive Leadership Support
One of the most critical elements for your human resources leader’s success is support from your executive leadership team. This tool enables him to manage the human resources department with the level of authority and latitude necessary to make decisions and act on behalf of the organization in a manner consistent with your company values and objectives. While human resources as a rule has not been invited to join executive leadership, it is possible to hire an HR leader who has tremendous insight that is helpful to C-level executives. This tool lies in her industry expertise, business acumen and leadership skills.
