One of the many initial obstacles you will face as a new business owner is the challenge of personnel. Employees can make or break a company. They are individual cogs that must all work together well to run an entire machine – so you’ll want to avoid the most serious problems early on.
Retention
Retention is a problem for most companies, not only startups. A huge amount of money and effort is wasted on hiring and rehiring every business cycle. Not to mention the inherent risks that come with hiring – since every new employee can potentially be a miss-hire that causes more problems than they solve.
Consistently moving through your workers means that you also will run out of network recommendations quite quickly (which tend to be your most valuable source). Make sure that the benefits available, the wages offered, and the company experience itself is also positive enough to make you stand out from your peers. If you’re above the industry standard in some way, good employees will want to stay.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement, in a nutshell, is the relationship that an employee has given to their work. If they ultimately are only showing up to work every day for a paycheck, that employee engagement is not very healthy. Ideally, you want to have them passionate and focused about what they do.
It can help employee engagement if workers know specifically what they are supposed to do. Quality coaching can help employees feel 40% more engaged at their jobs for that reason. It can also help build more positive relationships between supervisors and workers.
Early-On HR Issues
Human Resource is a department that can often be overlooked by local businesses or startups. Indeed, some businesses are so small that creating an HR department would be impractical. However, no matter the size of your company, you should have some kind of HR system in place. If you’re large enough, having a specific department or even just a single employee devoted to HR services can be essential for moderating employee behavior and productivity. You don’t necessarily need to hire more, either – you can outsource to HR firms or consultants if the circumstances dictate it.
Planning is important for every aspect of a successful business. But then again, so is flexibility – being willing and ready to adjust as needed. Be prepared to evolve your company culture and structure as needed. Remember: ultimately, nothing will get done for long without good employees.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Here’s more to read: How to Boost Employee Morale at Your Startup
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