4 minute read
Preventing HR Problems
How Technology can Streamline your HR and Protect your Business
Practical HR have used technology to help deliver aspects of HR to help SME organisations save time and money, while reducing risk and ensuring compliance.
We asked Paula Fisher, Managing Director, to explain how they approach this and the benefits it brings to their clients.
“We have been providing HR services to our clients for over 20 years and we have always looked at how we could use technology to improve delivery and service levels.
A few years ago, we asked ourselves a simple question. What is the most common problem our clients (who are mainly SMEs) have when it comes to HR? The answer was easy. They struggle to keep up to date with HR & employment law, and the challenge of communicating important HR information to employees.
We understand why. SMEs are busy people with limited time and resources. However, not getting HR right can be fraught with danger. Case law is littered with examples of organisations losing employment tribunals because they could not evidence the right documentation, and/or that they had communicated this to employees.
So, we asked ourselves, how can we solve this problem?
The answer was to develop our HR Portals, YourHR.space, which solves this problem and quite a few others! Our HR experts draft and tailor all the required HR information for the client, i.e., everything you would find in a good employee handbook, including HR policies and procedures, codes of conduct, working practices etc. We then present this on an HR Portal that is branded for the client. Every employee can access all the information they need via their company HR Portal using a secure log-in.
Importantly, when there is a change in legislation, we update the HR Portal for the client and communicate the change to every employee for them.
We also recommend additional content and policies when there are changes in social trends. For example, our HR Portals now have an optional wellbeing area and policies on home working and video etiquette. We can also automate the process of issuing contracts of employment to new starters via the Portal.
It’s very reassuring for our clients to know that they are always up to date and compliant. For employees it sends an important message that the business takes a professional approach to HR and provides them with access to everything they need. We could not have provided this service 20 years ago as the technology was not available, and we have seen technology progress even further since the humble beginnings of YourHR.space that has allowed us to add many more tools, including a holiday management system and employee database, so that employee data and personnel files can be stored online, and lots of other useful tools to make managing HR easier. But its uniqueness continues to be that it guarantees compliance and communicates changes”.
But what about those SMEs who don’t want to invest in an HR Portal? They may be very small and don’t have the budget or prefer to do things themselves, but maybe with a little help.
“Ahh! This is where the HR Hub – YourHR.guide - comes in. This is the service that is included in your BITA membership and that gives you access to useful HR guides and templates.
There is an extended service that gives SMEs a really cost effective but comprehensive solution to their HR. YourHR.guide allows SMEs to put in place all the HR documentation they need themselves, using the templates provided. It also provides guidance on the most common HR problems that arise in the workplace.
And there are updates and notifications so you can keep everything up to date. Of course, its not the same as the HR Portal when everything is done for you, but it is an easy and cost effective tool for all your HR”.
Paula and her team will keep innovating and developing their HR solutions to make HR easier, so that SMEs can get on with running their businesses.
BITA MEMBER BENEFITS
BITA has been working with our members to create our BITA Support Hubs. Full information about them is on the BITA website under ‘Member Support’, which includes information about the HR Hubs for the UK and Ireland that Paula has created, with help from PeopleTime for the Irish Hub. Our members benefit from free access to the hub, where they can find HR Guidance, HR Downloads, HR Templates and HR Compliance information. They can also upgrade to BITAHR membership which includes complete access to the whole site! Contact enquiries@bita.ie for more information.
You can access the BITA HR Hub from your member support area: https://bita.ie/member-support/hr-hub.html
