In this episode of The Workplace podcast, CalChamber Associate General Counsel Matthew Roberts, CalChamber Senior Employment Law Counsel Erika Barbara and CalChamber Employment Law Subject Matter Expert Vanessa Greene discuss top tips for newer human resources (HR) professionals, which even seasoned professionals may find insightful.
To be effective, HR professionals need a variety of skills and tools to manage a workforce, which newer HR personnel may need help developing. Plus, HR and workforce management are rapidly evolving fields due to frequent changes to laws, regulations and even best practices. Taken together, newer HR personnel may find stepping into this role daunting.
For instance, as an important first step, HR professionals should be clear about which problems and issues HR should handle, and which are better addressed by others in the organization. Because HR professionals are often seen as problem-solvers, they become the go-to for any issues that arise in the workplace. But that doesn’t mean that HR should fix every single issue that comes up. No one person or department in an organization can do that.
So HR should work with the organization’s leadership to define HR’s areas of responsibility — like employee relations and policy enforcement — while defining where other responsibilities end, like maintenance or IT-related issues. Then, the company can train its employees on where they should go to resolve different types of issues. When leadership sets these organizational boundaries, it allows HR to focus on the tasks that fall within HR’s scope.
In the podcast, our experts will also discuss:
- The best way to set up and maintain personnel files — including what documents should be included and what should be kept separate.
- How HR professionals can effectively communicate with organizational leadership about important HR situations or risks.
- How to effectively administer leaves of absence in California.
- Resource recommendations for HR professionals who are new or could use extra support.
These tips can help new HR professionals establish best practices within their organization and may help more seasoned professionals fine tune their existing practices.
