Running a small business involves wearing a variety of hats, including sales, marketing, IT, finance and operations as well as HR.
Most business owners are all too aware of the importance of having a motivated and engaged team to drive business success, but juggling a variety of business functions can often result in HR being pushed down a busy business owners to-do list.
With that in mind, here’s a reminder of some of the key benefits of prioritising a HR audit for your business.
1. Ensure Compliance with Employment Laws
Employment laws are continually evolving and over the coming years, it is expected there will be significant changes as a result of the new Employment Rights Bill.
For small and medium-sized businesses, staying on top of the latest regulations can be a daunting task. Whether it’s dealing with pay and National Living Wage changes, holiday entitlements, or employee rights, compliance is crucial to avoid costly legal disputes or fines.
Outsourcing your HR audit to an experienced HR consultancy ensures that your business is fully compliant with the latest employment law changes. A thorough audit will involve reviewing your HR policies, ensuring that your contracts, employee handbooks, and practices meet legal requirements. By leveraging outsourced HR support, you can reduce the risk of non-compliance and focus on growing your business rather than getting bogged down in the latest legislation changes.
2. Identify Areas for Operational Efficiency
For SMEs, efficiency is key. With limited resources, businesses must make the most of their workforce while keeping processes streamlined and effective. An HR audit helps uncover inefficiencies in key areas such as recruitment, onboarding, performance reviews, and employee development.
Outsourcing your HR audits can provide an unbiased, external perspective on your current HR practices. They should help you identify bottlenecks, outdated processes, or redundant tasks that can be streamlined ultimately saving your business time, costs, and boosting overall productivity.
3. Improve Employee Engagement and Retention
Employee turnover is a significant concern for SMEs, and it can be a costly problem if you’re constantly having to recruit to replace staff that have chosen to leave your business. An HR audit provides insight into employee satisfaction, morale, and engagement levels, identifying potential causes of turnover and disengagement.
When you choose to outsource your HR audit to a consultancy, you benefit from expert advice on improving employee retention. HR consultancies have access to best practices in employee engagement, from refining your company culture to offering career development opportunities. By identifying the root causes of dissatisfaction as part of your HR audit and addressing them, you can foster a more loyal and engaged workforce, reducing turnover and enhancing long-term retention.
4. Enhance Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Attracting the right talent is one of the most important factors in the growth and success of any business. SMEs often find themselves competing with larger organisations who are often able to offer a longer list of benefits and perks.
With that in mind, a well-structured recruitment process is vital to ensure that your hiring efforts are efficient and effective.
An HR audit helps assess the effectiveness of your current recruitment strategies, which will allow your business to make informed decisions about how to attract and retain top talent.
5. Foster a Positive Company Culture
A positive company culture is often what differentiates successful businesses from others. It drives employee morale, fosters collaboration, and ultimately contributes to better overall performance. However, SMEs may struggle to define and nurture this culture, especially as they scale and hire new employees.
An HR audit is an excellent tool for assessing your company culture and identifying areas for improvement, whether that’s enhancing communication, promoting diversity and inclusion, or developing better leadership practices. By outsourcing your HR audit to an HR consultancy, you gain access to external expertise that can help you shape a company culture that aligns with your values and business goals.
From here and with the right HR plan in place, your business will be in a stronger position to create a workplace that attracts and retains motivated and engaged employees.
Why should I outsource my HR audit?
A HR audit is essential for ensuring legal compliance, improving employee engagement, and enhancing recruitment.
Whilst conducting an HR audit in-house may seem like a cost-effective solution, outsourcing this task to an HR consultancy offers several benefits.
Firstly, HR consultancies bring in-depth knowledge and expertise, ensuring that your audit is thorough, and your plan is aligned to your overall business plan and goals.
As with outsourcing other key functions, outsourced HR services save you valuable time and resources, allowing you to focus on growing your business rather than the complexities of HR management.
If you are looking for support to get started with your HR function get in touch with the Norton Loxley team. We are here to support you and your Company as your outsourced HR team.
