Publié le 25 September 2023
Help make the right hires that will get your company off the ground by knowing the 8 essentials of an HR checklist for startups.
Startup culture is all about innovation, agility, and fast growth. Unfortunately, those aren’t terms that most of us associate with human resources (HR). So it’s not a surprise that only 35% of startups have a dedicated HR professional on their team.
However, it’d be unwise to think your startup can be successful without a strong HR strategy. If you want to focus on rapid revenue and audience growth, you need the right people to make that happen – and that is where HR comes in. Without it, you could find yourself struggling with issues such as recruitment, retainment, and regulatory compliance.
But if you’re in the early stages of a startup, it’s probably because you have a brilliant idea for a product or service – not because you’re an expert in creating HR processes. This is why using our HR checklist can help.
Rather than worrying about how to create an excellent HR strategy, knowing 8 essentials of an HR checklist for startups ensures you can sort out one of the least exciting parts of creating a new company so you can focus on the parts of your business that mean the most to you.
HR in Your Startup: Is it Required?
So, you’re setting up a business. You’ve got an exciting new product that you want to put in front of customers, a small team of people you trust to produce and sell the product, and an outbound lead gen and marketing strategy to generate buzz around your business. You’ve nailed it, right?
What about Human Resources? Businesses that take HR into account set themselves up for success further down the line. Why? Because dedicated HR managers have the experience needed to support staff, resolve issues, and contribute to company growth goals, from training policies and benefits to specialist recruitment.
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But the benefits don’t stop there. Here are some of the essential reasons why having HR solutions is more important than you might think.
Managing Recruitment and Retention
Many startups begin with a small team of trusted partners. If you’re successful, you’ll soon need to increase the size of your workforce. This means posting job openings, managing applications, conducting interviews, negotiating salaries – essentially, a lot of extra work for you to do alone.
HR can also be useful for retaining talented staff. As experts in the field, HR professionals understand levels of pay increase to offer staff. On top of this, they’ll be able to focus on making the working environment as enjoyable as possible.
Overseeing Training and Skills Development
Startups typically involve people with a wide skill set, rather than specialist skills. This means that training is an integral part of growing the skills base of your team if you want your company to blossom.
A dedicated HR coordinator can keep on top of the skills that you and your team need to develop, whether in response to industry trends, competitor analysis, or best practices. For example, they might secure IT training if you’re struggling with remote computer access or content creation training to help broaden your digital marketing efforts.
Creating Future HR Policies
In your startup’s current form, you might think you can deal with HR issues as and when they arise. But you’ll soon find that having a clear set of HR policies to deal with common issues, such as how to manage expenses or paid vacations, makes managing employees smoother.
WIth the help of an HR department, employees can access clear guidance about their job and workplace environment. Moreover, you can be confident that these policies comply with employment laws and regulations.
Leading the Way on Company Culture
Every startup dreams of a team that’s brimming with people who have a shared passion for achieving your vision. In this way, HR specialists can help you establish the company culture you want. They’ll lead by example and build a strong company ethos across the organization.
What is an HR Checklist and How Can it Help?
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So, you’ve recognized that creating an HR team is a critical part of a successful startup. But managing a startup is a busy job. Whether you’re focused on locating suppliers or monitoring contact center trends, you don’t want to spend any more time on HR than you have to.
This is why it can be useful to have a checklist that you can use to ensure you implement all the 8 essentials of an HR checklist for startups. Following an HR checklist means you can be confident that your startup has an effective and wide-ranging approach to human resources.
Of course, not every startup has the same requirements. This is another reason why using an HR checklist can be beneficial. Whether you run your HR yourself or have in-house HR managers, an inventory can be adapted to your specific circumstances.
HR Checklist for Startups: 8 Essentials
So what goes into an HR checklist? Here are 8 essentials of an HR checklist for startups to consider.
1. Develop a Structure
When you’re setting up a startup, it can be easy to leave things such as your organizational structure up in the air. However, if you want your company to be professional and well-organized, it’s crucial that your partners and employees know who they need to talk to if they have any concerns.
As HR issues can occur at any moment, it’s imperative that you sort out your HR structure from the beginning of your startup journey. Identify someone in your organization who can lead HR operations – ideally, this should be someone with HR experience.
This person will usually be responsible for creating HR policies and ensuring your operations are compliant with HR regulations. While you might choose to outsource parts of your HR operation, most companies keep some of the most essential functions – such as choosing payment structures – in-house.
2. Utilize HR Software
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In today’s digital world, technology has made almost all aspects of our lives much easier – including HR. Dedicated software, such as a Human Resource Information System (HRIS), can be used to automatically manage admin tasks like monitoring employee records.
This can be especially useful for startups. It’s no secret that new businesses don’t have the resources to allocate numerous employees to focus on HR. It’s understandable that these organizations would turn to the latest HR tech to make the most of their limited resources.
If you don’t wish to invest in a specific HR software, you should still consider technology solutions that can save you time and effort, such as collaborative tools.
3. Nail your Hiring Processes
An organization is only as good as the people in it – and your startup is no different. So it’s crucial that you optimize your hiring process as soon as you start to look for new team members. You’ll have to consider the sort of person that you want to hire and tailor job adverts accordingly.
This will also mean you’re able to create an interview process that identifies the perfect candidates for your company. Rather than just having a traditional interview meeting, consider using practical tasks. For example, if you’re looking for a web developer, ask them to provide website annotation for a mock site. This type of technical screening can help to ensure that you hire people with the right skills to move your company forward right away.
Of course, bringing in new team members isn’t just about hiring the right people. Once you’ve created an interview procedure that you’re happy with you should also ensure new hires are able to start working seamlessly. This means setting up an onboarding process that includes welcome packs and other essential information.
4. Identify and Follow HR Regulations
If you’re managing all of your HR operations in-house, it’s worth creating a separate checklist for HR regulations. The relevant regulations will depend on your startup’s location and size, as well as the industry you work in. But regardless, it’s vital that you’re compliant with these rules, regulations and laws.
These regulations usually include ensuring that you’re documenting tax correctly, keeping your workplace safe for employees, and have robust policies around issues such as workplace harassment. If you fail to follow any of the HR regulations in your local area, you risk being open to legal action.
5. Grow your Company Culture and Relationships
“Company culture” might seem like another buzzword, but it’s a crucial part of any successful business, no matter its size. This is why it’s vital that your HR leaders lead by example when it comes to the values that are important to your company – visibly working hard and collaborating with others will ensure those traits spread to other team members.
Similarly, your HR checklist should incorporate ways to nurture professional relationships between all of your employees. This could include ensuring there’s an easy way for team members to get quality facetime with senior management and scheduling team-building days.
6. Establish a Payment and Benefits System
When you’re establishing your startup’s HR operations, one of the most critical aspects is creating a clear payments and benefits system. While this might not seem like a huge issue if you only have a small and loyal team, any startup that wants to scale up must have competitive levels of compensation.
This means having a simple pay structure with clear levels of progression. You may also want to store information about these opportunities for progression – as well as your company’s benefits – on an interactive site. This way, your employees can easily access your payroll platform, while self-service features will make them feel in control of their salary and benefits.
Of course, the rise of remote working means that many startups today operate across multiple countries. So you might have to adapt your payments system if this is the case. For instance, you could use a separate sg domain name for employees in Singapore to manage their payments and benefits.
7. Create a Performance Evaluation System
You’ll no doubt do everything you can for your startup to be successful. However, to reach your business goals, you must ensure your employees are as motivated as you are. This is why incentivizing performance can be so useful.
Your HR checklist should include setting up a system where you can evaluate employees’ performances and reward those who work to a high standard and excel in their role. With this in mind, you’ll need a system for storing employee data and a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can use to evaluate performance.
8. Prepare for the Future
The main reason for implementing an HR checklist as a startup is to ensure you’re well-prepared for the future. So it makes sense that your HR operations should be future-proof.
This means preparing for potential HR audits, making documents relating to compliance and regulations readily available. Hopefully, your startup will experience rapid growth, so you must be prepared for this as well. As such, consider ways to increase the size of your operations, from working out how to scale a call center to hiring new employees.
To make this process easier, make your HR operations adaptable to growth by having plans for a range of different conditions.
Implement An HR Checklist Today
No one ever said managing a startup was going to be easy. And the problem of setting up an HR department in your new organization can seem daunting.
But using the 8 essentials of an HR checklist for startups can be extremely beneficial. It acts as a starting off point so you can easily start developing policies that work for your company and employees.
You don’t want to miss any crucial HR functions, such as implementing effective hiring procedures or establishing benefits plans. In this way, a checklist can take a lot off your plate. So you can focus on getting your startup off the ground and ensuring it becomes a booming success!