A lot depends on human resource strategies to increase productivity amongst employees. Contrary to the popular notion that it is mainly the skill sets of workers that determine improved output, optimised labour hire and management plans are a determining factor for ensuring business growth and development and profitability.
Here are some methods that you as a business owner can use to meet short-term labour requirements and plan for a long-term labour force.
Develop In-House Training Programs
Successful companies always focus on continuous training plans to better skill sets of existing employees. This has a two-way effect. First, there is no need for additional labour hire employment as the business expands; the existing employees can take on additional responsibilities after training. It saves substantial sums on recurring salary expenses. Second, existing employees are already aware of the culture and ethos of the company and can easily slip into supervisory roles after training. This helps companies leverage the expertise of their freshly-trained employees to implement best practices of the business.
The in-house training programs can take two forms. One is where senior employees shift their knowledge and expertise on to junior employees to build a future bank of skilled employees, ready to take over supervisory roles that will form the foundation for the future. The second option is to hire human resource consultants to structure course materials and training programs that are in tune with the company’s needs and objectives. External consultants or in-house executives can conduct these sessions.
Evaluate Synergies in Different Functional Areas
If you have to increase productivity, you have to merge synergies in various departments like Accounts, Finance, IT and others into your overall business structure. No department in today’s business environment can be a stand-alone entity. Such systems tend to clash with each other leading to operational inefficiencies. For example, you might have excellent employees in Finance, and IT and HR department might have hired a few top of the line staff. But if you do not have an adequate compensation and incentive package, it will be effortless for your competitors to poach on your employees. There should be a few common denominators to bring all departments together. To align the synergy of different departments, you should goad all employees from board level down to work towards common organisational goals.
Provide a Safe and Healthy Work Environment
This is especially true for industries and businesses with extreme working conditions. There a couple of factors which play a dominant role in employee retention. One is that the employees should feel safe in what they are doing and the other is liking the people they are working with or for. You might use motivation and reward techniques to the best of your financial means or implement optimised learning programs for advancing career opportunities amongst your employees. But all this will come to naught if you do not have systems in place that look at the fundamentals of labour welfare policies. These include safety and security at the workplace, friendly organisational policies and favourable working conditions. All these will go a long way in lowering employee turnover in your organisation while attracting the best talent in the market.
Outsource Labour Hire Requirements
By outsourcing your labour hire needs to reputed and well-known agencies like First Personnel Recruitment, you can plan well ahead for growth strategies. After-all any diversification or expansion plans of your company will rest on how quickly you can find the right employees to take up the additional pressure of business. Recruitment agencies have a database of prospective job-seekers who can be contacted and engaged at short notice. Once the candidate is hired by you and fits into the assigned role, he/she can be part of the long-term workforce.
The advantage of outsourcing labour hire needs is that for a minimal fee you save all the expenses of going through a traditional hiring process – ads in newspapers, short listing suitable candidates, interviews et al.
Human resource is one area that can be optimally used for boosting the growth of your company. The quality of labour and their satisfaction levels at the workplace are defining factors that can take the business to the next level. Good human resource strategies are crucial even if most departments in your company are automated. It is the skill sets of the people behind the machines that ultimately matter in the long run.