Six challenges facing small HR teams

Six challenges facing small HR teamsA guide to working smarter and keeping employees engaged

2 Unum | Six challenges facing small HR teams NS-350835 (2-20)

Small HR teams face big challenges

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON YOUR HR TEAM?

If you’re a small to medium-sized business, the answer is probably “just a few.” It might even be just one (you?).

Nevertheless, that small team is often responsible for some of the most critical tasks in your company: recruiting, hiring, benefits, payroll, engagement and employee development. That’s why we constantly hear that HR teams are overwhelmed — and looking for better ways to meet their many challenges.

In this guide, we delve into six challenges that small HR teams face and ways to solve them — for a healthier, happier, more engaged workforce.

CONTENTS

1

2

3

4

5

6

KEEPING TALENTED PEOPLE ON BOARD .........................3

MANAGING THE COMPLEX WORLD OF BENEFITS.......................5

BUILDING AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE ...................7

INCREASING EMPLOYEE WELLNESS .....................8

MANAGING TIME, ATTENDANCE, LEAVE ......................9

MINIMIZING PAPERWORK ............10


RECRUITING IS HARD, SO RETENTION IS CRITICAL

Hiring and retaining talent — probably the most important HR challenge — is getting tougher all the time. For example, in a recent employer survey conducted by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), 83% of respondents said they had had trouble recruiting suitable candidates in the past 12 months.1

Not only that, hiring a new employee costs an average of $4,1292 and it can take months or years for a new employee to reach full productivity. So once you’ve found the right talent, it’s important to make them want to stay. Here are a few important ways to boost your company’s talent retention.

Challenge 1: Keeping talented people on board

START OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

A good relationship starts with a good first impression. But many companies are missing this opportunity, with onboarding processes that are convoluted, outdated and slow. According to Gallup, “only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organization does a great job onboarding new employees.”3

Most businesses have to hire, onboard and rehire frequently, but the challenge is even greater for businesses with seasonal hiring spikes and those that must onboard remote employees from other states or sites. Bottom line: efficient, easy and engaging onboarding is critical to growing and maintaining a healthy company.

According to the Harvard Business Review, “organizations with a standardized onboarding process experience 62% greater new hire productivity, along with 50% greater new hire retention.”4 That’s why it’s critical to make sure your onboarding process is as simple as possible while also delivering a positive experience for your new hire. Using modern technology can help you make a great first impression, helping to level the playing field when you’re competing with larger businesses for talent.

Also, make sure you get most of the onboarding information tasks done before the first day, if possible. Then when your employee arrives for work, you can focus on connecting them with the right people and helping them learn their role.

KEEP A WATCH ON WORKPLACE MORALE

Nobody expects to be happy at work 100% of the time, but people do expect to feel valued, respected, connected and safe. When morale is high, productivity follows. When it’s low, companies start losing those people they’ve worked so hard to recruit.

HR teams often have the best front-line information when it comes to workplace morale. Complaints and stress-related concerns may reach their ears before anywhere else. When you start to sense dropping morale, try persuading management to make some changes. See the next page for some ways workplaces kill employee morale, and some ways to raise it back up.


PROVIDE THE BENEFITS EMPLOYEES NEED

Did you know that workers may value their benefits even more than their salaries or wages? In a recent survey by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), 80% of respondents said they would choose a job with benefits over an identical one paying 30% more but offering no benefits.5

According to the Harvard Business Review, the benefits that employees most want are health, dental and vision insurance.6 Employers who go beyond major medical coverage to provide extra peace of mind will find it easier to attract and keep talented employees.

Trust employees to do their jobs. Focus more on results than methods.

Build in structured ways to show appreciation and recognition for extra effort and jobs well

done — and make sure to use them.

Plan schedules and staffing so that extra hours are the exception, not the rule — this will keep people from

burning out and make them more willing to go the extra mile when it’s really necessary.

Make only those promises you can keep, then keep them.

Stay connected to employees by being visible — come out of your office and mix it up

with the people on the floor.

HOW TO BOOST IT

Micromanage

Expect too much

Never say thank you

Neglect follow-through

Be invisible

HOW TO KILL MORALE


CONSIDER VOLUNTARY BENEFITS

After providing health insurance, many small to mid-sized companies don’t have budget left over for extra coverage that can help attract and keep employees. That’s where voluntary benefits come in.

These benefits can be offered on an employee-paid or shared-funding basis, meaning there’s little impact to your company’s bottom line. And employees get better rates than they would if they bought individual policies on their own.

Meanwhile, employees can get coverage that fills important needs:

• Dental and vision plans help contribute to overall employee health.

• Supplemental health coverage — like critical illness, hospitalization and accident insurance — helps protect employees’ finances by assisting with costs that medical insurance doesn’t cover.

Challenge 2: Managing the complex world of benefits

FIND WAYS TO MAKE POPULAR BENEFITS AVAILABLE AND ADMINISTRATION EASIER

Your benefits are critically important to your employees (as they probably never stop reminding you). But many smaller-sized businesses struggle to provide a competitive package without eating up the company’s budget, and administer benefits without eating up all of a small HR team’s time. Here are some ways to meet these challenges.

You can often offer popular voluntary benefits at little

cost to your company.


TECH TO THE RESCUE

From enrollment through bill paying, businesses generally find benefits administration painful. Employees dislike the clunky, difficult-to-navigate enrollment systems they’re so often forced to use. Employers want easy ways to involve their benefits broker and integrate benefits into the rest of HR’s functions.

Technology offers a way to streamline and solve this challenge. Look for an automated HR system that merges benefits administration with all your other core HR functions. When payroll, employee data and benefits are managed in one system, any changes you make to your employee roster or compensation can be automatically reflected in your benefits bill, minimizing reconciliation and making you significantly more efficient.

You can use the system to educate employees about their benefits and to enroll them in the coverage they need. Compliance with benefits regulation can be built in and you can use reporting features to analyze benefits trends and patterns for more effective benefit purchasing decisions.

A range of benefits that fit your budget and your employees’ needs

An excellent reputation for customer service, from policy set-up through claims processing

High ratings from credit-rating agencies, demonstrating financial strength to pay claims

A long history of experience in employee benefits, to avoid fly-by-night providers that put employees at risk

A tech-forward approach to benefits

The ability to merge benefits enrollment processes and administration with your HR technology

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A BENEFITS PROVIDER

Shopping for a benefits provider for your small to mid-sized business?

Look for these features:


Challenge 3: Building an engaged workforce

FACILITATE FEEDBACK

People give their best efforts when they know what’s expected of them, and when they receive constructive — rather than destructive — criticism that helps them improve. HR can play a major role in helping devise a performance feedback system that ensures regular communication between team leaders and team members, and supports input that helps employees grow.

GIVE NECESSARY TRAINING

If a company wants to build a culture of trust, accountability and high engagement, it must set teams up for success. This requires providing the training people need to do their jobs. HR can do its part by researching and promoting training programs that help valued employees fill gaps in their skill sets and acquire new skills needed for career growth and job changes.

PUT EVERYONE IN THE RIGHT ROLE

The recruitment process is critical to placing people in the right positions. HR departments at engaged workplaces institute robust and effective testing and interviewing measures. That way, hiring managers have the data they need to place people in positions that bring out their best and allow them to shine.

CREATE A WELCOMING WORK ENVIRONMENT

To foster a work culture that’s conducive to participation, progress and high engagement, companies need to ensure that workers feel comfortable, have positive coworker relationships, and trust that their thoughts and suggestions are heard and acted on. HR can help by advocating for employee-friendly workplace standards and policies, facilitating conflict resolution and establishing effective mechanisms for collecting and responding to employee feedback.

HR’S ROLE IS CRITICAL

According to the most recent Gallup State of the American Workplace report, just 33% of U.S. employees are engaged at work.7 The remaining 67% are either disengaged from their jobs or actively disengaged— meaning they are a negative influence on those around them.

The good news is HR can have a positive and lasting effect on employee engagement. Here are four simple but powerful things you can do to help management build an engaged workforce.


Challenge 4: Increasing employee wellness

EXPERIMENT WITH SIMPLE, LOW-COST SOLUTIONS

Keeping employees healthy has significant benefits for employers, including lowering health care costs, boosting engagement and reducing absenteeism. But how can a business help grown people make healthier choices, especially if you don’t have the budget for a full-on health club or fitness trackers for everyone? Here are a few inexpensive initiatives that HR could spearhead to promote employee wellness.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

A sedentary lifestyle creates high risks for employee health. Promoting physical activity throughout the day is important to keeping employees fit.

For zero dollars, you could launch a lunchtime walking club, or promote walking meetings. For a little more, you could provide small subsidies for outside gym memberships.

MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health can be just as important as physical fitness. Unmanaged stress can lead to sleep trouble, heart disease and high blood pressure. It can also interfere with your employees’ abilities to perform their job duties at a high level and could also result in more frequent absences.

To help employees manage their stress, encourage them to take small breaks throughout the workday. Consider using a small space as a meditation room, where employees can go to catch their breath and calm down on stressful days. If feasible, allowing employees to work from home occasionally can help them meet personal obligations and come to work with better mental health.

NUTRITION

Many companies tell their employees to eat healthier, then bring in pizza and donuts for meetings and training. Avoid this mixed message and boost employee wellness by providing fresh fruit and other healthy treats in the office.

OUTSIDE PROGRAMS

Programs conducted by outside groups — weight management programs, for example — can be offered to your employees at no cost to the business, simply by making meeting space available. You might also consider inexpensive ways to recognize employees who meet their program goals.

PREVENTION

Consider offering flu vaccines on-site or reimbursing employees who get a vaccination before flu season. This can help limit the flu’s impact on your employees, office and bottom line. In addition, some insurance carriers offer benefits that pay employees to get certain screening tests, like mammograms and colonoscopies. Look for a carrier who offers such benefits and encourage employees to take advantage.


INVEST IN WAYS TO STAY EFFICIENT AND COMPLIANT

Once you’ve got more than, say, a dozen employees, managing their paid time off, sick time and other leave can be overwhelming. When you’ve got more than one work site, it’s even more complicated. But understanding who’s off and when they’re coming back, across the company, is critical to efficient business operations.

Then there’s the legal aspect. Most companies with more than 50 employees must provide job-protected leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has requirements for protecting disabled employees who need leave. And state and local laws for leave — especially paid family leave (PFL) — are shifting and coming online at a rapid pace. Some of these laws apply if you have even one employee working in that state.

Here’s where investing in HR technology can really pay off. Look for a system that lets employees easily request time off, get approval and indicate leave taken, while allowing you to easily view leave balances and statuses across your organization. Bonus points for a system that keeps track of FMLA and PFL entitlements as leave laws change.

Challenge 5: Managing time, attendance, leave

JOB-PROTECTED LEAVE LAWS: MISTAKES CAN COST YOU

FMLA

• Increase in court filings from 2012 to 2017 = 220%*

• Average jury verdict 2012–2018 = $505,000**

• FMLA complaints handled by DOL in 2018 = 1,011 (47% found violations)†

• Back wages awarded in 2018 = $1.9 million†

ADA

• ADA complaints handled by EEOC in 2018 = 24,605††

• Total settlements = $136.5 million††

• Average jury verdict 2012–2018 = $2 million††

* U.S. Courts, Caseload Statistics Data Tables, accessed Nov. 22, 2019. | ** Unum, Westlaw jury verdict search, 2019. | † U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, Fiscal Year Data for WHD, accessed Nov. 26, 2019. | †† U.S. Equal Employ-ment Opportunity Commission, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Charges FY 1997–FY 2018, accessed Nov. 22, 2019.

PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS EXPAND YOUR LEAVE KNOWLEDGE

Which state leave laws apply to your employees? Get the facts

Who and what does FMLA cover? Understand the law

https://www.unum.com/employers/solutions/leave-absence-management/paid-leave-laws

https://www.unum.com/employers/resources/regulatory-compliance/fmla-handbook


This is another area where technology can come to your rescue. HR software is available that collects all your HR information all in one place. Look for a system that lets you streamline your work by allowing information to be easily entered and securely shared, with flexible access permissions for your HR organization and a self-service element for employees. And make sure it can work with all your state, local and company-specific documents, not just the common federal tax forms. If it can do everything you need, so much the better. If you need it to work with other systems — payroll, for example — it needs to integrate seamlessly.

Challenge 6: Minimizing paperwork

TAKE SOME EASY STEPS TO GET IT OUT OF YOUR WAY

We don’t need to tell you: Your HR team is drowning in paperwork.

They have to keep personal information, benefit elections, performance reviews and compensation up to date and accessible for every single one of your employees. They have to collect, track and submit common federal forms like W-4s and I9s. Plus, many local jurisdictions have their own rules and forms for verifying and certifying employees. On top of that you need to keep track of any company-specific documents that need to have proof of delivery and/or employee signatures: employment terms, NDAs, dress-code policies, workforce codes of conduct, etc.

HR professionals at many small and medium-sized businesses are making do with manual and/or multiple digital systems for capturing, organizing and accessing all this information. If you’re one of them, you are working too hard— and opening yourself up to negative impacts on your business.

Making do with manual systems? You’re working too hard.


DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT EMPLOYEE DOCUMENTS ON FILE?

When a company outgrows informal HR processes, staff often wonder what records they need to keep in an employee’s file. This list provides a good starting point for keeping track of business-critical information and protecting your company in the case of legal action.

BENEFITS

• Benefit elections • Beneficiary designations • Payroll deductions

HIRING

• Job posting • Job application • Resume • Offer letter • Background check forms • Job description • Non-disclosure agreement

PAYROLL, ATTENDANCE AND LEAVE

• Pay statements • W-2s • Absences • Hours worked • FMLA paperwork • ADA accommodations

ONBOARDING

• I-9 • W-4 • Employee handbook • Benefit elections

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

• Training records • Disciplinary records • Position/title changes • Performance evaluations

SEPARATION

• Resignation letter • Exit interview • Severance agreement • Involuntary termination

record

PLEASE NOTE: This list is for illustrative purposes only and does not replace legal advice by a qualified attorney. Employment laws vary by state. Be sure to check with your employment law counsel to determine what is specifically required for your business.

Make this the year

Small HR teams are heroes in their organizations. Every year they must do more with less, while shouldering responsibility for functions that are essential to their companies’ success. This year, take a look at your continuing challenges and take some time to strategize ways to meet them. From smart tech designed just for small businesses to competitive benefit plans you can realistically implement, solutions are out there. Unum is proud to support small HR teams across the country as they work tirelessly to support the nation’s workers.

ABOUT UNUM

At Unum, we help the working world thrive throughout life’s moments. We help millions of people gain affordable access to disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental and vision benefits through the workplace — benefits that help them protect their families, their finances and their futures.

TO LEARN MORE

Visit our website

This information is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be tax and/or legal advice.

1 SHRM, The Global Skills Shortage: Bridging the Talent Gap with Education, Training and Sourcing, 2019. 2 SHRM, Human Capital Benchmarking Report, 2016. The most recent source of its kind.3 Gallup, Why the Onboarding Experience Is Key for Retention, 2019.4 Harvard Business Review, To Retain New Hires, Spend More Time Onboarding Them, 2018.5 AICPA, Americans Favor Workplace Benefits 4 to 1 Over Extra Salary: AICPA Survey, 2018.6 Harvard Business Review, The Most Desirable Employee Benefits, 2017.7 Gallup, State of the American Workplace, 2017.

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Six challenges facing small HR teams

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