What Should You Know?

Do you know what you should know?

So many of the organizations I work with aren't quite sure they actually know what they should about human resources best practices and legal requirements. A common question I get is "what should be included in the employee personnel file?" An equally important question should be "what should NOT be included in the employee personnel file?" Oftentimes, and especially in small organizations, individuals who haven't been trained in human resources are being asked to take on this important responsibility. It is not unusual for me to have conversations that lead me to ask, "do you know what you should know?"

What are some important things you should know if you're responsible for HR in your organization? Here's my short list.

What should be included and excluded in each employee personnel file

How to produce a job description for each position

How to produce an employee handbook

How to develop consistent onboarding and offboarding practices

Whether or not you should have rest break waivers signed by some employees, all employees, or none of your employees

Whether or not you should conduct annual VDT training

Whether or not you should conduct prevention of sexual harassment training

In addition, here is my short list of documents and/or templates you probably should use for these practices.

Confidentiality Agreement

Noncompete Agreement

Job application

Performance evaluation

Performance improvement plan

Verbal warning

Written warning

Termination notice

Emergency contact form

Offer letter

Reference verification form

Interview worksheet

Interview evaluation

New employee checklist

Property receipt

Background check authorization

Authorization to release reference information

And this is just a starting point. Depending on the specifics of your company--size, for profit or nonprofit, industry, geographic location, annual revenue, number of employees, company structure--you will likely need more. This is a starting place and should in no way be considered all inclusive. When I start working with any organization, this is where I start. From there we build on the basic necessities and work our way up to creating a Culture of Excellence. Compliance first. Then excellence.

If you need any help with what has been discussed here, be in touch with my firm. We do this and more every day and we do it well.