Hi Sanjay,
Your situation gives a unique and great opportunity for you to sieze the moment & prove your worth. It gives lot of scope for learning as well. The last thing you should do now is to attempt something grand such as framing an HR policy or installing an HR software. Construction companies work on slender margins and they cannot afford such extravagant schemes unless they think it is worthwhile. Being a fresher, dont jump into such complex things which give you ample scope to fail. Work on the basics first.
The company recruited you for some purpose. The manager or GM who is responsible for your selection has clearly seen some objectives for you. Go to your boss or the GM and first ask him an appointment for clarifying your job objectives. Ask him what his priorities are for the next one month, next 6 months, next one year and so on. He will be glad that you asked. He may even tell you something that is totally different to what you thought should be done. Take notes and focus on working those things first.
Ask him who has been handling these responsibiities earlier. It is very likely that some employee is handling these things on a small scale. Go and get his help. Take over partly or wholly those functions which you think you can do & should do.
If there are no priorities laid down by the boss, never mind. Start with basics. Get a list of employees, their employment related papers, attendance registers, etc. Create an employee file and attendance file in the computer. Also keep separate emplyee hard files. Keep monitoring the attendance & ensure that attendance is sent to acocunts or the salary department in time. Co-ordinate with them to do this in a smooth manner. You need to keep track of normal work done, overtime done, people on contract basis, part time basis, etc.
Please also take note of and keep records of all PF, pension, laboor rules related files & information. Labour rules dictate that the company needs to file some returns to the labour department on a regular basis. Someone must have been doing this. Please keep you updated on all relevant labour laws & ensure they are complied with.
Please get yourself involved in recruitment of people if this is being done. You may have to create recruitment procedures, formats for resumes, interview, assessment, etc.
Dont make the mistake of interacting with employees directly and asking for their problems. You are not a union leader. They sure have problems related to salary and compensation, which are beyond your control at this stage. Your job is to support the management in implementation of the best human resource practises. The problems of employees are best dealt by their superiors. You can only help with this process. You need to ask the management's permission to interact with employees to get to know if they have any HR related problems. The management will ask you to do specific tasks if they need your help in this.
Once you have the employee related files ready, work on their job reated papers. This include their job descriptions, performance related information, etc. It is likely that job descriptions are not there. Create simple job descriptions to start with along with job objectives, if this is a priority item on your agenda. It is a time consuming affair and requires agreement from various people and can distract people from their priority jobs. Create a performance assessment sheet if there is none.
Once you have a feel of things and get basic functions such as attendance monitoring and timely compensation done efficiently, you can move on to other things such as manpower planning, framing HR procedures, performance reviews, training and employee development, motivational issues, and yes the "HR policy".
You are welcome to discuss with me any specific issues.
Regards,
Sayori