Starting an HR Department from Scratch: Where Should I Begin and What Steps to Follow?

Hi Friends,

We are a software development company on the Ruby on Rails platform. It has been successfully running for the past year. We have 30 employees in our organization. Our management and I have been involved in starting the HR department and implementing HR practices.

Currently, I am the person handling all HR activities. Basically, I do not come from an HR background. I have some knowledge and experience in HR.

If I need to start HR activities in my company, where should I begin? Friends, please suggest how to take the first step and establish a proper HR department. Can you provide me with a step-by-step guide and the flow of activities?

Thanks for your kind responses. Looking forward to your reply.

Regards,
Saravana Kumar
EXE - HR
RailsFactory, Chennai
Email: sharaan47@gmail.com

Prioritize things.

Prepare letter formats of all kinds.

Induction for all employees and new joiners.

HR manual or policy manual (very important).

Attendance system.

These are the basic things you need to look out for. Hope this info helps.

Regards,

Anup Abraham

Email: anup_abraham@hotmail.com

Dear,

At the onset, let me appreciate your openness in thinking of an HR department and sharing your idea with everyone, and asking for their view on the same.

Just presume that you had to join a company, what would you expect from the company? List them down...

I believe it's best to first write in plain and simple English and then consider HR jargon for the same, like:

- Recruitment and selection process
- Job description and job specifications
- Compensation & Benefits
- Date and time of payment
- Code of Conduct
- Induction and orientation process
- Setting up Key Result Areas (KRAs) / Key Performance Areas (KPAs)
- Policies regarding the evaluation of employees (PA, PM, PD)
- Training needs analysis
- Training process
- Training evaluation
- Resignation, Retirement, Separation process
- Exit Interviews
- Retention Strategies

These are the basic HR policies that need to be framed; later, one can develop as per the organization's demands.

Hope this meets your expectations.

Regards,

Deepali Raheja