First HR Role in a Company: How to Handle Senior Employee Concerns and Consultant Challenges?

At present, I am working in a company that never had an HR department. I am the first HR professional, and I consider myself lucky. It is a challenging job. Initially, I am going to work under an HR consultant appointed by the company. He will provide me with all the guidance required to set up the department. There are 28 staff employees and around 50 workers in the factory. The consultant visits once a week and advises me on what needs to be done. The main issue is that we need to create job profiles for every position as the roles are not clearly defined in this company. Many employees are performing various tasks.

Senior Employee's Concerns

The consultant recently gave a presentation to a senior employee who has been with the company for many years. This senior employee expressed several disagreements:

1. Why is the consultant delaying the preparation of HR policies?
2. The consultant seems unaware of the actual working conditions and is merely sharing templates from other companies without considering their applicability to our situation.
3. The consultant is focusing on matters that are not urgent but still important given the current state of the company.
4. The company is not undergoing significant expansion that necessitates an immediate overhaul of the HR processes.
5. Before implementing new strategies, the existing system needs to be refined, and new systems need to be established. Using complex terms and presentations may not be effective; sudden changes could disrupt the organization.

I would appreciate guidance on how to address this situation.

The Importance of the Human Resource Department

The Human Resource Department is crucial to any firm. You must first understand your organization's policies to create job profiles. The Human Resource Employment staff begins its work by designing and developing policies, procedures, and programs to recruit the most capable and qualified candidates available for job openings according to the company's needs.

Human Resource Activities

Human Resource activities include the preparation of policy outlines, recruitment processes, training and development, induction programs, and wage and salary administration vis-a-vis job descriptions, job analysis, and job design. This also involves creating a suitable wage policy, disciplinary control, performance appraisal (ranging from 90 degrees to 360 degrees according to the company's needs), welfare measures for employees as per the statutory requirements of the locality, workmen compensation, and the legal compliance role of the HR Department. Additionally, it encompasses medical insurance benefits to the staff, including Group Insurance, ESI, etc. For each activity, the HR Department must prepare proper guidelines considering the organizational goals and objectives.

Regards,
Suri Babu Komakula