Starting an HR Department from Scratch in a Small Business: Where Do I Begin?

Hi all,

I have recently joined a company as the Head of HR, and I am expected to start the department from scratch. This is a big challenge for me. Although I love challenges, I have never started an HR department from scratch before.

The core work of my company is internet advertising. It is a small business group comprising only 80 employees. Starting from scratch is a significant challenge for me, and I am at a total loss as to where I should begin.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi HR guru,

You can start by reviewing the existing policy (All HR Policies) and revising it to meet the organization's needs. Check your attrition rate and the exit interview report (if any). Otherwise, prepare one and start initiating activities that would help to curb attrition. Check the pulse of your employees. You can arrange a team outing to get to know the employees better. Since you have recently joined, I am sure you may find it difficult to gather information from employees. Make them feel that you are always approachable (even though you are the Head of HR).

Check for any open grievances or employee requests that have yet to be addressed. If there are any, try to resolve them as soon as possible. This will build trust among employees and encourage them to come to you with any issues they may have.

Break the ice. Remove all barriers that exist for the well-being of employees in the company. Prepare a career path for each employee and share it with the team. Take the initial step forward.

I believe you will agree that Human Resources is a valuable resource for any organization. Acquiring competent resources is challenging, and retaining them is even tougher.

I hope I have been of some help to you.

Regards,

Raghav V

Hi,

You should also develop the employee details. This will help you to know them better, their expectations, and give you an idea about the prevailing practices and the needs of the hour.

Deepa

Dear friend,

Please check the following:

1. How many employees are there with respect to their domains?
2. Find out the team leads in each group for delegation.
3. Form Recruitment Team, General HR Team, and Admin Team to build the HR department.

Regards,
Pandian

Thanks for the reply, friends.

The recruitment aspect of HR is not very important in our company as it is done solely on a referral basis. What I gathered from them was that they want a ten-point HR policy. For example, issuing appointment letters, medical policies, training, etc.

Any suggestions on this would be highly appreciated.

Hi,

I suggest starting with the end in mind. Be clear about what you want to do. You mentioned starting from scratch, but what does that mean for your company in Advertising? What is your role as the HR head?

We are here to share and help each other. Be confident!

Cheers,
Bharat