New to Setting Up an HR Department? What Are the Essential First Steps?

Hello everyone!

Kindly let me know what the major tasks are to be performed while setting up an HR Department in any company. I have recently joined a company that didn't have an HR department before, and as I only have 6 months of experience, I am a bit confused about how to start and where to start. I initially began by creating an MIS of all employees. What should be the next process?

Regards,
Swati
HR Executive

Defining SOPs for HR Functions

First and foremost, you need to define all the SOPs of HR functions that will be applicable to your company at the initial level, such as recruitment, training, code of conduct, attendance, and employee grievances.

After defining the SOPs, you will have to formulate all formats related to different HR functions. Later, you will need to design the process flowchart illustrating how the activities will be carried out in the organization, thus establishing a structured HR function.

Once you implement the above steps, you can apply the same procedure to other HR functions like PMS and employee engagement.

Thank you.

You have not indicated the size of your organization, the manpower at different levels, business fundamentals, nature of the organization, etc. All the suggestions provided by fellow HR professionals will be more meaningful once these details are known. If your organization is very small, with only a few employees, many of the processes mentioned above can be simplified or eliminated. I recently advised a company where numerous activities were outsourced due to the small size of the organization!

Best wishes,
N K Sundaram

I have been appointed as the Group HR for all their verticals. This includes one restaurant with at least 40 employees, one PMT Academy with 25 employees, one hospital with 125 employees, and one coworking company with 15 employees where I have been selected.

I feel you require an HR consultant like me for some time, at least, to put things in order, create policies, procedures, SOPs, etc.

Best wishes