Saving Money with your HR Strategies
I know everyone is being mindful of their budgets lately, and this includes small businesses in our community. The cost of doing business is rising and the dollars coming in aren’t as predictable as they once were. While we are sometimes tempted to halt all initiatives, or push ‘pause’ so to speak, this keeps us in a freeze state when we need to be making positive change.
Having led companies through acquisition, pandemic, and recessions, I want to share with you some areas that are worth investing in to keep your business moving forward (and help save you in the long term!).
Engaging your employees: while our employee events and programs can feel ‘extra’ and are often one of the first places companies look to cut, but let me tell you how that may be causing you more harm than good…
Employee engagement activities aren’t there to do ‘just because’—they are there to reward, motivate, and retain your employees! So whether that is team swag, monthly team lunches, or free coffee in your break room, it’s time to consider the cost of not doing these initiatives.
The cost of needing to rehire employees is around 50%-200% of the employee’s annual salary—yes, you read that right! If you are replacing an employee with a $60,000 then that’s at least $30,000 in replacement costs. So that $500 team lunch doesn’t seem so bad, does it?
Standardize your processes: make training and onboarding easier with standardized processes. Get everyone on the same page to avoid lost time (and money) on confusion in the team or lost productivity for trying to get someone up to speed.
Reviewing your roles: it’s time to pull out those job descriptions and see what is working effectively and what’s not. What are the tasks we can cut back on and what are the tasks we can do better that drives our business goals forward.
Talk with your team and do it often: keep doing those one on one’s and group huddles. This boosts engagement and keeps your employees at ease with the stress of a lower time. This helps retain your employees, reduces time away from work, helps shape performance and helps build connection.
Did you notice how 3 out of 4 of those are FREE? We’re always here for you if you need some support, templates, or advice – we have solutions for you at different budget levels.
If you liked reading this, you may like our blog on how to Improve New Hire Retention.