HR Training is perhaps something you haven’t considered before. That isn’t to say you don’t comply with certain standards when it comes to managing your employees but there is substantial benefit from exploring options on how HR training will enhance how you manage HR in your nursery.
Hire an Expert or Do It Yourself?
This is often a debate that many small business owners face. Should I invest and engage the services of a HR Professional to manage my HR for me or should I get some basic HR training and learn how to run HR affairs myself.
There are no right or wrong answers but In my opinion I would suggest doing a combination of both. There are certain elements of HR such as ensuring your employment documents are compliant that I would without question appoint an expert to manage for you. This is because employment law is constantly changing and unless you have the time to update your skills in this area on a frequent basis then you are potentially wasting a lot of your precious time that could be better utilised on other matters you will be required to focus on in your nursery.
For HR documents such as employment contracts, policies and procedures and an employee handbook outsource these documents and ensure they are regularly updated to reflect the current legal landscape. An online tool such as that created by The Nursery HR people will manage all your employment documents in one place. For further information on our HR solution please visit our website www.thenurseryhrpeople.co.uk
Once your basic HR documentation is in order and you know it satisfies Ofsted requirements it is time to turn your attention to HR training that you could participate in that will develop your skills in this area and reduce the reliance on appointing an HR professional to manage HR for you.
What HR Training Would Be Best For My Nursery?
You will undoubtedly come across many varied HR issues in your nursery. Ranging from simple enquiries that your employees may have about their pay or benefits to complex and difficult sickness absence cases.
The differing nature of HR means that your skill set needs to be pretty diversified to handle the various challenges you will be faced with. This is where most people panic and become overwhelmed.
You may feel that you just don’t have enough hours in the day to tackle all of this as well as run your nursery. But it can be amazing how productive you can become in managing HR when armed with just a few basic tools. Here are my top 5 skills I would recommend you develop in order to become competent and confident in this area:
- Focus on Performance – the bottom line is the more you can get employees to perform at their best the less likely you are going to find that you are having to worry about HR issues. By having a solid performance programme in place that encourages performance and motivates people to improve you will achieve outstanding results.
- Listen before making judgements – you may have heard this saying on numerous occasions but I will repeat it for the purposes of hitting the message home. We were born with two ears and one mouth, therefore we should be listening at least twice as much as we spend talking. Nothing can be more powerful than giving a person some air time to express their views and letting them feel they are being listened to. Many potentially confrontational situations can be diffused by applying this technique.
- Consider matters from the other persons point of view – It can be tempting to make a judgement without first having understood the full facts. This is often a common mistake made by managers when they assume an employee has acted badly but hasn’t understood what has happened. To ensure you are being fair and consistent always wait to speak with people and understand their perspective before passing judgement. This could prove to be a big help when dealing with HR matters.
- Become an influencer – there is nothing more powerful than gaining the respect from your employees and being in a position of influence. Through engaging and leading by example you will be able to become an influencer and someone who your employees will turn to when guidance is needed.
- Make People Feel Important – this is a fundamental, basic human need. We all want to feel valued and there is no better way of doing this than making people feel important. Communicate with your employees respectfully. Always let them know how proud you are of them and their efforts and you are guaranteed to substantially reduce any animosity amongst your workers towards you or colleagues.
You will notice I have not mentioned any skills that are technical to HR in nature. For example I have not suggested you embark on HR training that walks you through how to manage a sickness absence process. This is because that if you focus on the 5 areas above rather than the technical management of the issue a resolution is far more likely to arise.
You already have a technical HR policy that explains what process you should follow when managing a sickness absence case. This will be contained within your Absence Management Policy. But what it won’t do is provide advice on the best approach to take when dealing with such a case.
By applying the 5 principles you will be in a much better position to apply the process with higher chances of getting an expedient outcome than purely following a process without giving much thought to how you will go about doing it.
You may already feel you are appropriately equipped in these 5 areas and do not need any further HR training. However if you think you could do with a refresher or some coaching in these areas then we can help. The Nursery HR People have training and coaching programme’s that will support you in improving your skills so you feel empowered to deal with HR in your nursery.
For further information on our training and coaching programmes please contact us on info@thenurseryhrpeople.co.uk or by phone on 01509 833121.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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Donna Fairbrother
Director
The Nursery HR People
01509 833 121
Less HR More Learning!