#ShapingtheBlogs

Do you feel like you start your day wearing one hat, but by the time the end of the day rolls around, you've donned and discarded multiple hats? If so, you aren't alone. Startup founders notoriously have their hands in every piece of their startup, especially when it comes to human resources. In this article, we look at the many HR hats often worn by early stage startup founders. The role of mentor By virtue of being the leader, you naturally fit the role of mentor. You're a seasoned veteran, yo...

Your human resources initiatives directly affect your employees. They may even mean the difference between happy and unhappy staff. To help you understand what's working, and whether or not it's cost-effective, you want to use human resources (HR) metrics. This way you can measure which of your human resource activities are contributing to your overall startup growth and performance. These may include such things as: Hiring and onboardingEmployee retentionPerformance managementOverall staff sati...

As a startup, you face different challenges than more established companies face. Many of these challenges have to do with staffing and human resources. Let's look at some unique HR issues faced by startups. Lack of management buy-in Sometimes startup management teams don't care enough about HR policies and ignore them. They go so far as to think HR is only about hiring when it's about so much more. Make sure your leadership team buys in to your policies. Your human resources team will set your ...

You're ready to launch your startup, and you know you need employees. Does the task seem overwhelming? Recruiting, hiring and training employees is an intimidating task for even the most seasoned businesses. What's more, you may not have the finances you need in the beginning to provide a salary, benefits and even office space and equipment for an entire team. This is where outsourcing comes in. Outsourcing is a terrific way for startups to take care of essential functions when your budget is sm...

So you've opened your doors, you've hired your first round of employees, and now you need to pay them. While payroll may seem like an easy task, it's full of twists and turns that can trip up even seasoned bookkeepers. Here is what startups need to know about payroll accounting to ensure it's done accurately and in a timely manner. Decide pay dates Your first step is to set up your payroll. It's a safe bet that your employees want to know for certain when their paycheck is coming. You have sever...

You're a go-getter. You've spent months, if not years, getting your startup off the ground. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you've done most of it on your own. But, regular tasks like recruitment, hiring, payroll, benefits plans and employee care are slipping away from you, and there's that nagging voice in your head that's telling you that you need some help. Yet, you don't think your startup is quite big enough for an HR (human resources) department. So, what do you do? In this article, we'...

Your startup is in its early stages, or perhaps you've been in business for a while, and you're ready to hire employees. Have you thought about how you'll hire the best ones? The most beneficial thing for your startup and your employees is to offer a healthy benefits package. In this article, we look at five employee benefits small companies can offer new employees, but first let's look at why you should offer benefits at all.  The reasons you should offer benefits Yes, offering perks to yo...

You know that to help your startup succeed, you have to have a competent, experienced, dedicated team. Unfortunately, though, many startups slip up when it comes to human resources, hiring, training, developing and retaining a great team. To help you avoid these all too common issues, we look at some top HR mistakes made by startups and how to fix them. Mistake #1: Not hiring a human resources person Whether you have a part-time, full-time or outsourced professional manage your HR, you need some...

Did you know that business consultants often recommend outsourcing non-core functions? A non-core function is one that isn't part of your profit center. It's something you don't charge your customers for. While a non-core function is often essential to your successful operation, it isn't what sets you apart from the competition, so it can be outsourced. It's also of the utmost importance to your staff. Payroll is a non-core function and one you should certainly think about outsourcing. To help y...

The typical large company has an employee on-boarding process that works and is a natural part of their system, but there's no reason your startup can't follow the same game plan. In this article, we will look at creating an effective on-boarding process for startups. This is very important to emerging businesses as it not only gets everyone started on the right foot, but it sets the tone for your company culture. Onboarding provides your employees with training, direction and guidelines. Withou...