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HELP Needed!!!!!
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HELP Needed!!!!!
Discuss workforce management, performance management, retention, communication, motivation, contributing to business results and other topics.
I need a little advise. I am in the process of creating the HR department. I have two companies and several branches spread across the country. I just purchased a new database to enter approx. 398 emp
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Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » HELP Needed!!!!!
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HELP Needed!!!!!
posted at 9/28/1999 12:40 AM EDT
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Posts: 63
First: 8/1/1999 Last: 8/31/2000 |
I need a little advise. I am in the process of creating the HR department. I have two companies and several branches spread across the country. I just purchased a new database to enter approx. 398 employees, the health benefits are being switched to a new carrier by 10-1, the 401K enrollment is being held 10-1, and I have to do complete audits on payroll and employee records by 10-15, not to mention the vast amount of "fires" just given to me to put out. The CEO expects the department up and operational by December 31, including complete policies and a training program. The have given me no staff at this time, just me. I have requested an assistant and basically been told no, we don't have the money, while I receive orders daily to fill vacated jobs or newly created positions. Could someone please advise me on how I can request assistance and receive it?
P.S. My review is October 15, and I want to be able to request a raise. But am afraid without assistance, I may seem incompetent. Please Help!!! |
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HELP Needed!!!!!
posted at 9/28/1999 1:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 9/28/1999 Last: 9/28/1999 |
Tonette:
I would schedule an appointment with the CEO and present him with a thorough list of your "to do's" including priorities of what needs to be done and by when. Ask his assistance on creating a A, B, and C list. Chances are with all the work you mentioned in your post, he'll come to understand quickly that you do need help if he expects you to meet his deadlines. Pehaps obtaining a temporary to help you with the clerical aspects might be somethin he would agree to, at least until you can get your head above water. Hope this helps. Ginger |
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HELP Needed!!!!!
posted at 9/28/1999 5:10 AM EDT
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Posts: 99
First: 6/22/1999 Last: 12/11/2001 |
I created my own department also but with a much smaller employee base. Use your resources of what you have coming up:
1. Did you use an insurance broker to obtain the new health insurance? Or did you deal directly with the health insurance company? They should provide you with assistance from providing flyers, employee meetings, enrollment, etc. during the enrollment period. They can even conduct the enrollment and have you serve as an advisor. My broker even created informational bulletins to be distributed to my employees. 2. Same goes for your new 401k. We just switched 7/1 and our third party administrator was more than willing to help with meetings, enrollment packages, a financial planner, etc. Again, if you are dealing directly with the 401k company, they should be offering the same type of services Don't be afraid to ask! 3. Concentrate your payroll audits on your non-exempt employees first. That would be the first area for non-compliance with overtime issues. I'm assuming that your non-exempts probably make up more than 50% of your labor force. Check with your accounting department, they may have already identified payroll trouble spots. 4. Find software that uses templates for your policy manuals. It sure provides you with a big headstart. Search this website under workforce tools. Some software provides a "search & replace" feature to insert your company name. Then review it for relevancy and see if your managers/department heads will review it for you in greater detail. 5. Find someone in the office that can do data entry and see if you can use that person to input the basic employee information ie, name-address-ss #-birthdate, etc. Keep your payroll and performance information confidential. That may be enough to show your boss you've got a headstart. 6. Recruiting nightmare? Use your supervisors of the positions to help out. Have them establish the job description if a new position or at least provide an outline instead of waiting for you to create it. This will help you save time 7. Get in touch with your local colleges and technical colleges. Can they provide classes for your training? Do they have the type of curriculum you could use? 8. Use your branch office managers (or whoever assists/works on the HR type of functions) to help with payroll information, I-9 verification, employee file audits. Search this forum for previous assistance with HR audits. There's been some really good feedback. 9. Make your help wanted ads more generic so all you have to add is the position information. If you have a good newspaper rep in the classified section, they keep everything on file and most times you can give changes over the phone in five minutes, then confirm it by fax. 10. When receiving your resumes, weed them out quickly by making a list of MUST HAVES for the position you are recruiting for, ie, education, salary level, years of experience. You can quickly eliminate candidates by scanning for key words/figures without having to read the entire resume. Then set the ones that didn't have all the key information aside for a second review after you have gone through the ones that fit or you've selected for an interview. 11. Do your first screening via phone interviews instead of having candidates come into the office. Conduct your screening with a set list of questions and keep to a time schedule, no more that 20 minutes. When someone is in front of you, sometimes there's a tendency to talk longer. Most people are still at work so you may have to set aside an hour after hours to do these. You don't mention when you took this position but if you are being reviewed on 10/15, what goals are you to have met by then? Are the HR goals part of your review or are you being evaluated on your previous responsibilties? I agree with the other response by gmoore, throw that monkey off your back and back onto the CEO's to let him help you priortize. If he doesn't offer any help, then have a priority plan made up and inform him how you have prioritized the work. If you've only been given 2-3 months to put this department together, you're going to be working some long hours but it can be done. Have a local HR association? Network and find someone you can mentor with to provide that mental support and assist in leading you to the right places for the information you need. One of the most crucial elements of being a manager is learning to delegate so don't be afraid to use other resources so you can concentrate on the most critical areas. Good luck. |
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