Small business owners tend to view every aspect of their operations as a do-it-yourself proposition. When these businesses need to hire, make out payroll and other operations, often it is the business owner that ends up wearing all of the hats.
In a recent article that appeared on the Finance Commerce website, for small business owners like Becky Robinson, entrepreneur and owner of marketing company Weaving Influence, doing it all can present a hardship if company revenue takes a hit. When it happened to her, she realized that she had to have help in order to handle it all. She had to hire a director of operations as well as engaging the services of an HR consultant. Even though she only had a total of four employees, she knew her own limitations.
“The only way for us to grow is for me to delegate and not get bogged down in the details of HR,” Robinson said.
In a recent study conducted by payroll service provider, ADP, 70% of HR responsibilities and duties are handled by either the owner of a small business or someone else on their staff that also has other responsibilities within the organization. Most do this in an attempt to keep costs down, especially if there are just a few employees on the payroll as was the case for Robinson. According to Brian Michaud, who is a senior Vice President at ADP, most of these individuals don’t have any sort of HR training.
Unlike HR professionals, small business owners or members of staff who are tasked with HR tasks are inexperienced in handling compliance to current government regulations as well as managing employee benefits. Hiring a dedicated HR person is simply considered an unnecessary luxury.
For some entrepreneurs, it’s all about being in complete control of every aspect of their small business. According to Gene Marks, owner of a Pennsylvania small business consulting firm, Marks Group, “Owners are particularly unwilling to share information about their companies with anyone else.”
Keeping Small Companies Compliant
With recent changes in laws and regulations that have taken effect, some small business owners have come to the realization that the kind of reporting that is now required in order for them to stay compliant is over their heads. Regulations from the federal, state, county and even local level have changed so many of the rules on hours, pay and benefits and how they must be handled and reported that it can seem overwhelming to some business owners to stay ahead of them.
The answer for these business owners so that they are able to stay in business and be in compliance is to outsource these essential tasks to an external HR management company. These firms can handle all aspects of human resources including compliance, payroll, reviews and issues that can arise in the workplace. It is far better to get help before something goes wrong.
At EinsteinHR, we offer a complete range of human resources services. Our mission is to provide top level human resource management services above and beyond what our clients expect. No matter what your HR needs are, contact us today. We can help. Contact us today to schedule an assessment.