Persuading SME’s to invest in HR support can often be an uphill struggle. HR can feel like a distraction, an unnecessary expense. When you are focused on growing your business, it is easy to take the view that if something is not broken, why fix it. So, it’s often only when a people problem actually happens that I get a call. While I’m happy to work with businesses to resolve these problems – whether it’s a tricky disciplinary or grievance issue, a policy or compliance gap, or a retention problem – it’s often the case that the problem could have been avoided by thinking about HR practices earlier. But the key point is this – the benefit of having a proactive HR plan or strategy is not just about staying out of trouble, it’s about how your people can add value to your business.

Here are three reasons, all related to engaging your people, to think about putting in place an HR plan sooner rather than later: Revenue Growth – Organizations with top quartile engagement scores show revenue growth 2.5 times greater than those with bottom quartile scores. Productivity – Organizations with top quartile engagement scores show 18% higher productivity than those in the bottom quartile. Customer Satisfaction – Organizations with top quartile engagement scores average 12% higher customer advocacy I don’t know many SME’s that would turn down improvements in revenue growth, productivity and customer satisfaction. So how do you build engagement? By embedding people management practices that connect your people’s day to day activities to your business goals so they know how they can make a difference, by providing opportunities for development, by listening to and recognising the efforts of your people and by leading through a clear set of values and behaviours. Higher levels of engagement is a great example of the benefit of having a joined-up and proactive approach to HR in your business.

Why wait until something is broken? We’d love to help with that forward-looking people plan at Hood People Solutions Ltd and the Resourceful People Group Ltd Statistics from the ‘Nailing the Evidence’ Report, Engage for Success, Nov 2012