Treating a headache with pain medication will definitely help in the short term but what happens when the headaches keeps returning? How often do we take a paracetamol and carry on? It’s easy to get stuck in the “headache” cycle by firefighting an issue only to have it rear its ugly head time and time again. Whilst dealing with a current headache clearly allows you to get on with whatever it is you need to do short term, understanding what is causing the headache is what will lead to longer term management and hopefully a pain free future!
Having a step by step process and framework that sets expectations and provides clear, consistent guidance on how potential “headaches” can be avoided is a critical part of any business. It can often be hard to see the wood for the trees when you are in the thick of things and sometimes a fresh perspective is all that’s needed, a sounding board to talk about the headaches.
One thing that I have noticed is that often people don’t really know what HR is or how it can help their business. I often get asked questions like, “so what does HR really do?” or asked if I can help someone find work. HR is often associated with the start and end of the employment relationship, the classic hiring and firing, and whilst these elements are clearly really important, there is the lesser understood part right slap bang in the middle where businesses have the opportunity to engage and empower their staff to drive productivity and performance. COVID has exacerbated our skills shortage in NZ and retention of good employees has become more important than ever. Couple that with the need for resilience and an ability to react to our ever-changing working context and it becomes clear why time and energy needs to be spent understanding the root cause of the headaches both for the employer and the employee.
Having good processes in place setting clear expectations and providing effective, ongoing management of these is really important to minimize the headaches recurring. When a business is small and grows organically it can feel overwhelming having to deal with all the HR and people related “things”. Even if there are only a few employees however it is important to have some form of framework as these not only manage the headaches but set up the right environment for your people to engage and perform. Getting things “right” can seem frustrating and time consuming but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Through conversations and understanding your business’s pain points, I can help you manage the overwhelm to create a simple, practical pain management plan that works in the context of your business.
So, what are you waiting for, no one likes a headache so jump on a free discovery call with me!