12 HR Mistakes That Your Company Cannot Afford To Make

HR mistakes are no laughing matter. They can be costly and may even expose your company to legal issues or lawsuits. Always do your best to avoid HR mistakes in your workplace. Learn about some of the worst HR mistakes that a company can make so that you’re more likely to avoid them in the future.

Mistakes happen. It’s human nature. When you make a mistake, it’s your professional and personal responsibility to recognize the problem, understand the consequences, and correct your error as soon as possible – especially at work. No one wants to make a mistake, but it happens to the best of us.

Put the following HR mistakes on your radar so that you are less likely to make a costly mistake at work:

1. Poorly Written Job Descriptions – Job descriptions are the first impression a job candidate has of your company. They need to be accurate and professionally written if you want to recruit top talent.
2. Asking Illegal Interview Questions – Did you know that certain interview questions are illegal to ask? It’s true. Brush up illegal interview questions that you need to avoid so that you don’t get in big trouble.
3. Lack Of Documentation – In HR, you absolutely must document everything. You must also keep those HR documents for a predetermined amount of time established by your legal team. One missing document can cause a world’s worth of headaches.
4. Ineffective Onboarding – Onboarding sets your new hires up for success. It gives them the lay of the land and helps them to understand their role at the company. If you mess this up, your new team member will never know what’s going on.
5. Inconsistent Policies – Treat every employee the same at all times. Never play favorites.
6. Inadequate Training – Give your employees the tools and the skills they need to do the job at hand. Offer training and help them reach their full potential.
7. Unaware of Rules, Regulations, and Laws – Just like in life, there are rules that apply to the workplace. Do your research and know what rules, regulations, and laws apply in what circumstances. Your company’s legal team can help with this process.
8. Lack of Feedback and Engagement – Actively engage your employees to find out what’s working and what’s not working. Provide feedback and be willing to receive it too.
9. Out-of-Date Employee Handbook – The employee handbook is an essential tool that puts everyone on the same page. Keep it up to date so that every employee knows what’s going on.
10. Unimpressive Company Culture – If you want to recruit happy and talented people, spend time creating a company culture that is attractive. Without it, you’ll see huge spikes in people leaving your company to work for the competition.
11. Disregard For Safety – Safety needs to be your number one priority at all times. Go above and beyond in this department to ensure that your employees follow safe work practices and are never in danger.
12. Terrible Hiring Decisions – Hire the right people and your company will be successful. Hire the wrong people and your company will have lots of problems. Hiring is a big job that comes with huge responsibilities. Are you ready to hire the right people?

How many of these HR mistakes have you or your team made? Hopefully none, but probably some. Now that you’re aware of these common HR mistakes, you’ll be less likely to make the same mistakes in the future.