Wait a minute… aren’t HR professionals typically writing about how important employee recognition is within an organization? If you are a little thrown off by the title, let me ease your mind, this blog will, in fact, reiterate how employee recognition plays a vital role in employee engagement and retention. The problem with employee recognition is that many organizations are making significant attempts to recognize employee achievements, but they’re not quite hitting the mark to make it meaningful. Just providing a reward is not enough for employees. As organizations review or implement employee recognition programs, we sometimes forget to look at the impact these programs have on an employee’s feeling of success and value within the organization. Below are three common missteps that organizations make when administering an employee recognition program.

Employment law, along with ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations, are two significant aspects of managing a workforce. They are both also convoluted and can cause an organization a lot of headache if not approached appropriately. Not only are Federal regulations complex and constantly evolving, it’s important to consider that various states have laws that are specific to the workforce in that state. If your organization holds contracts with the federal government there are several additional regulations that need to be monitored. As a leader of an organization, it’s important to have the right team on your side.

"In your opinion, what does the HR department do?” Is one of the first questions we ask during stakeholder interviews when conducting HR audits. Business leaders come to Helios HR for a variety of reasons: when they are establishing HR for the first time, believe they may need a change in their HR department, or after they've experienced rapid growth. With HR audits, we look at the effectiveness of the HR department including best practices and compliance.

As an HR Business Partner, I am often working with clients to ensure their benefits and 401(k) administration is both in compliance and following HR best practices. One key aspect of benefits and 401(k) administration is tracking your employee beneficiaries. Ensuring that your employees have designated and up-to-date beneficiary information is both a way to mitigate risk for your organization and help your employees be prepared to protect their plans and help their families in the event of an unexpected tragedy. Below are five common questions that I hear from clients and employees about beneficiaries:

With spring in the air, the habit of spring cleaning often stretches beyond scrubbing the kitchen and perfecting the landscape around your house to streamlining and organizing your work life as well. Perhaps you’ve taken a step back and looked at your HR department and thought to yourself “there’s got to be a better way to do this.” Maybe you’re anticipating growth within your organization, and you know that with more employees comes the need for enhanced processes and compliance requirements. Engaging with a third party human capital consulting firm to conduct an HR audit may be just what you need to hit the ground running with your HR spring cleaning!