Archive
By Staff Report
Jun. 21, 2000
Q
Dear Workforce:
We have just merged with another company and now have over 1,000 employees and no human resources department. We are a retail chain located throughout the country. Each store has approximately 6 to 10 employees. Where do we begin to develop an HR department? We have one benefits analyst and the payroll department. We have one HR consultant who is part-time and answers questions related to employee relations, but that is the extent of our HR workforce. Please help!
—Sherry
A Dear Sherry:
Your company appears to have two of the core HR functions covered: payroll and benefits. In most organizations of 1,000 employees, you would also find an HR person dedicated to compensation (philosophy, determining salary ranges, guidelines for salary increases, etc).
A staff of maybe three to five HR generalists, covering regions of the country where your stores are located, might make sense. A generalist could lend assistance in recruiting, employee relations, training, and any other HR needs. And there should most likely be a “head” of HR located in your headquarters.
This person would supervise the generalists and payroll and benefits functions; manage HR budgets; provide expertise around HR strategy and organizational development needs; and be a member of your organization’s leadership team. He or she should report to the CEO and be a critical advisor to the CEO, given the current labor market.
SOURCE: Cathy Nelson, Personnel Decisions International, Minneapolis, May 10, 2000.
E-mail your Dear Workforce questions to Online Editor Todd Raphael at raphaelt@workforceonline.com, along with your name, title, organization and location. Unless you state otherwise, your identifying info may be used on Workforce.com and in Workforce magazine. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to answer every question.
Schedule, engage, and pay your staff in one system with Workforce.com.