SMEs neglect core activities because of HR

News Article - 19 February 2010
Category: Business

Small and medium sized enterprises have claimed crucial business areas, such as customer service, suffer as a result of HR red tape. Companies spend so much time dealing with HR-related issues that they have limited resources available to dedicate to core business areas.

Research by Cromer suggests 60% of employees in SMEs have no formal HR training; this figure applies to not only junior level staff but also CEOs, finance directors and even HR managers. Two days a week are reported to be spent on HR, with red tape and regulations and health and safety being cited as the two most time-consuming areas.

The high-costs of resource-intensive HR areas are having a negative effect on UK companies. New business development and customer services are the most likely areas of the firm to suffer, say three quarters of MDs and CEOs in the Cromer survey.

In addition the research reveals efforts to manage employees are failing; 26% of HR managers working within SMEs claim they are unsure if the methods they use are correct. Many are concerned employees will take the company to tribunals if mistakes are made. A quarter of respondents also reported they had no external HR support, and regularly used the Internet to research HR practices.

All businesses may struggle to meet core objectives because of resource-intensive HR activities. This may affect the ability to compete for market share, particularly as the economic downturn lessens and competition becomes more aggressive. In addition, companies growing to mid-market level may become overwhelmed by the significant increase in HR requirements.

A dedicated business software solution can lower the demands of HR-related activities on resources and allow the company to focus on core activities. Access recently acquired Select Software, a Canterbury-based provider of a dedicated software package for managing HR tasks. Access will integrate the HR package with their payroll solution to produce an integrated suite to further simplify business processes.

For more information on how a dedicated software solution can help streamline the HR process, call Access on 0846 345 3300.

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