The foundation of good human resources practices rests on the understanding that you have a dual responsibility to ensure that people are treated fairly and given the opportunity to do their best work, while also protecting the organization legally and in the minds of your stakeholders..
Try to adhere to the following four practices as you attend to the human resources responsibilities of your organization.
1. Be inclusive — inside and outside of your organization.
- Make sure that everyone who belongs in the information loop has the opportunity to stay in the loop.
- Recognize that new jobs or changing staffing patterns should be inclusive processes that involve the input of others in the organization.
- Cast a wide a net when hiring new people, moving beyond the comfortable circle of whom you know and help create new talent pools.
2. Document your actions.
- Write down your protocols for hiring, describing the process you will use for advertising the position and who will be involved in the hiring decision.
- Develop written performance evaluation or review forms.
- Keep a record of steps taken when implementing disciplinary and other processes.
3. Know the law.
- Understand what you can and cannot ask during an interview process.
- Put in place a clear sexual harassment policy.
- Become familiar with the Fair Labor Standards Act
4. Reflect your values.
- Create a culture of mutual respect and open dialogue.
- Set internal standards that you would be proud to see accomplished in the outside world.
- Make sure that the tone and language of internal documents — even those as pedestrian as the employee handbook — fit your values.
Get our guide to human resources best practices
Download the chapter on human resources from our Executive Directors Guide.