Profession hasn’t done good job getting message out to small organizations
Terry Donohue has been the president of an air duct cleaning business in Toronto’s west end for the past 17 years. The 19-employee company doesn’t have a full-time human resources position. Instead, HR-related tasks are divided between Donohue and two of his employees.
A couple of years ago, Donohue hired an HR consulting firm to help him analyze his existing employees’ skills and experiences so he could develop profiles for future openings. But in looking at his current and future business needs, he doesn’t know what HR services would help him run his business or manage his employees better.
This is a common problem among small business owners, with many not knowing what kind of services or supports are available to them, said Arlene Walkes, owner of an HR consulting firm geared to small businesses in Ajax, Ont.
In fact, the small business market is one that is underserved by HR, according to 88.1 per cent of respondents to the latest Pulse Survey.
The profession’s efforts to market HR services to small businesses have been “poor” or “really poor” in the past, according to 57.8 per cent of the 741 Canadian HR Reporter readers and Human Resources Professionals Association members surveyed.
“As I started my own business and networking with small business in the community, I found they didn’t have access to HR services. They were trying to do everything for themselves,” said Walkes.
“You have lawyers and accountants that cater to the small businesses, but there wasn’t that HR service available to them.”
While just 42.7 per cent of respondents offered HR services to the small business sector in the past year, 75.7 per cent see this as a high-growth area for HR service providers over the next five years.
In fact, 91.6 per cent think an HR service provider could have a business that focuses solely on the small business market.
“Most small businesses have the perception of HR just being a recruiting arm and helping out with benefits and compensation. They don’t know that HR can help them through health and safety, HR planning, HRIS (human resources information systems) and training and development,” said Wayne Heirwegh, an HR professional in Simcoe, Ont.
Many firms with fewer than 50 employees just don’t have the resources to employ a dedicated HR professional and that makes it hard for them to stay on top of legislative changes and ensure they’re in compliance with regulatory requirements, he said.
Many aren’t even aware of their responsibilities under health and safety legislation until there’s a workplace injury and a hefty fine that can bankrupt them, said Heirwegh.
“They need to be proactive rather than reactive,” he said.
Provincial HR associations should market the value HR services can provide small businesses, according to 79.8 per cent of respondents.
HR associations need only look to the Certified Management Accountants’ “Creative Accounting” advertising campaign that profiled various accountants and the value they bring to businesses, said Heirwegh.
Survey respondents would also like to see provincial HR associations create a forum where HR service providers can exchanges resources and ideas on service small businesses, with 83.4 per cent saying such an endeavour would be worthwhile.
“Everybody would have their own specialities so those partnerships would be very valuable,” said Walkes.
