Reversing the old adage, in business you can be too skinny.
The recession has found many small businesses shrinking staff, sometimes to a fault.
Mistakes can cost in productivity and in lawsuits.
It is better, say HR professionals, to venture armed with knowledge into the staffing jungle.
Employers of five or 500 need to keep abreast of employment law. As companies continue to downsize due to cost of payroll and benefits or through attrition, human resource relations and management often falls on the shoulders of the business owner or his immediate subordinate. That may work if the person is well-versed in human resources, or it can be a powder keg if the wrong decision is made.
“Things have definitely changed in the workplace,” says attorney Chris Westbrook, who does HR work for Rockland Paramedics and is president of his local Society for Human Resource Management (SRHM) chapter, covering parts of Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties.
“SHRM offers a lot of resources for employers at a very reasonable price,” said Westbrook. “For a $160 a year membership in the national SHRM organization, you can access employee/employer templates, attend webinars and network at local monthly SHRM breakfasts where a guest speaker will focus on a particular topic of interest to those who handle human resources for their companies.”
Westbrook, who is also a volunteer paramedic, said unsalaried volunteers are also covered by employment laws. “When you get into case law, there are things volunteer organizations need to be careful about. You don”™t need to be in a salaried position to be discriminated against and file a lawsuit against the agency that rejected you.”
Cathy Pagano, director of continuing and professional education at Pace University, says the college has just begun to offer a new human resources management course using the SHRM learning system online. She said, “In the past, we”™ve only offered it in class and students in the tri-state area who just can”™t make it to class can take the 11 week program online.”
Pace uses the “blackboard system,” an onlne application that allows students to interact with one another as well as with the instructor. “They can log on any time of the day or night, pick up the assignment and get it done in a time frame that works for them,” Pagano said. “It”™s a virtual classroom setting, but you are getting to know your teacher and classmates. It”™s very exciting.” The certification course costs $1,299, which includes all course materials for the 11-week program.
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The next series of classes is scheduled to begin in February.
“Our adult and continuing education courses are booming,” said Pagano. “In this economy, workers want to offer their current or potential employer a broader set of skills. The more you know, the more valuable an employee you are, and more valuable you are to the employer as well.”
Will Hipwell, CEO of Cornell University”™s e-Cornell program, said human resources was one of the first programs the college offered when it started its online courses eight years ago. “It”™s been up and running with great success, and we”™ve expanded the program dramatically,” said Hipwell. “The HR certification program covers a range of functional employment law. For people who are not formally trained in human resources who find themselves covering HR topics in the office, it is really a risk-management issue.”
Cornell offers two separate online courses and offers a flexible payment program as well as flexible hours. Said Hipwell: “A student can finish in as little as three months, depending on how much time they can dedicate to the process.
“Hiring and payroll are not enough of a skillset in today”™s market, and management employment issues in the workplace without using legally sound methods of hiring and firing is opening yourself up for real liabilities,” said Hipwell. Cornell”™s e-programs for human resources run between $3,800 to $5,500, depending on the class and level of certification the student is seeking.
