In order to keep HR issues from becoming legal issues, create and enforce workplace policies and procedures, advises Nancye Combs, president and CEO of HR Enterprise, a human resources consulting firm in Louisville, KY, in How to Navigate Key HR Issues in 2017.
Creating – or updating – an employee handbook should be a priority for distributors, because “if you don’t have written policies and procedures in place, you cannot control your workforce,” she says.
According to Combs, “policies on discrimination, bullying, workplace violence, at-will employment, confidentiality, substance abuse, social media, technology, are critical policies you have to have in place."
And with the proliferation of social media, establishing noncompete and confidentiality clauses has become more important than ever. Companies without strict rules often find that employees "bring their own devices to work and download customer lists, price lists and employee information to their personal computers and then leave," she says.
Having a set of comprehensive policies in place may not keep distributors safe from every HR issue, but it can help cover you as much as possible.
Read more about prioritizing human resources in How to Navigate Key HR Issues in 2017.
