Ridding your company of some HR practices may improve your chances of snagging tremendous employees.
According to an article in Forbes, eliminating certain HR policies from the company allows employees to feel valued and useful.
Here are 10 HR policies companies should consider abolishing to start 2017 off with a bang.
1. Don't associate time off from work with a disciplinary infraction. Allow your employees time to deal with unexpected personal issues, like a child's illness of a car repair. You don't have to pay the employee if they've used all of their paid time off, but don't put a black mark in their personnel file for needing a day off.
2. Making if difficult for employees to apply for internal transfers may push them away. You can't control your employees from applying for jobs with outside competitors, but necessitating a manager's approval to transfer internally may push employees toward leaving the company.
3. Don't pit your employees against one another. Stacking employees against each other promotes unhealthy competition that ends up being ineffective, expensive and trust-killing, according to the article.
4. Don't require employees to bring a funeral notice to prove a family member's death. The employer-employee relationship works on trust. If you can't trust them when tragedy strikes, when will you ever trust them?
5. Don't nit pick the dress code policy. As a manager, talking with employees about the dress code policy is inevitable. Detailing the dress code policy in extreme detail won't prevent those conversations, according to the article. Instead, advise employees to "dress appropriately for a business office and to err on the side of caution."
6. Try not to be hypocritical about salary employees' hours. Rid your company of policies that allow salaried employees to stay at work late into the evening but censure employees that walk into work five minutes late in the morning.
7. Allow your managers to give recommendations to great employees after they leave. Policies that prevent managers from doling out recommendations to valuable employees that chose to move on may place your company in the uncomfortable position of being sued for defamation, according to the article.
8. Don't base an employee's salary off of any factor except for their market value. If a company gives employees across-the-board pay raises, the best employees may venture back into the job market for a company that recognizes and values their talent and skill and pays them what they're worth.
9. Don't force your employees to come into the office. You may find that some of your employees are much more productive working outside the office at home or after hours.
10. Rid your company of policies that treat your employees like criminals. Recognize that you and your employees are on the same side. Treating them otherwise may lead them to believe they're replaceable and may lead them to find work elsewhere.