There's no denying a company's most important asset is its people
There’s no denying a company’s most important asset is its people — but it’s also a well-known fact that sometimes a business has limited resources to invest in managing that vital group.
“HR professionals often find themselves wearing a number of hats in order to fill in the gaps,” says Shandy McLean, senior director of business strategies and professional services at Arete HR Inc.
“In some organizations, these individuals may be the only person responsible for several functions, from overseeing payroll to recruitment. This can leave them pressed for time and sometimes without access to other HR professionals with specific expertise and with whom they can discuss challenges or consider solutions or approaches to the problems.”
Business owners, managers and employees require tools that offer support as they build — and sustain — a resilient and successful business and team. In that mindset, Payworks partnered with Arete HR to offer its clients HR Advisory Services.
Aimed at those looking for practical human resources, legal and financial guidance and support from industry experts, the new product offers a wide range of easily accessible resources. Clients can find information on common HR dilemmas, explore strategies for self-development, business essentials and people management and access things like podcasts, checklists, infographics and links to legislation. Canadian businesses face a range of issues on any given day, and having easy access to guidance and knowledge helps leaders make decisions with confidence.
Myles Halliday, vice president of product management at Payworks, says the company recognized an opportunity to further serve its clients by connecting them with timely support and guidance on how to best deal with HR issues.
Partnering with Arete HR “builds on and strengthens the services and support” clients expect from Payworks, Halliday adds.
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“Business owners or managers can often benefit from professional guidance in areas where they may not have the time, resources, expertise or professional backgrounds to make a well-informed decision,” he says. “We also wanted to help our clients address other business challenges we know they face, whether by providing guidance around financial or legal questions or through referrals to real-time, short-term counselling services for employees facing personal challenges.”
HR Advisory Services’ online library of carefully curated best-practice content can be accessed anytime, anywhere, in line with HR professionals’ busy roles. Unlimited confidential, personalized support from Canadian subject-matter experts is also accessible by phone, providing management teams with assistance options for unexpected HR events or clarification on legislation, for example. Customizable management services offer clients the opportunity to choose a mix of legal, financial or specialized HR support, up to nine hours of additional guidance per year.
“HR professionals may also find HR Advisory Services particularly helpful in terms of access to legal and financial guidance, which may be outside their own areas of experience,” adds McLean.
Employees experiencing personal issues or those affected by stress can be referred by the employer for private counselling with a trained professional under HR Advisory Services, with access to up to three hours of support per employee per year. Not only does this help the employees who are experiencing a hard time, but it helps the company as well by getting the workforce back on track with job performance and attendance.
“Our favourite feature of HR Advisory Services is the holistic design of the program,” says Selena Benic, HR consultant at Payworks. “The online resources are constantly evolving to meet leaders where they are, and the supports for employees are both caring and solution-focused.”
While there may be other providers of similar products in the marketplace, “most focus on offering generic templates to owners as a simple solution to challenges that we know are often more complex than that,” Benic adds.
HR Advisory Service was designed to be a versatile, insightful solution that can be customized to support each management team’s unique needs.
“Effective, human-centered help for clients is just one click or phone call away,” Benic says. “As an organization that understands the complex and competing priorities of operating and running a business, we know just how important that truly is.”