Maguire - HR for Small Business for Dummies®

I n Australia, in excess of two million small businesses employ around 4.8 million people and contribute 20 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Small-business owners take pride in the fact that their businesses contribute to the livelihood of Australian people and their families.

Unique to small business is the personal relationships that can develop between owner and the people they work alongside with to build the business. With that relationship comes great responsibility. My aim in writing this book is to share my knowledge and experience with small-business owners coming to grips with the difficult tasks of managing people that is, human resource management, otherwise known as HR.

HR has often been seen as a tick the boxes kind of activity. My view is that its really about building a healthy and productive working environment in which everyone prospers. The strategies that I cover in the book can enable you to encourage your staff to create that prosperous future with you and for your small business. Along that path, as with any relationship, challenges and personal difficulties will need to be overcome. I provide you with the knowledge and the tools to apply effective solutions.

This book doesnt offer a psychological analysis of the characteristics of a successful employment relationship. Instead, HR for Small Business For Dummies offers you, the small-business owner and employer, a simple and honest explanation of the rules and regulations that attach themselves to each and every phase of the employment relationship.

Thinking about the employment relationship as you would any other relationship in your life can open your mind to the possibilities and free you from the dread of learning boring and complex legal jargon and suffocating regulations. Most individuals understand that taking a risk on personal relationships and falling short is better than not trying at all. Small-business owners understand this principle better than most people.

Entering into an employment relationship is a risk but it offers the potential for wonderful results. Learning, understanding and meeting the challenges proffered by the rules that regulate every phase of the life of employment relationships will ultimately enable you to succeed. That is the aim of this book.

Throughout the chapters, I provide an overview of the Australian laws regulating how people must be employed, rewarded, nurtured and sometimes removed from small businesses. I explain the key elements of this regulatory framework at each and every phase of the employment relationship, and provide case studies, checklists and plenty of tips on how best to meet the challenges of satisfying the regulators, the employee and, importantly, you.

I know that small businesses operate in all sorts of industries and cover many occupations, trades and professions. I cant address every trait, nuance or idiosyncrasy peculiar to every Australian small business. However, I have assumed for purposes of brevity, certainty and simplicity that small business share particular characteristics and, therefore, tailored the topics and advice to suit those shared characteristics. For example, the employment relationships are personal, the future sometimes uncertain, cash flow critical, and government regulation a burden but our ambitions are always exciting and success is always within our grasp.

This book isnt a substitute for specific legal advice that may be useful or necessary in particular circumstances. Therefore, Ive also assumed that everyone who reads this book is smart enough to understand that they can only rely on its wisdom to guide rather than advise.

Throughout this book, you can find friendly and useful icons that help you note specific types of information. Heres what each icon means.

This icon highlights free resources, templates and sample work procedures and policies you can find online for free download at www.dummies.com/go/hrsmallbusinessau .