As a new CEO, you’ll likely need to focus on everything from revamping company strategy to building a strong executive team. To succeed in these areas, you must also create an attractive and engaging work environment.
The first 90 days are crucial, as they offer a prime opportunity to establish HR practices that support your strategic goals. By implementing effective HR systems, reducing compliance risks, and cultivating a culture that attracts and retains great talent, you can make HR a true strategic asset.
Here are four essential strategies to derive strategic value from HR as a new CEO:
1. Create a High-Performance Culture Through Strategic HR
Building a high-performance team and culture isn’t just about hiring strong talent. It also requires leadership and talent management practices that ensure each person is in the right seat and empowered to do their best work.
When you achieve this, you unlock your team’s full potential and boost their engagement. You also lay the foundation for a healthier bottom line. In one survey, 71% of CEOs said their culture helped improve the company’s financial performance, and 1 in 3 CEOs ranked culture as the primary factor overall.
Here are some specific actions to help build a high-performance culture in your first 90 days:
- Champion core values and encourage others to embody them, starting with the senior team
- Evaluate employee performance in their current roles and identify opportunities for future hiring, training, and development
- Ask questions, listen to employee feedback, and determine necessary future changes
2. Uncover and Address HR Compliance Risks
Regardless of your workforce size, HR compliance risks are always present. Therefore, it’s crucial to identify and address any potential areas of noncompliance to avoid lawsuits, regulatory fines, and damage to your company’s reputation.
You don’t need to be an HR compliance expert as a CEO. However, by asking the right questions and relying on trusted advisors to guide you, you can avoid many common compliance pitfalls that often trip up businesses.
Here are some of the questions you should ask to get started:
- Do you have detailed job descriptions for every position? Have they been reviewed to ensure proper classification and determine employee eligibility for overtime pay?
- If you have remote employees, are there mechanisms to ensure you follow state-specific labor laws?
- Do you have legally compliant procedures for employee hiring, discipline, and termination?
- How will the company stay informed about the latest developments in labor laws and employer requirements?
3. Leverage Employee Benefits to Attract and Retain Talent
The range and quality of the benefits you offer can be the deciding factor in attracting and retaining top talent versus losing them to competitors. In fact, one study found that 70% of employees would switch jobs for better benefits.
The best benefits for your company are those that match employees’ needs and fit your budget. To better understand and explore your options, consider taking these actions:
- Survey employees to understand the benefits they value and would use most if offered
- Benchmark the benefits offered by similar companies in your industry and local area
- Explore voluntary benefits, many of which are employee-paid
- Work with a professional employer organization (PEO) to prepare for annual benefits enrollment and develop a plan for offering high-quality benefits at affordable prices
4. Improve Efficiency with Robust HR Technology
Modern HR technology has made hiring and managing employees more efficient than ever. With the right tools, you can minimize manual workflows and paper documents while leveraging powerful analytics to identify trends and model workforce scenarios.
Here are just a few of the HR platforms to consider for streamlining HR in your first 90 days and beyond:
- Automated payroll and time tracking systems
- Applicant tracking systems (ATS) for managing the hiring process and candidate pipeline
- Performance management and 360-degree feedback tools
- HR analytics and reporting platforms to support better HR decision-making
Make HR Your Competitive Advantage
HR management can and should be more than a collection of policies, procedures, and compliance obligations. It can help you build a workforce ready to pursue and achieve critical strategic goals.
If you’re transitioning into a new CEO role and aiming to get the people component right, Aspen HR is here to support you. We provide expert HR advice, payroll services, and cutting-edge HR technology to manage every step of the employee lifecycle. This allows you to focus on driving your strategic vision and making it a reality.
Contact our team today to discuss how we can help your business thrive!
Want to learn more?
Download your copy of “A New CEO’s Guide to Human Resources” below:
