Highlights

• HR best practices are essential for Texas-based businesses seeking to build an engaged, productive workforce this year.
• Outsourcing administrative, time-consuming tasks like payroll processing or benefits deduction, can free up time for your HR team to focus on core business operations.
• Solid Business Solutions supports Texas-based companies with HR, payroll, and insurance solutions.

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With a flourishing entrepreneurial spirit, Texas is a great place for growing a small business. As you gear up for success and talent hunt this year, it’s important to revise your HR best practices to ensure they align with both business goals and employee expectations.

An engaged and productive workforce is the heart of your business. With the right HR guidelines in place, you can be confident in attracting talent, navigating compliance, and handling daily HR tasks more efficiently.

This article delves into 5 essential HR best practices for managing a thriving workforce in Texas.

Let’s get started!

1. Provide a Well-Crafted Benefits Package

Texas’s labor market is highly competitive and worker shortage is a pressing topic. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for every 100 open job positions there are only 80 available workers.

If you want to attract diverse and skilled talent, offering an attractive salary is simply not enough. But crafting a compelling benefits package that goes beyond basic healthcare can set you apart as an employer, helping you win — and retain — qualified candidates.

So, what’s the best approach when rethinking your benefits package? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Partner with a PEO to get affordable healthcare benefits. PEOs can negotiate affordable and competitive healthcare benefits — and this can be very interesting for small businesses. Check out Solid Business Solutions’ all-in-one employee benefits program, which includes different health plan options, dental insurance, health savings accounts (HSA), and more.
• 401k retirement plans. Offer a robust retirement savings plan to demonstrate a long-term commitment to your employees’ financial wellness.
• Flexible work arrangements. Implement remote work options and flexible hours to enhance work-life balance.

2. Stay Compliant with Government Regulations

Keeping up with local, state, and federal regulations is one of the key responsibilities of small business owners in Texas. To be legally compliant, businesses need to adhere to employment laws, payroll compliance, safety standards, and data security requirements.

“Small businesses spend more than $83,000 staying compliant in the first year of operation.”
— National Small Business Association

With so many laws and regulations, you might find it hard to stay on track. Here’s what to look out for this year:

• ACA compliance. Regularly assess your health insurance offerings to ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act. If you need help with all the paperwork, especially during the annual open enrollment process, partnering with a PEO can be very helpful.
• OSHA compliance. Protecting your workers should always be a priority, despite the legal requirements. Investing in workplace safety programs is a way of creating a safe and healthy work environment and reducing injuries in the workplace.

3. Outsource Payroll Processing & Tax Management

Getting payroll right is crucial for your business. Late payments or errors can be very frustrating for your employees. However, handling payroll and tax deductions is a highly time-consuming task for your HR team.

“40% of small business owners say taxes and bookkeeping are the worst and most time-consuming part of owning a business.” — SCORE.

Outsourcing payroll and tax management can streamline operations and save valuable time for small businesses, allowing them to focus on their core operations. If you are planning to outsource payroll this year, consider this:

• Invest in software to automate payroll processes. Ensure your employees get paid on time and accurately while saving valuable time from your HR team. With an easy-to-use payroll system, you can manage paychecks, benefit deductions, tax management, reporting, and more.
• Centralized PTO Management. Use a centralized system to manage your employees’ PTO requests and approvals.
• Stay informed on tax changes. Rely on experts to stay informed about tax law changes. Outsourcing tax management ensures that your business is always in compliance with tax regulations.

4. Implement Strategies to Improve Employee Engagement

Keeping your employees engaged is key to higher productivity and efficiency but also because the cost of turnover is very high for small businesses.

“The cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary.”
— Gallup

What are you doing to make your employees feel valued and connected? Take these ideas for your employee engagement initiatives this year:

• Recognition programs. Set up a dedicated program to acknowledge and reward outstanding performance.
• Employee feedback. Regularly ask feedback from employees to gauge satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.
• Professional development opportunities. Offer training programs and mentorship initiatives that contribute to employee growth and engagement. Employees value having opportunities for learning (and you can benefit from helping them reach their highest potential).

5. Use Technology to Handle HR Tasks More Efficiently

Embracing technology is crucial to cutting down the time spent on tedious, administrative HR tasks. From uploading onboarding documentation to handling PTO requests, there are many daily processes you can easily automate, allowing your team to focus on more strategic aspects of HR.

If you are planning to implement new HR software this year, keep this in mind:

• Choose an integrated HR system. Invest in an all-in-one HR system that consolidates various HR tasks into a single platform. Make sure that your HR platform has features for electronic onboarding, payroll processing, and time & labor management, among others.
• Mobile accessibility. Provide employees with mobile access to HR tools. Ensure that your HR platform is user-friendly and accessible from various devices.
• Data analytics. Leverage data analytics tools to gain insights into HR metrics and trends. That way, you can make informed decisions based on real-time data.

Managing a small business workforce can be challenging. By implementing HR best practices, business owners and HR teams can gain confidence to navigate workplace dynamics, ensure compliance, nurture employee engagement, and embrace technology.

Solid Business Solutions has been supporting Texas-based companies with personalized HR, payroll, and insurance solutions for the past 10 years.

Contact us to learn how we can create a tailored HR solution for your business and help you elevate HR best practices for a more productive and thriving workplace!