in success. With nearly all the firms current and future human assets as part of their purview, HR professionals need to provide critical insights and leverage to balance management and employee needs. As such, their role is multifaceted and, in addition to their significant role as an advisor to senior management, includes the following:

Recruiter: The search for top talent is never ending. As such, an HR managers role is to stay connected with key players in the industry and constantly seek out the best and brightest. By maintaining relationships with a pool of highly qualified candidates year-round, even when market conditions are poor and layoffs are prevalent, successful firms can improve their bench strength by hiring top talent at reasonable rates.

Counselor and intermediary: From time to time, certain situations may require some form of counseling to resolve. Whether it is simply the employees need to discuss a minor issue with a neutral party or the need to find an intermediary to resolve a major conflict, the HR manager must be prepared to manage and resolve such issues in a confidential and professional manner.

Legal interface: Many of the issues facing HR managers often involve significant legal questions relating to employment, discrimination, and work rules among a myriad of other topics. Well-trained HR professionals know how to recognize these issues and subsequently seek advice from qualified legal counsel. The ability to recognize and articulate such issues, as well as effectively debate their resolution with counsel, distinguishes the HR professional from the HR administrator. The HR professional neednt be an attorney, but the need to be well aware of legal issues is a must.

Record keeper: Maintaining current, accurate, and complete personnel records is a fundamental HR function. Ensuring that management prepares timely performance reviews, documents performance and personnel issues, as well as maintains all government-mandated forms in an orderly manner, is the most basic, yet rarely well-executed, HR function.

Enforcer: When it comes to resolution of the myriad issues facing management of a professional services firm, HR is often designated as the bad guy to convey unwelcome news. HR professionals must convey a sense of fairness yet remain firm in support of legal and managerial issues. The ability to do so effectively is rare, but further distinguishes valuable professionals from mere administrators.

Cheerleader: Developing and administering programs to boost morale is a key HR function. Ensuring that company events are well planned to promote teamwork and consider the tastes and preferences of both the majority and minority of the employee population is a key aspect of the HR role.

As described earlier, the role of the HR team is broad and can be technical, particularly from an employment law standpoint. Small firms, in many cases those with fewer than 100 employees, often cannot afford to invest in a qualified HR management team. Many firms settle for less expensive HR managers in the mistaken belief that such positions are merely the personnel department that ensures all forms are filled out properly.

As outlined in earlier chapters, HR management is far more than form management, and the failure to properly staff that function can result not only in lawsuits but also in weak staff morale and employee performance. Outsourcing of this function has grown popular in recent years and can provide smaller firms with access to highly qualified HR management at cost-effective rates.

The Importance of Competent Legal Counsel

The HR function, by its very nature, involves a significant level of legal interpretation. Although some rules and regulations are clear and can be executed by trained administrators on a routine basis, many issues require legal interpretation. The failure to identify such situations can lead to the imposition of significant fines, penalties, or judgments being levied against the firm. HR professionals know how to identify such situations and will seek competent legal counsel before taking action to resolve a situation. Some of the more common issues for which legal counsel should be sought include:

Terminating a single employee for performance or behavior issues Mass layoffs

Independent contractor versus temporary employee status Immigration and related visas Sexual harassment Age discrimination Benefit eligibility

Vacation pay compensation upon separation Performance evaluation form development Writing employee handbooks/manuals

In these instances, legal counsel normally is necessary to review specific facts and circumstances of the matter at hand from which a legal opinion can be formed. One of the best investments the professional services firm executive can make is to ensure proper funding to secure highly qualified legal counsel to augment internal resources. Encouraging HR professionals to utilize these external resources can help the firm avoid costly litigation and, most importantly, maintain a positive and productive work environment free of the distractions caused by weak HR management.

To ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local laws as well as best practices, many law firms that specialize in HR issues can conduct an audit of the HR department for a relatively modest fee. Such audits typically include a random review of personnel and related files as well as a thorough review of all policies and procedures. Completion of such an audit every five years or so, with a follow-up review the subsequent year, will contribute significantly toward full compliance with all relevant rules and regulations as well as help to ensure a solid legal foundation in the event legal action is taken against the firm. Chapter 19 covers this topic in more detail.

Recruiting

As the firm grows, management of the recruiting process matures as well. In a small firm, recruiting typically occurs through word of mouth and networking. But as multiple positions become available, the HR team must use a basic set of procedures to coordinate its efforts and maximize its effectiveness. Typically, some of those procedures include:

Open position tracking: Formalize the process by using an open position list to track the status of all open positions, including the date the position was officially authorized and by whom, department, position title, target compensation level, list of qualified candidates under consideration, and the overall status of the search effort. This report should be distributed to senior management weekly to keep them aware of the status and ensure that all open positions have been properly authorized.

Offers: Ensure all employment offers are made in writing. By authorizing only the HR department to make an offer to a candidate, the firm can ensure consistency in the communications that are made to confirm the offer of employment. Legal counsel should review and approve a standard offer letter template for use by HR administrators. If circumstances require that an offer letter be tailored to the needs of a particular situation, legal counsel should be consulted to validate any significant changes as the offer letter forms the foundation from which future legal action may be taken.

Negotiations: Bifurcate the employment negotiation process. Implementation of a policy that only an authorized HR department employee may make an employment offer to a candidate will help the firm avoid many mistakes that untrained line managers can make. By insisting that only the HR department can negotiate an offer, management will have a clear line to follow to determine responsibility in the event something should go wrong. Further, by taking the line manager out of the negotiations after he or she has decided to hire the individual, HR can execute its role as the intermediary and help ensure that any difficulties experienced during the negotiations are not translated into ill will between the line manager and the new employee.