Audit is not necessarily a scary word.
Most of us have only heard the word audit when it was attached to the Internal Revenue Service or a law suit. In these cases, it should trigger fear in the hearts of men (and women), Even if you don't have anything to hide you never know if what you do have is a potential risk or fodder for an over zealous auditor. Even if you have nothing to hide, the amount of time needed to prepare and the redirecting of your day to day business needs for sometimes a week or more can seem insurmountable.
When a Human Resources Consultant uses this term the feeling that should replace the fear is relief. Firstly, you will not be taking huge chunks of your time or your employees’ time to have one done. You may have to provide space in your conference room, hopefully close to the location you keep employee files in and answer a few questions. One word of caution - any one passing for a true HR professional will not be able to do a halfway decent job if the audit is just based on questions you have to answer
Secondly, this may be the only audit you will ever have that will be looking at what you have, letting you know what you are missing and what needs to be done to fix any issues that were found. No penalties or fines, no law suits or complaints of any kind. In fact, what you should get is a good assessment on how to prevent and/or be prepared if you do have to deal with a lawsuit or complaint filed with or by a regulatory agency that governs the employer/employee relationship.
Thirdly, there are a plethora of additional value to this process. Not only will you know if you are out of legal compliance and how to fix it, you will also gain the advantage of how to apply industry best practices so that managing Human Resources or anything to deal with employees can be done better – more effectively and efficiently. Let’s not forget the opportunity to have a real Human Resources professional to help you without any payroll costs or training costs to you. Furthermore, you have a relationship with a Human Resources professional that knows your company from the inside and can continue to assist you with specific issues and bring you solutions customized to your needs.
Win Win.
