The secret to a healthy and successful business is being surrounded and supported by a skilled team. Natasha Hawker is an accomplished author and businesswomen with 20 years of experience in the human resources industry. As a blogger for the Australian Businesswomen’s Network, she discusses all the factors you need to consider when hiring or firing employees in your business. Here are five posts in which she shares her expert insights into the best ways to improve your company’s human resource management.
1. Happy to Hire a Dud, Then, Don’t Do a Reference Check
Having a good team on-board is crucial for any small business, but how do you ensure you have hired the right people? Natasha says reference checks do the trick. She believes that interviews alone are not enough to let business owners make an informed decision about whom they are hiring. Despite this, many companies today do not do reference checks on their employees. By failing to do a reference check, you are opening yourself up to the chance of hiring a non-performer, someone who as terminated from their last position, illegal workers or those who have exaggerated or presented misleading information in their resume. Read more…
2. Aaaaaaargh! I Need Help but Can I Afford to Hire My First Employee?
Deciding if and when to hire your first employee is a significant decision for any small business. Moving beyond working solely and bringing more hands on deck can be a daunting prospect. In this post, Natasha discusses the top factors you should consider when hiring your first employee. Knowing exactly which areas you need help in as well as reflecting on your strengths and weakness is crucial in deciding if your business is ready to grow its team. Read more…
3. Are you making these HR Mistakes?
Many business owners fall into the trap of some common HR mistakes that can take a lot out of your company. In most instances, such mistakes are easily avoidable if you know what signs to watch out for. In this post, Natasha talks about the most common mistakes business owners often tend to make and provides a checklist to keep companies on track with their progress. Read more…
4. 10 Exclusive Strategies to Avoid HR Disasters?
No one needs to worry about HR issues on top of the stress of running a company. This is why it is important to put in place certain measures to avoid any nasty surprises. Through this post, Natasha has compiled a list of 10 ways you can prevent problems in your company’s HR department. From being aware of your legal rights and responsibilities to dealing with employee parental leave, Natasha has it covered. Read more…
5. Protect Yourself – At All Costs
Protecting your rights as a business owner is a key issue to look at. Many business owners underestimate the importance of adequately protecting your intellectual property. However, this is certainly an area that requires your full attention. Through this post, Natasha focuses on how by putting a little more time and effort into your employee contracts, you can ensure you are not subjected to costly and time-consuming legal battles later on. Read more…
As the successful author of From Hire to Fire & Everything in Between and the Director of Employee Matters, Natasha uses blogging as a platform to share her expertise and insights into human resource management. “[I] Love the opportunity to get my message out to a wonderful network of women in the hope that I might be able to help them build bigger and better businesses.” 
Natasha Hawker has over 20 years of experience in Human Resource Management and is the Director of Employee Matters. She also has industry experience across banking and finance, professional services, IT consulting, insurance and corporate travel. Learn more about Natasha here.
This post was co-authored by Angira Bharadwaj. Angira is currently completing a journalism internship at HerBusiness. She studies journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney.
