Mindful HR’s hierarchy of needs is a five-tier model for employers and their workplaces. Mindful HR was created to make sure companies are starting from a solid foundation of legal practices, and then building upon that to ensure safety both for the employer and the employee(s), and finally that they are staying competitive and posed for growth.

WHERE TO START

First, ask yourself, are you meeting your basic legal obligations? Are you paying people correctly and collecting the correct required documents? Have you classified your exempt vs nonexempt correctly?

Next, how do you protect your business? Do you have an employee handbook that outlines workplace rules; do you have job descriptions laying out expectations of each position? Have you trained your staff on how to handle difficult situations that will arise? Are you interviewing and hiring without prejudice or bias? Do you know how to hold employees accountable for their behavior and legally terminate employment?

Now that you’ve built a strong foundation, you need to start thinking about how to keep your employees engaged (and retained, as you soon find out how costly and distracting it is to turnover your staff)– how do you get employees to want to work for you? Once your basic needs are met, then you can start helping your staff to meet their goals, so they can help you meet yours on a more consistent, well strategic basis. Are you addressing their needs throughout the employee life cycle?

Culture/Vision/Mission

Many companies will not make it to this step and if you have, congratulations, you are well on your way to growth! With the first four steps in place, and a well taken care of staff, now, how do you win your employee’s loyalty? How do you get them to recruit for you? How do you get them to champion your business? If you made it here, you know your employees are just as important as your clients, if not more important.

Getting to the growth step means you are legal, you have an engaged staff ready to take on whatever is needed for success – how do you continue to stay competitive, get ahead of the curve and are preparing for whatever the market might throw your way?