Well developed and maintained HR systems will encourage a motivated workforce

Well defined human resources systems and practises will ensure that your employees are motivated, developed, treated fairly and equally and guided by clear performance guidelines.

They will also ensure that employee performance is managed by informed and appropriately equipped line managers who have been trained and coached to build and lead strong employee teams who, in turn, do their jobs to the best of their abilities and contribute to the overall success of the business.

​Contracts of employment

RISMA is widely experience in the drafting of employment contracts and the supporting documentation, taking into account the specific needs of the client.

Such contracts may include:

  • Permanent contract of employment (new or current employees,
  • Fixed term contract of employment for fixed term/project based employees,
  • Independent contractor contract.
  • Addendums to use when any condition of employment changes.

Supporting documentation may include:

  • Restraint of trade agreement,
  • Confidentiality, inventions, discoveries and copyright agreement,
  • Master letters such as letters for successful / unsuccessful probation completed, annual increases, promotion, transfer or recognition of long service.

Once finalised and customised, the contracts become the property of the client and may be used for further application.

Human resources policies and procedures

RISMA regards its HR policies and procedures as management systems. We believe that they serve as a guide to both management and staff. While policies enable line management to handle staff issues consistently and fairly, they also enable staff to be informed and to self-manage their employment relationship with the company.

Well defined human resources systems and practises ensure that employees are motivated, developed and managed by well-equipped line managers who have been trained and coached to build and lead strong employee teams. Employee performance is then optimised.

RISMA policies and procedures typically include the following sections:

  • a description of the purpose and scope of the policy,
  • the policy statement / entitlements,
  • the procedure that must be followed to make use of the benefits / entitlement and to have that use authorised, as well as
  • all the forms that are needed to document and track the individual/line management use of the guidelines, entitlements or benefits in the policies.

The RISMA policies are master documents and, after consultation with management, RISMA will customise the content to suite the requirements and practises of the company. The policies are then also branded with the company’s logo.

The company can implement any policy at any time according to its strategy and related budget.

RISMA’s 4 phases for policy implementation

RISMA has classified its policies into 4 phases, which typically represent how companies would prioritise implementing their HR procedures to cultivate a positive employee environment.

1. Entry level HR policies

This is the entry-level phase for small to medium sized companies who wish to put in place systems and procedures to structure the way in which they manage their employees, ensuring compliance with the basic minimum standard labour legislation of South Africa.

Entry level policies include:

  • Conditions of Employment policy,
  • Conditions of Service policy,
  • Leave policy,
  • Disciplinary Policy, Code and Procedures,
  • Grievance Procedure and related forms.

2. Growth stage HR policies

Phase two policies should be considered if the company is in a growth phase and employee numbers are increasing, as additional best practise HR policies, procedures and best practises will be needed to strengthen line management’s ability to manage employee performance.

Growth phase policies include:

  • Recruitment and selection,
  • Induction and Probation policy and procedures,
  • Job Evaluation System,
  • Performance Management policy and procedures,
  • Code of Ethics,
  • E-communications policy, procedure and forms,
  • Exit interview policy and checklist.

3. Remuneration, individual relations, equity and training

Phase three policies focus further on best-practise HR systems, with the emphasis shifting to the training and development of employees to ensure superior performance.

Development phase policies include:

  • Remuneration strategy,
  • International Travel policy,
  • Reimbursement of business kilometres travelled,
  • Retrenchment policy and procedure,
  • Employment Equity policy and procedure,
  • Training policies,
  • Competency profiles,
  • Disability and ill-health policy.
4. Development management and wellness policies

Phase four policies complement the employee development policies and extend to address employee wellness.

Development and wellness policies include:

  • Management and Leadership Development policy,
  • Success Planning policy,
  • HIV / Aids policy,
  • Sexual Harassment policy,
  • Substance Abuse policy,
  • Employee Wellness policy.

The policies outlined here do not represent a complete and exhaustive list of the policies and procedures available. We are also able to develop policies for company-specific or ‘user-typical’ applications.

HR audits

Management should from time to time review their HR policies, procedures and systems against legal requirements set to govern the workplace and to ensure consistent and fair treatment of employees, with a view to maintaining a high performance culture. RISMA’s specialist audits ensure that the correct systems and processes are in place and also make recommendations as to best practice.

An HR audit will benefit your business by:

  • providing management with information and feedback on their HR systems that may be applied to improve their systems toward creating a high performance culture,
  • ensuring that all human resources contracts, policies and procedures and other systems comply with applicable labour legislation,
  • establishing whether HR policies are easy to understand and are therefore consistently applied across the organisation,
  • determining whether these policies effectively communicate important HR issues to your employees.

This audit enables management to review their HR policies and systems against legal requirements, set to govern the workplace and to ensure consistent and fair treatment of employees. An HR audit provides a valuable tool for driving a high-performance culture.

Click here to find out more about the RISMA’s HR policies and Procedures.