From Chaos to Clarity: The Benefits of Outsourcing HR in the Restaurant Industry

In this episode of the Self Insurance Podcast by CRMBC, Heather Bischoff from Upskill Consulting joins us to explore the critical aspects of human resources management in small businesses. 

Heather, who transitioned from case management to HR, highlights the importance of fractional HR and its role in preventing workers' compensation claims. She addresses common HR misconceptions, the complexities of employment law, and the financial benefits of investing in HR, even for smaller businesses. 

Heather shares success stories, stresses the significance of proactive HR approaches, and discusses the implications of timely claim reporting to avoid litigation. Gain valuable insights to enhance your HR practices and maintain a compliant, efficient business environment.

00:00 Introduction to the Self-Insurance Podcast

00:22 Meet Heather Bishop of Upskill Consulting

01:00 The Role of HR in Business Operations

01:23 Challenges Faced by Restaurant Owners

02:10 Understanding Fractional HR

03:47 Common HR Misconceptions

05:31 The True Cost of HR

07:45 When to Hire HR for Small Businesses

08:31 The Importance of HR Compliance

10:29 Success Stories in HR Management

11:44 Workers Compensation and HR

14:41 Final Thoughts and Advice for Business Owners

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Transcript

Introduction to the Self-Insurance Podcast

Welcome to the self-insurance podcast brought to you by CRMBC. Every week, we interview industry experts, restaurant operators, and brokers about the world of workers' comp self-insurance in California.

Meet Heather Bischoff of Upskill Consulting

It is my pleasure to welcome Heather Bischoff, owner of Upskill Consulting. Welcome, Heather.

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Excellent. Tell us a little bit about Upskill Consulting and your background.

Yeah, I have been working in consulting for a long time. I started my career as a case manager, so I really got to understand people's dynamics.

I've worked in many different industries, and Upskill Consulting is really about upskilling your team so that you can run your business effectively and efficiently. 

The Role of HR in Business Operations

And you specifically focus on human resources, though, correct?

I do, yes. Learning case management skills and then transitioning all those skills to human resources was a smooth transition in figuring out workflows, systems, processes, and everything businesses need to function operationally.

Which is huge.

Challenges Faced by Restaurant Owners

So it's one of those things that, you know, we are a restaurant self-insured group for workers' compensation. And so our members are all restaurant operators. And it's very common, I'm sure, in all the industries you work in, but you've seen in restaurants where restaurant owners will wear all the hats until they can't handle them anymore.

And so sometimes, you know, the person, the general counsel, because I was general counsel for a pizza franchise, I was also doing HR, I was also, you know, handling their kids DUIs, you know, like, you wear all the hats. So, not that there were a lot of DUIs, but you know what I mean? You just get asked everything.

So, HR is one of those things that is fractional. Can you tell us and explain what that means? 

Yeah, thank you. I totally understand and can relate to that pain point in a business where you didn't start your business, especially a restaurant business, to deal with people, you know, issues as far as your employees and fractional HR are something that I come in and serve as that role, but I'm not your employee.

So I can come in and help you solve some of those employee relations issues. I can help you understand: If I have employees calling out on shifts, what do I do? Can I, you know, make them find a cover? Can I do this? All those things matter because, especially in the restaurant business, you need all hands on deck every shift because you're delivering a service.

There's quality, and all sorts of guidelines and requirements need to be met. To land, if you're staffed, that creates an issue, and then when you have other employee issues, it Rolls over, and ultimately, you're trying to avoid any litigation.

And we happen to know that those types of issues directly impact workers' comp claims.

We find it all the time that if there's a trend of an uptick in workers' comp claims, we often see that there's an issue with a manager or an issue with training, something that an HR person would have been able to catch.

Common HR Mistakes by Business Owners

So, speaking of which, what is something that most business owners think they are getting right but are not getting right?

Thank you for that question. It's a big one because I think HR is a skilled task. It's just like, you know, I talked to a friend of mine who works in workers' comp, and he always says you wouldn't hire an electrician to solve your plumbing problem. And just because you understand some plumbing doesn't mean you understand the complexity of it.

HR is very similar. Business owners often think, "Oh, I can Google this, or I can just do this." They don't need to pay for HR, but understanding the complexity of employment law and the different aspects of working with people is quite a different task. And often, you can be doing something that you think, "Oh, like this isn't going to hurt my business."

And all of a sudden you're, you know, you've got a summons on your desk saying like, you need, you're being sued for this. And that's the thing. I think it's a blind spot because a lot of HR, on the surface level, looks like it's an administration job, but there's so much more. There are so many complexities because if you even look at the leave of absence, for example, California has so many different kinds of leave of absence, and they can piggyback on each other.

Some do, some don't, some are paid, some aren't. And so, really understanding the complexity of the law and the employment regulations is a big thing, and it really matters to the bottom line of the company every single time.

The True Cost of HR

A lot of people's objections to hiring an HR person are that they think it's just so expensive. What's the reality of this? And is, and I know you in particular, we've talked about how you save money in other ways. So talk to us a little bit about that, about the expense of human resources.

Yeah, many companies think that human resources is a cost center, but when you boil it down, when you're retaining employees longer because they're getting their needs met, they're going to stay.

That's going to save you hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus you're going to have engaged employees over disengaged employees. Disengaged employees always cost a company more money than engaged employees. You have, you know, just looking at systems and processes. I can't tell you how many companies that I go into, and they have six different systems, and none of them are talking to each other.

So how can we streamline that and save some money, or are there other cost savings processes that we can put in place where a lot of times business owners don't have the bandwidth? to do those cost analyses of like, Oh, maybe there's a better system or a better tool that I could be using that can save me 1, 000 a month.

All of those little things add up, and that's where, you know, human resources truly is a business partner.

HR as a Strategic Business Partner

And also just helping to make strategic decisions about people: Do we have the right people? Do we continue to tolerate bad behavior because it's better to have a body in a role versus having that role open? And really evaluating the difference of, you know, what is it really costing the business to allow these types of things that we don't have time to deal with? Like, there's a cost associated with that. 

Exactly. You hit the nail on the head: We don't have time to look at it because until you get to the point where you actually hire an HR person or an outsourced HR person, you're only dealing with it once it becomes a problem, as opposed to being proactive. I know because I sat in that seat, and I was handling a million things.

When to Hire HR for Small Businesses

HR only came to my attention when there was a problem. So I, you're speaking to the choir here. Our members range from franchise owners with 40, 50, or 60 locations to smaller operations that might only have five or six stores, but it's a hundred million dollar operation because it's fine dining.

For smaller organizations, obviously the ones with 50 locations and tens of thousands of employees, they've got an HR person already. But what do you say to smaller scaling organizations? When is the right time to really be focused on hiring an HR person or a fractional HR?

Yes. Great question.

Key HR Responsibilities and Legal Requirements

I would say once you've reached ten employees, you need to have somebody, even if it's on a part-time basis, because something happens when you have ten employees. They want to know the handbook, sick time policies, paid vacation, holidays, insurance, etc.

And there are also reporting requirements for different states once you reach 10. Some laws allow you to have one employee, then five, then 10, then 25, and it continues to scale up. And so there are fiscal, you know, responsibilities that a business owner does not want to dive into because it's so tedious.

And there's reporting things, and fines are associated if those reports are not completed, you know, on time and annually.

Especially in California,  especially in California. It's one of the toughest. As you know, PAGA has plagued us, especially our members and the restaurant group, because many attorneys were coming after us.

So we're very thankful for the new legislation, but it doesn't mean it disappeared. Companies still need to make sure that they're crossing every T and dotting every I, and that is often a lot of the things that HAGA falls within that are covered by the HR person.

It is, and it's challenging because managers often don't have the capacity to follow up on all those timekeeping processes. So that's where Human Resources can be that cheerleader, if you will, for the managers and also help to do some of the heavy lifting.

Let's see what's going on here. Let's work with the employees. Let's figure out how we can make this easy for them. And if they don't do it, then let's manage them up or manage them out. 

Success Stories: HR Making a Difference
Can you share with us a success story that you've had, whether it's a restaurant or not a restaurant, someone who was ignoring their HR but then finally came to you, and you were able to help turn something around?

Yes, I have lots of success stories. I love the clients that I get to work with, but there is a franchise that I've done some work with. They called me in because they were having an employee issue, and I was able to solve that issue for them. Then, I was able to start looking at the broader scope, and in doing so, one of the things we set out to tackle was benefits.

And I was able to save the company 50 grand because their benefit strategy really wasn't the right strategy for the business. And, you know, just through my own experience and looking at those strategies is doing that and helping them streamline their business. So now this business owner can travel internationally and not worry if his business is going to fall apart because he knows that I'm working with his team and I, you know, I really am his partner in making sure that employee issues are addressed the way they need to compliance. Things are getting addressed the way that they need to. And he can go. You can still be a business owner, but you can also enjoy his life.

I love that.

Workers' Compensation and HR's Role
And obviously,, we're workers' compensation, so I have to draw everything back to workers' compensation. In your experience, HR is the one we often interact with, filing the claim and notifying the insurance company. One of the things that we see across the board is that when claims are not timely reported, those are the claims that often become litigated.

Or when the injured worker feels like no one is caring for them and gets scared, they call an attorney because they haven't been hearing from their employer or the insurance company because the claim was never filed. Tell me about anything that you've experienced concerning workers' compensation claims in HR.

Yes, I did some work with a stocking company. Because of that, we have a lot of worker compensation claims and one of the things that I always look at as an HR practitioner is how can we get more preventative measures in place to lower or moderate the number of such claims and also give employees the education that they need because slips and falls are a huge thing.

Just being aware of your environment, reporting things, looking for those yellow signs that, you know, slippery wind wall, all those types of things. And that is one of the things where HR can really go in and look and, and, and do an assessment to be like, okay, here's a hazard, here's a hazard.

Do we have our IIP in place? Do we have other safety things in place? And then, yeah, being that liaison, essentially, to work, you know, with the workers' comp, you know, company and the employee to make sure that the employee understands what's going on and, you know, is there work that they can do, can we get them back to work, do they want to come back to work, you know, and just being that person to help project manage the whole process because, it can be involved sometimes and, and it's helpful to have somebody that your employer is providing for you to hold your hand as you go through the process essentially.

It definitely lowers the rate of litigation because now you have somebody who's documented the entire process. And you've had somebody who has been there kind of taking care of the employee while they're figuring out what their healing and recovery is going to look like.

Absolutely, because ultimately, we all have to remember that the point of workers' compensation is caring for the injured worker. Of course, there's going to be fraud, there's going to be things that we challenge and things like that, but ultimately, we exist to help the injured worker. As a non-profit, self-insured group, we also exist to protect our members.

So, best practices, including taking seriously your HR, are a big part of the full package of being a successful self-insured group.

Final Thoughts and Advice for Business Owners
Heather, I can't thank you enough for sharing your perspective on this. It was really, really helpful. Do you have any last thoughts you want to share with us before we sign off?

I would like to remind business owners that they didn't get into business to manage people. And so, let the person who is the expert at managing people help you manage your people. 

I love it. Thank you, Heather. Have an excellent rest of your day. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you. It was a pleasure being here.

Thank you for joining us for The Self-Insurance Podcast brought to you by CRMBC. If there's a topic you'd like to learn more about, or if you have any questions, email us at info@CRMBC. com. Remember to subscribe, like, comment, and share, and join us again next week for more tips on self-insurance.