Chances are that unless you run a human resources (HR) business, you’re not an HR expert. Especially in the early days, you may have no choice but to act as a de facto HR manager, but here are a few signs that it’s time to let an expert take over.
Business Is Scaling Up
Maybe you’ve just landed a huge client. Possibly you’re about to open a second location. Perhaps your accountant has just told you revenue is on track to increase by 50% over the rest of the financial year. A period of business growth is exciting, but brings with it some challenges.
At some point in the trajectory of any successful business, its owner will be required to get serious about HR processes. Before you start panicking about having to hire another employee just to handle employee relations, realise that it is entirely feasible to outsource this to a contractor. Whether it’s a contractor or an employee, once a business grows to a certain level it makes sense for its owner to concentrate on their core competencies and let a specialist take the HR side of things off their hands.
HR Demands Are Taking Over
It may be the case that while your business is not quite big enough to justify you delegating HR tasks, you’re finding writing job ads, reviewing applications, doing interviews with candidates, accepting or rejecting those candidates, writing policies on everything from leave requests to expense-claiming procedures, managing payroll and adjudicating disputes between staff is chewing up time and energy you’d prefer to invest elsewhere.
If that’s the case, don’t feel guilty about allocating scarce capital to bringing in an HR operative. The boost to your morale and ability to focus on higher-value tasks should prove well worth it.
Trouble Finding the Right Candidates
Recruitment remains an art, not a science. Even the most experienced HR practitioners and smartest organisations get it wrong sometimes. Nonetheless, a trained professional is less likely to make the rookie mistakes – failing to effectively pre-screen candidates, not checking references, judging candidates on the agreeableness of their personality rather than the relevance of their skill set – that a time-poor business owner with limited hiring experience might.
Attracting impressive candidates, especially for specialised roles, frequently involves more than just putting an ad on SEEK. In fact, it may be the case that the people you most need to grow your business are already employed elsewhere and not actively looking for a new job.
A smart HR operator will know how to reach that desirable yet elusive talent that can make all the difference to the ongoing success of your enterprise.
If you’ve reached the point where you’re starting to think your business would benefit from some input from an HR operative, the time to hire one has almost certainly arrived. A little bit of online research should be enough to identify a range of affordable HR solutions well suited to the requirements of your business.