Does a Small Business Really Need HR – And How?

When it comes to operating with agility, small businesses really do set the standard. Quite often, the owner or founder will be the one hiring new employees in between managing finances, implementing new marketing strategies – and perhaps even replacing the coffee in the kitchen.

This as-needed approach ensures that business costs are kept to a minimum, and generally leads to a strong sense of equality and collaboration within a small team that can’t be found in larger corporations. Most small businesses grow organically, and often without set resources for HR. Quite often a small business simply doesn’t have the need or resources to cover a full-time HR professional or team.

However, it doesn’t matter how small and agile the team; human resource issues can arise at any business size and stage. Diversity should be considered. Bullying claims could be made. Ethical and legal questions can crop up. And there are training and retainment initiatives to consider to help you get the best out of your workforce. On top of this, the fallout from any HR blunders could be significantly riskier for a small business when it comes to costs, compliance and employee turnover.

So how do small businesses access the advice and services they need without wasting resources?

Working with a HR service provider on a per-project basis can be a simple and effective key to strategic human resource management. It doesn’t matter whether you’re:

• Handling terminations and redundancies
• Wanting to improve your culture
• Setting out clear structures for your employees
• Addressing high turnover, complaints or other aspects.

You can access the expertise and solutions you need on an ad hoc basis, without needing to support a full-time HR department. While many small business owners are initially hesitant to access external HR support for small businesses, this can ensure a certain impartiality and fresh perspective that can prove invaluable in many of these situations.

Rather than being seen as a necessary task on the long daily to-do list, HR is best considered an essential growth tool for any small business. It can help your small business thrive through rock-solid legal compliance, ethical handling of issues, diversity and clarity within your team. It can not only minimise risk, but also optimise the productivity, culture and profitability of your team as it grows. And with strategic human resource management and the right HR service provider, you’ll be able to scale your business sustainably and build a reliable team.

You might like to read more about performHR’s Project support, or to simply get in touch with the team to discuss small business HR support to suit your needs.