I'm a small business owner. Why would I hire an HR expert?

I'm a small business owner. Why would I hire an HR expert?

You don’t need to hire an HR person necessarily. Not someone permanently on your payroll anyhow. But you probably will need HR support at key stages in your business lifecycle. For example, when you’re hiring somebody new or firing someone!

The world has moved on – and the good news is you can now take advantage of top-notch, external HR expertise that won’t cost you the earth – whenever the need arises.

Here’s how…

HR HELP – ONLY WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST

As a small business owner, you won’t need HR support on a day-to-day basis. That’s why having access to a freelance HR pro – as and when required – is so appealing.

Think about all the many times when a HR expert could bring something special to the table – by saving you humongous amounts of time and money – helping you to grow your business. But most of all, being there to make sure you do things the right way, and don’t make costly mistakes.

For example, when you’re 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

  • Setting up a new business
  • Growing or changing things
  • Recruiting people
  • Letting employees go
  • Dealing with a tricky people issue
  • Managing absence or poor performance
  • Wanting to be a better boss
  • Thinking about your own development
  • Struggling with your team members
  • Needing to build a more profitable team
  • Engaging and coaching your employees

HR YOUR WAY

These days, you can have tailored HR expertise delivered to you on a plate – in a way that totally suits your business needs – either virtually, or face-to-face.

And what’s more, you can easily find a flexible service that matches your budget – allowing you to pay by the hour, pay monthly, or pay for a standalone piece of work.

From online resources and monthly retainers, to advice by the hour and one-off projects – the options are endless.

This is a MASSIVE advantage to small businesses like yours, who require HR services, but on their terms.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HR PERSON FOR YOU

The pool of freelance HR pros is getting bigger – as people leave employed or corporate life – in search of more autonomy and flexibility, perhaps to bring up children.

This means there’s loads of HR talent to choose from. And, the likelihood is, you’ll get big brand experience, without the big brand price tag. Whoop! 🎉

Of course, there’s truckloads of free advice from organisations like Acas – but they’re not going to know your business – because they don’t have a relationship with you.

When choosing someone – qualifications, experience, and areas of expertise are obviously important. But, ask to speak to their some of their existing or past clients to get a feel for how they work.

Somebody who’s worked at HR Director level will have a super-duper grasp of every aspect of HR, and be able to look at your business more strategically – on top of knowing the HR essentials.

Rapport is absolutely crucial. Your HR pro will be dealing with some of the most sensitive, delicate, exciting, complicated, and intricate parts to your business. So, you need to be able to get on and totally trust each other.

WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?

Apart from wasting loads of time and money – WITHOUT a super-duper HR pro by your side – you could end up:

  • Managing your people poorly ☹️
  • Being unable to meet customer demand, because one of your employees has gone AWOL ☹️
  • Recruiting the wrong person for a job ☹️
  • Badly handling a delicate or knotty people issue – leading to a complaint, a grievance, or even a tribunal ☹️
  • Letting an absence, disciplinary, or performance issue go unchecked ☹️
  • Giving out the wrong advice to your people, or worse still, enforcing the wrong procedures ☹️

DID YOU KNOW?

Some small businesses find pregnancy, paternity, and maternity rights a bit of a minefield. This is a time when HR support can really help, by giving you the dos and don’ts of how to manage your people.

  • Did you know? One company had to award an employee a whopping £6,000 because they refused to give their employee part-time working when she came back from maternity leave. Ouch.
  • Did you know? £2,500 was awarded to an employee because their employer didn’t allow them time off for an ante-natal appointment. Ouch.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Oh, and by the way, these figures are from a Citizens Advice article.

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