I'm the CEO of a Tech Startup. How can an HR Consultant help me?

I'm the CEO of a Tech Startup. How can an HR Consultant help me?

 As a Tech Startup it’s mega important you get maximum return on investment from your HR expert – whether they’re in-house or external resource. 

Canny business leaders of every size of organisation, recognise that HR pros can deliver fantastic outcomes for their business – helping them to improve their bottom line.

Here are some of those outcomes below. 👇🏼

(And don’t forget, I’m a small business too – so I totally get your need to squeeze every drop of value – from every single expenditure you make.)

OUTCOME NUMBER ONE: A KICK-ASS ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Is your business running the best way it can? If not, you could be wasting massive amounts of time and money, and potentially have an unhappy workforce on your hands.

A beautifully designed organisational structure – has the right number of people, with the right skills, in the right positions, doing the right work, reporting to the right people – on a daily basis. And this is something a HR expert can help you to achieve, delivering truckloads of efficiencies for your business.

The characteristics of a badly designed business structure might include any of the below. Do you recognise any of these? 

  • Struggles to get work done, or meet deadlines ⏰
  • Staff with little or too much to do 💤
  • A duplication of effort and work 📑
  • Too much, or very little autonomy 🎓
  • Poor employee engagement, because of workplace squabbles ☹️
  • High absence rates 🤒
  • Humongous staff costs 💷

Ouch.

In the past, I’ve come across small businesses who’ve organised themselves in a poor way – and the negative impact on their bottom line has been tangible.

For example, one of my clients had 20 people, in what turned out to be a bloated organisational set up. The staff were totally unclear about their roles and responsibilities. This ended up in an overlap of work, plus loads of confusion and conflict.

But after some organisational wizardry – the business was able to save loads of money – and the path to getting the work done was much clearer for all!

OUTCOME NUMBER TWO: A COMPANY THAT’S COMPLIANT

I remember reading a CIPD research report, that said over a third of small and medium business (SMEs) use a HR expert to make sure they’re legally compliant.

This doesn’t surprise me. Running a business involves sticking to loads of legal and regulatory requirements and various procedures, lots of which are people related. Everything from pay and hours, to maternity leave and redundancy – there are rules for everything, designed to protect you and your people. But unlike a corporate organisation, you don’t have a department to manage it all for you.

Keeping on top of it all – is not only time-sapping – it’s really overwhelming for some. But disobeying the rules can have dire consequences. And what’s more, can negatively affect your bottom line.

According to GOV.UK tribunal statistics, there were 121,111 employment tribunal claimants in 18/19. Of which, the top three reasons people got financial compensation, were: unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, and race discrimination.

Whilst I get these are exceptions to the rule – dealing with employee disputes can be a nightmare – even if they don’t get anywhere near the tribunal stage. They take time to deal with, and you often end up with a long-term absence on your hands.

Most businesses want to do the right thing, and a qualified HR expert will be able to help you to do the right thing. How? By making sure you have the right employment contracts and policies in place. Or, by coaching you on how to arrive at a speedy resolution when it comes to a tricky people problem.

For example, one of my clients had been running his business for over five years with a team of eight people. But they had no employment contracts, HR Policies, or right to work documents in place. My job was to deliver the HR essentials – making sure he could eventually sleep at night, knowing he was finally compliant and protected.

OUTCOME NUMBER THREE: RECRUITS THAT ARE REMARKABLE

Hiring new staff can eat up valuable time. And it’s flippin’ expensive! As one of my clients found out when they were pouring money into recruitment agencies who failed to track down the right candidate for them.

Don’t worry. I soon whipped them into shape by transforming their hiring strategy, so their brand became a magnet for attracting talented people. 🌟

Recruiting is one of the most important jobs you have to do when you run a small business. After all, you want your new recruit to be remarkable and to stay with you for as long as possible.

With help from an experienced HR pro, you can be sure you’re:

  • Recruiting at the right time 📆
  • Able to afford it 💷
  • Attracting the best people for the job ✨
  • Interviewing people properly 📣
  • Making the right offer to the right person 
  • Pulling together all the necessary paperwork 📑
  • Giving your newbie a top-notch induction 

These are all things that can have a direct impact on your bottom line. And you can read about them in my book: Hiring Your First Employee 

OUTCOME NUMBER FOUR: EMPLOYEES THAT ARE ENGAGED AND HAPPY

Get your HR pro to help you create a healthy and happy workforce.

The CIPD says that on average, an employee takes around 5.8 sick days off work each year. And what’s more, the HSE say over 11 million days are lost each year, because of stress at work. This is something that totally affects the bottom line for businesses – so it makes perfect business sense to try and stop it from happening in the first place.

As an employer, you know you have a duty of care to your people. Your job is to look after their health, safety, and wellbeing. The CIPD also say that the most common cause of long-term absence, is mental ill health. This means your responsibility goes way beyond physical wellbeing.

On top of making sure you have the right policies and procedures in place – a HR specialist can also offer you some practical ways to better lead and engage your people. For example, through: coaching and developing; helping you to build a high-performing and happy team; introducing flexible working options; tackling poor performance or sensitive situations; and helping staff to get back to work after sickness.

OUTCOME NUMBER FIVE: THRIVING IN A CRISIS

In the lifetime of your business, it’s inevitable that you’ll face some mega challenges. Some of which may be caused by internal factors, like losing your customer data. Others could be driven by external factors, like severe weather events. And when this happens, believe me, it’ll throw up all sorts of people issues.

When things go south, you’ll need your staff to adapt to change, and you’ll need to lead them through it.

Your HR expert can help you to take both preventative steps through business continuity planning. But also help you to take reactive, on-the-spot action when you’re in the thick of it.

Almost two in five organisations had no business contingency plan in place to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, a survey of HR professionals found. It’s at times of crisis that a HR pro can prove a real return on investment for your business.

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