The first thing business owners think about when starting a company is their core business. An idea becomes a product or service fueled by the passion that started it all. Once the dream becomes a reality, passion for the cause quickly becomes inundated by other business requirements such as securing funding, legal support, space and accounting services. HR doesn’t commonly enter the equation until much later especially for a one-person operation. While it may not be on your radar immediately, strategic HR planning is vital to consider as part of your organization’s future.

Reason #1: You’re going to grow and a strong foundation is essential to future success.

Yes, there will be iterations and changes within your company but growing pains can be minimized with proper HR planning. Whether you have 10 or 110 people, without the ability to attract and retain the right people, it will be difficult to grow. The right person in the right role makes all the difference especially within your core team. Alternatively, the churn of employees is not only time consuming but costly and will create significant pain points if you churn more than you earn.

Reason #2: You’re going to be busy (and it’s only going to get busier!)

Some days it will feel like you are wearing 20 different hats. Some of those hats you’ll thrive wearing while others like HR, are needed but not necessarily your area of expertise. Your time is valuable and scarce so putting the right team/HR processes/external HR partners in place is important to protect your headspace and business needs. You need time to focus on what’s most important and what you are best at!

Reason #3: You’re going to be focused on your purpose and the bottom line.

Problems hit you harder when you’re a small company and any diversion away from the purpose of your organization can create significant setbacks. Whether it’s legal costs due to an employee complaint, being offside from legislation or losing a key person in the organization, you need to protect yourself and your team from distractions.

So, what’s the solution?

If you don’t have the foundation right you can’t focus on the critical elements that will sustain your organization in the long term. Take time to think critically about putting HR processes in place and find the right HR partner so that you can create solid plans for the future.

If HR isn’t one of those areas that you enjoy or are “best at” we can help. Let us show you how: connect@acuityhr.ca