When you're running a small business with just a handful of employees, you might think HR is something for the bigger companies.
You know, the ones with hundreds of staff, fancy offices and a whole department dedicated to looking after their people.
After all, if you've only got five employees, how much can possibly go wrong?
Well… pull up a chair, put the kettle on and we'll tell you!
Because one thing we've learned over the years is that the size of your business doesn't always reflect the size of the people problems that can land on your desk!
Five Employees or Five Hundred… People Are Still People!
It doesn't really matter whether you employ five people or five hundred. You're still dealing with people, and as lovely as people can be, we're all different! Different personalities, different expectations, different ways of doing things and, occasionally, a few disagreements thrown in for good measure.
Perhaps you've got someone whose performance isn't quite what it should be. Maybe two colleagues have fallen out and the atmosphere in the office is becoming a little frosty.
Someone might be off sick more often than you'd expect, or perhaps an employee has handed you a formal grievance and you're now staring at it wondering what on earth you're supposed to do next.
The thing is, many of the same employment laws apply whether you employ five people or five hundred.
There isn't a magical rule that says small businesses get a free pass because they've only got a few employees.
And when something does go wrong, it can be every bit as stressful, time-consuming and costly for a small business as it can for a much bigger one.
Sometimes, even more so.
When One Person Makes Up 20% of Your Workforce…
Here's a little something to think about.
You've got five employees and one goes off sick for a few weeks. That's 20% of your workforce missing! Or perhaps two colleagues have fallen out and aren't speaking to each other. Suddenly, 40% of your team is caught up in the problem!
And it's not just absence or disagreements. In a small team, one person's poor behaviour can quickly influence everyone else. Word gets around faster, bad habits spread like wildfire, and before you know it, the culture you've worked so hard to build starts to suffer.
Then there's the time and cost involved when things go wrong. A larger company might have a dedicated HR team or a manager who can spend time dealing with a grievance, investigation or Employment Tribunal claim. But when you're a small business owner already wearing fifteen different hats, where exactly are you supposed to find those extra hours?
And let's not forget, the financial impact of an Employment Tribunal claim.
The point is, smaller businesses don't necessarily have smaller people problems, sometimes the impact can be much bigger!
"But We're Like One Big Family Here!"
Ah yes… the famous words!
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
In fact, one of the nicest things about smaller businesses is how close-knit the teams can be.
But let's be fair… even the happiest of families have the occasional falling out!
The difficulty comes when you're the business owner, the manager, the person making the tea AND the one who has to deal with an awkward employee situation.
It's not always easy having a difficult conversation with someone you've worked alongside for years, particularly when you know them personally.
You might be worried about upsetting them, damaging the relationship or making the situation worse.
And sometimes, if we're being truthful, it's tempting to put the conversation off and hope the problem sorts itself out.
Unfortunately, in our experience, problems rarely disappear just because we ignore them!
That's where having someone independent to talk things through with can be a real help.
Someone who isn't emotionally involved, who can look at things objectively and give you a bit of practical advice about what to do next.
Sometimes, that's all you need.
You Don't Need an HR Department… Just Someone in Your Corner
Now, we're not suggesting that every small business needs its own HR manager sitting in your office. For most smaller companies, that simply wouldn't make sense.
But having someone experienced you can pick up the phone to when you need a bit of advice?
That's a different matter altogether.
Sometimes it's nothing more than a quick chat to check you're doing something the right way.
Other times, you might need help dealing with a tricky employee situation, putting together a contract, updating your policies or giving your managers a bit more confidence through training.
And occasionally, it's simply about having someone to say, "Right, don't panic… let's work through this together."
Because when you're running your own business, it's quite reassuring to know you don't have to have all the answers yourself.
And you certainly don't need to become an employment law expert on top of everything else!
So, Do Small Businesses Really Need HR?
Well, we might be a little biased here, but we'd say if you employ people, HR matters!
Not because we're suggesting every workplace is full of problems waiting to happen. Far from it.
Most business owners simply want to do the right thing by their employees, build a happy team and get on with running a successful, productive business.
And that's exactly what good HR support should help them do.
It's not about introducing endless rules, mountains of paperwork or making life difficult.
It's about dealing with issues fairly and not having you lying awake at 3am wondering whether you've done the right thing.
That's Where We Come In!
At Paveley HR, we work with small and medium-sized businesses, offering friendly, down-to-earth and practical HR advice without all the unnecessary jargon.
We know that no two businesses are the same, and we certainly don't believe in making things more complicated than they need to be.
Whether it's ongoing support, a one-off issue or just a quick conversation to point you in the right direction, we're here to help.
No big corporate approach. No baffling HR terminology. Just straightforward advice from people who understand the challenges of running a business and managing a team.