Preston – Putting the Right HR Foundations in Place

When a Growing Business Needs Some HR Structure

A small printing and publishing business in Preston came to me without any formal HR policies or processes in place. They were also using self-employed workers, so there were a number of areas that needed looking at to make sure their arrangements were appropriate and that the business understood its responsibilities as it grew.

Rather than giving them a huge list of things they needed to fix immediately, I started by reviewing what they already had, how the business operated and where the biggest risks and priorities were.  From there, we agreed a staged approach based on priority, risk and affordability. For a small business, I think this is important. You don't always need to do everything at once, and trying to introduce a whole HR system overnight can be just as overwhelming as having no system at all.  I supported the business with the transition from self-employed arrangements to appropriate contracts of employment where required, and put the basic HR foundations in place. This included bespoke documentation tailored to how the business actually operates, including contracts of employment, HR policies and a staff handbook.  I don't believe in handing a small business a folder full of generic HR documents and saying, "There you go."  The documents need to make sense for the business, be practical for managers to use and reflect how the organisation actually works. 

The business is now on a monthly HR retainer with NeuroHR, which means they also have someone they can come to when something crops up.  That might be a question about an employee, a tricky conversation, a new starter, a policy question or simply, "Can we actually do this?"  They don't need to become HR experts themselves. They have me on hand to help them work through things before they become bigger problems. 

The result is the business now has stronger HR foundations, appropriate employment documentation and ongoing access to practical HR support, without having to employ a full-time HR person.​

If you're running a small business and HR has become a bit of a "we'll sort that when we need to" situation, book a free discovery call. I'll help you work out what needs attention, what can wait and where to start, without throwing a load of unnecessary paperwork at you.