By David Brown, General Manager
Anyone who has ever been involved with or worked at a startup will recognise and remember some if not all of these feelings: excitement; terror; overwhelm; chaos. The exhilaration of building a vision of something that is brand new and innovative, which then hits the wall of reality in the form of lack of resources, running out of cash, regulatory challenges in areas you hadn't even thought of and exhaustion of a life lived as a constant sprint to a far off finish line, can overwhelm anyone.
Startups are not for the faint hearted but the rewards can be amazing, if you survive!
So let’s look at tackling the People Component of your startup strategy; what are the problems, how can you work through them and how a great HR consultancy service can help you.
HR Issues in an Australian Startup
Many of the following will not only apply to your HR function, but you can be certain that your HR function will face all of these as your startup grows:
- Pace of Growth - We all know that growing pains are an issue as any business matures, but with startups these can happen much faster and therefore more dramatically than in any other business environment;
- Regulatory Issues - Many HR regulations are different for small businesses, giving them more flexibility and often time to comply with requirements such as avoiding unfair dismissal claims. However the classification of a small business in Australia is less than 15 employees (including regular casuals). For a startup on a fast growth trajectory, there may be little point in trying to take advantage of this flexibility as you will soon outgrow the definition of a small business;
- HR Infrastructure - Such is the pace of growth that your HR processes and systems will likely be much more dynamic, so putting in an infrastructure for future growth rather than current state is vital;
- Visibility - You will want your startup to be visible in the market and have an impact. Often such visibility comes with greater scrutiny, so having everything working properly becomes much more important.
How Your Outsourced HR Consultant Will Help
The key to success in such a dynamic environment is having your proactive HR plan built and in place, designed for the larger organisation you will become. Your outsourced HR consultancy service will take care of this for you.
An outsourced HR Consultant will often be preferable to in-house HR in a startup for a few reasons (here is a recent article which goes into more depth on the advantages of outsourced HR):
- Speed - Given the pace of change in a startup, an outsourced HR consultant will not be creating your HR structure from a blank canvas. Your experienced HR consultancy service, such as Employee Matters, will have experience with startups and their needs and have a range of strategies, tools and templates to set your organisation up quickly for success;
- Flexibility - With hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions to be made in your startup, an outsourced HR service allows you the time to deal with other issues and see how your business evolves. Giving you the space before you need a clear vision for how your HR service will be delivered, your HR consultant can give you that vital few weeks, months or even years before committing to an inhouse HR service.
In terms of what you can expect from an outsourced HR consultancy service as a start up, look for the following when choosing the best service for your organisation:
- Experience with Startups - Does your HR Consultant have experience working with startups, do they understand the environment you are working in and do they have ideas for how they can make an immediate impact?
- Identifying your Needs - Is the HR Consultant able to understand your needs and identify those needs even before you do?
- Implementation - Does the HR Consultancy service have the experience and tools to make an impact at the pace your startup needs?
- Risk - In a risky environment will your HR Consultant identify your risks, explain the risk levels to you and provide solutions to eliminate or mitigate those risks? Are they prepared to tell it how it is while offering solutions to keep you out of the Fair Work Commission and the Federal Court?
- References and Testimonials - Can your prospective outsourced HR provider supply you with references or testimonials as an example of their previous experience with startups? Employee Matters has assisted many startups with their HR services on both a long term and short term basis.
Ensure your outsourced HR service can deliver in all of these areas and check out this article for an indepth look at what makes a great HR managed service.
Need Help or Just Not Sure Where to Start(up)?
Employee Matters can help your startup with all its HR needs including policy development, recruitment, managing risk and creating your HR strategy for growth. If you are a startup without an HR plan in place, book a free discovery session with us now to discuss your unique situation with an experienced member of the Employee Matters team.
Alternatively, you can contact us at:
- Email: info@employeematters.com.au
- Phone: (02) 8021 4206
