Even with the many hats owner-founders wear, the role of HR is one that many businesses that scale up, quickly realise, is non-negotiable.
From having strong communication and empathy skills, to having a finger firmly on the pulse of technical and digital innovation that improves HR processes and having the ability to support the business leaders to develop and deliver the business strategy, todays HR leader has to be able to work across all levels of the business, from board to shop floor. And it’s no wonder for many, it’s one of the hardest roles to find the right candidate for.
So, what are the key differences between a HR leader in a large organisation, versus one which is smaller, but perhaps fast growing?
1 – Large corporations have defined policies and processes.
From absence to salary reviews, larger corporations have established practices that often form par to the employee induction process. For smaller, and faster growing businesses, the focus and need to get resource on board means that the often, the induction process is short and policies are passed down word of mouth rather than formalised. However, as employee numbers grow, having consistency in HR is essential to provide the framework and guidance that everyone knows they need to comply with.
2 – Smaller businesses aren’t always as well know, or attractive to ambitious candidates.
There’s always a number of well know organisations that specialists aspire to work for – but when you aren’t quite the Apple of your industry yet, recruiting great talent can be more difficult and time consuming. A good HR leader can identify, develop and communicate the culture and ways of working within your organisation that will not only attract but retain top talent.
3 – Multi skilled versus HR discipline specialists.
For smaller organisations, the HR lead also needs to wear a number of hats to fulfil all the needs of the employees. Defining recruitment strategies, training and development opportunities and programmes, managing conflicts and negotiating salaries are all part and parcel of the many HR disciplines that larger organisations support with key specialists and team leaders. For a HR lead in a smaller business, having a wider overview of all these disciplines and keeping on top of developments within HR is much more challenging, but can be more rewarding and engaging for the right candidate.
4 – Working within budget.
A HR leader working within a large organisation has access to often significant budgets and tools that make life easier. From being able to offer larger employee salaries to secure top talent, to automation tools that reduce workload, corporate budgets can often make a big difference in getting things done. However, for smaller organisations, a creative HR lead can make a small budget go a long way. The ability to get decisions made faster and implement quicker in smaller businesses enables a HR leader to embed new practices in a much timelier manner and gain engagement faster.
There are many reasons why seasoned HR professionals indeed prefer to work at smaller companies as these allow for a greater sense of community and engagement, more freedom to implement new ideas and processes and to having a greater say in the strategic direction of the business, all of which are often more rewarding for the individual.
So if you are looking to appoint your first HR leader, how do you find the perfect candidate?
As Louise Ellis, head of the HR practice at HW Global explains, “the ideal first appointment HR leader into an organisation would be one that has cut their teeth in a large complex, multi-tiered organisation, understanding best practice across a wide population, but have then gained ample experience applying those skills in a smaller business, establishing HR from the ground up.”
If you’d like to find out more about recruiting HR professionals, or what your business may need, then do get in touch.
Louise Ellis
