Going from a one man (or women) band to an employer

I currently work with a few agents across the country and a virtual employee who does my administration work so don't have my own employees. It is something I need to sit down and think about next year.

Are you planning to do it and what planning are you going through?

Have you already done it and what lessons could you pass on for others?

1) It's hard letting people get on with 'your' stuff

2) You'll never make proper dough until you do

Haven't done it yet but aim to next year - we're currently three Directors but we'll need admin support & someone to look after day to day HR issues before much longer - scary move but one we know we'll need to make to grow the business.

My advice from an HR point of view is get the legal / contractual stuff right from the very beginning as it saves you a lot of headache further down the line. A clear employment contract, job description and a few key policies will ensure you are legally compliant and that you set the expectations for an employee from day one. It doesn't need to be complex or lengthy or burdensome for you as a business owner but it does need to be in place.

Blimey that sounded a bit preachy - I'll get off my soap box now - just see so many businesses that do all this stuf on "trust" and then hit problems later on.

That is good advice Sam. I guess a load of new processes need to get put into place from a legal standpoint to protect the company and the employee.

Boris, point no 2 - agreed.

Never a truer word, unless you are an IT contractor!

But the hard bit is the commitment to an employee, even one, on your books, that you have to pay every month, regardless of how little cash is coming in. So ..... have a proper business plan (and enough working capital) to back up your decision, which considers the pros and cons of employing vs. outsourcing.

This sums up my world right now.

I think the virtual model has much to commend it. Hiring the wrong person can prove a costly mistake and goodness knows large corporations, for all their psychometric tools, can still make a right Horlicks of it. But they've the capacity to absorb hits like that. The virtue of virtuality is that it avoids all that.

My question would be: what is it about your existing structure that you feels need changing?

Mark

Probably not as many as you might think to be legally compliant - just a few good sensible policies & a contract in place.

Good processes of couse may determine how successfully you are able to delegate work to an employee

Always happy to chat it through when you get to that stage Sean

Sam's spot on here, here's also a couple of other things you might want to consider:

- What type of culture do you want within your organisation? Whilst the organisation is just you, its an easy question to answer, but once others become involved, it needs specification and practice to embed the principles. Standards are important if the team is to be co-ordinated and efficient. Performance becomes a part of this...

- Whilst a staff handbook may be going over the top, one might want to consider a grievance procedure... obviously one hopes that such a thing is never needed, but these things do start with a problem. If that is not identified or resolved, it becomes a grievance and in a worse case environment can become much much worse, especially in a small organisation.

Just a thought...

Cheers Henry

Staff Handbook is a great idea but can be costly / overkill - grievance procedure or policy on the other hand is a requirement that all businesses should have in place along with disciplinary - like you say - you hope you never need them but they are invaluable if you ever do.

Your point about culture is spot on too - so important to set out business values and principles so that all new employees buy in to the culture as soon as they join.

Sam, Henry good input thanks. Whilst I am not at the point yet, it does give me plenty to think about for future reference. I like the point about culture having been at companies that have spent small fortunes trying to chage the culture when it developed into something they didn't want.

Hi Sean...

The move from one person band to employer is a big step. Much bigger than just taking on some more cost - although that is important!

There are a number of important things to get right, or as right as you can, but I would also counsel against being too afraid of it!

1. Be very picky about your first staff member. They are a very big percentage of your team. For you, this is as important as a big company hiring a 1000 people. Do not rely on just one interview. Or just two. Really get to know the candidate(s).

2. Think about how the company dynamics will now work. How will the tasks be divided up. Have some structure, right from the start.

3. Make sure you understand the costs. Payroll tax is a biggie! Factor it in, big time.

4. Definitely get the whole culture/brand/operation style thing hardwired in before you go near recruiting.

5. Go for it! At OrangeTree we now have 7 people on the payroll. It has transformed the business.

I think Paul's got it pretty much spot on there.

There is a process to be done before you even think about the individual staff member and that is working out what the person fit is as well as the experience and then writing a criteria and ad that will get the person you want.

What experience, skills and personality are you looking for?

What will the role entail?

Do you want someone who will contribute ideas to your company or someone who will just go and do as you tell them?

What hours do you want them to work? Is there some flexibility in the hours on your part and can there be for your employee?

If you are a quiet person would someone who was very talkative bother you after a while no matter how nice and efficient they are?

Much more to think about , but that gives you a start.

Jan

I am loving this thread and I hope people in a similar position are as well. Good to see plenty of discussion on the topic. I've hired and fired a fair few in the corporate world but doing it for myself is a huge responsibility that I am looking forward to once the time is right.

Paul, good point about payroll tax, something that I need to go and make sure is included in all my calculations for next year.