Does your growing business need a people strategy?

When businesses take off successfully, they can grow fast. Within a year that micro business suddenly employs 50 people, fast on the way to being an SME. With all this growth it’s easy to put people issues to one side - until you start to find situations where you could use some advice.

Fast growing businesses present people challenges - as well as opportunities. I come at this with some experience. I was there at the start of Virgin Mobile and was the third hire, as People Director, at sustainable energy company Pure Planet which quickly grew to over 200. What's more, my work as a Fractional Chief People Officer helps smaller organisations with people strategy as they grow.

I’ve written this article to help founders and leaders spot the warning signs that, with the right planning, can be averted. With a strategy to address these ‘people’ issues, you can build a productive business with a culture that will attract and retain the talent you need.

My top 5 people challenges:

1)   Your purpose, values and culture aren’t clear to your people

You know what you stand for and why you do what you do, but does everyone else, especially those who have joined more recently and perhaps work remotely?

Every business has a culture whether they like it or not, often expressed as what your people feel and say about working for you. It therefore makes sense that you do something proactive to shape and influence this. Many people are now far more interested in the values and culture of where they work. If they don’t feel aligned to what you stand for, they’ll either leave, or decide not to join.

Your culture can be left to happen or, you can work to evolve it into something truly attractive. It’s a conversation you should have with your board, and then with your people, and early on. As a culture specialist, I help organisations identify their values and then embed them so they become part of how things are done. Mission statements on posters won’t do the trick here. An engaging culture is about experienced behaviour. Leaders and line managers must live by and reinforce values for them to be believed and bought into.

2)  You are struggling to recruit and retain good people

When asked ‘what do you believe will be the biggest challenge your business will face as it grows?’ 25% of founders replied, ‘Retaining valuable employees.’ That’s according to research by startups.co.uk. Turnover always happens, but high turnover is damaging to service delivery and can break continuity and relationships with customers. And recruitment is expensive, but recruitment and retention doesn’t have to be so disruptive.

You need a recruitment and retention strategy based on understanding the dynamics and people involved. One question I always ask is are businesses too focused on the skills of their ideal candidates, and missing cultural fit? The people you hire will shape the business as it grows, so hiring people who fit that culture from the outset is a sensible approach. You can always train for skills when they join. And don’t forget about the on-boarding process. New employees need to feel welcomed, not bewildered. They joined you for the excitement of something new - don’t give them reasons to regret it.

3)  People struggle as they are promoted

Fast growing businesses often find roles expand in line with growth. It’s typical for people to find themselves managing sooner than they might have expected or be ready for. Some will step up successfully, but not everyone. It may be soon apparent that some are out of their depth. The risk here is two-fold. The business may suffer a lack of credibility with customers and a drop in productivity. Equally bad, you may lose someone who was perfectly good in the role they used to do because they can no longer cope.

An external people consultant can help your newly promoted people become more productive at both managing others and bring out the best in their own output. What’s more, if you are looking at future promotions we can help identify the competencies required so that the people in future managerial roles can actually manage and are promoted on merit.

4)  Line managers lack the interpersonal skills to manage

In a similar story to the above, technical people may find themselves managing a team but without the interpersonal skills they need to listen and lead. This can be a particular challenge when managing remote teams that require more hands-on management and empathy with the challenges many are still facing due to the remote nature of the role. The problems show when team morale drops and good people leave because they feel neglected.

Leadership coaching and the development of line management skills can bring in people skills that will inspire and get more from your people. If there are key people that need career planning, we can bring external perspective on how their career development needs can be met.

5)  You have no people systems and processes in place. Nada.

A big mistake growing businesses make is putting off developing people processes. There was a good reason why as a ‘people person’ I was the third hire at Pure Planet. They saw the importance of getting the basics in place and used me to support them on a part-time basis. They didn’t see HR as something to either ignore or delegate, they took full responsibility to get the foundations right. Employment law, pensions, holiday entitlement, maternity and paternity leave, and now hybrid working - soon enough you will need to know what to do.

My advice is not wait until you have a problem and try to retro fit HR. Get it right from the start. One of the reasons I set up enRich was to help smaller organisations create their own engaged, inspired and productive people and benefit from external HR support as they grow. The right systems underpin this, and I regularly support businesses with the detail, as well as the strategic focus.

In conclusion

If anyone asks me about the value of investing in a people strategy, I often quote Sir Richard Branson who I got to know at Virgin Mobile. “If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers. It’s that simple.”

If you support your people as you grow, you’ll be able to address the challenges they face as they develop into their roles. It’s an opportunity to create some bold policies but you’ll still need to have the HR essentials in place. If you are considering external HR support, it’s important to find someone who not only understands HR but also of a fast-growing environment with all the personality dynamics at play.

If you need any extra help

I’m passionate about helping create engaged, inspired and highly productive teams and cultures and offer HR support as a Fractional Chief People Officer. Do feel free to contact me if you want to chat through a scenario or need my help.