“Every problem is a gift – without problems we would not grow.” – Tony Robbins
As companies transition from a successful start-up phase to scaling up, HR needs to play a key role in enabling this growth. Unfortunately, for many organisations on this part of their journey, HR is still in its relative infancy and often lacks the capability or credibility to fulfil this crucial role.
Here are 2 of the key challenges that the company needs HR to lead on during these times:
Decision-Making: from founder control to empowerment
As a small business scales the founder will typically find themselves between what they will see as a rock and a hard place. On one hand they want to retain as much decision-making control as possible. Afterall, it’s their baby and success so far has been on the back of their almost instinctive way of making the right calls. On the other hand, they become over-stretched, time poor and run the risk of losing capable people who want to have more autonomy in their roles.
After holding on to control too much, the second biggest mistake is that founders, under pressure from their teams, relinquish too much control too quickly. They find themselves too far from their product and their customer. They then face an uphill battle to try and claw it back. Often they take back too much and the entire cycle repeats itself. All the while growth opportunities are being missed.
Process: from agility to consistency
As small companies grow they need to introduce processes to drive efficiencies. This is best done by creating, documenting and maintaining the right level of consistent processes in the areas that are well established, whilst maintaining the flexibility and creativity in areas that continue to benefit from it. However, founders again find themselves being at one extreme or other of this scale.
Some will resist process and procedure on the basis that it’s ‘too corporate’. They will want to maintain their entrepreneurial spirit and feel that systemising is the thin end of the wedge.
Others will go too far the other way. Bringing in talent from more mature businesses to professionalise things. Often this talent has no entrepreneurial context and will simply implement over-excessive process from their previous experience.
Either way, growth is stifled, either by lack of consistency or by red tape.
What is HR’s role in this?
HR has a unique position in any organisation. Its strategic responsibility is to enable the business to achieve its objectives. HR, therefore, has a holistic view of the organisation which allows it to help the founder through this territory.
In both of the above challenges there is a middle way that works. HR should spend time designing, delivering and monitoring the subtle culture shifts that are required to navigate to this middle way. Working closely with the founder and other leaders to ensure a smooth transition from a successful start-up to a scale-up that grows at optimum pace.