HRonHand

21/09/2026

Flexibility vs inconsistency

One of the things I really like about working with smaller businesses is that they can be flexible.

You don't necessarily need layers of approvals or a policy for absolutely everything.

Someone needs to leave early? Usually you can work something out.

An employee needs a bit of flexibility for a few weeks? Have a conversation.

That's a real strength.

The problem comes when flexibility starts becoming inconsistency.

One manager says yes. Another says no.

One employee gets something somebody else was told wasn't possible.

One manager deals with poor performance straight away. Another lets it go for six months.

You don't want to turn a 30-person business into a corporate bureaucracy.

But as you grow, you do need enough structure that people are being treated fairly and managers aren't making everything up as they go along.

The aim isn't more rules. It's greater consistency.

21/09/2026

Payday Super

If you employ people, Payday Super should be well and truly on your radar by now.

The change came into effect on 1 July, and I've had a few conversations recently that reminded me it's worth mentioning.

Super is no longer something businesses can simply deal with quarterly.

Employers now generally need to make super contributions each payday, with the contribution reaching the employee's super fund within seven business days.

For me, though, this isn't just a payroll change.

It's a good prompt to check the basics:

Is your payroll system set up correctly?

Is somebody actually checking that contributions are getting through?

What happens if a payment is rejected?

And are you clear about which workers you're required to pay super for?

That last one is particularly important if you use contractors, because having an ABN doesn't automatically answer the super question.

Some contractors paid principally for their labour can still be treated as employees for super purposes.

If you've handed all of this to your bookkeeper or payroll provider, that's sensible.

But as the employer, I'd still want to know it's been checked.

Outsourcing payroll doesn't outsource the employer's responsibility.

Send a message to learn more

17/09/2026

Why I didn't build another HR course for business owners

When I started developing the SME HR Accelerator™, there was one thing I was quite clear about.

I didn't want to build another HR course.

There's plenty of information available about HR already.

The problem I see with growing businesses isn't usually a complete lack of information.

It's finding the time to work out:

What actually needs attention in our business?

What should we deal with first?

What does good look like for a business our size?

And then actually getting some of it done.

So that's how we've built the Accelerator.

It's a practical six-week implementation program where you'll work on your own business throughout the program.

We'll look at where you are now, where the gaps are, what matters most and what needs to happen next.

And you'll leave with a practical 90-Day Action Plan rather than another folder of notes you'll probably never open again.

I'll share more about the program over the next few weeks.

But after a very big build behind the scenes, I'm very pleased to say:

The SME HR Accelerator™ is now ready.

https://hronhand.com/sme-hr-accelerator

15/09/2026

Your managers don't need to become HR people

I think we sometimes expect far too much from managers.

Someone is really good at their job.

We promote them.

Give them a team.

And suddenly they're expected to know how to:

manage poor performance,

give difficult feedback,

deal with conflict,

manage attendance issues,

set expectations,

motivate different personalities,

and handle conversations they've probably never had before.

Then we're surprised when they avoid some of it.

Your managers don't need to become HR people.

But if they're responsible for people, we do need to give them enough structure and confidence to actually manage them.

Sometimes that means training.

Sometimes it's a clear process.

Sometimes it's simply having someone they can ask before a small problem becomes a big one.

But "you're the manager now—go manage" isn't much of a development strategy.

And it's certainly not a scalable one.

15/09/2026

"Where would you start?"

If I sat down with you tomorrow and asked:

"What's working well with your people—and what needs attention?"

Would you know?

Most business owners can tell me about the obvious problems.

The difficult employee.

The manager who's struggling.

The role they can't fill.

The person they don't want to lose.

What's harder is stepping back and looking at the whole picture.

That's exactly why we built the SME HR Maturity Snapshot™.

It takes around 3–5 minutes and gives you an HR Maturity Score™ and Growth Readiness Rating™ based on what's happening in your business now.

It's free!

And it's not going to give you a 40-page report or tell you that you need to fix everything.

It's simply a useful starting point.

If you're curious about where your business sits, you can take the Snapshot here: https://hronhand.com/free-hr-maturity-snapshot

13/09/2026

"We just need someone to sort out the HR"

Something I hear from growing businesses from time to time is:

"We really just need someone to sort out the HR."

And I understand what they mean.

There might be contracts that need updating, policies that haven't been looked at for a while, or a few employee issues that need sorting out.

But quite often, once we start talking, the problem is bigger than the HR admin.

Managers aren't confident managing people.

Performance issues aren't being dealt with early.

Recruitment is inconsistent.

New employees have very different experiences depending on who manages them.

And too many decisions still end up back with the business owner.

You can absolutely fix the documents.

But if you don't fix what's happening day-to-day, you'll probably still have the same problems six months from now.

That's why I've become much more interested in helping businesses build better people practices, rather than simply giving them more HR paperwork.

The paperwork matters.

It's just not the whole answer.

09/09/2026

The HR problems I wish businesses dealt with earlier ..

After more than 20 years working in HR, there are plenty of situations where I find myself thinking...

"I really wish we'd had this conversation three months ago."

Not because the problem was particularly complicated in the beginning.

Usually, it wasn't.

An employee wasn't performing, but nobody really addressed it.

A manager was struggling, but everyone hoped they'd find their feet.

Someone's behaviour was starting to affect the team, but nobody wanted to have the awkward conversation.

A role wasn't working, but expectations had never really been made clear.

Then eventually something happens and suddenly it's urgent.

And by that point, there are usually more people involved, more frustration and fewer easy options.

One of the most useful things I've learnt in HR is that the difficult conversation you have early is usually much easier than the difficult conversation you're forced to have later.

You don't have to jump straight into a formal HR process every time something isn't right.

Quite often, you just need to address it.

Early.

Clearly.

And fairly.

It can save an enormous amount of grief later.

08/09/2026

The business owner test ...

Here's a fairly simple test for a growing business.

Think about the people issues you've dealt with over the last month.

How many of them really needed the business owner?

And how many ended up with you because someone else wasn't confident making the decision?

That's quite a different thing.

I see owners involved in performance conversations, recruitment decisions, employee disagreements, leave questions, flexible work requests, pay discussions...

Not necessarily because they want to be.

It's just become the way the business operates.

As the team grows, that's very difficult to sustain.

Your managers don't need to become HR experts.

But they do need enough confidence, clarity and support to manage the everyday people issues that come with leading a team.

Otherwise, you've created another job for the business owner.

And I'm fairly sure most business owners already have enough of those.

07/09/2026

"We've got HR covered"

I sometimes hear business owners say:

"I think we've got HR pretty well covered."

And they probably do have quite a bit in place.

Employment contracts.

Policies.

Someone doing payroll.

Maybe an external HR person they call when something goes wrong.

But when I start asking a few different questions, we sometimes get a different picture.

Are managers confident having difficult conversations?

Is onboarding consistent?

Are performance issues dealt with early?

Do employees actually know what's expected of them?

Are managers making people decisions themselves, or does everything still end up back with the owner?

That's why I don't think good HR is simply about whether you've got the right documents.

The better question is:

Is the way you're managing people actually working for the business you've become?

Because as a business grows, that answer can change.

04/09/2026

How healthy is the people side of your business?

I've spent a lot of time over the past few months thinking about one question.

How does a small business owner actually know if their HR is in good shape?

Not just whether they have contracts and policies.

But whether their people practices are actually supporting the business.

Are managers confident?

Are expectations clear?

Is recruitment working?

Are new employees being set up properly?

Are performance issues dealt with early?

Does everything still come back to the owner?

And importantly — where should you focus first?

Because that's often the difficult part.

You know some things could be better, but when you're running a business there are always ten other things competing for your attention.

So we've built something new at HRonHand to help answer exactly that question.

It's almost ready.

I'll share more shortly.