When should you hire a human resources manager?
The decision should be based on more than just your number of employees.
As you consider your firm’s growth rate, strategic plan and workload, at what point do you determine that it’s time to hire or designate a human resources manager?
While the number of employees at your firm is a major component of the decision, it’s not the only barometer for the right time to hire someone to manage human resources. Generally, however, if one person is wearing all the hats, 25 employees is a tipping point. That’s when you likely look to somebody on staff to have, “...Some HR responsibility as a part of their job description. Maybe that person does payroll or the onboarding and benefits administration,” says Harvey Beldner, a human resources consultant and founder of Moss Creek Human Capital, based in Rochester, N.Y. “Organizational challenges, the scope of the firm’s people agenda, hiring and turnover may also drive a firm to add or name an HR person,” he continues. Beldner has worked full-time for and as a consultant with organizations ranging from five to 50,000 employees. He now offers fractional HR services, i.e., he works a pre-determined portion of time as part of a company.
Does it matter who on your staff picks up the HR role? “For some really small firms, your general manager or maybe even your office manager might wear multiple hats, and HR is one of them,” says Emily Bonato, principal at DAHLIN, in Pleasanton, Calif.
HR professionals have a specific set of skills that allow them to bridge the gap between employee and company needs. “Employees really need a go-to resource who knows how to handle delicate situations,” says Mark Kluczynski, COO at SWBR, a 130-person multi-disciplinary design firm headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., with offices in Syracuse, Troy and soon, Buffalo.
And as the work piles up, “You reach a point where the staff you have doing your HR tasks are overwhelmed because this is a sideline for them,” says Michele Michaels, SWBR’s HR manager. “You’re at that growth point and that pain threshold where it's time to ask, ‘Do we outsource some or all our human resource needs to another firm? Do we have someone come in part-time or on a full-time basis from an outside firm, or do we hire a staff member or members?’”
Michaels, a seasoned human resources generalist when she began at SWBR nine years ago, was the sole person in the department. “It took until we had about 110 employees before I had help,” Michaels says. At that point, she says, “I don’t think I could cover things adequately; I was stretched too thin.” About two years ago, SWBR hired a second HR generalist. Michaels' department does benefits administration, affirmative action reporting, employee relations, performance metrics, strategic planning and recruiting. Payroll is handled by the finance team.
First, goals
Before hiring for HR positions, it’s important to have a handle on your business strategy, Bonato says. “If your strategy is to stay the same [size], you might not need to hire someone. But if your business strategy is to grow, you need to start looking at someone who can help you out with things like recruiting or retaining employees,” she says. DAHLIN has a global practice with about 200 employees in architecture, planning and interiors and a human resources staff of four.
Strategizing will help you determine the type of HR person you need. An HR generalist handles various human resources tasks including compensation, benefits, compliance, employee relations and more. Salema Gumbs, with Perkins Eastman, in New York City, began her career at the firm 24 years ago as the payroll manager when there were 338 employees globally (217 in New York City) and an HR staff of three. “We did not have dedicated staff managing benefits,” she says. Within five years Gumbs added “benefits specialist” to her job description, and three years ago she became the firm’s director of HR. She is also a principal and sits on the executive committee. The global practice now has 23 studios worldwide — in North America, South America, China, India, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates — and 986 employees including nine human resource professionals.
Attributes of a successful HR manager:
Beyond knowledge of benefits, laws, regulations, compliance issues, and business risks, HR managers must have a handle on the softer, people skills—the “human” side of human resources.
Empathetic: “You need someone who has the ability to be both empathetic to employees but also has the backbone to take a hard line when warranted,” Andrew Adelhardt, co-CEO and general counsel of Perkins Eastman, says.
Has active listening skills: “I thrive on feedback during training,” Michaels says. “We get more results out of training initiatives when they’re collaborative.”
Has the ability to engage in crucial conversations: “People tend to put off difficult conversations and ultimately we look back and say we should have had this discussion three weeks ago,” Kluczynski says. “An HR manager should be able to have crucial conversations — and beyond that, can encourage others to have crucial conversations.”
Strikes the right balance between representing the company and the employee: “The most skilled HR professionals know how and when to advocate for employee needs, but also work to ensure the needs and goals of the business are met,” Beldner says.
Is flexible: “You want someone who can handle difficult situations and bring a sense of calm to what they do because when something happens, good or bad, HR sets the tone,” Bonato says.
Is outgoing: “They need to really engage with all of your staff and get to know them,” Bonato says.
Inside or out?
Once the business has matured enough to have a full-time need, you might consider an external third-party company, various individual specialists, part-timers or a fractional set up. But when making this choice, it’s “buyer beware,” Beldner says. For example, when you outsource to a large HR or payroll company for help in HR, things can feel “very transactional,” he says. “You might see a different person every few months because these organizations tend to have a lot of turnover. The level of support you get might be textbook. Where you're challenged is getting an answer to challenges.”
Gumbs, too, is not a fan of outsourcing HR management because, she says, “You lose the company culture and the personal touch.” She suggests that smaller companies hire an HR generalist who is “hands on, tactical and can wear multiple hats.”
You could choose to have HR representation in-house and outsource various services, such as payroll or benefits, to an outside expert. “Someone with fractional or part-time ownership might not be able to drop everything and deal with the situation in the moment,” Bonato says. “I'd recommend you have a general manager who understands your employees and the company strategy that can act as a liaison for the things that you can more easily outsource.”
Whomever you bring on, that person should have knowledge of the architecture industry, or at least be familiar with the terminology. At SWBR, Michaels works with architects and engineers. They each have their own ways of thinking, she says. “I need to be able to speak their language so they can process what I’m saying. I need to know someone’s focus to help give them the best guidance.”
And, the HR team must align with, help drive and be part of your company culture. The HR department is often the first interaction a new hire has with the company. In that sense, HR delivers baseline culture information. But HR also is a part of the culture. “Our firmwide culture is bigger than just HR. I think our culture should be self-evident,” says Andrew Adelhardt, co-CEO and general counsel of Perkins Eastman. “How we handle HR and HR issues ... is just one aspect and one part of our culture and what makes us Perkins Eastman and ‘Human by Design,’” he says.
HR is most effective “when you consider HR to be a true business partner,” Adelhardt adds. “Firms need to buy into the idea that part of HR is to be an advocate for the employees. And sometimes HR may come up with an opinion or a view that is counter to senior management. You need to let HR know that that's acceptable. You need truth tellers to be able to tell you when you're off course and off base and when you're acting inappropriately as management in the firm. That’s when HR is truly effective to help build that culture that you're looking to create.”
Stacey Freed is a freelance journalist covering architecture and design. She lives in New York state.
