27 HR Problems. Solved in 27 Days. Day 9.
Do I Need an HR Person Yet?
An honest scoring worksheet for the question most growing businesses keep putting off until it's already too late to ask calmly
By the time most founders seriously ask "do we need HR yet?", something has already gone wrong: a conflict nobody knew how to handle, a resignation that came out of nowhere, a policy question nobody could answer with confidence. The question gets asked in crisis, which means the answer gets rushed.
The problem
Most businesses ask this question far too late
A rushed answer usually means either overreacting, a full-time hire the business isn't ready to support, or underreacting, another six months of "we'll figure it out."
The honest answer isn't binary. It's rarely "yes, hire someone" or "no, you're fine." It's usually somewhere in between: not yet at headcount justifying a role, but past the point where founder instinct alone is a safe way to run people decisions.
People are the roots of every business.
This worksheet won't tell you exactly what to do. It will give you an honest read on where you actually sit, which is the part most founders skip because they're too close to the day-to-day to see it clearly.
The worksheet
Score each signal honestly
Each question has three tailored options, from low risk to high risk. Choose the one that best matches where you are right now. Your total updates as you go.
- 01
Headcount has passed 10 people, or is about to
- 02
You've hired someone in the last quarter without a formal, written process
- 03
There's more than one layer of management between you and the newest hire
- 04
You've had a conflict, complaint, or resignation in the last six months that you weren't confident you handled well
- 05
Your policies, if you have any, live in someone's memory rather than in writing
- 06
You're spending more than two or three hours a week on people questions that pull you away from the work only you can do
- 07
Someone is going on a leave (parental, medical, or otherwise) and you're not sure what your obligations are
- 08
You've started to worry about a specific compliance gap but haven't looked into it yet
- 09
You're planning to hire in more than one province, state, or country within the next year
Reading your score
What the total actually means
Not Yet, But Build the Habit
0 to 4
You're likely still small enough to run people decisions on founder instinct.
- Start writing down decisions as you make them: pay, role expectations, time off approvals.
- Build the habit of documentation before you need it under pressure.
- Revisit this worksheet each quarter, or any time headcount moves.
Gap analysis
Which signals are driving your total
Nothing is scoring yet. Work through the signals above and your gaps will appear here.
The framework
Recognise, then decide
Whatever your score, the same two steps apply before you commit to anything.
Recognise the real gap
Look past the total and identify which specific signals scored highest. A high score driven by one looming compliance gap needs a different response than a high score driven by general growth and complexity.
Match the support to the gap, not the headcount
The right next step is whatever actually closes the gap you found. Sometimes that's a single focused project, sometimes ongoing support, sometimes it genuinely is a hire. There is no normal size of business to have HR.
Language
What founders tell themselves, and the reframe
Tap a card to turn the old line into the new one.
One last thing
A question worth asking yourself
If I'm honest about my score, am I avoiding this decision because the business genuinely isn't ready, or because making it feels like admitting I can't hold everything myself anymore?
Look after the roots and the tree grows strong.