People & Leadership
Most first hires are made because the owner is tired, not because the role is clear
The owner is overloaded, so somebody is hired to help. Without a clear picture of what exactly needs doing, the new person is given whatever is left over, and the owner is surprised that things have not improved. This session helps owners work out what work to hand over, which skills the team is missing, what kind of arrangement fits, and how to grow a small team in a sensible order.
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A team built to relieve the owner's stress is usually built in the wrong order.
Small businesses grow in bursts. A big order arrives, the owner cannot cope, and somebody is hired quickly. The role has no name, the person was chosen because they were available, and the work they do is whatever the owner happens to hand over. A few months later, the owner is still doing everything important and now also managing a person.
Building the right team starts with the work, not the person. What needs to be done, how much of it, and what skills it needs. Only then does it make sense to ask whether a hire is the answer, what kind of hire, and what the second and third hires should be. This session is a structured way to do that thinking before the money is committed.
What the session covers
34 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, from the owner's own work to the shape of the team. 6 apply to almost any business; the rest only in a particular case.
Audit Your Own WeekYou cannot hand over what you have not listed.5
- Everything you did last week, written down with the time it took
- Sorting it into what only you can do, what you could teach, and what others do better
- Work that is repeated every week and could follow a checklist
- Work you avoid, which is often work somebody else would enjoy
- The hours that bring in money against the hours that keep things running
Should You Hire at All?Sometimes the answer is a process, a tool or a different arrangement.5
- Is the problem too much work, or too little system?
- Is the work steady, or does it come in bursts?
- Could a tool or a clearer process remove part of it?
- Could an existing team member take it with training?
- Can the business afford the person for twelve months, including your time to manage them?
Writing the RoleOutcomes, not just a job title.5
- What the person will be responsible for by month three and month six
- Which decisions they can make alone, and which come to you
- The skills required on day one, and those you will teach
- How you will know the role is working
- How the role connects to others in the business
Skills the Team Needs, Not Copies of YouComplement, do not duplicate.5
- Listing your strengths honestly, and the weak spots
- Hiring for the gaps, such as operations, follow-up, accounts or customer care
- Mixing experience levels so that everybody is not learning at once
- Watching for the habit of hiring people who always agree
- Valuing reliability and care, not only cleverness
Choosing the ArrangementThe labels carry different obligations.5
The Government of India has said the new labour codes, in force since 21 November 2025, require appointment letters for all workers and recognise fixed-term employment. What applies to your business depends on its size, sector and state, so confirm the arrangement and its paperwork with an accountant, HR professional or lawyer.
- Permanent, fixed-term, part-time, apprentice, freelancer or outsourced service
- What each one commits you to, in time and money
- Matching the arrangement to how steady the work really is
- Not describing somebody as a freelancer or intern if they are working like an employee
- Getting the terms in writing from the start
A Hiring Order for the Next Eighteen MonthsSequence matters as much as number.5
- The work that is costing you most, in money or in your own time
- The single point of failure: what stops if one person is away
- Work that must be done by somebody who can be trusted with money or customers
- Roles that can wait until the business has more steady income
- A decision point: what has to be true before the next hire
Growing the Team Without Losing ItIf it appliesWhat changes as a team grows past a handful of people.4
- Who a new person reports to, and why it should be one person
- Shifting from telling everyone everything to a simple routine of meetings
- A first look at whether a senior or supervisory role is needed
- Being honest when the business cannot offer a promotion yet
An exercise to do this week
- Write down every task you did in the last five working days
- Mark each one: only me, could teach, somebody better than me
- Pick the three that cost you most and describe the outcome you want from each
- Ask whether those three are one role or three separate ones
Signs you are hiring for the wrong reason
- You cannot describe the role in two sentences
- The person was chosen mainly because they were available
- The plan is for them to work out what to do
- You expect them to fix the business without being told how
- You have not thought about who will manage them
How the session runs
An HR practitioner or an owner who has built a team explains the approach, using made-up businesses as examples. Participants then audit their own week, draft a role description from it and sketch a hiring order for the next year. Nobody is asked to share their finances. The session covers how to think about the team; the paperwork and legal consequences of each type of arrangement are for a professional to confirm for your business.
What your students leave with
- A written list of the work the owner does, sorted by what only they can do
- A clear case for, or against, hiring now
- A description of the first role, based on outcomes rather than a title
- A view of the skills the team has and the ones it lacks
- A sense of which arrangement fits: permanent, fixed-term, part-time, freelance or outsourced
- A rough hiring order for the next twelve to eighteen months
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Decide what work needs doing before you decide who does it.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.