Takeaway

“The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination.” – Elbert Hubard

In a recent survey I conducted with over 100 HR leaders from small businesses, the second most common reason cited for not spending enough time on strategic tasks was the small size of their?teams.

many believed that a larger team was the solution to their challenges

Deeper conversations with a subset of respondents revealed a prevailing sentiment: a desire for additional staff, as many believed that a larger team was the solution to their challenges. This mirrors an observation I made frequently during my in-house career: almost every department seemed to believe that increasing headcount was synonymous with improving performance.

However, my experience suggests that this approach often misses the mark. More often than not, the smarter strategy involves subtraction rather than addition.

To clarify, I'm not advocating for reducing staff numbers, but rather, the volume of work. Instead of increasing headcount to manage more work, it's often more effective to reduce the workload to match the existing team's capacity.

Here’s the rationale behind this approach:

The Pareto Principle posits that 20% of the effort typically drives 80% of the results. By identifying and eliminating less impactful tasks, you might not only maintain productivity but potentially increase it by focusing on what truly matters.

Parkinson's Law suggests that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. By allocating less time and fewer resources to tasks, you'll often be surprised by the efficiencies your team can achieve without undue pressure. It's about finding the optimal balance where necessity sparks innovation.

Every direct report consumes approximately 8% of their manager's time

The 8% Rule serves as a reminder of the hidden costs of expanding your team. Every direct report consumes approximately 8% of their manager's time. If they require less, it's likely a sign of insufficient management, which brings its own set of challenges. Therefore, adding team members effectively reduces the capacity of your more experienced staff.?

So, if increasing headcount isn't the solution, what is??

The answer lies in enabling your team to focus more on impactful activities by reducing the less valuable ones. This can be achieved by:

• Eliminating tasks that provide minimal value.
• Slashing the time spent in meetings.
• Significantly reducing the volume of electronic communications.
• Standardising processes to enhance efficiency.

By adopting these strategies, your HR team can shift its focus from managing volume to making a real difference.

In research carried out by Bain & Co, the best companies were 15 percentage points more productive than the average company based on how they structured their work. This is before the quality of talent and engagement was considered.

Imagine being able to improve the effectiveness of you entire business by 15% without adding additional people.

How I Can Help You?

If you are an HR leader in an SME there are a number of ways that I can help you:

1. I run a group coaching programme focussing on HR strategy in smaller businesses. You can find out more about this here.

2. I also do one-to-one coaching and mentoring for new and aspiring HR leaders in SMEs. Book in a chat here if you would like to know more about this.

3. Company culture is a topic very close to my heart and an area that I’ve done a lot of work in. If you need help or guidance with establishing or changing your culture then book in a call here.