Employees are the largest expense on the books. Your HR budget is $0.
The contract for the new coffee machine got more attention than the employment agreement.
Employees are the largest expense on the books.
Not rent or software. Not equipment. Not marketing.
Employees.
Yet we often spend more time reviewing office supply purchases than thinking about the systems, documents, and decisions that govern their workforce.
Most businesses don’t have HR. They have a volunteer.
Businesses routinely pay professionals to create or review:
- Vendor agreements
- Commercial leases
- Software contracts
- Shareholder agreements
A relationship worth $10,000 gets professional advice.
Your workforce relationship worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll often gets a volunteer, downloaded template, a copied policy, or whatever document happened to be available at the time.
The employee relationship is far more complex than any vendor relationship.
A vendor doesn’t call in sick. Doesn’t request accommodation. Doesn’t file a complaint. Doesn’t bring a constructive dismissal claim.
A vendor relationship isn’t governed by employment standards legislation, human rights legislation, workplace safety requirements, privacy obligations, and decades of employment case law. And the law doesn’t care about a vendor’s feelings or perceptions.
Yet many businesses spend more time and money protecting vendor relationships than employee relationships.
It’s a strange way to manage risk.
You hire professionals for IT. Marketing. Accounting. Legal.
Then DIY your largest expense. (Your workforce.)
We’re not suggesting every small business needs a full-time HR person.
Most don’t.
But your employment agreements, employee handbook, and core workplace policies shouldn’t be an afterthought.
Those documents define the employment relationship, set expectations, guide management decisions, and become the foundation for everything else.
Get the foundation right. Then take it from there. That’s exactly how many successful small businesses approach HR.
We help reduce the load.
Practical. Cost-Effective. 100% Canadian.
We’ll create your HR foundation with HR Essentials.
Since 2006, more than 10,000 Canadian employers have trusted ConnectsUs HR for HR tools, resources, and support. HR services are now delivered through Sienna HR.
Same team. Same service. Same standards.
Every HR service engagement includes a complimentary 1-year HR Toolkit subscription (a $700 value).
