Lean HR: Is it possible to run a business with a single HR person?

If I told you it’s possible to run a 200+ employee business with a single HR Manager, would you believe me? Of course not. And yet that’s exactly how Burt Brothers Tire and Automotive runs its business each day.

In reality, one person can’t do everything, and if you’re asking them to, you’re setting yourself up for trouble (and probably several resignations). But having just one HR person run a large company IS possible, depending on the complexities of your business, if you abide by this key: have one person at the helm and then strategically outsource all of the administrative tasks (payroll, benefits, certain recruiting functions, onboarding, compliance management, etc.) to the right Professional Employer Organization (PEO).

As an example, here’s a snippet from the Burt Brothers case study:

Lean HR: a case study

Burt Brothers Tire and Automotive decided to try the lean HR approach from its early days.

Read Burt Brothers’ story. “Moving to Stratus.hr was surprisingly easy. Stratus.hr was able to get the entire auto service company’s team up and running on fully functioning cloud-based software solutions, including an employee time card system and a self-service portal. Knowing time was of the essence, staff members were setup and trained on the new system, all within a week...

Looking back, the decision to move to Stratus.hr was the right choice. ‘We’ve saved a ton of money on employee costs because Stratus.hr helps us stay in compliance with all of the state and federal regulations. No more late fees, no more fines… no more nightmares about what we did or didn’t file,’ says Brandon Burt. ‘Every person at Stratus.hr has our best interest at heart. I would recommend them to any business, small or large. Stratus.hr helps us be better at what we do.’”

(Click here to read the full case study.)

Of course, there are drawbacks to a lean HR team when everything is piecemealed together. For instance, when you outsource payroll to one company, then benefits to another, then purchase a single piece of software that doesn’t integrate well with your system, then realize you need to purchase another software program to create more efficiencies (which end up creating more work with importing and exporting to arrive at the report you want), you’re asking too much of your HR manager.

Bottom line: if you’re considering outsourcing any professional administrative services, take it one step further and consider outsourcing to a full-service PEO. You'll thank me later.

Related articles:

• What to Look For In The Best Payroll And HR Companies For Small Businesses
• Is Outsourcing Payroll a Bad Idea?
• PEO Perpetual Growth Mode