Thinking about taking on your first employee

Are you a Start-up or a Micro Business worried about taking on your first employee? You are not alone…
I read in the Telegraph about a lady who shut down her textiles business as she couldn’t face hiring her first employee due to the complexity & burden of compliance

Case Study: Building the Workforce for a Start-Up Electronics Manufacturing Business

The Challenge

Our client was an early-stage electronics manufacturing business with an ambitious growth strategy. As the company moved from product development into manufacturing and commercial operations, it needed to build a workforce quickly.

The challenge was not simply finding people. As a start-up, the business also needed to establish the infrastructure required to employ and manage its growing team.

The company needed support with:

• Recruiting skilled and reliable employees
• Understanding the availability of talent in the market
• Defining roles and responsibilities
• Establishing employment contracts and processes
• Managing PAYE payroll and pensions
• Ensuring compliance with UK employment legislation
• Managing holiday entitlement and accrual
• Handling Right to Work checks and referencing
• Providing ongoing HR support
• Making informed workforce decisions as the business developed

Rather than building an internal HR and payroll function at an early stage, the company partnered with us to provide an outsourced workforce solution. Our Solution
We became an extension of the client’s business, providing a combination of recruitment, workforce management, payroll, compliance and ongoing HR support.
We provided the employment infrastructure required to allow the business to build its team while remaining focused on manufacturing, product development, customers and growth.

Workforce Planning & Market Analysis – We worked with the management team to understand the company’s immediate and future workforce requirements.

Our market and skills analysis helped establish:

• Which skill sets were required
• What roles needed to be prioritised
• Candidate availability
• Market expectations around salaries and skills
• How the workforce could develop alongside the business

We also acted as a sounding board for management, providing practical guidance when decisions around people and organisational structure arose.

Recruitment & Workforce Supply – We recruited and supplied employees across the client’s operational, administrative and commercial functions.

The workforce included:

• Manufacturing &Operations
• Assembly Operatives
• Operations Assistant
• Warehouse & Logistics Coordinator
• Product Specialist
• Commercial & Customer Support
• Customer Service
• Sales
• Administration
• Personal Assistant

This enabled the business to build its workforce progressively, adding people as operational and commercial requirements increased.

Employment & Payroll Infrastructure – We took responsibility for the employment administration associated with the workforce.

This included:

• PAYE payroll
• Pension administration
• Holiday entitlement and accrual
• Employment contracts
• Right to Work checks
• Candidate referencing
• Employee documentation
• All staff have weekly or monthly payroll options
• Ongoing employment administration

The result was a structured employment process from recruitment through to ongoing employment.

Ongoing Partnership – As the business grew, our role continued beyond recruitment and payroll. We provided ongoing support and acted as a trusted sounding board for management on people-related decisions.

This gave the client access to practical expertise without needing to immediately recruit an internal function.

Support included guidance around:

• Employee matters
• Workforce planning
• Employment processes
• Performance and attendance
• Organisational development
• People-related decision-making

The Commercial Model – The relationship operates through a tailored & straightforward managed workforce model providing a predictable and simple commercial arrangement.

The service encompasses the agreed employment costs of the workforce together with our margin & it is not as expensive as it sounds!

If you would like to find out more, please do not hesitate to contact us!