People Operations Guides for Small Teams
Onboarding and offboarding checklists, policy sign-off, renewals nobody owns, and running the whole function when the team is you.
14 guides
Sick Leave Is a Process, Not a Request
Approving an illness that already happened is theatre. What sick leave needs instead: a manager who gets told, a note nobody browses, room for late reports.
Probation, Renewals, Expiries: The Deadlines Nobody Owns
Probation ends, permits expire, training lapses. These dates are set months ahead and owned by no one, which is why calendar reminders keep losing them.
Exporting Absence Data to Payroll: Why Mapped CSVs Win
Why mapped CSV exports beat payroll integrations for small teams, plus how to handle month-boundary calculation traps without error.
Performance Reviews Are Broken: Here is a Simple Alternative
Performance reviews fail because one meeting does three jobs: pay, feedback, and legal cover. How to split them, plus a two-question check-in template.
EU Pay Transparency Directive: What Small Companies Must Do
EU pay transparency decoded for small companies: the duties that hit every employer now, the reporting that phases in by size, and what to collect today.
Your Team Isn't Taking Vacation. That's a Management Problem
Untaken vacation is a management problem, not employee diligence. The four structural causes, the fixes that actually work, and a script for the talk.
The HR Department of One: A Survival Guide
The honest job description, the four fires you never wing, and a month-by-month annual calendar for the person running HR alone at a small company.
Routing HR Questions Through an AI Assistant: What Broke
We routed our HR questions through an AI assistant wired to our own system. What worked, the five ways it broke, and what stays human.
Designing a Fast Leave Approval Workflow Without Bottlenecks
Who decides, what can push back, and who covers the work: a practical design for leave approval chains, plus the latency cost of every extra approver.
The Complete Employee Offboarding Checklist & Legal Guide
A phase-by-phase offboarding checklist with owners and due dates, the timing trap that strands handover work, and what to keep versus erase.
The Ultimate Employee Onboarding Checklist for Small Teams
A phase-by-phase onboarding checklist for small teams, the three mistakes that quietly kill most checklists, and the parts a good tool should run for you.
How to Roll Out Company Policies & Track Employee Sign-Off
What a solid acknowledgment record contains, what it is not legally, and how to roll out a policy without a spreadsheet and three weeks of chasing.
PTO Accrual Explained: Grants, Proration & Carryover
How PTO accrual really works: annual vs. monthly grants, proration for joiners and part-timers, carryover caps, and why two correct methods disagree.
The Bradford Factor: Formula, Calculation & When to Use It
The Bradford factor turns absence history into one score that weights frequent short absences heavily. The formula, worked examples, and where it goes wrong.