What happens when your business grows faster than your people foundations?
For many SME founders and leaders, HR starts as something you’ll “deal with later”. Not because you don’t care, but because you’re busy building, selling, hiring and delivering.
The problem? “Later” quietly becomes expensive. It shows up as:
- Time spent second-guessing people decisions
- Inconsistent processes
- Awkward performance conversations avoided
- Employees unclear on expectations or growth
- Good people leaving because no one was recognising their efforts
At Purple Playground, we believe HR should give you more capacity, not more admin. We systemise the process and humanise the experience, helping you move from constant firefighting to a simple, proactive people strategy that supports sustainable growth.
Ask yourself: “What are human resource management strategies for if not a way to reclaim your freedom as a leader?”
Let’s look at what that shift really involves.
The Hidden Cost of “Dealing With It Later”
When HR is mostly reactive, the cost isn’t always obvious, but it’s constant.
- Founders and leaders spend hours each week thinking about people issues instead of the business
- Managers feel unsure how to handle performance or difficult conversations
- Roles and responsibilities blur as the business grows
- Compliance gaps are only addressed once something goes wrong
Over time, this leads to slower growth, higher turnover, increased risk, and a lot of unnecessary stress.
A proactive people strategy doesn’t remove every challenge. But it dramatically reduces the number of fires and gives you clearer, more confident decision-making.
Systemise The Process. Humanise The Experience.
Proactive HR isn’t about more policies or corporate complexity.
It’s about building simple, intentional foundations, brick by brick, that make it easier for people to do good work.
For one of our clients in the eco-wellness space, this started with clarifying roles, improving onboarding, and implementing a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) to create a single source of truth for employee records, payroll and key processes.
By reducing admin and removing guesswork, the leadership team could focus more on supporting their people and less on chasing paperwork. The result was better hiring decisions for specialised roles and smoother onboarding while keeping their tight-knit company culture intact.
Tools don’t replace strategy. But the right tools make a good strategy easier to execute.
From Compliance To Strategy: Our 5 P’s Framework
At Purple Playground, we use a simple 5 P’s framework to help with the people strategy for small businesses that is practical, scalable and aligned to commercial goals:
- People – People are more than their measurable skills. Value emotional intelligence, culture-add, and behavioural competencies. Celebrate the diversity of thought and experience each individual brings to your team.
- Purpose – Purpose isn’t just feel-good messaging. Aligning employees’ and the organisation’s purpose boosts engagement, sparks discretionary effort, and drives stronger business outcomes.
- Performance – Harness the intrinsic motivation of a purpose-led team. Use Objective Key Results (OKRs) to link company, team, and personal goals to measurable results, creating a high-performance culture.
- Profit – With the right people, aligned purpose, and heightened discretionary effort, you’ll enjoy lower productivity costs and increased profits.
- Positive Impact – Lead with purpose. Make decisions that go beyond profit to create meaningful change, leaving a lasting personal and business legacy.
Compliance underpins all five. It’s essential. But it’s the baseline, not the destination.
Proactive HR = Fewer Fires and Better Decisions
Staying legal keeps you in business. A people strategy helps you grow it.
When your foundations are solid:
- Leaders feel more confident
- Teams know what’s expected
- Issues are addressed earlier
- Growth becomes more predictable
We work as an extension of your team, helping you reduce risk, remove friction and build people systems that support where your business is heading – whether that’s steady growth, scaling or preparing for an eventual exit.
Start Small. Compound Often.
- You don’t need to overhaul everything at once.
Start with a few practical questions:
- Are your key roles aligned to where the business is going?
- Do your people understand what success looks like?
- Are your systems supporting your team or slowing them down?
Strategic HR with small, intentional improvements creates compounding value over time.
Your First Move: Tell us the one “HR management fire” currently keeping you up at night, and if you’re interested, we’ll provide guidance to turn that stress into a proactive HR solution that supports you and your business.
