Your business has grown. Your HR system should too.
For SMEs with 20–200 employees that have outgrown informal people management.
The SME HR Problem
You have employees. Maybe an HR person. Policies somewhere on a shared drive. But the systems do not connect. Decisions are inconsistent. Managers escalate everything. The founder is still the real HR department.
Policies exist but nobody follows them
The employee handbook was written two years ago and sits on a shared drive nobody visits. Decisions are still made case by case, based on who asks and how loudly.
Inconsistency is corroding trust
When similar situations are handled differently by different managers, employees notice. What looks like a management problem is usually a systems problem in disguise.
Managers escalate everything
Your HR person or founder is still the real decision-maker on leave disputes, salary questions, and performance conversations. Managers have authority but not the tools to use it.
The founder is still the real HR department
Despite having HR headcount, the most sensitive people decisions still land on the founder's desk. This does not scale. It also signals to the organisation that HR is not trusted.
Retention is unpredictable
You find out people are unhappy when they resign. There is no structured listening mechanism, no career conversation cadence, and no data on flight risk until the damage is done.
The Five-Stage SME Growth Journey
A structured progression from where you are to where your HR infrastructure needs to be — built on diagnosis, not assumption.
Diagnose
Understand exactly where your HR infrastructure stands before building anything.
Build
Construct the foundational systems your size and stage actually require.
Strengthen
Develop the human layer that makes systems work in practice.
Scale
Build the infrastructure for the company you are becoming, not just the one you are.
Partner
Ongoing strategic HR support as a retained partner in your growth.
What We Diagnose First
The HR Health Check scores your organisation across nine dimensions of HR independence — giving you a clear picture of where your infrastructure is strong and where it is carrying risk.
Founder Dependency
How much people decision-making flows through the founder versus distributed across the organisation.
Process Maturity
Whether core HR processes are documented, consistently applied, and understood by those who own them.
Manager Ownership
The degree to which line managers operate independently and confidently on people matters.
Governance
Clarity of HR decision rights, escalation paths, and accountability across the organisation.
Employee Lifecycle
Quality and consistency of experience from pre-hire through exit, including onboarding and offboarding.
Performance
How effectively the organisation sets expectations, gives feedback, and differentiates performance.
Documentation
Whether policies, contracts, and handbooks are current, accessible, and aligned to actual practice.
Compliance
Exposure to statutory and regulatory risk across employment, payroll, and workplace obligations.
People Data
Availability of HR metrics — turnover, headcount, cost, engagement — that inform business decisions.
Common SME Interventions
Based on what the Health Check surfaces, Spark Pro deploys targeted programs — each designed as a standalone engagement or as part of a broader transformation.
HR Foundation Rebuild
A comprehensive rebuild of core HR documentation, policies, and processes when informal systems have outgrown their usefulness. Typically a 6-8 week engagement.
Manager Enablement Program
Structured development for line managers covering performance conversations, feedback, delegation, and HR process ownership. Delivered in cohorts or 1:1.
Performance Reset
A redesign of the performance management cycle — from goal-setting and check-ins to reviews and consequence management — built to be owned by managers, not HR.
Retention Program
A diagnostic and intervention program targeting the specific drivers of unwanted turnover in your organisation, including stay conversations and career frameworks.
Compliance Audit & Fix
A structured review of your employment contracts, statutory obligations, and HR practices against current legal requirements, followed by a remediation plan.
HR Function Development
Design of an HR operating model fit for your next phase — including the right structure, roles, tooling, and accountabilities for a 50–200 person organisation.
Typical SME Engagement
A 3–6 month structured engagement that takes you from diagnosis to a functioning, manager-owned HR infrastructure — with monthly milestones throughout.
Diagnose
- HR Health Check across all 9 dimensions
- Independence Score baseline
- Stakeholder interviews (founders, managers, HR)
- Gap Analysis and prioritisation workshop
Design & Build
- Priority system and policy design
- Process documentation and tooling
- Manager briefing and rollout planning
- First wave deliverables reviewed and approved
Embed
- Manager enablement sessions
- Employee communication and rollout
- HR team capability building
- Second wave deliverables completed
Strengthen & Hand Over
- Performance framework activation
- Retention program launch
- HR ownership transition
- Progress review and next-phase planning
Every engagement begins with the HR Health Check. The findings determine which stages and interventions are prioritised — so you are never paying for work your organisation does not need at this point in its growth.
Start with your HR Health Check.
A structured diagnostic across nine dimensions of HR independence. You will know exactly where you stand, what the gaps are, and what to fix first — before committing to anything.
Check Your HR Score — Free →