The 6 Hidden Costs of DIY HR (and How to Fix Them)
By Katie Gardiner, Founder of Elevate HR Consulting
When you’re growing a business, it’s easy to push HR to the back burner. Most founders and small business owners never intend to run HR reactively—it just happens when you're hiring on the fly, onboarding inconsistently, and juggling everything else.
But here’s the hard truth: DIY HR comes at a cost. A big one.
Below are six hidden costs you might be paying without even realizing it—and what to do instead.
1. High Turnover
The Risk:
Without a clear hiring process and intentional onboarding, new hires walk out just as quickly as they walked in. This leads to culture disruption, lost momentum, and expensive re-hiring cycles.
The Fix:
Build a 30-60-90 onboarding plan that aligns expectations, reinforces your culture, and sets every new hire up for success. First impressions matter—especially in leadership.
2. Compliance Gaps
The Risk:
Overlooking legal requirements (especially across states or remote teams) puts your business at risk for fines, penalties, or worse.
The Fix:
Run quarterly audits on your HR policies and systems. Tools like Gusto or Mineral can help you stay updated and avoid surprises.
3. Wasted Time on Mis-Hires
The Risk:
Hiring on gut instinct may feel efficient—but it often leads to poor fits and short tenures. That’s time (and trust) you won’t get back.
The Fix:
Use interview scorecards and structured debriefs to align hiring decisions across your team. Make role clarity and team fit non-negotiables.
4. HR Fires That Steal Your Focus
The Risk:
When you don’t have systems in place, people problems become your daily distraction. Founders lose precious time reacting to drama or disengagement.
The Fix:
Build the basics—an employee handbook, manager playbooks, role expectations, and communication systems. Structure prevents chaos.
5. Stalled Growth from Leadership Gaps
The Risk:
Many small businesses promote high performers into manager roles with zero training. That’s a recipe for burnout—for both the manager and their team.
The Fix:
Provide first-time leaders with coaching, templates, and regular check-ins. Managers who feel equipped lead with confidence—not confusion.
6. Founder Overload
The Risk:
If you’re still handling interviews, onboarding, performance conversations, and payroll—your time isn’t going where it should.
The Fix:
Decide what to automate, what to delegate, and what to offload to a strategic HR partner. You don’t have to do it all alone.
Let’s Fix This—Together
You don’t need to keep patchworking your HR. At Elevate HR Consulting, I help founders and teams move from reaction to strategy by building:
Hiring systems that scale
Onboarding plans that retain
Manager development tools that empower
Compliance audits that prevent risk
