Employee Perspective
“I felt like a number, when I joined, HR handled my offer letter, payroll, then... no one checked in”
“No talk about career planning, training, development and if you asked, they’d say, ‘We’ll see how things go’”
"It's like all HR did was timesheets or fill out leave forms.”
“When conflicts happened between colleagues, no support, all swept under the rug”
“And when someone left? No exit interview. No feedback. Just... silence”
"How to contribute long-term? Felt like no one was thinking long-term"
Employer Perspective
“We don’t need full HR just someone to handle documents.”
Very common in businesses that I engage with, saying
“We’re not big enough for strategic HR”
“Why spend on HR when it doesn’t bring direct revenue?”
“As long as salary is paid and leave is tracked, we’re okay.”
Here’s what often gets missed 👇 When HR is only seen or hired as admin
🧭There are no people direction
📉Turnover increases (and hiring is expensive!)
🚫Talent is underutilized
😤Problems fester no one handles workplace issues
🧠Managers get overloaded with tasks that aren’t their strength
The Truth :
HR doesn’t have to be a big department but it should have a big-picture view.
Someone needs to ask
“How are we growing our people?”
“Are we hiring the right fit for our culture?”
“Do we have a succession plan?”
“What’s our retention strategy?”
Businesses can shift from admin HR to strategic HR (without breaking the budget)
1️⃣ Plan basic TRAINING & development; Identify skills gaps
Create internal learning sessions or online courses
Start mentorship or buddy systems (PICK non-toxic mentors and buddies)
2️⃣ Make feedback a HABIT; 1-on-1 engagements
Track trends, DON'T WAIT for resignations to learn what’s wrong
3️⃣ Align PEOPLE PLANS with BUSINESS GOALS, your vision, mission
Are you hiring for future needs? Are you promoting internally or always looking outside?
4️⃣ Use DATA & TECHNOLOGY even if it’s basic, it's everywhere in your business; Track turnover, absenteeism, engagement. These numbers tell you what’s really happening
Recently at a client's
They were losing junior staff every 6–9 months, saying “Young people just job-hop.”
Then we dug deeper:
- No growth plan
- No check-ins
- No sense of being valued or belonging
What we did?
We put in a light HR strategy
- Simple development plans
- Monthly team catch-ups
- a career roadmap
Today, Turnover dropped. Morale went up.
Final Thought :
- Admin HR keeps the lights on.
- Strategic HR builds the future. Adapt & Evolve
Even with just 10 people, you can build a people strategy and it doesn’t need to be fancy.
It just needs to be human.
I am Kevin Goh, Empowering People & Businesses | Building Modern HR for the Evolving Workplace
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn by Kevin Goh – Director. You can read the full post here. Adapted and shared with permission.