-

 

If 2026 Is a Growth Year: Hire With Intent, Not Urgency

by Purciarele Group

If you’re planning to add headcount, expand hours, or grow operations this year, hiring can’t be “find someone fast and hope it works.”

Before posting a role, ask:

  • Do our job descriptions actually reflect what the role does day-to-day—or are they outdated, generic, or copied from somewhere else?

  • Are we using a consistent offer letter that clearly outlines pay, classification, benefits eligibility, and contingencies?

  • Are we hiring to solve a defined business problem (capacity, revenue, customer experience)—or just plugging holes?

For small businesses, intentional growth means:

  • Updating job descriptions to clearly define essential duties, schedules, physical requirements, and what success actually looks like.

  • Standardizing offer letters and onboarding so every new hire starts on solid footing.

  • Making pay decisions carefully, so you’re not creating inequities you’ll have to fix later—often at a higher cost.

Growth is exciting—but only if the foundation can support it.

If 2026 Is a Stability Year: Tighten What You Already Have

Not every year is a “grow at all costs” year. Many businesses are choosing stability in 2026—no major headcount changes, just making the current structure work better.

That often looks like:

  • Cleaning up attendance, scheduling, and PTO practices so they’re consistent and fair.

  • Aligning job descriptions, expectations, and policies with how work actually happens.

  • Giving managers simple tools for coaching and documentation—before issues escalate.

This is the year to:

  • Use job descriptions as the backbone for performance conversations, not just hiring paperwork.

  • Clarify a few non-negotiables: call-out expectations, overtime approval, schedule changes, and communication standards.

  • Stop making one-off exceptions that feel helpful in the moment but quietly create risk and resentment.

Stability isn’t standing still. It’s strengthening the structure so the business runs calmer and more predictably.

If 2026 Might Involve a Reduction: Slow Down Before You Act

Reducing hours, eliminating roles, or deciding not to replace positions is uncomfortable—but avoiding the conversation doesn’t reduce the risk.

If you’re even considering reductions, pause and ask:

  • What business problem am I solving—cash flow, capacity, misalignment, performance?

  • What objective criteria will determine who is affected?

  • Do I have documentation—job duties, performance history, prior coaching—to support those decisions if questioned?

In a small business, a poorly handled reduction can quickly lead to:

  • Reputation damage in a tight labor market

  • Claims or complaints that drain time and money

  • Morale issues among the employees you need to retain

Thoughtful reductions are based on role clarity, documented expectations, and consistent criteria—not emotion, convenience, or who’s easiest to let go.

Compliance Is the Floor—Not the Strategy

No matter your 2026 direction, compliance is the baseline—not the goal.

For small businesses, that usually means:

  • Proper classification (hourly vs. salary, exempt vs. non-exempt)

  • Clear, consistent templates for:

    • Job descriptions

    • Offer letters

    • Coaching and corrective actions

    • Terminations or reductions

  • Training leaders on what to say—and what not to say—in hiring, performance, and exit conversations

You don’t need a 200-page handbook or a full HR department. You need enough structure so:

  • Decisions are faster because the framework already exists

  • Risk is lower because you’re not reinventing process every time

  • Employees feel they’re treated fairly—even when the answer is “no”

A Practical 2026 People Checklist

Here’s a short checklist you can tackle this quarter:

1. Identify your current state

  • Growth: We expect to hire

  • Stability: We’re holding headcount

  • Reduction: We may reduce or not replace roles

2. Pick 2–3 core roles and

  • Update job descriptions

  • Confirm pay, classification, and expectations align

3. Clean up the basics

  • A standard offer letter

  • A simple hiring and onboarding checklist

  • Clear attendance and communication expectations

4. Choose one “hot spot”

  • Attendance or call-outs

  • Performance in a key role

  • Turnover in one position

  • Pay inconsistencies

5. Align leadership

  • Owners, managers, and anyone “acting like HR” should be using the same language and tools

You don’t have to fix everything at once. You just have to start.

Where Purciarele Group Fits In

If you’re reading this and thinking, “This is exactly what we need—and I have zero time or desire to build it,” that’s where we come in.

Purciarele Group partners with small businesses (typically 2–50 employees) to:

  • Clarify your real 2026 people plan—growth, stability, or reduction

  • Build or clean up job descriptions, offer letters, and core policies

  • Create practical tools for owners and managers: scripts, checklists, and templates that match your business

  • Provide fractional HR support so you’re not carrying this alone

You focus on running your business.
We love HR so you don’t have to™.

If 2026 is the year you want fewer HR fires and more confident people decisions, let’s talk.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HR Red Flags You're Ignoring—Until It's Too Late

-
Image
HR Red Flags You're Ignoring—Until It's Too Late By Purciarele Group – HR Simplified! Some business problems announce themselves with sirens. Others start with a whisper: a missed deadline, a frustrated employee, an awkward silence in a meeting. Too often, leaders dismiss these as “normal growing pains” or “people stuff that will work itself out.” Spoiler alert: it won’t. And by the time you're forced to act, it’s already cost you— in morale, productivity, reputation, or turnover. We've seen it all. These five HR red flags are the quiet killers of great teams. And if you're seeing any of them? It's time to stop ignoring and start addressing. đźš© 1. Your Best Employee Has Gone Quiet They used to take initiative, offer ideas, and mentor others. Now? They’re doing the bare minimum, logging off early, or making passive comments like, “I’m just keeping my head down these days.” What it really means: Disengagement is setting in. They’ve lost trust in lea...
Read more

Unmasking Passive Toxicity Before It Undermines Your Culture

-
Image
The Most Dangerous Person in Your Workplace Might Be ‘Nice’ Unmasking Passive Toxicity Before It Undermines Your Culture When you hear “toxic employee,” you probably picture someone who yells, resists authority, or blatantly pushes boundaries. They’re disruptive, loud, and unmistakable. But there’s another kind of toxicity—one that’s far more dangerous because it hides in plain sight. It’s the employee who smiles in meetings, avoids conflict, and presents as “easygoing” or “supportive.” They’re often described as nice —and on the surface, they probably are. But dig deeper, and you may discover that this same person is quietly derailing your team through passive-aggressive behaviors, manipulation, or strategic avoidance. This is passive toxicity —and it can do just as much damage, if not more, than overt misconduct. What Passive Toxicity Looks Like This kind of behavior doesn’t always leave obvious footprints, but over time, it corrodes trust, collaboration, and performance. You...
Read more

HR & the Spirit of Summer

-
Image
 ☀️ HR & the Spirit of Summer: Bringing a Little Sunshine Back to the Workplace Do you remember what June used to feel like? The countdown to the last day of school. The sound of flip-flops smacking against the pavement. Ice cream trucks blaring their music down suburban streets. Sleepovers. Sprinklers. Fireflies. Long days at the pool followed by even longer nights of freedom. Summer wasn’t just a season—it was a feeling. Then… you grew up. And June became just another month on the calendar—packed with meetings, deadlines, and quarterly goals. Summer break turned into “business as usual,” with the whimsy buried under piles of paperwork, overflowing inboxes, and calendars blocked from 9 to 5. But what if summer didn’t have to vanish? What if we could bring some of that childhood magic back—right into the workplace? As an HR consulting firm that partners with businesses across the country, we hear the same thing over and over again from leaders and employees alike: burnout does...
Read more