When your startup needs an HR. 6 yellow flags

By Anastasiia Kuzmenko, head of talent & people at F1V

When our portfolio startups ask if they need an HR, I say, “It depends.” After consulting dozens of teams, I’ve learned there’s no universal rule. But I still can help you decide.

I need to start by explaining what HRs can do. It’s important.

An HR is someone who can manage everything people-related. They handle onboarding, offboarding, performance reviews, vacation tracking, NPS surveys, team events, and some legal matters.

At some companies, HRs also help with the business vision. They coach founders and team leads, align C-level and teams around strategy, and build hiring plans with recruiters. Sometimes, they just put out fires: resolve conflicts, prevent burnout, and reduce turnover.

Most startups hire an HR specialist once the team grows beyond 30 people. Until then, founders and team leads usually handle HR tasks. 

But that’s not a strict rule — so I’ve put together six yellow flags. If two or three of them hit home, it might be time to bring in some HR help.

You’re scaling

You’re launching a product, entering a new market, or growing fast. The team’s over 30 people, and you plan to add 10-12 more each year.

Scaling is a shaky time for any startup. Processes can get messy, team morale can dip, and things can start breaking fast. You need a strong people manager in this fragile phase.

No onboarding and offboarding

No one properly onboards new hires, and they spend a month just figuring out what’s what. 

No one offboards employees who leave: no exit interviews, no proper paperwork, and their work files often disappear without a trace. 

No constructive feedback

You don’t run performance reviews twice a year — or even once. Leads don’t hold 1:1s with their team members to check in on how they’re doing. No one monitors team spirit and what needs fixing through NPS surveys. 

As a founder, you’re flying blind and just hoping no one burns out or bails.

Burnout, conflicts, and high turnover in the team

The team is sluggish and emotionally drained. Conflicts pop up, and no one resolves them. Even when no one’s arguing, the tension still feels. Someone starts a fight at a team-building event (not a joke, real story I’ve heard).

People often quit because of burnout and a toxic atmosphere — even if the pay’s good and they like the company. Workplace conflict alone drives 23% of employees to leave, with 18% saying it caused a project to fail.

As a result, your churn is high. Maybe you don’t even track it yet. And you keep hiring replacements without fixing the root problem.

Your team leads aren’t ready (or don’t exist)

You promoted people to lead because they’re good at hard skills. But being a strong developer or a marketer doesn’t mean you know how to manage others.

If a startup is young, the team is usually young too, and someone needs to coach them. How to lead, give feedback, run 1:1s, handle tough conversations, and build soft skills.

Some small startups don’t have team leads, which means the founder ends up doing everything. But from what I’ve seen, one person can effectively lead up to 7-10 people. HR can coach the team when there are no other managers yet.

No structure, teams aren’t aligned

You’ve been building for a while, a year or more. Maybe you’ve already found product-market fit and signed 300 clients, but there are still no clear processes.

A strategy lives in the founders’ and managers’ heads. And if you ask each of them about the company’s mission, goals, or growth plan, they answer differently. The team’s working like moles, buried in tasks with no context.

A bit of chaos is normal early on, but as you grow, you need clarity. A good HR can connect the dots between the business and the team, which is something many founders overlook.

They’re the ones who ask uncomfortable questions, like “We want to grow by $5M, but do we have the team to make that happen?” They help the founder see why something isn’t working and what to do about it.

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