The Portaris Small Business HR Partnership™
Small Business. Big Support.
Because small businesses deserve big support too.
Less HR stress. Practical HR support when you need it.
Running a small business means carrying a lot.
Adding employees brings another set of responsibilities, questions, and decisions. Hiring. Pay. Policies. Onboarding. Performance. Employee concerns. Documentation. Compliance. And sometimes just figuring out what you’re supposed to have in place.
You don’t have to become an HR expert to be a good business owner.
The Portaris Small Business HR Partnership™ gives small businesses access to experienced HR support without having to build an HR department.
Whether you’re hiring your first employees, getting the basics in place, working through something happening today, or preparing for what comes next, we start by learning about your business and what you’re carrying.
Then we help make HR feel a little less heavy.
Maybe You’re Thinking...
“HR is basically me right now, and I’m spending way too much time trying to figure it all out.”
“We’re hiring more people, and I’m not sure everything we’re doing is actually right.”
“An employee situation has been going on too long, and I need to deal with it.”
“Our onboarding is basically showing someone around and hoping they figure things out.”
“We’ve grown, but our policies and HR processes haven’t really grown with us.”
“I have managers now, but I’m still the person everyone comes to with every employee issue.”
“I know we should probably be documenting things better, but I’m not even sure where to start.”
“I’m worried there are HR requirements I don’t even know I’m missing.”
“I want to take care of my people, but I also have a business to run.”
Sound familiar?
You don’t need to have an HR department to have an HR partner.
And you don’t have to figure everything out on your own.
Not Sure Where to Start?
That’s okay.
You don’t need to know which policies you need, what HR processes you should have, or what you might be missing before you talk to us.
That’s part of what we can help you understand.
We’ll learn about your business, your people, what you already have in place, what’s happening today, and where you’re headed.
Then we can help you understand what may need attention now, what can wait, and what may become important as your business grows.
You don’t need everything. You need what makes sense for your business.
How the Small Business HR Partnership Works
We start with your business, not an HR checklist.
Every small business is different.
A business hiring its first employee has different needs from one that has grown to twenty employees. A business working through its first employee concern may need something very different from one preparing to open another location.
That’s why we start with conversation.
We learn about your business, your employees, what you already have in place, what’s happening today, and where you’re headed.
From there, we identify what may need attention and shape the Partnership around what makes sense for your business.
Sometimes that means helping with one immediate HR need. Sometimes it means putting a few important HR basics in place. And sometimes growth means strengthening how HR works across the business.
Right sized partnership. Shaped around what you actually need.
How We May Support You
Every Small Business Partnership starts with what’s happening in your business.
Here are some examples of what Portaris may help carry.
Click the item title to learn a little more.
Hiring your first employees is an exciting step, but it also introduces responsibilities you may not have dealt with before.
Portaris can help you understand the people side of becoming an employer and think through what makes sense to have in place as your team begins to grow.
That may include basic HR practices, employee documentation, policies, onboarding, job descriptions, hiring processes, and other foundations appropriate for your business.
Finding someone is only part of hiring well.
Portaris can help with job descriptions, recruiting approaches, interview practices, candidate evaluation, hiring tools, onboarding, new hire resources, and the experience you create as someone joins your business.
We can also help you think through what role you actually need before you begin recruiting for it.
Becoming an employer comes with a lot of requirements, and it can be difficult to know what applies to your business.
Portaris can help you review the HR practices and employer basics you have in place and identify areas that may need attention.
That may include wage and hour practices, employee classifications, required workplace notices, basic recordkeeping, onboarding documentation, policy requirements, and other federal, state, and local HR compliance considerations relevant to your business.
We can also help you think through what needs to be set up as you hire, grow, or expand into a new location.
Where legal interpretation or advice is needed, Portaris will recommend involving qualified legal counsel.
Employee situations do not always come with an obvious answer.
Portaris can help you understand what’s happening, think through your options, prepare for conversations, strengthen documentation, and determine a thoughtful path forward.
Sometimes simply having an experienced HR partner to think with can make a difficult situation feel much more manageable.
Giving feedback, addressing performance concerns, setting expectations, and having difficult conversations can be uncomfortable, especially when managing people is only one of the many things you do.
Portaris can help you prepare for those conversations, think through your approach, strengthen documentation, and develop practical ways to manage performance more consistently.
Employee Relations Investigation Credential
Portaris partners have relevant training in Workplace Investigative Interviewing Strategies for HR/ER Professionals through Wicklander Zulawski & Associates.
As a business grows, owners often begin relying on other people to lead employees.
Portaris can help managers become more confident with the people side of their roles through practical guidance, tools, resources, and support around the situations they encounter.
That can also help take some of the HR weight off the business owner.
You may need to train managers on a particular people responsibility, help employees understand a new policy or process, or simply give your team better tools.
Portaris can develop practical training, guides, job aids, communications, and other resources shaped around what your business and your people need.
Training Credential
Portaris founder is a certified trainer with the DC Office of Human Rights to provide sexual harassment prevention training in the tipped wage industry.
HR does not need to be complicated to be effective.
If hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, employee documentation, or another people process is taking too much time or creating confusion, Portaris can help look at what is happening and develop a more practical approach.
Running your business should not mean spending hours trying to figure out every HR question yourself.
Portaris can help carry HR work that may otherwise fall to the owner, another leader, or someone on your team who already has plenty to do.
That might mean helping with employee questions, documentation, hiring activities, HR processes, manager support, or simply being the experienced HR partner you can turn to when something comes up.
You keep running your business. We’ll help carry the HR.
Growth creates new questions.
Who should own what? Do we need another employee? Is the workload the issue, or is the way the work is organized contributing to it? Are responsibilities still clear as the team grows?
Portaris can help you think through roles, responsibilities, staffing needs, workload, structure, and the people considerations that come with growth.
Sometimes there’s simply an HR project that needs to get done.
Maybe something needs to be created, updated, organized, researched, or finally taken off the to do list.
Portaris can step in, understand what you’re trying to accomplish, and help carry the work forward.
Tell us what’s happening. We’ll start there.
Employee concerns and workplace issues sometimes require a more structured response. Portaris can help understand what’s happening, gather the facts, conduct workplace investigations, document findings, and think through what comes next.
We can also step in when a sensitive or complicated employee situation needs an objective HR perspective. And when an issue requires legal interpretation or legal advice, Portaris may recommend involving qualified employment counsel.
Employee Relations Investigation Credential
Portaris has completed specialized Workplace Investigative Interviewing Strategies for HR/ER Professionals training through Wicklander Zulawski & Associates.
HR Support That Can Grow With You
Your HR needs at five employees may look very different at fifteen, fifty, or one hundred.
That doesn’t mean you need to build everything today.
Portaris can help you put the right HR support in place for where your business is now, while keeping an eye on what may become important as you grow.
That might mean handling an immediate employee issue, putting a few HR basics in place, being available when questions come up, or helping strengthen how HR works as your business becomes more complex.
And when your needs become more ongoing, we can help you think about what comes next, whether that’s Fractional HR Support or eventually building your own internal HR capability.
The goal is to help you have the right HR support at the right time.
Questions About Small Business HR Support
Looking for Ongoing HR Leadership?
As your business grows, there may come a point when occasional HR support is no longer enough.
You may need ongoing HR leadership that can stay connected to your business, work alongside you and your managers, help carry multiple priorities, and provide continuity as your organization evolves.
That’s The Portaris Fractional Partnership™.
Executive level HR support, without the full time hire.