It's a lot like asking, "When does a company need IT?" or "When do I need to have a lawyer create our employment contracts?" Ideally, when you have your first employee, you should have someone helping guide you through some basic employer requirements. (Check out my Starter Guide to People Resources ),  such as proper employment contracts, understanding your own payroll deductions as an employer, and more. While a company is going through growth mode, a lot of the mechanisms

Oh, onboarding. The honeymoon phase. If you're mid-career, or you've been at an organization for a long time, chances are you haven't been a newbie in awhile. Although it has its drawbacks (deer in the headlights, no idea where information is, or who is who, etc.), it can also provide a bird's eye perspective on what isn't working. When I work with my clients, I like to work backwards from the goal. This works especially well with onboarding. Onboarding /ˈônˌbôrdiNG,ˈänˌbôrdi