Organizational design & role clarity

There are people in roles that don't fully match their skills, strengths, or capacity.

Skills/position mismatch — underperformance dragProsperity cost

~6% payroll

Employees in similar roles would describe their jobs differently — expectations aren't shared or documented.

Role ambiguity — misaligned expectationsProtection risk

~3% payroll

Most decisions and approvals flow through you — work stalls when you're unavailable or pulled away.

Delegation gap — no decision-rights frameworkProsperity cost

~4% payroll

A significant portion of your time is spent managing people issues rather than running or growing the business.

Leadership time tax — missing operating rhythmProsperity cost

~5% payroll

Onboarding & new hire experience

New hire onboarding is inconsistent — the experience varies from hire to hire.

Inconsistent onboarding — slow time to productivityProsperity cost

~4% payroll

New hire paperwork and documentation collection is inconsistent or incomplete at the point of hire.

New-hire documentation gapsProtection risk

~3% payroll

We're unsure whether our onboarding forms are current, complete, or compliant with applicable requirements.

Onboarding compliance uncertaintyProtection risk

Risk flag

Engagement & culture

Some employees appear disengaged — present but not fully contributing, going through the motions.

Low engagement / quiet quitting dragProsperity cost

~5% payroll

When employees leave, the reasons are unclear or not formally captured — the same issues may be repeating.

No exit feedback — preventable attrition repeatingProsperity cost

~3% payroll

Policy & handbook

The employee handbook is outdated, incomplete, or doesn't exist.

Outdated / missing handbook — policy and legal exposure

Risk flag

Job descriptions are missing, outdated, or don't reflect what people actually do in their roles.

Missing / outdated job descriptions — ADA, FLSA, comp exposurePeople impact

Risk flag

There is no clear, consistent process for handling employee issues — responses vary depending on the situation or who's involved.

Reactive HR posture — inconsistent policy application

Risk flag

Classification & wage compliance

There are contractors working regularly alongside employees in ways that may blur the classification line.

Misclassification exposure — contractor vs. employee

Risk flag

We haven't confirmed whether each employee is correctly classified for overtime eligibility based on their actual role and pay.

Overtime eligibility classification — wage compliance exposure

Risk flag

Claims, records & risk history

There have been employee complaints, investigations, or situations that could have escalated into legal claims.

Claims history — unresolved exposureProsperity cost

Risk flag

Employee records and HR information are scattered across emails, spreadsheets, or paper — there is no centralized system.

Fragmented records — admin drag and documentation riskProsperity cost

~3% payroll

The company's reputation as an employer is unknown, unmanaged, or known to be negative.

Employer brand / reputational riskPeople impact

Risk flag

Time & productivity drag

You are personally handling HR questions, issues, and tasks — and it's pulling you away from your primary role.

HR absorbed by wrong role — misdirected labor

~8% payroll

Work regularly gets held up waiting for decisions, approvals, or information that should be readily accessible.

Decision bottlenecks — compounding productivity drag

~5% payroll

The same tasks are being done by more than one person, or completed multiple times without a clear owner.

Duplication of duties — direct waste

~4% payroll

Tasks that could be automated or systematized are still being done manually, repeatedly, by hand.

Manual tools / outdated processes — recurring waste

~3% payroll

The tools and systems in place are outdated, mismatched to the work, or create more friction than they remove.

Systems friction — tools working against productivity

~4% payroll

Hiring & turnover cost

The same position has been filled more than once in the past year or two — turnover is repeating in the same roles.

Regrettable turnover — cost uses your industry rate + workforce typePeople root cause

industry rate

There are currently open roles that have been unfilled for weeks or longer, with no clear timeline to hire.

Vacancy drag — lost productivity or overtime cost

~7% payroll

Hiring is time-consuming and pulls in multiple people — there is no documented, repeatable process for filling roles.

Hidden hiring admin cost — no process infrastructure

~4% payroll

Leadership capacity & sustainability

You feel like the business is operating below its potential — growth is constrained by capacity, not opportunity.

Leadership capacity ceiling — growth constrained by current rhythmPeople foundation

~5% payroll

Changes and improvements that have been made tend not to stick — the business drifts back to old patterns.

No accountability structure — changes don't holdPeople foundation

~3% payroll