Jessica Dante’s Post

 Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the right career. 😅 You see, I never planned to work with founders. I was that HR person who loved processes, policies, and perfectly formatted documents. (Yes, I had favourite fonts for employee handbooks. Don't judge! 🤓) But life has a funny way of showing you what you're meant to do... I kept meeting incredible founders who were: → Lying awake at night worried about their team → Second-guessing every hiring decision → Feeling like imposters when investors asked about their org structure And something in me shifted. I realised I wasn't meant to be the "policy person" - I was meant to be the person who sits with founders in their moments of doubt and says "I get it. Let's figure this out together." Now, as a Principal Consultant, I help start-ups align their people strategy with their growth goals. But here's my secret: I still sometimes feel like that HR newbie who's obsessed with perfect documentation. The difference? I've learned that the messy, human side of business - the late-night worry sessions, the tough conversations, the moments of uncertainty - that's where the real magic happens. To every founder feeling overwhelmed by the people side of their business: You're not alone. Those 3am anxieties? They're normal. And they're exactly why I do what I do. Drop a ❤️ if you've ever felt like you're figuring it out as you go. (Spoiler alert: we all are!)

If you are an entrepreneur or a founder, Start doing this one thing today. Glassdoor reviewers say, Employers' ghosting problem is twice as bad as it was just a few years ago a sign that worker power is fading fast. So, if someone applies to work at your company but you decide not to hire them, be sure to let them know politely and quickly. Because, Your actions can make a big difference. 📌P.S. How do you ensure respectful communication with job applicants in your company? —------ If you’re a Founder or a CEO, who wants to enhance your Employer Brand and manage the online reputation, I’m here to assist! DM me “GROWTH” and let’s get started! #linkedingrowth #employerbranding

Hire slow, fire fast' is for COWARDS, who can't run a real business. There. I said it. And I'm not taking it back. You want to know why your revolving door of employees is bleeding your business dry? It's because you're swallowing bullsh*t advice like it's your morning coffee. Let me hit you with some truth: This advice is a ONE-WAY TICKET to a toxic work environment and sky-high turnover rates. Here's why: It's LAZY AF. You're not fixing the real problem - your broken systems. It treats people like disposable resources. Newsflash: They're not. It's a band-aid solution that bleeds your company culture dry. Want to know what ACTUALLY works? BUILD. YOUR. DAMN. SOPs. That's right. Before you even THINK about hiring or firing, get your Standard Operating Procedures locked down tight. Why? Clear expectations = Happy employees Solid systems = Consistent results Defined processes = Easier training When you've got rock-solid SOPs in place, you'll: Hire the RIGHT people Set them up for success Create a culture of growth, not fear Stop playing musical chairs with your team and start building a foundation that WORKS. Want to learn how to create SOPs that transform your business? Hit that reply button. Let's talk. Remember: Great businesses are built on systems, not slogans. #EntrepreneurshipTruth #SOPsForSuccess #NoMoreGuruNonsense

Hiring the WRONG person nearly cost me my agency. I’m not talking about minor mistakes. I’m talking about clients lost, deadlines missed, and my reputation on the line. And it all came down to ignoring the red flags 🚩. Let me tell you what I’ve learned the hard way: When you hire someone who looks good on paper but doesn’t show up when it counts, you’re digging your own grave. I was so eager to scale my business, I overlooked the obvious signs: ➡ Missed deadlines, with excuses that sounded believable. ➡ 'I’ll get it done' promises that never got done. ➡ Radio silence when I needed answers. My agency was on the brink of collapse. Until I decided to do one thing that changed everything: I wrote down EVERY red flag I’d ignored—and vowed to clear them out from Day 1. ➡ Slow responses? Gone. ➡ No accountability? Out the door. ➡ Half-hearted effort? You’re not getting a second chance. Here’s what happened next: -I built a lean, powerhouse team. -Clients saw the shift in quality. -My agency grew faster and stronger than ever before. If you’re serious about growth, stop being nice and start being clear about what you WON’T tolerate. The wrong hire won’t just slow you down—they’ll burn everything you’ve built to the ground. Does this sound extreme? Good. It should. Because if you're not protecting your business like it’s life or death, someone else will. 👇 Have you experienced this? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

In my first business, I got sued for £10k by an ex-employee. Founders/employers, don’t follow in my footsteps ! I took over my family’s music retail business at 19. I was young and made a lot of big mistakes, but this one nearly shut the business down. The ex-employee had been using our warehouse to store and sell their own stock and was incredibly toxic. My reaction was, I think, pretty natural - I let him go. But the catch was, I didn’t have the right contract in place, and I didn’t follow the right processes. This left me open to being sued… and that’s exactly what happened. I didn’t think they would have the front after being so in the wrong to do so, but they did. £10k was a huge hit to the company. All because I was too lax on the boring stuff, which like a lot of founders is my least favourite thing to do. My advice for founders/business owners: Make sure you have the right contracts, processes and policies in place from when you hire employee number 1. There are a lot of good HR companies out there that are way less expensive than a £10k lawsuit. Don’t avoid the boring stuff, that’s where it’ll get you ! ------- If you liked this post, I also have a newsletter where I speak about topics like this in more depth. You can subscribe in the link in the comments. Thanks ! #founderadvice #businessadvice #founders

How to get paid most for the least effort: I saw someone ask a question in one of the Facebook groups I visit from time to time. I didn’t have the time to respond immediately on the post, so I decided to respond with a fresh post. The essence of the question was: “Why do the people who do the real work (the people who actually grind and get their hands dirty) get paid the least amount of money, while those in posh offices with comfy chairs get paid much more to sit around and look at a screen all day?” And the answer is: Because you get paid for the amount of value you contribute, not the effort it takes you to contribute said value. For example, if you follow Myron Golden's work, you will learn that there are four levels of value: 1. Implementation: If you're the person who does the work, if you're using your hands to make money, you'll get paid the least. (Lowest level) 2. Unification: This is the supervisor or manager. He unifies the workers and gets them to produce results. So he's one step above the implementation level, so he gets paid a little more. 3. Communication: this is the person who uses their mouth to inspire and shape people's perception... in this level you have authors, politicians, public speakers and the like. 4. Imagination: this is the level where real players play. Here you have people who use their mind and their money to make money... here you have company founders, product inventors and other forms of investors... they get paid the most because they take the most risk. And generally speaking, there's a bigger supply of low-level workers than there is for high-level executives. And basic economics tells you that when the supply of labor is much greater than the demand, then the price of labor will be cheap. The real question is, how easy is it to replace you in your position? If you're easily replaced, that means you contribute the least amount of value, so you will be paid the least amount of money... #GoalSetting #GrowthMindset #HabitsOfSuccess #BusinessCoach #MarketingStrategy #BusinessTips #Solopreneur #BusinessGoals #SmallBizSuccess #SelfMade #GoalGetter

>> We didn't have a hiring page the last 12 years until we grew our business to 7 figures. Why? Short answer - business illiteracy :D But how can we survive to 7 figures with that? Longer answer: > We handled the growth organically. Growing at a 36% CAGR is not a lot, but it can surely stretch people when they need to wear different hats. We decided to stay sane instead of growing at all costs. > We hired for mindset, not for skills. We couldn't figure out what to write on the career page. As a people-centric business, we decided not to write at all. > We're a worker-owned cooperative. We didn't know how to onboard co-owners properly. Here's a question for all business owners? How often do you onboard new partners with co-founder financial and governance rights? It's almost impossible after a certain point, right? Well, each year we onboarded and offboarded a couple of people. > We didn't have a slot as we fulfilled almost everything organically. We couldn't find a person for a position? We skipped entirely instead of chasing profits. > We were entirely a lifestyle business. Growth was a by-product of ambitions and having fun while juggling what came our way. Without investors or external pressures, we could define our work culture holistically. But now things changed. We have a lot of more gravity and our opportunity landscape is growing. Now we're "too big to fail" because around 50 people and their families rely on Camplight. From a fringe social experiment, we've moved to becoming a centerpiece for businesses and people wanting a more human touch in a world full of extractive capitalism and synthetic automation. --- 🔍Are you looking for a job where you can become a business co-owner? Check in the comments ;) #WorkplaceCulture #WorkLifeBalance #Collaboration

Happy FriYAY network! We survived another week. Today, I want to talk about something important for founders/owners/leadership team members at growing companies. Your time has value! Whatever you choose to spend your time on, the value of your time is equated into the cost of that task. This is true of everything in business. It's generally an overlooked concept when it comes to figuring out how much something costs. If you spend 60 hours of your time a month doing your books, and you value your time at $150/hour - your books for that month cost you $9000. That's A LOT of money. Same is said of marketing, HR, culture/employee retention and acquisition, etc. Now, think about how much money you could have saved by hiring/partnering/outsourcing that task to someone who specializes in that space. The oldest adage is still true - which is time = money. How much money are you investing in the wrong things that are truly costing your business? Do you need to re-address the cost of things in your business? If you're trying to find skilled talent for your business without the skills, experience and expertise, the cost of that hire is exponentially higher than you ever thought it was. Call me today for help in that space! #changemakers #talentpartner #2024hiring

🐙 I’ve been getting lots of questions about the octopus.   Why did a landlocked HR guy such as yourself choose an octopus as his logo?   The reasons are too varied for one post, so I’ll lean into them 1 at a time.   Octopuses (I still say octopi) have NINE brains - these incredible creatures have a decentralized nervous system, with one central brain and eight smaller brains located in each of their tentacles. This helps explain their unreal intelligence and ability to manipulate their environment to confuse predators.   In HR you need 9 different brains:   🧠 Psychology   🧠 Employment law   🧠 Employment branding and marketing   🧠 HR tech and IT   🧠 Statistics and data   🧠 Recruiting and hiring   🧠 Compensation design   🧠 Learning and development   🧠 Strategy   Come to think of it, you may need a few more. What would you add to this list? I’d love to hear about it in the comments where you can also find a link to my blog. 👇   If you enjoy this read repost ♻ to others in your network and follow me Joe Kitson for more like it. For other HR insights check out my free newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iA3r9g   #fractionalhr #consulting #entrepreneurship #transformation #humanresources #kitsonhumancapitalsolutions

In my mind, this is how the conversation goes: Editor: "We need a new topic or theme around which to create content." Writer/Reporter: "What about adding "quiet" to something that already happens and basically restating something that's already known? Editor: "Like what?" Writer/Reporter: "Quitting. Vacationing. AI. Politics. Working. Breathing. Sitting. Firing. Really anything." Editor: "Brilliant!"