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When you started you small business it’s fairly unlikely that you were already an expert in human resources. That was probably the last thing on your mind. It’s not that you don’t care about your employees – you want them to be happy and satisfied in their jobs – it’s that managing HR can be a real time suck and most likely the least favorite of the many hats you wear as a small business owner. Instead of growing your business, you’re dealing with employee retention, insurance costs, benefits, employee reviews, 401ks and everything else that falls under the HR umbrella. You’re not alone. We find a common theme among business owners – HR is either taken care of on an as needed basis by the owners, delegated to employees as ‘other duties’, outsourced or ignored altogether.
Finding the HR Solution to Fit Your Needs
No matter if you’re a company of 5 or 500, you have human capital and everything that comes with working with humans. If you are a small business now, you probably plan on growing and HR needs to be included in your overall strategy. It can be overwhelming, but don’t worry, we’ve put together a guide looking at the pros and cons of the options available to you.
Here’s how to incorporate HR services into your company, whatever size business you have:
Company Size: 10 to 50 Employees
You started your company on a shoestring budget handling everything – sales, marketing, operations and HR. Now that you’re growing, your company’s HR needs are growing, too. Your HR challenges include:
- Providing employees benefits.
- Addressing HR-related issues in a timely manner.
- Attracting top talent when you can’t offer the benefits offered at larger companies.
Your Options
Hiring an entry-level employee whose duties include small HR tasks, or retaining a consulting firm or a professional employer organization (PEO) on a part-time basis are options you can consider for your HR needs. You could also make due without anything at all and handle HR issues as they arise. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons:
Hiring an entry-level employee
PROS
- Takes these tasks off your plate so you can focus on running the business
- HR needs do not require a full-time solution, so employee can be tasked with other duties
CONS
- At this level, the employee does not have the experience or knowledge to handle HR needs such as recruiting, interpersonal problems, or training
Retaining a consulting firm or PEO
PROS
- Companies can engage an HR consultant on an hourly or contract basis, making it a cost-effective solution for your business
- An HR consultant can advise you on recruitment strategies and finding ways to create a productive workforce
- A PEO is a solution for small business owners who want to give employees access to health and retirement benefits
- HR Consultants and PEOs can act as your company’s HR department and handle employee issues, assist with employee reviews, exit interviews, etc.
CONS
- Using a PEO means you lose some control over the benefits offered
- PEO policies may also limit a company’s power to hire and terminate workers
- A part-time consultant or PEO may not always be available, which could affect your deadlines
Company Size: 40 to 100 employees
Congratulations, your company is growing! And so is the number of HR issues. At this stage, you have outgrown using a PEO and an in-house employee needs more skills and experience than an employee who is simply handling the administrative side of HR. For companies of this size you must consider the following:
- What HR services does my company need?
- Can we still get by without a formal HR department?
- Should we incorporate additional HR consulting services?
- Would it be more cost effective to hire an in-house HR professional?
Your Options
While it’s never cut and dry, when your company is this size you may want to consider hiring a full time HR professional such as an HR generalist. A generalist handles the day-to-day HR tasks, designs and administers your company’s HR policies and procedures, covering everything from performance management, benefits, payroll and talent acquisition, A generalist handles employee relations and works with employees at all levels of the organization. If hiring an in-house HR professional is not feasible, another option is to increase the level of services your HR consulting firm provides. Let’s review the pros and cons for these options:
Hiring an HR Generalist
PROS
- An HR employee on staff gives you consistency and control
- An HR employee is part of the team and more invested in the company
CONS
- Hiring a generalist gives you someone with more of a tactical skill set rather than strategic
- You need to pay their salary, benefits and other overhead costs
Increasing the level of Services from Your HR Consultant
PROS
- Your HR consultant can provide expertise for a variety of business decisions
- A third-party consultant will have an objective perspective
- There are no overhead costs
CONS
- You lose the personal touch that someone hired within the company may provide
- Your employees may feel disconnected with an HR professional who is outsourced from a consulting firm
One thing to keep in mind is that you have the option of using both an in-house HR employee and a consulting firm. Because an HR generalist has a specific skill set, there will be a need for a strong partner to assist with other HR areas, so you may want to keep your HR consulting firm to work with your HR generalist for a well-rounded solution. And of course, there’s always the option of continuing to wing it.
Company Size: 80-200 employees
Your way past the small start up company now. Your company has evolved and grown to the point where it’s time to create an HR department with a manager and one to three HR associates. This solution can help you with challenges such as:
Your company’s growth affecting the corporate culture
You’re struggling with hiring the right talent
You’re growing too fast and unable to develop career tracks for employee retention
Your Options
At this level, you’ll want to consider using HR as a strategic function of your company. As a strategic business partner, the HR department is vital to the decision making process. However, may still want to retain the use of an HR consulting firm as a source to help you craft your strategic growth initiatives..
The functions of HR include benefits, compensation, training and development, organizational development, employee and labor relations, HRIS and recruiting. Creating an HR team with a manager and several employees to oversee the wide range of HR duties is an option for a company in definite growth mode. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of creating an in-house HR department:
PROS
- You have a department dedicated to overseeing all HR functions
- An HR department can develop corporate culture initiatives
- The manager or director of HR can play an integral role in the company’s strategic initiatives
CONS
- You’ll need to look at budget increases to support the creation of a new department
- It may take some time to find the right HR manager to lead this department and be an expert resource for your company
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Over the last year, hiring teams have started seeing a wave of new job titles pop up across tech, sales, and operations.
Some are legitimate new roles.
Others are existing jobs with a slightly different name.
And many of them have one thing in common: AI is suddenly part of the job description.
From Go-to-Market Engineers to AI Specialists, companies are experimenting with new roles as they figure out how automation and AI fit into their teams.
But most of these positions aren’t entirely new. They’re evolutions of existing roles.
The Rise of Go-to-Market Engineers
One role that is gaining traction is the Go-to-Market Engineer.
Depending on who you ask, it is either:
- A new role focused on automation and AI-driven growth
- A modern version of Revenue Operations (RevOps)
In practice, it is a bit of both.
As Matt Tokarz recently pointed out after closing a search for an Outbound & Go-to-Market Specialist, the role looked very different from traditional RevOps. The focus was not reporting or CRM hygiene. It was building prompts, leveraging tools like Clay and Smartlead, and enabling SDRs and AEs with backend insights to accelerate pipeline growth.
Instead of traditional RevOps work like reporting and CRM management, the focus was on:
- Building AI prompts
- Creating campaign messaging
- Automating outreach workflows
- Using tools like Clay, Smartlead, and Trigify
The goal was not simply managing sales data. It was accelerating pipeline generation through automation.
AI Isn’t Creating New Functions. It’s Changing Existing Ones
One trend is becoming clear. Companies are not replacing entire departments with AI.
Instead, they are changing how existing roles operate.
Sales teams still need pipeline.
Marketing teams still need content.
Engineering teams still need to build software.
The difference is that employers now expect candidates to use AI tools as part of their workflow.
As Zac Colip noted during the discussion, we are currently in a transitional phase where companies are labeling roles with “AI” as they experiment with how the technology fits into teams.
But that may not last forever.
Why Many “AI Job Titles” May Disappear
Right now, AI still feels new enough that companies highlight it in job titles.
But eventually, AI will likely become a baseline expectation, not a specialty.
Think about it like cloud technology or data analytics.
At first, companies hired “cloud specialists.” Now most engineers are expected to understand cloud infrastructure.
The same shift will likely happen with AI.
Instead of hiring “AI-enabled marketers” or “AI engineers,” companies will simply expect employees to know how to work with AI tools.
The Talent Pool Is Still Small
One challenge with these emerging roles is simple: there aren’t many candidates with real experience yet.
Many of these positions didn’t exist two years ago.
In one recent search, we started looking for a candidate locally in Chicago. Eventually we expanded nationwide because the pool of people with relevant experience was extremely limited.
This is a common issue with emerging roles:
- Companies want experienced candidates
- But the roles themselves are still new
That gap will likely persist for the next few years.
Hybrid Roles Are Becoming More Common
Another noticeable shift is that roles are becoming more hybrid.
Instead of hiring for narrow responsibilities, companies are combining multiple functions into one position.
As Matt Mulcahy highlighted, one example is the rise of Forward Deployed Engineers, a model popularized by Palantir.
These engineers:
- Work directly with clients
- Gather product requirements
- Write user stories
- Build the software themselves
What used to involve several roles, including product managers, engineers, and solution architects, can now sometimes be handled by one person. AI development tools are part of what makes this possible.
AI Adoption Is Happening at Different Speeds
Not every industry is moving at the same pace.
As Ashley DuBois pointed out, some sectors, such as transportation, are applying AI to specific workflows like load booking and operational automation.
At the same time, some companies are adding “AI” to job titles even when the core responsibilities remain largely traditional.
In many cases, it is still essentially an IT manager role with AI familiarity layered in.
This reflects a broader transition period where companies want to signal modernization and candidates want to signal relevance.
Automation Is Changing Operations Roles
In logistics, AI is increasingly handling scheduling, tracking, and coordination tasks.
According to Brittany Lasky, operational roles such as logistics coordinators may experience the greatest impact from automation.
However, freight brokers who manage negotiation and strategic RFPs remain in demand.
AI can optimize processes. It does not replace relationship management or strategic negotiation.
Across industries, a pattern is emerging.
Execution becomes automated. Strategy becomes more valuable.
Finance Roles Are Becoming More Analytical
Automation is also reshaping finance and accounting roles.
As Adam Slater noted, accounts receivable jobs that once focused on high-volume manual processing are evolving into more analytical positions centered on reporting and insights.
The work is not disappearing. The expectations are increasing.
Organizations are now hiring for:
- stronger technical skills
- analytical thinking
- systems understanding
Even roles traditionally considered administrative now require deeper technical capability.
Analyst Roles Are Expanding
AI is not eliminating analyst roles. It is expanding them.
Financial analysts are also expected to understand tooling, sourcing, and data transformation.
In many cases, two or three roles are being combined into one.
This raises a long-term question.
If entry-level roles become more complex or disappear entirely, how will organizations develop senior talent in the future?
Sales Development Is Becoming More Human
The traditional model of high-volume cold calling is changing.
According to Jack Smith and Emily Canna, teams are shifting toward:
- personalized LinkedIn videos
- voice memos
- highly tailored messaging
At the same time, companies are moving away from activity-based KPIs and focusing more on outcomes such as demos set and SQLs generated.
In a market saturated with automated outreach, authentic communication has become a competitive advantage.
Several clients have said it directly. They want a human in the seat.
Go-to-Market Teams Are Rebuilding the Fundamentals
Every six to twelve months, hiring trends in go-to-market teams shift.
As Jennifer Salerno noted, companies move through cycles.
One quarter it is BDRs.
Then RevOps.
Now it is go-to-market engineers.
Many companies experimented heavily with AI to accelerate pipeline generation.
What those experiments exposed were structural gaps, particularly in outbound strategy.
AI can support execution. It does not replace a well-built top-of-funnel engine.
Inbound momentum can hide weaknesses. Outbound forces clarity.
The companies gaining traction right now are not chasing trends. They are rebuilding the fundamentals of their go-to-market strategy.
What This Means for Hiring
For employers, the takeaway is straightforward. Job descriptions and expectations need to evolve alongside technology.
Across functions, we are seeing the same shift play out. AI is not eliminating entire roles. It is changing how those roles operate and increasing the baseline skill set required to perform them well.
Hiring managers should start thinking less about traditional titles and more about capabilities. That often means prioritizing candidates who can:
- Learn and adapt to new tools quickly
- Think in terms of systems, automation, and workflows
- Combine technical and business skills within a single role
In many cases, the perfect candidate with the exact title simply does not exist yet. The strongest hires are often people who have developed adjacent skills and shown the ability to adapt as the tools evolve.
The Bigger Trend
The broader trend is that AI is accelerating a shift that was already underway.
Roles are becoming more hybrid. Expectations are increasing across nearly every function. And repetitive tasks are being automated, leaving more strategic work behind.
Sales teams still need pipeline.
Operations teams still need coordination.
Finance teams still need reporting and analysis.
Engineering teams still need to build software.
What is changing is how the work gets done and what skills are required to do it well.
Right now we are in a transitional phase where companies are still labeling roles with “AI” as they experiment with new workflows and technologies.
Over time, that label may disappear.
AI will simply become part of how work gets done.
And the roles themselves, while evolving, will look more familiar than the titles might suggest.
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