HR automation guide
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HR challenges
Get the answers you need to solve your most pressing HR challenges with our free downloadable guides.
Time off management guide
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Performance management guide
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Recruitment guide
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Employee benefits guide
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Employee engagement
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Onboarding & employee data guide
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Compliance guide
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Flexible working guide
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HR policies guide
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What to expect from our guides
✅ A free, downloadable PDF you can save and come back to anytime.
✅ Expert advice offering more useful resources on the topic you’re interested in.
✅ Real insights from a small business – see how we, at Charlie, have handled HR challenges.
✅ Straight answers to your HR questions, no fluff, just practical advice.
✅ Guidance on how Charlie can help, whether it’s our software or add-ons, we’re here to make HR effortless.
✅ Customers stories on HR and how Charlie has helped them save time and simplify processes.
✅ Follow ups via email offering more useful resources on the topic you’re interested in.
Do you need HR software?
Small business, big decisions – whether you're a team of 2 or 50, find out if HR software is the right move to simplify your processes and save you time.
In this guide, you’ll find guidance and answers to these questions:
- Is HR software right for me?
- How to really save time with HR software
- Can I do HR without an HR team?
- How do I stay compliant?
- Can I attract and retain on a modest budget?
- Is it really time to invest in HR software?
Stopping the never-ending admin: holidays, sick leave & more
Ditch the spreadsheets and create a time-off management system that keeps things organised, making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
In this guide, we’ll help you answer key questions such as:
- How does time off impact your small business?
- Manual vs. automated time-off management, what’s the real difference?
- How can small businesses streamline their time-off process?
- What are the benefits of automating time-off tracking?
Starting performance management from scratch
Get our guide to kickstart your performance management process – download the only resource you need for performance management.
With this guide, you’ll be able to:
- Confidently take the first step towards performance management
- Understand how performance management can motivate the troops
- See how automation can make performance easier
- Understand how small businesses make the most of performance management
Recruiting when you’ve got no clue where to start
Download this guide if you’re new to recruiting, feeling unsure where to start, and want cost-effective tips to get it right.
In this free guide, you’ll understand the following:
- Why is making a good hire so hard?
- What do you need before putting a job live?
- How to turn top hiring into top talent
- HR person, recruiter or Applicant Tracking System?
Keeping your team engaged for the long haul
Learn practical ways to retain your team and keep them engaged in the long term so it doesn’t impact your growth.
In this guide, we’ll give you a better understand of:
- How strong leadership is more than just a nice-to-have
- The do’s and don’ts of engagement
- How to create a culture of engagement
- Why having no HR person is not a problem
- Whether engagement is worth investing in
Maximising benefits on a limited budget
Learn how to invest in benefits without breaking the bank, helping you retain and attract top talent by offering a good-enough package.
In this guide, we’ll run you through the reason why perks and benefits are a must-have with:
- The value of benefits in a small business
- How team development should be part of your perks
- Why making small but impactful changes can be key
- How to support your team, whatever your budget
How do you spend less time on HR admin?
Find out the ins and outs of onboarding and employee data management, and how you can automate most of it to focus on more impactful work.
What’s in store for this guide:
- Why HR is the ideal place to start when trying to save time
- How to simplify your time off management
- Ways to streamline onboarding
- How to stop worrying about compliance
- How to save money by investing in HR software instead of hiring
Getting to “yes, we’re 100% compliant as a business”
Find easy, reliable and sustainable ways to stay compliant in every situation.
In this guide, we’ll help you get to the bottom of:
- Why compliance should be your top priority
- How to approach it with confidence
- What kind of support is right for your business
- How you can achieve all of that, without the need for an HR hire
Making flexible working work for your business
Understand how to make flexible working a reality for your business, with no compromise.
In this guide, we’ll help you get to the bottom of:
- How to make flexible working work for your specific context
- The rules of flexible working
- How we do it at Charlie – successfully
HR policies made simple
Get all the guidance you need to create your first HR policies and protect your business.
In this guide, we’ll help you get to the bottom of:
- Understand the importance of HR policies
- How to create HR policies that are legally compliant
- What kind of HR policies you need depending on your business size
- How to keep up with employment law
The HR software designed for UK small businesses
Streamline your HR management, solve your HR challenges, and simplify your workload.
FAQs for HR challenges
Are these downloadables really free?
Yes! All our guides are free.
Do I need to sign up to download a guide?
You can download any guide without signing up, but we’ll send you emails related to the topic you’re interested in after your download, just so you get more resources on the topic.
If you want to sign up for a free trial to our HR software, however, you can do so here. No credit card needed, free for 7 days.
Who are these guides for?
Our guides are written for small business owners, managers, and HR professionals who want practical, expert-backed advice to tackle key HR challenges.
Will I receive more resources after downloading the guide?
After receiving these guides, you’ll get emails from us about the topic you’re interested in – this is a chance for you to learn more about solving your HR challenge, and get to know how Charlie can help you with it.
If you want more, you can also have a look at subscribing to our newsletter for weekly HR insights on a wide range of topics and industry-exclusive content.
What other HR challenges will a business face?
HR challenges can take many forms and shapes, and it’s important to make sure you’re legally compliant to tackle them. If you’re dealing with redundancies or grievances, for example, it’s likely you’ll need support.
Our blogs are here to support you for an early intro:
And you can also have a look at our HR advice service if you need professional support.
Why is it important to solve your HR challenges or questions?
HR challenges are tough. If you leave them to fester in the background, they’ll probably catch up with you.
An example of that is how spreadsheets can work short-term, but as your team grows, they quickly become overwhelming and unprofessional. That’s where it makes sense to set up processes before they become a problem. Apply this mindset to all your HR tasks, and you’ll create streamlined systems that free up headspace.
Who are we, at Charlie?
We are a small team of about 40 people based all over the UK, with headquarters in London. We know that when taking care of HR in a small business, you're not dealing with a faceless mass, you're dealing with those who work across from you. It’s not just onboarding, it’s Sarah’s first day. It’s not sending out hundreds of performance reviews, it’s Steven’s promotion. It’s not a pile of anonymous requests, it’s approving Priah's honeymoon.
Since we know all of this, and it’s part of our day-to-day, we just thought it made sense to make it our mission to make HR effortless for small businesses.
That’s done through the power and efficiency of our software, and the warmth and intuition of human expertise. You can sign up for a free trial and see for yourself how we do it here.
Who are Charlie’s customers?
Our customers are small businesses, some have grown alongside us over the years. From Patch and Mallow & Marsh to Bloom & Wild and Born Social, they’re just a glimpse of the businesses we support.
Can I apply the advice in these guides without using Charlie?
Our guides are packed with actionable advice, not just about our software and services, but real insights to help you tackle HR challenges on your own too. Of course, we do talk about our HR software and services, but they’re not the main focus.
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