CharlieHR hiring advice newsletter

Volume 297 12/11/2026 Hey there, Right now at Charlie, every potential hiring request gets asked the same question: do we actually need this function, for where we’re growing, right now? Not "can we afford another head on the team?" I said as much on LinkedIn a few weeks back: small businesses like ours are cutting back on hiring, and it’s tough out there. But cutting back hasn’t meant freezing, it’s meant getting stricter about the decision itself. Being careful about who you hire matters more than ever. A hiring freeze isn’t a strategy. The answer to uncertain times isn’t to hire less, it’s to only ever hire for a reason. That holds whether confidence is up or down. If a role exists because the business genuinely needs that function covered, you need to think about ways to make it happen. Easier said than done when you’re the one making the call, though — which is why I’ve asked our HR advisors to put together some practical advice on how to actually make that call well. 👇 Charlie Advice Corner Hannah Wenman HR Advisor @ CharlieHR How to make the right hiring calls on a limited budget Since the budget fell, confidence has been low on business’ front. That also impacts hiring. But what happens when you’re already hiring on a limited budget and you need to make decisions? Here's some advice on how to get it right: 1. Tie every open role to a specific need, not a feeling Complete these two sentences for each open or planned role: “We need this person because …. They will contribute to business goals by…. ” If the honest answer is “because we were growing and it felt like the right time,” that’s exactly the kind of role worth re-examining right now. 2. Think about flexibility before completely cutting the role If a role’s genuinely needed but the budget’s tight, there’s usually a middle option before “hire” or “don’t”: a fixed-term contract, a part-time arrangement, bringing in a freelancer for a defined piece of work, or delaying a start date by a month or two rather than cancelling outright. 3. If you don’t hire, be upfront about it with your team Your team will notice if there’s a hiring slowdown. It’s better to be upfront about it to avoid any unwarranted anxiety. Give a short and honest update, and keep them in the loop of what’s happening. It’s also important that, if the role was meant to alleviate someone’s workload, you have a chat with them to see how you or the team can help. 4. Revisit your decisions and keep the pipeline warm Put a date in the diary — monthly is usually enough — to go back through your decisions and see whether anything’s changed. If you’re really in need of a role and need to make a case for it, don’t start from scratch. If you started hiring before and you’ve suddenly pulled out, you might have candidates already in the pipeline ready to jump on a call. The perfect excuse to treat yourself to less HR admin Book a demo *Free gift for every demo booking Honesty is a hiring strategy: why overselling a role usually backfires Read now It then gets tempting to attract candidates by making the job seem more attractive than it is. Glossy culture, endless opportunities, none of the actual mess of being in a startup or small business where your role can encompass a lot. It's not really dishonest, it just feels like enthusiasm, or where you'd want the company to be in a few years... But what do you do when it backfires? What we've been reading British business confidence drops after Budget – The Star Ahead of the budget announcement, entrepreneurs' expectations for business revenue increased from 21 in September to 28 in October, the highest level since July 2024. But the figure plummeted to 8 after the budget release, marking its lowest level since December 2025, the IoD said. Read more Thanks for reading, Ben Branson-Gateley CEO and Co-founder of CharlieHR Want to share this with a friend or coworker? Want to read more of our content? Explore our Linkedin and find art