Although some might revel in the fact that they had paid their dues and risen through the ranks to a supervisory position, King says she lost the part of the job she loved the most-being hands on and doing, rather than simply supervising.

"I wasn’t being as creative as I liked," she recalls. She missed working on the big picture and the feeling of ownership she had when the organization was smaller.

"When you’re in a larger HR office, no matter how you’re structured, you see only a piece of it," she says. "Here [at Sweet Briar College] I’m able to get a picture of the whole organization."

While others in the field cite similar benefits to being an organization’s lone HR practitioner, not everyone is enamored with the prospect of being a department of one. Talk to enough HR professionals who’ve been there and you’ll discover that flying solo isn’t for everyone. But is it right for you? And how can you tell, without making the leap yourself?

The Wide Blue Yonder

John Jorgenson taps into a common theme when he explains why he enjoys being the lone HR practitioner at Anchor Bolt & Screw in Melrose Park, Ill. Having worked at both small and large companies, he likes the fact that he can make a difference at smaller firms. "It’s easier to be a change agent in a small company," he says. "You can see the results of your efforts more immediately than you can in a large organization."

He adds that small firms are "a great place to use everything you’ve learned-to be a generalist."

Nina Drake agrees that flying solo offers special opportunities. "Most of the time, being a solo practitioner allows you to really create something exciting," she says. "When it’s a sole practitioner situation, companies don’t necessarily know what they need-but they know they need some help in the HR arena. That usually means you start with a clean slate. Or, if it already exists, it gives you an opportunity to implement some of your own philosophies."

Drake, an SPHR and former sole practitioner, knows what she’s talking about: She not only taught a class on how to set up an HR department, she also authored an SHRM white paper titled "Setting up an HR Department in a Small Company". She is currently the vice president of marketing and HR at Nevada Federal Credit Union in Las Vegas.

Lynn Unsworth, SPHR, is also a former sole practitioner; like Drake and Jorgenson, her comments suggest that those who like working on a broad, blank palette will appreciate being sole practitioners. "You can create a function and you can be creative," she says. "When there has previously been no department in place there are no expectations. You can basically begin from ground zero and establish programs and policies that make sense for that company. I see that as a real advantage."

The Downdrafts

While Unsworth-who now works as the president of HR Connection, a consulting firm in Burlington, N.C.-says there are "real advantages" to operating alone, she also admits that "it’s a lot of work."

And that may be the biggest challenge facing many sole practitioners. For every HR professional who says, "I love it," there is at least one other who says, "It’s too overwhelming!" Many have fallen prey to the taxing demands of operating an HR department alone. Some who tried flying solo ended up crashing.

The pace for solo HR practitioners can be frenetic, and burnout is not uncommon. Just ask Debra Cohen, who recently left a position as a sole HR practitioner at a 220-employee nursing home. The job came with a "to do" list that was overwhelming and included tasks ranging from "destroying 25 years of useless paper" to "reviewing benefits and hiring practices."

After about two-and-a-half years with the company, she came to some discouraging conclusions. "I found that, no matter what I did, it was often overlooked because management did not see a direct dollar savings," she says. "I was a little burned out when I left the company about five months ago." Cohen now serves as a consultant with The Human Resource Group in Atlanta.

Cathy Hampton also knows the pitfalls of being a solo practitioner. She is the director of HR at ALTA Systems Inc., a computer consulting firm in Vienna, Va.-a position vacated by three previous unsuccessful solo practitioners.

Hampton, however, hopes to have better luck. After one-and-a-half years with the firm, she is beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel."It’s been tough and it’s been slow," she admits, "but we’re actually making progress."

One of the challenges facing Hampton has been raising the level of respect for the profession within her company-a tough job because she seems to have started with a handicap. She explains that HR was the last function formally developed in the organization and reasons that "if it’s the last process to be developed in the organization, then it’s obviously got the least amount of respect among the owners. If you want respect, you have to earn it. I think I am, slowly, but it’s going to be a very long process."

Earning the respect of employees can also be a painstaking process. Brenda Rohlfing, PHR, knows first hand. Rohlfing, human resource assistant for Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America (CSFA), a national, non-profit organization based in St. Peter, Minn., that employs 85 people, has been with the organization for three years. After all that time, she says, "employees are just beginning to see the value of the human resource function." Many employees initially viewed HR as the place where payroll is processed and resumes are received, she says. She has been able to enhance the role of the HR function with support from upper management-which she says is "critical."

A Pre-flight Checklist

Those who have "been there" have a great deal of wisdom to offer others who are thinking about flying out on their own or who may be struggling in a solo environment. The advice of these practitioners is not only insightful, it is also surprisingly consistent.

Align your plans with the company’s needs. It’s counterproductive to attempt to develop, modify or even maintain an HR function without a clear understanding of an organization’s business priorities. As a result, the first step for a sole practitioner is to determine the lay of the land.

"Find out what’s currently in place, who is doing what, why they’re doing it and what the business plan for the company is," Drake advises. "Find out where the company wants to go with its human resources. What is the business direction?"

She says the biggest mistake HR professionals make is not looking at what "businesses are trying to do and how we can help them do it." Drake admits to making that mistake herself. "The CEO wanted me to do a compensation study," she recalls. "I went forward and put this great proposal together." The result was not what management expected. The CEO took the proposal into a management meeting and "kind of got slam dunked."

Jorgenson says that solo practitioners "need to find out what the [company is] currently doing and see how that matches or doesn’t match the proper way to do HR work." A good place to start is by reviewing the existing state of HR affairs and, based on that, developing a plan to structure the department-and the workload-to meet the company’s needs.

Prioritize and set goals based upon the needs of the organization, Rohlfing advises. "Of foremost concern is, of course, being in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local employment laws. The other items-training, career planning, etc.-fall into place after that."

Get buy-in from managers at all levels. King successfully set her direction at Sweet Briar because she talked to the organization’s senior staff. She advises others to do the same. "Identify the key players, interview them and find out what their priorities are," she says.

Janet Tunney Peck, SPHR, director of human resources at EWP Engineering in Salt Lake City, Utah, also found that getting on the same page as senior managers worked to good effect. "I spent a lot of time over the last year and a half ensuring senior management support for policy and procedure changes, and making sure the business reasons for any policy were completely communicated to everyone the policy affected," she says.

That’s an uphill battle for a large HR department, so you can imagine how much work it is for one person to secure support in every corner of the organization.

In addition to upper management, HR should spend time with representatives from every area of the company. These are its internal customers, and HR should have an idea of what they perceive to be the needs of the organization and of their specific departments.

"Don’t ever forget your fellow managers and especially those front-line supervisors," says Raymond Presley, director of human resources for Nutritional Support Systems in Knoxville, Tenn. "Front-line supervisors play a huge part in the success or failure of human resources in most types of environments."

Manage change. You will probably want to implement changes, but change is difficult for most people to deal with-even when it is positive. A natural aversion to change, coupled with the unique political environment of any organization, can mean additional stress for solo practitioners.

For example, suppose you are poised to implement your plan, which includes screening all resumes. But the receptionist in charge of screening resumes for the past 15 years becomes resistant to giving up that role. Whether it’s simply a matter of changing habits or paranoia about losing authority, this is a common situation that demands attention.

"There’s some education that HR needs to do about what it is that HR does," Unsworth says. "It’s important to build credibility with people who have been there for a period of time and have been performing those roles." The best way to achieve credibility is to explain why the function needs to be folded into the HR person’s responsibilities.

Remain flexible. You can’t do everything yourself, so consider all your options. If your plate is extremely full, and there’s no way you can possibly handle all the HR tasks yourself, you may want to enlist the support of other people.

Such a strategy worked to King’s advantage at Sweet Briar and helped her decentralize some functions and keep her responsibilities manageable while allowing others to play a role in the HR process.

Allowing others to help out in tactical ways also gives you the opportunity to be strategic. As Drake points out, "too often HR practitioners do what the company directs them to do, getting wrapped up in the paperwork and the technical side of the business. They don’t step back to say, ‘OK, how can I really help my business grow or develop?’ because they’re so lost in the minutiae."

Outsource. In addition to relying on support from others within your organization, outsourcing can help you leverage expertise. It also gets the message across that you shouldn’t be expected to do everything yourself.

"Enlist support from other departments or outside vendors early on so the company does not think you can absorb all of the work," says Anne Anderson, HR director and solo HR professional at Crossroads Capital Partners LLC in Irvine, Calif. "Select vendors, such as benefit brokers and benefit carriers, who will support you administratively. Hire temps to do paperwork periodically. Keep the company on notice that you are not a clerk."

Rohlfing agrees. "You have to analyze how much you can handle yourself and how much can be outsourced to third-party administrators or vendors. For example, CSFA outsources the payroll function. It allows me to work on other projects and avoids the administrative headache of having to keep up with the payroll laws in 12 different states."

At a minimum, if your organization doesn’t have on-staff legal counsel you will want to enlist the services of a capable employment law attorney. "You can save your company lots of money by spending not very much money to have questions answered in a preventive mode, before big problems blossom," Anderson says.

Take advantage of technology. Flying solo may be easier today because of the advancement of technology and the proliferation of HR technology solutions. Solo practitioners would be wise to take advantage of automation as much as possible.

Software packages allow you to manage databases and streamline countless activities. Intranet applications allow you to put important information online so employees can "serve themselves" when looking for information on benefits, policies, etc.

"Make the most of the technology available in the market and be thinking of ways to take it one step further," Rohlfing advises. "If you have information in your computer that you need [elsewhere], is there a way to convert it to another format? Can it interact with other software?"

Anderson has found technology to be a resource saver. "The help from automation is truly enormous," she says. "From resume tracking through HRIS and COBRA, there is a lot available today-even for a small company."

Be realistic. Drake recalls an expression her mother used that provides a fitting lesson for those flying solo. "How do you eat an elephant?" she asks.

The answer: "One bite at a time."

You can’t do it all yourself-nor should you expect to. The key is to remember that you are responsible for seeing that the critical human resource issues in your organization are managed effectively. That doesn’t mean that you, personally, need to review every resume or process each employee’s time card.

Solo veterans say a rookie soloist will find that the job includes an insurmountable list of tasks and will slowly learn that one person can’t possibly do it all. But employees may never realize that, they caution. "One of the drawbacks is that, especially in a new operation, people may not have reasonable expectations about what a single HR person can do," says King.

What’s the solution? "Pace yourself," says Peck. "You can put in horrendous hours, but all you’ll do is burn yourself out. If they managed without you before, the company can manage with you working a smart and solid 40 hours a week."