At twenty people a wrong hire takes a far larger share of your week than of your headcount. You carry the work they are not doing, the ramp you already paid for walks out with them, and the team sees it long before you say anything.
Average turnover of 15% is three departures a year at twenty staff, and output runs about 53% higher a year after a hire, so an early exit costs you the ramp twice.
Source: AHRI, Quarterly Australian Work Outlook, December quarter 2025
A small team cannot absorb a vacancy quietly. Someone covers, then someone else covers, and the work that was going to pay for the hire is the work that stops getting done.
41% of recruiting employers could not fill a vacancy within a month, and 44% reported difficulty hiring at all.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Insights Report, June 2026
When one person writes the ad, screens the applications, runs every interview and then manages the person, their judgement is the entire system. There is no second read, and no way to tell a good call from a lucky one.
Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in engagement between teams, and at twenty staff that manager is you.
Induction happens over a coffee and a walk around the floor. Six months later nobody can show what the person was told, what they were trained on, or who signed it off.
146,700 serious workers' compensation claims in 2023 to 2024, each one involving at least a week of lost working time.
Source: Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025
Do what you must do, but investing in Compono was a smart move for us.
JB Danga, Director, Hall Chadwick Brisbane
80 staff, 14 people leaders, on Compono since 2017
Tell us the roles you are about to open and who they will work alongside. We will show you how the ranking works and what it costs at your size, and say so if a job board is all you need.
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