Hazel has just knocked the 2025 calendar off the desk. Again, which honestly feels like the most accurate summary of the year. Because if you run a small business, you don't get a neat little end-of-year moment where everything wraps up nicely and you sit there feeling smug. You get half-finished performance issues, rotor chaos, people off sick, and that one policy you promised yourself you'd sort in March. Still sat there quietly judging you. So today isn't a heavy HR Law episode. There will be no legislation quotes, no scary tribunal chat for the sake of it, and no five things you must do before midnight list. This is a proper reset. Not the Pinterest kind, the real one. What actually worked for small businesses in 2025, what quietly caused the most grief, what I'm absolutely not dragging into 2026, and the few HR moves that will genuinely make next year easier. Kettle on, cake optional. And if you've already overdone the chocolate logs or the Christmas cake, I won't judge. I'm right there with you. If anything, I'm slightly impressed you can still look at a dessert without needing a lie down. Right, let's get into it. A quick reality check before we start. First, I want to say something that needs saying out loud. If you're a small business owner or manager and you've made it to the end of 2025 with your sanity mostly intact, that is not nothing. You've kept people paid, you've kept customers happy, you've kept the wheels on, and you've probably done half of it while dealing with sick cover, last-minute resignations, and someone messaging you on a Sunday night about a quick question that is never quick. So if you're sitting there thinking, I didn't do enough this year, I want you to park that for a second. Most SMEs didn't have a quiet year. They had a year of constant decision making, with a side of how much is this going to cost me and am I even allowed to do that? What actually worked in 2025? Now, what actually worked in 2025? The businesses that coped best weren't the ones with perfect policies or shiny systems. They were the ones that got clear. Clear expectations, clear boundaries, clear conversations. And I know that sounds boring, but boring is underrated when you're trying to run a business. Clarity is the thing that stops problems from turning into drama. Can I performance manage someone without them claiming stress or discrimination? Yes, you can. But only if you deal with performance early, not when you're already fed up and ready to launch their laptop into the solent. Most performance problems don't become messy because the employer spoke up. They become messy because the issue was ignored for months. Everyone quietly moaned about it. And then someone panics and tries to fix it in one big dramatic meeting. That's when people feel attacked, blindsided, and unfairly treated. That's when you get the this is affecting my mental health email at 10 pm. The businesses that tackled things early and calmly had a much easier time. Not because they were harsh, because they were consistent. Onboarding. Stop chucking someone a laptop and hoping for the best. Onboarding was another big one that genuinely helped businesses this year. The ones that stopped treating onboarding as here's your laptop, good luck, kept people for longer. New starters who feel supported early don't need rescuing later. It's that simple. If you're wondering why people leave quickly, look at the first two weeks. Are they set up properly? Do they know what success looks like? Do they know who to ask? Do they feel like a burden? Or do they feel like someone actually wanted them there? Onboarding is culture in action. It's also retention in action. And it's one of the easiest things to improve without spending a fortune. Flexibility in 2025. What worked and what didn't. Flexibility can be brilliant. I'm all for it. But what doesn't work is vibes-based flexibility. Different rules for different people. No written agreement. No shared understanding. Everyone quietly annoyed, but nobody wanting to say anything. One person is allowed to start at ten. Another person gets side-eyed for leaving at four. Someone is hybrid, but no one knows what that means. And then you get the resentment. And resentment is like mould. It spreads quietly everywhere. Can I say no to flexible working without looking like the bad guy? Yes, you're running a business, not a lifestyle club. But you do need a business reason. Not I don't like it or it feels unfair. Real reasons. Like customer demand, coverage, supervision, teamwork, performance, training, service levels, and you need to be consistent. Because what kills trust isn't the no. It's the random yes for one person and a no for someone else with no explanation. The SMEs that handle flexibility well treated it like a business decision, not a favour. They agreed it properly. They wrote it down. They reviewed it. They didn't let it drift. What didn't work in 2025? Avoidance and HR by Google. Now, where things quietly went wrong this year was avoidance. Putting off conversations because it felt kinder. Letting behavior slide because someone was having a hard time. Ignoring sickness patterns because you didn't want to look unsympathetic. Or because you didn't want to look like you were accusing someone. But here's the truth. Avoidance doesn't protect anyone, it just delays the fallout and makes it more expensive. They're not doing a bad job. But they're not really doing a good one either. What do I do? This one drains small businesses dry. If someone is permanently fine, they're probably not fine. You don't need a dramatic process. You need an honest conversation about expectations and impact. And yes, it is okay to say this isn't enough anymore. The issues you're carrying into 2026, whether you like it or not. Here's the truth: most people don't love hearing. The problems that will bite in 2026 are already in your business. The underperformer. Everyone is quietly working around. The role that's never really been defined. The manager who's brilliant technically, but dreadful with people. The sickness pattern that's probably fine. The flexible arrangement nobody quite understands anymore. They're off sick again. When does it become an issue? When it starts affecting work, other people, surface levels, or decision making. Sickness isn't a moral issue, it's a management one. You can be compassionate and still address the impact. It's not either or. The practical reset if you do nothing else before January. If you're listening to this thinking, okay Kate, but what do I actually do next? Here's what I want you to do before January really kicks off. Step one, write down the three people decisions you're avoiding. Not policies, not paperwork. The conversations you don't want to have. It might be the underperformer you're managing around. It might be the manager who's causing half the team to walk on eggshells. It might be the flexible working arrangement that's quietly causing resentment. It might be the sickness pattern you keep ignoring. If it's still on your mind, at the end of December, it's already overdue. Step two. Look at patterns, not individual incidents. Sickness. Behaviour. Don't jump to conclusions, but don't ignore patterns either. Step three. Pick one thing to make clearer in January. One role. One expectation. One process. Clarity beats motivation every time. Hazel has lifted her head, looked at me and gone straight back to sleep. Which tells me this advice is boring but effective. Fear of tribunals, why doing nothing is often riskier? Another question I heard constantly this year was, I'm scared to deal with this because I don't want a tribunal. Here's the honest answer. Doing nothing is often riskier than doing something properly. Most tribunals don't happen because employers acted reasonably and early. They happened because issues were ignored, handled inconsistently, or dealt with emotionally when someone finally snapped. Good HR reduces risk. Avoidance increases it. Season two. What we're doing differently in twenty twenty six. Season two is where we get properly practical. Hiring decisions that don't come back to bite you. Keeping good people without overpromising. Managing sickness before it spirals. Dealing with performance issues that have been ongoing for far too long. And yes, we'll talk about employment law changes too, calmly, practically, without scaremongering. Do I need to fix everything before the new employment rights changes? No, please don't. You need to understand what affects your business and prioritize. Not rewrite the handbook in a panic. Right. That's the reset. If you're sitting there thinking I should have done more this year, I'm gonna stop you. Most small business owners I work with have spent 2,025 spinning plates with one hand and putting out fires with the other. You've kept people paid. You've kept the business running. You've absorbed the stress so your team didn't have to. That counts. But 2026 needs a bit more structure and a lot less survival mode. You don't need to fix everything in January. But you do need to stop letting the same problems rent space in your business for free. If you want help turning your 2026 HR plan into something realistic, book a call. We'll cut through the noise, work out what actually matters, and build a plan you can stick to. Now, Hazel and I are off for a walk. Cake optional, especially if you're still recovering from Christmas pudding. And if you've got leftover chocolate log in the fridge, I'm not saying you should have it for breakfast, but I'm also not saying you shouldn't. See you in season two.