“You can’t investigate yourself.” – Michelle Griffin on the HR Mistake That Can Kill a Company

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Cut The Tie Podcast with Michelle Griffin

What happens when founders try to save money by handling HR themselves and end up risking everything they built?

In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with Michelle Griffin, founder of Griffin Resources, to unpack one of the most dangerous blind spots in small and midsize businesses. HR mistakes rarely show up as problems at first. They show up later as lawsuits, failed exits, lost talent, and leadership chaos.

Michelle shares how she built a seven figure fractional HR and back office services company by solving the exact problems founders ignore until it is too late. From payroll and compliance to recruiting and SOPs, this conversation is about cutting the tie to doing everything yourself and building a business that can scale, travel, and eventually sell without blowing up.

About Michelle Griffin:
Michelle Griffin is the founder of Griffin Resources, a fractional HR, payroll, and business operations firm serving small to midsize companies across the United States. With a background in industrial organizational psychology and executive HR leadership, Michelle helps founders protect enterprise value, reduce risk, and build scalable people operations. She has built multiple businesses with her husband, all without outside investment, while working remotely and traveling internationally.

In this episode, Thomas and Michelle discuss:

• “You can’t investigate yourself”
  Why founders handling their own HR issues creates legal exposure and credibility problems.
• The hidden cost of DIY HR
  How small mistakes around payroll, classification, and documentation quietly compound.
• The 10 to 15 employee breaking point
  Why trust based hiring stops working once you grow past friends and referrals.
• HR as an investment, not a cost
  How strong people operations protect valuation and make exits cleaner.
• Fractional leadership done right
  Why most companies do not need full time HR but do need real expertise.
• Building a business that runs without you
  Cutting the tie to being the bottleneck so the company can scale.
• Why exits fail during diligence
  How missing handbooks, I-9s, and SOPs can derail acquisitions.

Key Takeaways:

• HR touches everything and the law touches HR
  Ignorance does not protect founders from consequences.
• Doing it yourself is not the same as doing it right
  Especially when emotions and power dynamics are involved.
• The earlier you build structure, the cheaper it is
  Fixing HR after problems surface costs far more.
• Scalable companies are transferable companies
  Clean processes increase value and reduce risk.
• You do not need more control, you need better systems
  Let experts handle what founders should not.

Connect with Michelle Griffin:
🌐 Website: https://griffin-resources.com/

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-griffin-phd/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: [e-mail]

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