Albany HR: helping businesses succeed through their people

“One of the things I love about being in Human Resources (HR) - and I’ve been working in it for 30 years - is the impact that great people-management can have on the success of running a business,” says Kathleen McAdams, Founder and Managing Director of Albany HR.

Kathleen started Albany HR in 2017, determined to create a unique HR consultancy. “I set up the company so that I could give small businesses the HR experience and support that larger businesses have,” she says. “Ultimately, we’re helping businesses succeed through their people.”

Albany HR is the latest business featured in FreeAgent’s Making It Count interview series. Through Making It Count, we champion independent businesses - and the brilliant people behind them - by sharing their inspiring stories. Albany HR is one of over 200,000 businesses who use FreeAgent’s accounting software to lighten the load of their accounting admin.

Going it alone is daunting for most new business owners and Kathleen says she was no different. “When I first started out I was full of doubt about all the things I didn’t know. But over time I’ve learned to trust in my own abilities,” she explains.

If she could go back, she’d have some solid advice for that earlier version of herself: “I would tell myself to be confident - remember all the things you do know, because that gives you a level of confidence in your abilities.”

‘I love seeing people develop’

As Albany HR has grown, so has their team. Today, they’re a core team of four with a group of consultants who work with them regularly.

“One of the most daunting aspects [of being a business owner] is taking on your first employee,” admits Kathleen.

FreeAgent gave her the tools she needed to manage her new responsibilities. “One of the brilliant things I found about FreeAgent, when I took on my first employee, was the ability to manage payroll. It made it all super easy and meant that I was confident that the person was being paid correctly and that taxes were being calculated correctly. It was very easy and transparent for me as an employer,” she says.

Kathleen puts a lot of weight on input from her team. They work together to plan and share ideas for how to achieve their goals and grow as a business. That openness energises the team and ensures everyone has a part to play in Albany HR’s success.

“I love seeing people develop,” she says. “I love saying, ‘This is what I want to achieve, but you tell me how we’re going to do it.’ I think people work best when they’ve got autonomy and have a level of control.

“I want them to tell me how they can best do their jobs, how they can be most efficient and how they can deliver the best standard of service.”

The wisdom of that approach shows in the quality of work and care they offer their clients. “That’s something that differentiates us [from other consultancies]. We have consultants with really broad backgrounds and individual specialisms. We look for them to have a higher level of not just depth and practical experience, but also that they’re continuously learning,” says Kathleen.

Finding supportive communities

Learning is a key pillar for the Albany HR team. Kathleen emphasises that there are no silly questions. “Essentially, every day’s a school day,” she explains. “Continuous development, continuous improvement, continuous learning, that’s another big feature for us.”

In pursuit of that goal, Kathleen leads by example - by expanding her skills and experiences outside HR. She is part of the RBS Accelerator Programme, a thriving community for entrepreneurs that provides a range of support for them to grow their businesses.

“It’s been a great benefit in helping with the growth of my company. It has helped me to create an infrastructure within my business,” says Kathleen. “Learning, bringing in experts, panel discussions - it’s all added up to a great experience.”

She also loves being part of a community of business owners and entrepreneurs. “It’s fantastic to have people who can be a sounding board and who understand the challenges that I’m facing. It’s also been great for advice, there’s generally a lot of peer support.”

Accelerator is not the only supportive community that has had an impact for Kathleen. She has also found like-minded women as part of egg, a community for female entrepreneurs and business owners that connects women across Edinburgh online and at in-person events.

“I’ve come away with some really interesting tidbits [from the events I’ve attended],” says Kathleen. Featuring in the egg directory, Albany HR has been favoured with fantastic five-star reviews from clients.

‘You have to accept that you’re not always going to get it right’

As a leader, Kathleen regularly makes one-to-one time for her team and encourages them to reflect and share feedback about the role she’s playing in their day-to-day work life. “In order for people to do their best work, they need to feel trusted, valued and comfortable. So they should feel free to tell me if there’s anything more I can do to support them,” she says.

“It’s hard sometimes to hear someone tell you that you’ve not quite got it right when you’re trying really hard - but I think as managers, you have to accept that you’re not always going to get it right. You also can’t be better or improve unless somebody gives you feedback.”

‘I’m all about time saving and efficiency’

To find space for her team, Kathleen has had to make time-savings elsewhere. One place where that has been possible is in her accounts. When she first set up the business, she managed her accounts on spreadsheets and Word docs - then handed a big paper file to her accountants, at the end of the year.

As someone who is “all about time-saving and efficiency”, when Kathleen was offered FreeAgent’s accounting software for free with her Royal Bank of Scotland business banking account, it was a no-brainer. The decision immediately freed up that valuable time she needed to focus on the things that really matter: her team and the work they do together.

If you take the time to recognise people for their efforts, Kathleen believes, they feel valued. And if they feel valued, that’s when you succeed - as a team.