I think most CEO’s are like the one I met a few years back.  When
I asked several personnel / HR-related questions, it became apparent
that the CEO knew almost nothing about that aspect of her company.  “I have much more important things to do than worry about that sort of thing,” she stated.

 It’s an almost defiant justification.  In many ways, HR-related issues are far from fun.  Certainly there’s no glory in them.  On
the other hand, however, they can have a tremendous impact on your
business – either for the good or for the bad, depending on how you
handle them.

 The company I’m talking about in this
situation was drowning in worker’s compensation increases, and they
were facing a significant sexual harassment lawsuit.  There
was no employee handbook, no formal training program for new employees,
no training for management personnel on harassment issues, nothing.

 Yes, they “had a person responsible for that.”  But
that person didn’t get the job done (presumably from lack of senior
management support), and the senior managers had no idea they had such
a big problem (almost certainly from not involving themselves.)

 If you’re going to be wise about keeping
yourself out of trouble with the labor-relations people (and the
government) you need to have an HR person and you need to let them do
their job.  You won’t see direct income from their efforts.  The things
they do will show up in costs you never incurred.  This is money
well-spent, even for medium and smaller business. 

If you really “can’t afford” an HR person, you
will need to do those tasks yourself.  And don’t fool yourself into
thinking they’re not important. If left unattended, these costs can
break your business.  Consider yourself warned.