Five Ways an Outsourced HR Consultant Will Benefit Your Company’s Bottom Line
Many companies today do not currently have a full-time Human Resources (HR) professional on their team. Some businesses may be starting up and are not yet ready to hire a full-time HR professional. Other businesses may have recently experienced turnover in their HR team and are looking for interim help until the positions can be filled.
HR consultants are outside HR specialists who work with businesses to resolve this gap and provide support related to a broad spectrum of HR-related tasks. HR consultants can be engaged to work on an hourly, per-diem basis or on a contract basis to provide interim or long-term support by way of HR expertise.
Whatever your situation and whichever engagement arrangement, there are numerous benefits to bringing on an outside HR professional to help manage your business’ many HR needs. An outsourced HR consultant can directly benefit your company’s bottom line by:
1. Removing the burden of HR from your leadership team
When a company is starting up and has not yet reached the threshold to support a dedicated HR professional or there are talent gaps within an HR department, the many responsibilities of HR are typically divided amongst an already stretched thin leadership team. With different people handling the many different HR responsibilities, such as talent acquisition, documentation, compliance, risk management, orientation, training and conflict resolution, the HR process quickly becomes unorganized, inconsistent and inefficient – much to the detriment of your business and your employees. Plus, every minute that a manager spends on HR responsibilities is a minute they could have spent focusing on growing the business or mentoring their team.
Hiring an outsourced HR consultant can remove that extra burden from your executives, allowing you to focus on your areas of expertise, while also ensuring that your HR process is streamlined, cohesive and strategic in the hands of a seasoned strategic, HR partner.
2. Setting up your company to strategize for growth
HR consultants can also be a crucial partner in helping you achieve your goals for growth. For example, you likely have set goals for increasing revenue and have strategized tactics for increasing your sales or number of clients. To accomplish those business development goals, your team must be accurately staffed, experienced and trained to sell your products and services and push that bottom line.
As discussed in further detail below, an HR consultant can help you grow and retain a quality internal team which, in turn, can help you grow the number of clients or customers that you serve.
3. Helping you recruit excellent individuals that are a good match with your company culture
A great HR consultant will not hire just any candidate to help you meet your goals for growth. He or she will tirelessly search for the most qualified individuals available, and will aim to make the right hires the first time to minimize your cost-per-hire.
Talent acquisition is a time-consuming responsibility that involves developing job descriptions, researching and posting those job descriptions on dozens of job boards, and sifting through potentially hundreds of resumes – half of which may be unqualified or overqualified for the job. Then, scheduling and conducting interviews, performing background and reference checks and finally negotiating the job offer.
HR consultants know that experience isn’t the only factor in determining a great hire for a company. While a candidate may possess the background and qualifications required for the job, he or she may not be a great fit with your company’s culture. An HR consultant will work with you to learn your company’s mission, vision and core values, and then ask the right questions in the interview to ensure your new hires all embody your company culture.
In short, recruiting is a critical and very intensive process that warrants having a dedicated and experienced team member at the helm.
4. Retaining your employees by developing and executing strategies to make your company a great place to work
An HR consultant’s job is to not only hire the right individuals, but to retain them by making the company a great place to work. HR consultants have many years of experience in employee relations and can provide guidance as you continually develop your company’s big-picture HR strategy.
Once your HR strategy is in place, your HR consultant can then oversee the many different HR functions that will contribute to your plan’s success. He or she will be well versed in administering any HR-related tasks, such as:
- Payroll and benefit administration
- Best practices for employee retention
- Conflict resolution
- Compensation and benefit plan consulting
- Implementing wellness programs and other employee focused initiatives
- Orientation and ongoing training
- Personnel file maintenance and FMLA record keeping
- Guidance on what should be included in a personnel manual
HR consultants can also help create new or improve existing internal policies such as tracking paid time off, improving your performance review system, assisting with processes for granting bonuses and promotions, etc.
Since all of these responsibilities are well within your consultant’s wheelhouse, you will enjoy the benefit of working with a trained professional while also saving the expense of paying the salary and benefits of a full-time employee to handle personnel functions.
5. Helping you stay legally compliant and navigate litigation issues
When we think about HR, we often think about the recruiting and employee relations side of the field. However, an equally important responsibility of HR is to protect the company from legal challenges through risk mitigation.
One aspect of this is ensuring that you are compliant with state and federal regulations, such as FMLA, Title VII and EEO. This is especially pertinent as we all navigate the numerous state and federal programs that provide relief from COVID-19, such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), hazard pay grants and other funding opportunities that are tied to things like payroll, employee leave time and employing those who serve in life-sustaining occupations.
The other piece is to protect against the risk of litigation, such as being sued for wrongful termination or an employee bringing a sexual harassment action against your company. Your HR consultant is specially trained to mediate workplace conflict and ideally resolve any disputes before they become lawsuits. Your HR consultant can also investigate any formal or informal complaints filed by current or past employees. With an outsourced HR professional, the investigation will be conducted by an external party, further preserving its integrity from bias.
In the event you are faced with a grievance, your HR consultant will work alongside you and your attorney to effectively navigate any pending litigation with the least amount of harm to your bottom line and your reputation.
Having an experienced and dedicated HR professional on your team will remove the burden of HR from your executive team, help set up your company for growth, help you recruit and retain excellent talent, foster more engaged employees and develop internal policies while helping to mitigate grievances.
Have you decided that you would like to work with an experienced outsourced HR professional? Contact the BSSF HR Consulting Practice Team today! We look forward to speaking with you!
Disclaimer: Information provided by Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz (BSSF) as part of this blog post is intended for reference and information only. As the information is designed solely to provide guidance, and is not intended to be a substitute for someone seeking personalized professional advice based on specific factual situations, responding to such inquiries does NOT create a professional relationship between BSSF and the reader and should not be interpreted as such.
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