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This Blog was written by Lucy Reed – lucy_reed@gigmine.co

Even if you already have a strong team, bringing in a human resources consultant or coach has many benefits. Among these are an improved recruitment process, the potential to write clearer and more relevant disciplinary policies, and to help you make sure that you are providing the right benefits. SERP presents the following guide to help you get started.

What Is HR Consulting?

HR consulting is the process of bringing in an outside party to help your business establish, maintain, and manage human resources functions. Contrary to popular belief, your human resources department does not exist solely to handle layoffs and violations. Instead, your HR department is responsible for everything from helping you onboard the right candidates to ensuring that your company remains compliant with local, national, and industry laws and guidelines.

Finding an HR Consultant

It’s difficult to say with confidence how many permanent HR employees a given company needs, but the median number of HR personnel to other employees for UK firms is 63 to 1. Regardless of how many your firm has, if you don’t have time to sift through profiles and screen for skills, you can hire a recruiting agency to connect you with top-tier HR consultants to help you and your team with the specific challenges you all face. Then you can leverage their outside expertise to confront your needs.

How HR Consulting Can Help

When you run a business, your human capital, which consists of the people that work for you, is your greatest asset. With the right tools, including HR software, a payment processing system, and other technology, your HR coaching professional can help your team:

• Refine the hiring process—Hiring new employees is a tricky business. There are many laws that you must follow to ensure that your hiring practices are not discriminatory. From GOV.UK, these include not inquiring about protected characteristics, relationship status, or children. Your HR consultant can help you identify areas of your hiring process that might need attention based on national guidelines.

• Improve disciplinary guidelines—Your company’s disciplinary action should be consistent across all departments and with all employees, regardless of personal relationships. Your human resources consultant can help you understand appropriate disciplinary actions as well as when termination or demotion are most appropriate.

• Engage employees with benefits—It’s no surprise that certain jobs and industries experience a high turnover ratio. Low pay, unfavorable working conditions, and the widespread availability of other jobs all contribute to employee turnover. Unfortunately, this is expensive and can cost your company exponentially. A human resources consultant can help you identify turnover factors and create a compensation package that includes benefits that will keep your employees happy.

• Update workplace policies—If your company is still working on policies written more than a few years ago, it’s time to revise. Today, you might include guidelines on when remote work is possible, new rules regarding workplace safety (The Health and Safety Executive has a wealth of resources you can use on this topic), and restrictions and regulations centered around the pandemic.

• Streamline the record-keeping process—You are required by law to maintain certain types of records. These include job evaluations, merit systems, wages, and other employment records. Your HR coach can help your internal human resources department keep these organized and accessible on your internal servers or your cloud storage system.

When your human resources department is fully equipped with technology and information, your entire organization benefits. Not only will your HR personnel help spur career growth for your employees, but they can also help you identify support and training programs that will boost your business internally. The human resources department will also play a role in the health and wellness of all employees and, to some degree, their families.

If human resources is not your area of expertise, you’ve noticed issues with your employees in recent months, or if you do not have HR processes in place, a consultant can help. Remember, your human resources department is exactly that, a group that provides resources, benefits, and information to human assets. The people that handle this aspect of your business must be fully versed in local laws, customs, and best practices to create the most stable and meaningful work environment possible for your employees.

This article is brought to you by SERP, a full service digital marketing agency that helps business owners grow their businesses without having to worry about marketing. For more information, visit us today!