There are many different reasons why the companies I work with use outsourced HR support. Most are looking for someone to lead the way when it comes to employee relations, or to explain and run processes that they have no experience of themselves. Others simply don’t have budget for an in-house HR specialist, but appreciate the comfort of having someone they can call upon to provide HR expertise as and when they need it.
In my experience, when you are a business owner or leader, you are in that position because you’re good at your job. You might not necessarily have any experience of employee relations, restructures, redundancies, ill health absence cases. And yet the implications if these situations are handled outside of law and best-practice can be catastrophic in terms of costs and reputation. ET compensation cases can have an unlimited financial cap, and in these difficult times the threat of the employment tribunal costs loom heavy over businesses already struggling to cope. When you’re busy anyway, the resource needed to deal with HR-related tasks can feel too much; by engaging a HR Consultancy, many of the pressures associated with having employees can be massively reduced.
There are some well-known brands in the HR out-sourcing field, and the majority of my clients have used these suppliers in the past. But then, they come to me and together we build a long-term working relationship. Why do they come to me? The bigger companies don’t offer the personal service that a smaller, boutique HR Consultancy can. I want to get to know you, I want to understand your business and unpick what your plans are this month, this year, and I want to help you get the most out of your staff. I also want to be there to protect you from risk if your business dictates that change needs to happen and you’re not sure where to start. When you begin your Pathway Partner relationship the focus is entirely on that; I will be your HR partner, there to guide you through and find a way to whatever it is you’re looking to achieve.
If you’re looking for HR resource, we can work together in a couple of ways:
1. By signing up to a monthly retainer, you then become a “Pathway Partner” with unlimited access to a telephone-based HR resource.
This is helpful for businesses who want the peace of mind which comes from signing up to a fixed-fee service, with the ability to then “bolt-on” additional services as and when the need arises at a discounted cost.
Included in this service is a full audit of your existing HR-related documents, policies and procedures plus a monthly face-to-face meeting to discuss your business, your challenges and ways to resolve your current “live” employee relations cases. This monthly catch-up is so important; it’s the key to getting to know the culture and personalities within your business and to tailoring advice to fit your business and what you need to achieve.
With this offer clients typically save 62% on their previous HR expenditure and 100% of clients would rate our services as “Excellent – would recommend”.
2. For large-scale projects, such as restructures, disciplinary investigations or employment tribunal support, we work on a project-specific model.
This level of support can either be as an addition to an existing HR Department, or helpful for those businesses without an internal HR resource who want to progress with a project but don’t have the resource, or the legal grounding, to do this safely. Initially we meet to discuss your plans and ideals and together we work out the best pathway for you and your business. Then you use me as little or as much as you need. I can plan your projects, provide all the template documents and meeting plans and be there in-case you need more help, or I can run the full process for you from start-finish. This really depends on what you and your business need.
With this option, specifically focusing on change management processes, clients typically see a 3000% ROI from their Pathway Partner costs vs. their annual savings as a result of the programme.
My focus for the New Year is to continue to help my clients respond to the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on their business. We’ll be restructuring, making redundancies, reviewing terms and conditions and TUPE-ing in and out staff due to business acquisitions. Some clients have seen a huge upsurge in demand as a result of the pandemic, so for those we will be working on talent-attraction and retention strategies, improving employee engagement and experience and developing values and behaviours for their teams to really hone their employee brand.
Whether you have a current crisis you’d like some guidance with, or you’re muting long-term plans and want to better understand your options, please do get in touch. It would be great to work with you this year.
