3 Reasons Your Business Needs an HR Consultant

Pop quiz: What is the most important factor in determining whether a business will succeed or fail? According to experts and research, the answer is people. Not clients or customers, though those people are certainly important too; no, the most critical people for a business’s success are its employees and contractors. Whether your company is large or small, a startup or an established household name, your workers are your business’s most valuable resource. If you’re not investing in making sure your company’s human resources tasks are handled effectively, you could be inadvertently sabotaging your entire operation.

If your business is on the small side, you likely can’t afford to staff a full HR department, and yet you also can’t afford to allow HR problems to stifle your growth. If your business is larger, with more complicated HR issues, you may not even realize how much money or productivity your business is losing due to inefficient or outdated HR practices. In either situation, an HR consultant could be the ideal solution. Read on for three ways HR consultants can benefit any business.

1. Recruiting

Helping to recruit new employees is among the most common tasks that HR consultants provide for businesses of all sizes. Hiring the right — or wrong — people can make or break your business, and most business owners understand the importance of investing in the recruiting process. However, the hiring process is often time-intensive, and many business owners simply lack the time or manpower to handle it themselves.

An HR consultant can draft position descriptions and job postings, review resumes, conduct interviews, and thoroughly investigate a potential employee’s skills and background to ensure that the person is a good fit. In many cases, an HR consultant can also take care of the next steps, such as salary negotiations and onboarding procedures. Better recruiting procedures usually result in improved employee engagement and higher retention rates, all of which benefit your bottom line.

2. Systems Review

As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the finer details of your company’s daily operations and customary procedures, but it’s also easy to miss big-picture problems and changes when you’re buried in the day-to-day tasks. An HR consultant can view your business from a wider perspective and point out areas where things aren’t running as smoothly as they should.

Payroll is the classic example of this type of review. HR consultants can assess your current payroll system and take note of faulty or error-prone areas. They then can work with you to create a modernized, streamlined payroll system for your business. This could include switching or updating software platforms, implementing smarter automation, or allowing you to keep track of your time by job code and more through employee time tracking software that allows you to generate reports and build schedules. The goal is to ensure that your payments are on time and correctly recorded.

3. Compliance

Another common task that HR consultants perform is ensuring across-the-board compliance in areas such as payroll taxes, exemptions, labor laws, and safety regulations. HR consultants are experienced in these areas and stay up to date on any changes to the rules or laws. A consultant can review your policies and procedures to protect your business from fines and penalties.

Your business’s employees are its most valuable resource, and successful business owners recognize the value of investing in that resource. Consequently, investing in an HR consultant is a wise decision for any business.

A big thanks to Derek Goodman of Inbizability