There is no substitute for a strong, efficient workforce. It doesn’t matter if you are a small businesses or a large corporation, if you are not properly supporting your workforce with modern, practical human resources services, you will likely be missing an opportunity to impact your employee productivity and retention, and even your overall profit margin.

Sometimes an organization’s employment-related service needs are simply beyond their current HR bandwidth. When this happens, many companies benefit from outsourcing some or all of their HR management functions. There are many situations when businesses need extra HR assistance, such as:

• Cover employment gaps due to an absence or turnover
• Help build a more robust in-house HR team
• Properly manage specific HR-related projects
• Improve processes and eliminate workplace inefficiencies
• Assist with downsizing or recruiting programs

The Biggest Reasons Why Companies Use HR Consultants

While there are a many reasons why successful small and mid-sized companies hire HR consultants or use outsourced HR services, they almost all stem from the same basic needs: to save time and money, to stay compliant and to maintain a fully operational workplace. Below are the four biggest reasons why companies choose to outsource HR management.

1. To Fill Knowledge Gaps in an Existing HR Team

Many small companies, especially those with fewer than 100 employees, don’t have a fully-staffed and dedicated HR team. HR-related responsibilities are often carried out by a manager who also has other competing duties. These managers benefit greatly from HR outsourcing, as it frees them up so they can do what they were hired to do—make the company money.

HR consultants can also give an organization’s entire team access to HR expertise and valuable training opportunities that they normally would not have at a small to mid-sized company. Consultants can also help cover an HR executive’s absence, support quick growth or manage a particular key project. Because HR is all they do, consultants have quicker ramp-up times and specialized knowledge that could be missing.

 2. To Mitigate Risk and Improve Company Compliance

OSHA, FLSA, FMLA, EEOC and more— there are a lot of acronyms to keep up with when it comes to compliance. Of course companies want to spare themselves the headaches and financial stress of work-related injuries, harassment claims, DOL violations or any number of legal issues that can occur when compliance regulations are broken. 

Adding to the high stakes is the fact that employment laws are constantly evolving and changing, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Outsourcing your HR greatly impacts risk management by ensuring that all new laws and policies are being fully complied by. Keeping a company’s workforce compliant feels like a full-time job in and of itself. 

Whether the need is to create from scratch processes and policies for things like recruiting, reporting or safety, or the need is to update current procedures and rules being used, HR consultants can help. They keep up with current compliance rules and legislation, as well as HR best practices, which means they can offer valuable and efficient compliance support, in real time.

3. To Boost Employee Performance

So what works better? Employers need to understand that the performance review starts at the objective setting stage and are reviewed regularly with increased communication. The first question that should be asked in the annual performance evaluation is when was the last time you talked with your supervisor? Beyond improving employee engagement, productivity, and retention, these informal performance management check-ins allow for adjustments in goals and priorities to be made as issues and opportunities come up, whereas yearly reviews tend to lack that kind of flexibility.

An experienced HR consultant can help create a performance management system that fits and supports your business growth, while also motivating employees to perform at their highest potential. The focus of such customized performance management programs include:

• Connecting employee performance to business goals
• Establishing KPIs with minimum performance benchmarks
• Creating a culture of empowerment and accountability
• Ensuring that incentives and recognition are competitive and effective, thus reducing turnover

4. To Streamline Recruitment and Reduce Turnover

People are at the heart of your business, which is why recruiting top talent is often a top priority for employers. During uncertain times such as these, some businesses have been faced with furloughs and layoffs while others have needed to ramp up recruitment efforts. For those essential businesses with increased workloads, finding the right talent was more crucial than ever. Often times, an HR consultant with a strong recruiting background can offer expert advice and guidance on important applicant attraction and employee retention efforts, such as:

• Targeted and customized job postings, placed in the most effective job sites for your industry
• Focused talent search and outreach strategies
• Competitive compensation and benefits offerings
• Improved candidate experience within the hiring process
• More effective onboarding programs
• Employer branding
• Online presence (careers page, social media, job sites, etc.)
• Proactive reputation management measures and strategies
• Career development programs and opportunities

HR consultants are often well networked, understand what makes for a best-fit candidate and can typically develop a robust recruiting strategy quickly and efficiently. HR consultants can also review job postings to ensure that they are authentic and compelling, and they know where the best talent looks for employment. They can help provide the kind of professional search services businesses need to better attract top talent.

Are You Considering Outsourcing Your HR Functions?

RAI Resources is an exceptional HR consulting firm based out of the Lehigh Valley that brings your business the effective real-world experience it needs to maintain a strong, profitable team. We offer HR consultation across manufacturing, engineering, construction, and professional services, with a deep understanding of the employee life cycle and how it impacts your bottom line. We offer practical solutions and provide comprehensive support to help you attract, develop and retain the workforce you need.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business.