» Organizational Development

Got a crisis? Call an HR consultant

External consultants play a vital strategic role for companies that can’t afford full-time human resources personnel.

BY LAURA REID

Today’s employers face a competitive marketplace where they must provide either a cutting-edge product or professional service to survive. In their rush for success, their human resources component often does not get the attention it needs or deserves -- that’s where an HR consultant comes in.

HR matters require specialized expertise
When HR issues do arise, employers frequently find that such matters require specialized knowledge and expertise -- that’s when they seek outside assistance. Since they often can’t commit financial resources for a full-time HR professional, they meet their needs by using an external consultant. Such a professional can make a dramatic difference in the strategic direction of a company.

 For example, one employer (unnamed, for confidentiality) with 25 staff has experienced extensive growth over the past two-and-a-half years; they have hired 15 of the 25 people in the last six months. People disputes and internal grumblings have resulted, along with a chaotic business. The solution? Call in an HR consultant. 

 The employer could not clearly define problem areas but knew that something had to change. The company had suffered four resignations in one week and recorded more sick days in a month than ever before. Besides these issues, the employer had concerns about its business direction. After all, they had just received three new contracts that required additional help.

In response, the HR consultant prepared an employee questionnaire, then met with each staff member over a three-day period to determine their well-being and issues at hand. This uncovered a number of trouble spots:
• With its rapid growth, the company had not clarified job descriptions and roles, which changed daily. Much work had resulted, but the employer had no one to manage the overall workflow and scope;
• Long-term employees had not received feedback or performance reviews;
• The company had hired some new people at higher salary levels, which caused unrest with existing staff;
• Overtime hours had increased substantially in two groups and had reached excessive levels for more than six months – people were tired and felt like they were not getting ahead; and
• The company had promised benefits and perks to some people but did not approve, or follow through on, them.

After the employee meetings, the HR consultant compiled a complete strategic planning report to address the company’s people issues. This gave an overview of the problem areas, outlined specific problems that required immediate attention and defined short-term goals, including hosting a

The consultant worked with the company over the next two months and helped initiate changes such as the introduction of a consistent structure for hiring procedures and employee evaluations and pay. She addressed individual concerns to ensure that people did not continue to leave the firm. In general, she brought calm to chaos and left the employer with a much more solid foundation for continued growth. 

Consultant’s input can prove indispensable
In another instance, an employer contacted an HR consultant because the firm had received a letter from a lawyer; a former staff member was claiming wrongful dismissal due to sexual harassment in the workplace. The company wanted the consultant to address concerns that had arisen out of the complaint and to ensure that the company managed such matters better in the future. The consultant chose these strategic solutions:
1. Develop and implement a sexual harassment policy.
2. Provide internal training to all managers and staff about the issue.
3. Develop an internal process to resolve potential harassment cases.
4. Train internal advisors on how to better manage and resolve cases that might arise in the future.

The company continues to conduct regular annual training sessions and has no unresolved complaints.

 Hence, an HR consultant can prove indispensable for medium-sized to larger employers who have hired in-house HR professionals swamped with the number of people issues and projects underway. The more people involved, the more complex the issues seem to become. The larger the employer, the more streamlined and specialized the HR professional must become. 

(Some employers have four or more people who handle only short-term and long-term disability claims, or specialize in recruiting and hiring of people. Others have HR personnel specialized in any and all areas, ranging from payroll and tax reporting to workers’ compensation and employment standards legislation.)

In the past 10 years, I have lost count of the number of changes in the basic legislative requirements that govern the employee-employer working relationship. The need to stay on top of such information and always look for new, effective solutions for employers can make for an interesting and challenging career. This has undoubtedly helped the human resources profession evolve to a more sophisticated level.

As an HR consultant and employment mediator, I receive calls every day from employers who need help for a crisis or project. Whether it is to assist with an existing problem or address planning and policy development to avoid a potential future crisis, the HR consultant provides a much-needed, objective and neutral voice. An outside professional can offer solid, proven solutions to the issues that today’s employers and employees face.

Laura Reid is a senior human resources consultant and mediator and a partner in Arlyn Reid Ltd. Contact: laurareid@telus.net

Sidebar
Why business needs HR consultants

Employers rely heavily on human resources consultants to determine their organizational success. Why? Just look at the multiple HR-related responsibilities a workplace must address:

• pay competitive compensation and benefits;
• ensure that they comply with all legal requirements, including statutory payroll and tax reporting;
• put benefit-plan contracts in place and effectively administer them;
• put workers’ compensation coverage and occupational safety and compliance in place;
• meet human rights legislation and compliance requirements;
• comply with employment standards legislation;
• address labour or industrial relations issues if an employer is unionized;
• and stay up to date on new developments, including the new privacy legislation and continued revisions and changes to all legislative amendments that govern employees in BC.

Besides legal requirements, employers must face ongoing internal challenges that relate to human resources:

• day-to-day management of staff’s expectations;
• workplace motivation and inspiration for continued growth and productivity;
• assurance that performance expectations are communicated and monitored;
• training and development of employees;
• assurance that effective internal people practices are in place;
• succession and planning issues that arise;
• organizational issues that arise with rapid growth or with downsizing;
• resolution of internal communication or personality conflicts;
• short- and long-term disability issues;
• and when and how to terminate an employee without being sued.

Reprinted from PeopleTalk Magazine Winter 2003 (V6, N4)

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