Three Benefits to Using a Human Resources Consultant

Are you considering hiring a human resources consultant for your small business? Using human resources consultants either for one-off HR efforts such as restructuring and talent acquisition, or to fill in your internal HR team on a short term basis has become extremely popular. This for a good reason; a human resources consultant gives the businesses they serve the HR expertise they need, without the investment and downtime that comes with building your HR time in-house.


On the other hand, human resources consultants come with a price tag, and small businesses often work hard to keep their overhead costs low. If you are wondering if bringing in a human resources consultant is worth the cost for your business, check out our list of benefits, below:


Three Benefits to Using a Human Resources Consultant

1. A human resources consultant will help you bring in quality applicants.
   Sometimes the best candidates for the job aren’t applying because they aren’t looking for a new job. They’re already succeeding in the position they have somewhere else. If your only source of recruitment is those job websites, your net is only catching people who are actively looking for a new job (which sometimes catches some good fish, but prevents you from snagging a huge demographic of great candidates). Your human resources consultant dedicates their waking hours to knowing the talent in your industry and acting as a match maker for you. Maybe this just means advising you on less-common ways to attract quality applicants. Maybe this means personally getting in touch with people who are perfect for your open position and encouraging them to apply.
   
   
   When you have an important position to fill, you don’t want to leave it to chance that the perfect candidate for that position is going to see your posting and proactively respond to it. Using a human resources consultant gives you the best odds of filling the position with that perfect candidate. In this way, the cost of a human resources consultant might pay for itself, by saving you the thousands of dollars that you’ll spend or lose in hiring the wrong candidate and then replacing them.




2. Human resources consultants are invaluable in avoiding legal hot water.
   
   One considerable risk that any business with employees have is the risk of labor lawsuits. There are a lot of laws surrounding how employee issues must be handled, and it is easy for an employer who isn’t a legal expert themselves to inadvertently misstep and open themselves up to a lawsuit.
   
   
   A human resources consultant is beneficial to use when any kind of employee dispute arises, for several reasons. First of all, the human resources consultant can help you navigate the circumstances to help all parties involved reach satisfaction and avoid any legal issues altogether. Secondly, bringing in a human resources consultant to help resolve a matter according to the labor laws in your jurisdiction shows a level of good faith that your business genuinely strive to stay in compliance and avoid any legal infractions. And third, your human resources consultant is invaluable for providing advice to protect yourself and your business from a legal standpoint. The cost of a human resources consultant is far less than the cost of lawyers and court expenses and potentially a settlement if you accidentally misstep.




3. Human resources consultants can help small business owners strike that perfect balance between in-house employees and outsourced support.
   
   There are pros and cons to using outsourced support. In some cases, outsourcing is cheaper than hiring an full-time employee. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes, home-growing the knowledge and expertise in-house sets up your business’s security and stability in the future. Sometimes it’s not practical to grow your own team full-time. Sometimes using contractors strengthens your team and frees them to work on strategically-focused efforts. Sometimes bringing in contractors hurts your team’s morale.
   
   
   Figuring out the best strategy for full-time employees and contractor support is like walking a tightrope. While you might know the business you work in backwards and forwards, you might not be an expert in HR strategies for outsourcing. However, human resources consultants are experts on this subject. This is a very valuable aspect of consulting a human resources consultant.

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