How an HR consultancy can drive business growth

When you think of driving sales and focusing on business growth, which area do you think of? Marketing? Sales? Finance? R&D? How about HR?

The overarching component affecting all areas within the business is HR, and a great HR consultancy can help you drive business growth in the following ways:

Reducing Costs

• Recruitment – think slicker, smarter, more focused, more targeted and indeed, more successful. In 2014 a report by Oxford Economics highlighted that whilst direct recruitment costs on average £5,000, the real cost £30,000 due to lost productivity whilst recruiting. An HR consultancy can not only ensure that recruitment is reduced, but that when recruitment does take place it is effective and efficient in both money and time invested. Leave your senior team to work on the business, whilst recruitment, induction and training are managed for you.
• Sickness – review, reduce and manage your staff sickness levels to ensure that productivity is not affected by short or long-term reductions in staff attendance.
• Annual Leave – have an appropriate Annual Leave Policy and plan to allow leave to be managed with minimum impact on productivity and to balance the needs of the business and staff.
• Staff Turnover – by engaging with staff, having the appropriate policies and approaches to communication and staff welfare, turnover can be reduced, having a positive impact on productivity, but also reducing costs through minimising recruitment and re-training.
• Employment Legislation – a minefield of information and an ever-changing knowledge base. An HR consultancy can ensure your organisation is up to date and informed to avoid costly mistakes and create an appropriate strategy to implement and communicate these changes.

Increasing Productivity

• Managing Performance – an HR Consultancy can devise and implement a top-down appraisal system to support performance management and foster growth. A well-thought-out and managed appraisal system can bring numerous benefits to an organisation (indeed a subject worthy of a Blog of its own), including improved productivity, staff satisfaction, and engagement, to name just a few.
• Training – An HR Consultancy can identify the need for tailored training for specific staff groups and source the most effective solution to maximise return on investment.
• Engagement – instead of treating “staff engagement” as just a buzzword for 2017, how about looking at how engaged your team are? An HR Consultancy can undertake an engagement survey, gaining constructive feedback on what drives staff and what really “gets their goat”. Understanding what motivates people and how their work environment can be enhanced helps drive engagement, resulting in a more stable and productive workforce, which in turn leads to increased profitability and growth.

Maintain the Growth Path

• Talent Retention – through improved engagement, appraisals, training, and appropriate recruitment, talent retention will be increased not only reducing your costs but improving your growth path.
• Cost-Effective Solution – during a period of change, or leading up to a period of growth, an HR consultancy is perfectly placed to bring expertise, knowledge, and a fresh pair of eyes to review, support and lead on HR elements. And once their work is done, you are left with robust procedure, procedures and solutions that your existing team can manage, with perhaps the occasional support from the consultancy as and when required. A more cost-effective way of buying in the level of support and expertise you need, as and when you need it.

If any of the issues raised in this article affect your business, and you would like to investigate how you can increase your growth, please give us a call to discuss your options. We’re a friendly bunch and really keen to make a difference to your business by finding a solution that works for you and your business so call us on 01473 360160.