Alison Driver shares her opinion about what are the roles and responsibilities of an HR Consultant.
What are the roles and responsibilities of an HR Consultant?
The role of an HR Consultant is one of trusted advisor. An experienced professional who is able to talk with employers about their people related problems.
HR consultants are professionals hired from outside a business or organisation tasked with solving or meeting a human resources-related need. Often they are hired to provide high-level solutions and recommendations to employers.
Specialist or Generalist HR?
HR is a broad professional discipline. There are HR Consultants who are specialists and HR Consultants who are generalists. Specialists are experts in specific areas of work. Generalists are broadly experienced in a number of aspects of HR. An HR consultant asks enough questions of a potential client to know that they have the right experience for that client. An HR Consultant is responsible for not taking assignments where the skill set lies outside their own.
Advice
An HR consultant delivers high quality support and advice to their clients. They must be able to think across the breadth of the organisation and consider the direction that the organisation is going.
Advice from an HR Consultant is either on site or remote. But either way the consultant designs bespoke solutions to particular problems, providing best practice advice for the problem at hand.
New thinking
The most important responsibility of an HR Consultant is one of new thinking. Bringing new thinking to an organisation about how they deal with problems and challenges. Some of the problems will be fairly immediate such as dealing with queries about handling absence, misconduct issues and questions about statutory leave. Other problems are more strategic, planning for the “what if” scenarios that an organisation may face in the medium to long term.
A benefit of using an HR Consultant with a wide client base is the current thinking and current trends that their work with other clients in other sectors brings them. Experiences or other business owners are useful learning to all clients facing similar issues.
Developing relationships
A good quality HR Consultant sees the relationship with their client as long term. Their work improves, the more they get to know the organisation and those that lead it. They will want to build long term, lasting relationships that allow them to effectively support clients through challenges and opportunities.
The ‘X’ Factor responsibilities
What makes a difference between a good HR Consultant and a mediocre consultant? One who builds strong relationships, puts the client’s needs first.
They’ll be a quick thinker, calm in a crisis, not afraid of expressing opinion and generating ideas.
And ultimately they’ll be a commercial being, someone comfortable applying commercial thinking to their advice. They’ll put their client first every time.
If you are thinking of engaging an HR Consultant give us a call now on 01706 565332 or complete our contact form and we’ll call you back.
Metis HR is a professional HR Consultancy based in the North West of England supporting clients across the country. We specialise in providing outsourced HR services to small and medium-sized businesses. Call us now on 01706 565332 to discuss how we may help you.
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