Following my interview at Metis HR I quickly realised that consultancy is much more complex and high level than I first thought.
This occurred to me during my interview for an HR Adviser role at Metis HR. I was asked what my plans for the next 5 years of my career looked like. I very naively said that I would like to become a HR Consultant within a year! Alison used an insightful analogy of where an external HR Consultant would sit in an in-house HR structure and asked me where I thought this would be. I replied that I thought they would sit at the equivalent of an HR Adviser. Alison’s response is what made me realise the skill HR Consultants possess. Alison explained to me that a HR Consultant can handle a diverse range of multifaceted HR queries. I quickly realised that an HR Consultant would sit at more of a Chief HR Officer level who had many years experience.
On my first day at Metis HR, I quickly realised that, even with a degree and nearly completing my CIPD studies, there was still much to learn. A couple of myths were quickly busted. For instance, I thought you couldn’t contact an employee off work due to stress, but you can! I also believed employees had the right to be accompanied at investigation meetings. However, they don’t, unless company policy allows it!
After just one week in, I felt I had learnt more from shadowing Alison and the team in their day-to-day duties than I had in my previous 3 years’ experience of in-house HR. This was mostly due to every day being completely different to the next and never knowing what query is at the other end of the phone when it rings!
Within my first month of employment at Metis HR I have:
- Prepared questions for a disciplinary investigation
- Been the Chair of multiple investigation meetings
- Advised on the process of flexible working requests
- Advised on pro-rata holiday entitlement
- Advised on Right to Work checks and risks of not carrying out the check
- Provided information and advice on how to handle a Subject Access Request (SAR)
- Attended a local networking event
- Made my first advice calls to clients
Just recently, I have taken notes in a grievance appeal meeting. Having never been involved in this before, I found the experience both fascinating and a great learning opportunity. Not only am I gaining knowledge working at Metis HR but also from Alison. How she presents herself and handles difficult situations has taught me a lot.
Alongside everything I’ve learned at Metis, I’ve also come to understand the huge differences between in-house HR and external HR consultants.
In my previous HR role, I was in-house HR support. I found that my approach tended to be employee well-being focused with the effect on them considered at all times. Since working at Metis HR, I have found my approach to have altered slightly in that my view is much broader and considers how something impacts the employee and the implications this has for the employer. I find that my advice is now centered around safeguarding the business’ interests rather than solely the interests of the employee.
I quickly came to understand that our clients value our objective opinion on things such as implementation of policies or decisions they make which impact their employees. When I was in-house, I felt very connected to those decisions as I too was part of the employee pool. I feel that this made my judgements slightly biased as the implementation or decision could potentially affect me. Since joining Metis and working externally with businesses, I’ve found I can offer more objective advice, better aligning with the business’s interests.
If I were to pick 3 words/phrases to describe my first month at Metis HR, they would be:
- Fascinating
- Jam-packed
- Lots to learn
I have thoroughly enjoyed settling into life as an HR Adviser at Metis HR and look forward to many more months of learning and advising.
Partner with Metis HR to protect your business, support your employees, and position your company for growth. If you’re looking for a way to take your HR to the next level, call Metis HR on 01706 565332 and book a FREE HR review. It might just be the best decision you’ll ever make.
