Being part of something bigger

Many HR professionals toy with the idea of setting up their own HR consultancy at some point. A concern about feeling isolated is something that puts many people off, and that’s one of the reasons many consider working with us.

But it’s not just about removing the isolation and having a team around you (although that certainly brings many benefits, particularly during the early stages). Being part of something bigger is an advantage many have articulated, both those who are part of face2faceHR and those considering it. Being part of a larger enterprise as a self-employed individual brings a number of advantages.

There’s a sense of pride and contribution that comes with being one of a group. Our consultants can see their own individual businesses growing but can also see face2faceHR growing as a joint enterprise, and knowing they’re contributing to that. They’re adding to our long list of satisfied clients, bringing our brand of down-to-earth HR to their local area, and contributing to our collective knowledge and experience.

Being part of something bigger means our consultants all know that we and each other have got their back. In any business there are challenging times, sometimes disputes, sometimes dealing with unethical third parties, complaints from disgruntled employees of clients being probably the most common. Those things can be scary to deal with if you’re on your own and unprepared. Our consultants can come to us (and get support from each other too) in these circumstances, and can receive guidance on how best to deal with it, including help with drafting appropriate letters where needed. Knowing the consultant has an additional higher level of organisational protection has also been known to cause trouble makers to back off, which is an added plus.

Being part of a bigger group means better negotiating potential and the option sometimes for opportunities that are less likely to come to individuals working on their own. We get lots of companies approaching us with a view to commercial partnerships, and whilst many aren’t quite right, some can work really well.

Our consultants have access to a lot of skills and experience they may not have themselves – they all come from different backgrounds and different sectors, and some of them have additional expertise (such as personality profiling or similar) that can be offered to clients even where the client’s own consultant isn’t able to offer it.

The ability to pass work amongst themselves is one of the biggest advantages – there is never a need for a consultant to decline work because if they are unable or unwilling to take it on, they will have a colleague who is able to do so. This can be particularly beneficial for newer consultants before they have an established client base of their own.

Clients and potential clients also find their consultant being part of something bigger to be an advantage. They find it reassuring to know there is ‘back up’, and this is particularly the case around holidays. When a consultant goes on holiday, the client doesn’t have to worry about an issue cropping up, because the consultant will have identified and briefed a colleague to cover. And the client feels confident that the cover consultant will have a similar approach and level of experience, because they will still be a face2faceHR consultant.

Of course the holiday cover isn’t just an advantage in terms of reassuring clients, it’s great for the consultants too. Many self employed individuals either don’t get holidays at all for a while, have to be available anyway, or risk losing work if they take time off.

One of the most important priorities for us is ensuring our consultants retain their individual identities and sense of independence and pride in their own businesses. We don’t want them all to be clones and we don’t want to hamper their creativity or entrepreneurialism. But we also try to make sure they really feel the benefits of being part of something bigger too.

If you’d like to know more about working with us and being part of something bigger, do get in touch.