One of the big challenges you have as an HR consultant is responding to what’s happening around you. The wider business context, demands of clients, the economy, all things that can have an influence on how you work, and how you market yourself.
Responding to what’s going on around you (or not responding!), can have a big impact on how successful your business is, so whilst it may not seem as urgent as client work, or marketing, it’s important to focus on it.
As self-employed business owners, our consultants have plenty on their plate to worry about as it is, so we help make sure they are in a great position to respond to their environment in the following ways:
Developing new products and services
We are constantly reviewing and developing the products and services face2faceHR offer, to make sure client needs are being met, and new possibilities are made the most of. In 2020, for example, when Covid hit and the small business community came under huge pressure in many ways, lots of small businesses were having to make redundancies for the first time. Redundancy can be complicated so we came up with an accessible package of support our consultants could offer, which was very well received.
Drafting new and updated documents
Our documents database contains hundreds of policies, forms, letters, contract templates, clauses, agreements, managers guides and seminars, all collated for use with small businesses. Not only do we make sure we keep them updated with any changes, so our consultants don’t have to worry about it, but we add new things as they become more current and more widely needed. Recent additions have been policies on hybrid working and the menopause.
Providing legal updates and training
As well producing a well-received newsletter and mailings/case studies/FAQs to send on behalf of our consultants, we also make sure they’re up to date with anything that might affect how they work with clients. At our recent conference, we had an employment law update exploring three recent cases, with discussion on how they may have an impact on how the consultants work.
Drafting external content
We produce lots of articles, mailings, managers guides, downloads and infographics for consultants to use with clients, and these aren’t just decided by us well in advance – we also take into account feedback, requests, and what’s happening in HR, to ensure that where possible, the consultants are able to share content with clients, contacts and on social media that reflects what’s happening and is therefore of maximum usefulness. A key example was during furlough, where guidance was changing all the time, we were updating FAQs for consultants to share on sometimes almost a daily basis, certainly weekly, so that they were right on top of the information and able to share that whilst also focusing on supporting their clients.
Listening!
Our consultants are our eyes and ears on the ground. They are the ones who are out networking locally, working with clients, building contacts and having that direct contact with the small business owners we work with. We have regular drop in Zoom calls, a very active WhatsApp group and are of course always available on the phone or email, talking to our consultants. This means that we can find out about what’s going on, what their clients are asking for, how business networking is evolving locally and what the consultants need, and can respond to that in an agile way.
If you’re interested in talking to us about becoming a partner with face2faceHR, with bags of support, do get in touch.