Moving into HR consultancy is often described as a natural next step for experienced HR professionals. You possess the technical knowledge, credibility, and commercial awareness. Yet knowing you could do it and knowing how you want to do it are two very different things.
As part of a fresh start and reflective reset, this stage is less about rushing to define a niche and more about stepping back to design a consultancy that fits you. Before you consider clients, packages, or branding, it is worth spending time planning your transition into HR consultancy in a way that supports the life and career you want next.
This article takes a slightly different angle, focusing on how you want your consultancy to work in practice rather than starting with services or sectors.
Start with how you want to work, not what you want to sell
When people think about moving into HR consultancy, they often jump straight to services. Employee relations, retained HR, restructures, investigations. These feel familiar and reassuring.
Instead, start with how you want your working life to look.
Ask yourself:
- How many days a week do I realistically want to work?
- Do I want long term client relationships or shorter project-based work?
- How much variety do I need to stay engaged?
- How much emotional energy am I willing to give week to week?
Your answers will shape your consultancy far more effectively than listing services ever will. For example, retained work may suit you if you value predictability and depth. Project work may fit better if you enjoy focus and clear boundaries.
Thinking this way early helps ensure your move into HR consultancy is sustainable, not just achievable.
Look at your energy, not just your expertise
Most senior HR professionals are capable of doing many things well. That does not mean all of them should sit at the heart of your consultancy.
Try mapping your experience against your energy. Think about the work that leaves you feeling purposeful versus the work that quietly drains you, even if you are good at it.
You might notice that:
- You are excellent at complex ER but no longer enjoy the emotional weight.
- You get more satisfaction from coaching managers than writing policies.
- Strategic conversations energise you more than operational delivery.
When moving into HR consultancy, your future niche often sits where capability and energy meet. Protecting your energy matters because the work is more personal. You are the brand.
Define the problems you want to help solve
Rather than defining your niche by sector or service, consider defining it by the problems you enjoy helping organisations solve.
These might include:
- Helping founders make confident people decisions.
- Supporting growing businesses to professionalise without becoming corporate.
- Helping leaders navigate change without losing trust.
- Giving managers clarity so issues do not escalate.
Clients rarely search for an HR consultant because they want HR. They search because they have a problem they want solved. This way of framing your work gives clarity without boxing you in.
It also makes your experience easier to communicate when planning your move into HR consultancy.
Be realistic about what consultancy involves
HR consultancy is not just HR work. It is business ownership.
That includes:
- Marketing yourself consistently.
- Talking confidently about fees and value.
- Managing cash flow and uncertainty.
- Making decisions without an internal infrastructure.
Some people thrive on this autonomy. Others miss the structure of in-house roles more than expected. Neither is right or wrong, but it is important to be honest about what you enjoy and what you tolerate.
This honesty will influence whether you build something fully independent or explore supported routes such as a franchise model, like face2faceHR.
Think about support earlier than feels necessary
Many HR professionals are highly independent, which can be both a strength and a challenge.
Ask yourself:
- Who will I sense check decisions with?
- Where will I get perspective when something feels unfamiliar?
- How will I stay confident without internal teams around me?
Support might come from peers, mentors, training or structured networks. What matters is recognising that moving into HR consultancy does not have to mean doing everything alone.
Planning your move into HR consultancy is about design, not escape
HR consultancy works best when it is something you are moving towards, not something you are escaping from.
If your motivation is purely to get away from frustration or fatigue, it is harder to build something sustainable. If your motivation is to design work that fits your values, strengths and life, consultancy becomes a positive and intentional choice.
Taking time to reflect before you act helps ensure your next step feels aligned rather than reactive.
Final thoughts and next steps
There is no single right way to move into HR consultancy. What matters is giving yourself space to think before rushing to define your niche or launch services.
If you are exploring what HR consultancy could look like for you and would like to understand different routes into it, including supported options, you can download our prospectus or get in touch with us for an informal conversation. Sometimes the most useful next step is simply talking things through.