Whilst a good knowledge of employment law, decent generalist senior-level experience and ideally a qualification are all things we look for in our consultants, perhaps even more important are their personal attributes, and their approach to HR in general.
This is for two reasons, which are both linked to each other, and both ultimately boil down to commercial success. The first reason personal attributes are important is that we know what kind of personality small business owners will more easily engage with and are therefore more likely to work with. This means clients are more likely to choose to work with those people, and more likely to stay with them and recommend them. Similarly the same type of person is more likely to be able to successfully conduct the marketing activities we know work for this type of business.
We therefore look for people who are very down-to-earth, very friendly, very approachable, and who have an engaging manner. We want them to have the ability to put people at their ease, and not make anyone feel that a lack of HR knowledge is a failing, and to be empathetic and good listeners as business owners looking at HR consultant options are frequently very stressed!
The second reason personal attributes are important is to ensure the consultants all reflect our brand and feel comfortable with it. Someone working under and ‘selling’ a brand that doesn’t ‘fit’ their natural personality will come across as less authentic, less comfortable and is therefore less likely to be successful. It also means the type of clients who would be attracted to their personality and approach would not find out brand appealing, and a mismatch would make the client less likely to go ahead.
Our brand is all about giving down-to-earth, realistic, practical, tailored advice, and developing long and supportive relationships with clients, so the right personality is key to enable consultants to ‘match’ the brand when clients meet them and look at our web presence and materials, making clients feel comfortable and confident that they’ve chosen the right HR provider for them.
If you want to discuss the opportunity of partnering with face2faceHR, do get in touch.