Our consultants are continually telling us that one of the best bits about HR consultancy for small businesses is seeing their clients’ businesses grow and develop, and being part of their success. It’s very exciting seeing a business succeed and the business owner’s vision for the service or product they are providing become a reality. If our consultants can help them recruit the right staff, have in place the procedures and processes they need to manage those staff well, and help them deal effectively and quickly with any challenges that arise, then they know they are contributing to that success.
In addition to that, the more clients our consultants work with the more understanding they develop of the challenges particular to small businesses and also the best ways to overcome those. This greater understanding stands them in good stead as they work with their clients.
Obviously the insight helps them with context in terms of advising them on staffing problems and HR strategy in terms of document drafting, employee benefits and recruitment, but it also helps in a wider sense. As they build a strong relationship with their clients, with many of them they have become part of a trusted team who advise on wider business strategy and business development. They’ve been asked for their input on business plans and growth strategies for businesses which in some cases have grown from two or three employees up to 20 or 30.
It’s enormously rewarding of course, but also addresses one concern many HR professionals have about entering into consultancy with small business clients – that they will lose that strategic element that comes with senior roles. Although with small business consultancy there is necessarily a certain amount of hands-on nitty gritty stuff, if you can build long terms relationships with clients, there is no reason you can’t retain strategic involvement, and when you have that with a small business, you are much more likely to feel you have a strong input in the direction the business is taking than you would with a very large corporate.
If you’re interested in talking to us about becoming a partner with face2faceHR, do get in touch.