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Human Resources

8 Signs You Need HR Consulting from Inject

Identifying when your business is facing challenges is crucial for owners because ignoring them can affect employee performance and the bottom line, hurting business profitability in the long run. This is especially true for small to medium-sized businesses, where one issue not attended to can end up draining a manager’s time and effort, while on the other hand, one high-performing employee can invigorate a business owner with newfound energy and excitement about the business’s direction. In these situations, there’s value in investing in external HR consulting which can proactively identify any ‘signs’ your business may need help regarding its HR, and amend them through their advice and strategies.

Additionally, consultants can align their recommendations for these common challenges with broader business goals such as profitable growth or if an owner wants to step away from operations & transition their responsibilities. At Inject, we specialise in pinpointing and addressing these common signs, ensuring your business is set up not just to survive but to thrive with a high-performing team.

 

Sign 1 – Too much time spent dealing with staff Issues

When business leaders find themselves bogged down by employee disputes filled with gossip and negativity, performance concerns and other staffing issues, it signals a significant drain on their productivity and focus. The reaction might be to delegate these responsibilities to another manager or let the little things slide. While this can temporarily lighten the load, it doesn’t address the root of the problem and can lead to a cycle of inefficiency where recurring problems such as toxic behaviours can prevent the team from working together as one unit and demand even more time and resources.

 

At Inject, we focus on reducing the time and energy you spend on staff issues by preemptively managing and resolving minor issues before they escalate into major problems. Additionally, we recommend setting clear, comprehensive expectations right from the start. This approach not only minimises the chance that these issues occur in the first place but also that when they do arise, they are dealt with swiftly and effectively.

 

Sign 2 – A team not focused on the right behaviours, activities and outcomes

Focusing your team on the right behaviours, activities, and outcomes is crucial for driving business growth and profitability. If a small-medium business leader hasn’t clarified these expectations or ensured their team is focused on them, then the ever-important productivity and SMB opportunities for growth, and therefore profitability, are limited. 

HR consulting companies like Inject can help clearly define the roles and responsibilities within the business, setting priorities that align with the owner’s goals for growth and increased profitability, and establishing expected behaviours and outcomes for each position.

 

1 – Define Your Expectations around Positions, Priorities, Behaviours, Outcomes

The first step is to define each position within your company. What are its key responsibilities? What outcomes are expected and most important for each role? Alongside these, it’s important to outline the behaviours that are expected of your employees for these positions—behaviours that not only align with company culture in terms of values and attitude, such as being customer-focused, but behaviours that also drive the outcomes relevant to increasing the growth of the business. HR consulting can help SMBs who lack focus on the core priorities, behaviours and outcomes for their roles by defining and communicating these expectations, allowing owners to clarify expectations across the board. This makes it easier for individual team members to align their day-to-day activities with the goals of the team, such as meeting a client project’s deadline.

 

2 – Implement Expectations with Managers and Staff

Once the roles and expectations are set, it’s time to implement them in your workplace. HR consulting works closely with managers and staff to ensure that everyone understands their specific roles and what is expected of them. Training sessions, workshops, and regular feedback are all ways to reinforce these expectations and check an employee’s understanding so that you know they’re being met. Regularly revisiting these expectations around positions and their outcomes and adjusting them as necessary is also crucial when it comes to keeping up with any changes in the SMB’s industry, such as new technology replacing (or substituting) position responsibilities.

 

Sign 3 – Unnecessary staff churn

Many business owners face challenges with staff turnover, which can disrupt operations. This turnover often stems from unclear career progression paths, ineffective management, and inadequate remuneration structures. Without clearly defined career pathways and a fair remuneration review process, employees may feel undervalued and uncertain about their future, which leads to disengagement and eventually, their departure. Additionally, if this leads to any internal HR staff leaving, a gap in managing these HR functions effectively is automatically created which only worsens the situation.

HR consulting firms like Inject encourage SMBs to seek consistent and honest feedback from staff on their employment experience, so owners can understand and address their concerns. Not only does listening lead to a more motivated team, but it boosts the company’s reputation as an employer, making it a desirable place to work for potential future candidates. We also provide clarity on career development and remuneration opportunities, where employees understand their growth trajectory and potential within the company, including their future individual value in working towards small-medium business objectives such as increased profitability and growth. Being proactive in listening to your staff and being clear on their positions not only helps to minimise unnecessary staff churn, but protects employee motivation and job satisfaction through a clear understanding and incentives to stay.

 

Sign 4 – Need for management to free up time 

We understand that small to medium business owners often find themselves stretched thin, struggling to balance day-to-day demands with the strategic needs of their growing business. This often leads to critical HR tasks being neglected or improperly handled, such as rushed recruitment decisions and inadequate employee training. By delegating these responsibilities, business owners can free up their time to focus more on strategic initiatives, ensuring that their business not only survives but thrives.

At Inject, we help identify which roles and tasks can be delegated and to whom, making sure that each function is managed by the right person. This not only improves workflow but also empowers your staff by placing your trust in their capabilities. Additionally, HR consulting can help support your business in hiring or transitioning new responsibilities to suitable team members, carefully aligning these changes with your company’s goals. To guarantee that these shifts are successful, HR consulting firms like Inject can provide ongoing support, checking regularly that all team members are performing their duties efficiently and effectively. This comprehensive approach allows you to focus on strategic growth while we take care of cultivating a high-performing team that drives your business forward.

 

Sign 5 – Management time is spent onboarding and training when new starters join

Bringing new starters on board without taking attention away from ongoing operations is crucial for SMB managers to keep on top of their responsibilities while growing their business. There’s always a learning curve new employees face when joining a business, which is often a greater curve to overcome when it comes to small-medium businesses. Leaders and owners need to be prepared and acknowledge this. HR consulting addresses this by setting up onboarding systems right from the start that not only saves time in bringing new employees into the fold, but also train them to understand and excel in their expected responsibilities. With these clear guidelines and support from advisers like Inject, managers can avoid spending time that could be spent on working on new project ideas. Also, small-medium business leaders can feel comfortable that new hires are being swiftly brought up to speed and are ready to contribute effectively to the team’s success.

 

Sign 6 – Need to hire people into the business who align with your culture and capabilities 

Aligning new hires with your business’s specific culture is important for owners to succeed in growing their business as employees become an extension of them and their voice, particularly in close-quarters SMB environments. When this alignment is missing, it can lead to a disjointed team as employees may feel disconnected from the company’s core values and less engaged in their work. Not only does this impact daily operations, but it can also impact long-term sustainability with an increase in turnover rate.

HR consultants specialise in recruitment and selection strategies that attract candidates who will not only best fulfil the roles’ core responsibilities but will align with the company’s way of working, key soft skills and behaviours, such as creativity for creative fields or analytical thinking for financial fields as two examples. This comprehensive approach involves not just attracting a qualified pool of candidates but also selecting those who are most likely to thrive and positively impact your business. Through these strategic efforts, HR consulting can build a cohesive, like-minded and motivated team aligned with your business’s specific culture and talent needs.

 

Sign 7  – Expertise shortfall

Many SMBs lack in-house knowledge in critical HR areas such as legal compliance and employee training. Not being aware of and understanding these can lead to costly legal issues, Fair Work cases, penalties, and a bad reputation for the business as a whole which could set back any plans for increased profitability and business expansion. Additionally, small-medium business owners may find that more of their time and resources than they’d hoped are diverted to address these compliance and risk management issues instead of focusing on achieving these two core goals & plans.

With their knowledge and skills, HR consultants safeguard businesses, making sure that small-medium business owners are compliant with the latest laws and regulations and protect against potential legal challenges and fines, which may arise if they’re unaware.

 

Sign 8  – There’s a need to train people in your way of working for a high-performing team 

SMBs that lack a high-performing team may find it hard to grow and increase their profitability. As noted before, a common challenge for small business owners includes having hired the wrong people or insufficient training. Saving the owner’s time while helping keep the business running (and growing) depends on equipping your team with core soft skills of leadership, time management, and effective communication.

HR consulting can help create a high-performing team that is your business’s competitive advantage. Consultants from Inject can design and implement tailored training programs by capturing the knowledge and best practices of high-performing employees, and then integrating these insights into such programs. 

 

The Need for HR Consulting – Conclusion 

The signs that your business might benefit from HR consulting are clear. From resolving employee conflicts to freeing up the time of SMB managers and creating high-performing teams through tailored training programs, HR consultants provide their knowledge and recommend strategies needed to address these challenges effectively.

Is your business experiencing any of these common people management challenges? Contact Inject today for a consultation to discover how our HR consulting services can transform your human resource management and help you achieve your business goals.

Categories
Human Resources

Different Types of Human Resource Companies

No business is immune to “people” challenges—whether it’s hiring, retaining, developing, managing, or exiting employees. This is especially true for small to medium-sized businesses, where one problematic employee can drain a manager’s time and effort, while one high-performing employee can invigorate a business owner with newfound energy and excitement about the business’s direction. “People” challenges can impact the business’s goals, whether it’s related to growing profitability, enabling the business owner to work more on the business than in it, or transforming the business into a lifestyle one, allowing the owner to step back or down. There’s significant value in seeking advice and expertise from a human resources company when a business leader is anticipating or actively facing an issue.  A human resources company can offer specialised knowledge and objective perspectives, helping to navigate complex employee issues efficiently and develop and implement strategic HR initiatives that align with the business’s goals.

 

Recruitment-Focused HR Companies

Recruitment-focused HR companies, often referred to as recruiters or recruitment agencies, are likely the first to come to mind for most SMB owners when they think of HR. These agencies are known for identifying and placing candidates within businesses, operating on behalf of either the hiring companies or the candidates seeking placement—or sometimes both. Some recruiters specialise in particular functions, such as sales or IT, while others focus on specific sectors, like loan writers in the mortgage industry, or target job levels, such as executive or C-suite positions. They typically operate on a commission basis, earning a fee when a candidate is placed and often offer a guarantee if the candidate leaves before the end of a probation or ‘grace’ period, typically six months. 

Regarding their process, candidates are sourced through job ads, existing networks, or headhunting and are then presented to the hiring manager with a resume, screened over a phone call and interviewed by the hiring manager, with or without the recruiter’s involvement. If the hiring manager decides to proceed, the recruiter will extend the job offer to the candidate but the responsibility for the employment agreement and compliance with awards rests with the hiring business.

 

Pros

  • Potential Existing Candidate Network: Recruitment-focused HR companies already have suitable candidates in their network who are actively seeking new opportunities, alongside utilising advertising to attract additional applicants.
  • Industry Specialisation: Some agencies offer deep expertise in specific sectors or functions, which helps in identifying candidates with the precise skills and experience required.
  • Performance-Based Payment: They operate on a commission-based model, which means businesses only pay when a candidate is successfully placed, making it a financially prudent option.
  • Placement Guarantees: Many offer guarantees that they’ll  find a replacement at no additional charge if the placed candidate leaves within a certain period, mitigating hiring risks
  • Streamlined Hiring Process with Limited Touch Points: Recruiters typically streamline the recruitment process by focusing on fewer touch points. After obtaining the job brief from the hiring manager, they may consult their existing candidate pool and place advertisements. Subsequent steps usually involve a quick screening and presentation of candidates for the hiring manager’s final interview. This method prioritises speed and may suit businesses looking for rapid placements over in-depth candidate evaluation.

 

Considerations

  • Potential Misalignment between the Business and the Candidate: Due to the commission-based model where recruitment agencies earn a percentage for each placement, there’s an incentive to fill roles quickly. This often leads to this type of human resources company overlooking candidates who are the appropriate fit for a company in terms of values, behaviours and attitude. Unlike comprehensive HR firms that might focus more on aligning a candidate’s profile with the company’s values, recruitment-focused firms may rely more heavily on resumes and speed to earn commission. 
  • Recruitment-Specific Focus: These firms only concentrate on talent acquisition, which means additional support for other HR needs isn’t provided. Other HR functions such as employee onboarding, training, performance management, and succession planning are often ignored. Business owners might need to seek additional HR services to cover these essential areas, potentially leading to increased complexity in managing multiple HR service providers.
  • Cost Implications: It’s costly for small-medium business owners to work with recruitment-focused agencies than to conduct recruitment in-house. These firms charge for their expertise and extensive networks, and it’s also common for these firms to take a percentage fee based on the salary of the role they fill, meaning recruitment-centric agencies can be a large investment for small-medium business owners. 

 

 

Training and Development HR Companies

The growth of a business directly relates to the development of its employees’ skills and knowledge, which are its bread and butter. Without investing in employee growth, the business won’t be able to effectively scale. Training and development firms focus on enhancing your workforce’s skills and knowledge through courses, pre-prepared learning and development modules, interactive workshops, and coaching sessions. Common examples of these firms include sales training companies, customer service training companies, and management training companies. Through these initiatives, this type of human resources company improves business productivity by managing customer customer expectations, and delivering projects on time, through their people’s ability to manage their priorities.

 

Pros

  • Leveraging Established Training Programmes: These firms often have pre-built training modules that can be put in place for small-medium businesses straight away, which removes the need to develop content from scratch. This speeds up the learning and development process for employees and also saves time and effort for owners in creating their own programs.
  • Delegation and Expertise: By outsourcing training to specialists, small to medium-sized businesses can benefit from expert knowledge across fields such as sales, people management and customer service, that can be tailored to specific roles or functions. This not only leads to more effective training that resonates with your employees but also allows business owners to step away and focus more of their valuable time on other areas of their business.
  • Purpose-Built Training Solutions: Many training and development firms can customise their courses for specific business needs and employee roles. Through doing this, these firms provide training that’s highly relevant and directly linked to improving job performance in the context of the role. 

 

Considerations

  • Effectiveness of Training Courses: Traditional course-based learning may not always be the most effective approach for everyone. After all, not everyone learns in the same way, so alternative methods such as on-the-job training or interactive workshops might be better suited in some cases.
  • Lack of Tailored Content: Pre-designed courses might not perfectly align with your specific business needs or industry requirements. This can lead to situations where the content needs to be adapted, which might compromise the training’s effectiveness and relevance.
  • Relevance of Training: Not all training content provided may be relevant to your business’s specific needs. This can lead to time being wasted where employees spend time learning skills or knowledge that don’t directly benefit or relate to their roles, which is a key consideration for small-medium business owners, as every hour spent learning unnecessary skills is an hour not spent contributing to adding value to the business.
  • Assessing How Employees Have Applied The Training: Without taking part in the course themselves, it’s challenging for business leaders to assess the quality of training and how well employees are integrating their new skills into their work. This can make it difficult to measure the  ROI and the real impact of the training on business performance.

 

 

24/7 Employment Relations Support HR Companies

Companies like Employsure offer round-the-clock HR support, ensuring that businesses have access to employment relations and work health and safety advice whenever needed. This type of human resources company manages urgent issues that arise outside of the typical 9-to-5 workday through online platforms and phone-line support. While they have their benefits, businesses need to consider the scope and scale of their needs when opting for 24/7 support services.

 

Pros

  • Constant Accessibility: Offers ongoing support to address HR issues at any time, including helpdesk services and access to documents such as employment contracts, forms and policies.
  • Focused on Compliance and Safety: These companies keep businesses updated with the latest employment laws through their online platforms and phone service, and maintain safe working conditions through employment relations advice. Importantly, they help businesses avoid costly legal repercussions and improve their workplace safety through up-to-date employment relations advice
  • Risk Management: By focusing on compliance and safety, these firms significantly reduce the likelihood of encountering legal disputes and Fair Work cases. Effective risk management through compliance and safety advice protects the company from potential fines, lawsuits, and reputation damage.

 

Considerations

  • Generic Solutions: While these services lend their support, their solutions and advice can sometimes feel generic and not tailored to the specific needs of small and medium business owners, which differ case-by-case. This might result in a less-than-ideal fit for companies with unique or complex HR requirements.
  • Compliance-Centric Services: These firms are primarily focused on compliance and safety, which whilst important, may not cover other vital HR functions such as talent management, employee engagement, and leadership development. Businesses may need to engage additional HR services to fill these gaps, leading to increased HR management complexity.

 

 

Integrated HR Companies like Inject HR

Human resource companies like Inject stand out by offering an integrated & tailored approach to human resources management for small-medium business owners through three core competencies including recruitment and selection, human resource management, and training and development. They work closely with small-medium business owners to understand their strategic goals such as increasing profitability and expanding, while also putting together an HR plan and programme based on what the business wants to achieve. For example, businesses with new entrants may receive a plan with training and development modules to systemise and get rid of the need for ad hoc training, or these firms may develop an employee-value-proposition (EVP) to attract candidates to the business while assessing them to make sure that the person is not just a cultural or motivational fit, but that they have the right behaviours that will help them succeed in the role. 

 

Pros

  • All-Encompassing HR Services: Inject HR combines the strengths of specialised recruitment firms, training firms, and compliance advisors under its one roof. This integrated approach takes care of all aspects of people management, which leads to a more streamlined and cohesive approach to workforce management.
  • Strategic HR Alignment: The services offered by Inject are designed to align with both short-term, and long-term, business objectives so that your people are engaged and your business can better serve its customers. In the short term, firms like Inject develop employee onboarding processes to enhance early productivity, while in the long term, career development programs focused on communication and time management can be created to directly connect to where the small-medium business owner sees their operations expanding in the future, matching company growth with future skills.

 

Considerations

  • Need for Active Collaboration: Collaborating requires ongoing dialogue and active collaboration, which should be considered by small-medium business owners when allocating their time and resources.
  • Investment Consideration: While investment in Inject’s services might reflect in the pricing, it is often more cost-effective than relying on an internal HR team or solitary office manager responsible for people management needs in the long run.

 

 

Conclusion – Choosing the Right Human Resources Company

The type of human resources company you choose directly impacts the efficiency of your team in delivering projects on time and keeping clients satisfied, as well as making sure your people are satisfied with their work. From recruitment-focused firms to comprehensive solutions like Inject, each offers its unique benefits. We encourage you to assess your current HR needs and consider how a tailored HR solution could suit your business.

If you’re looking to explore tailored HR solutions that align perfectly with your business objectives, contact Inject today for a consultation. Let us help you create and maintain a high-performing team that meets your business aspirations.