HR consulting: How and when external consultants can best support you

Smaller companies, especially, often need clarification on whether getting external support on HR topics might be worthwhile. They ask us things like:

‘Our start-up is still in its infancy. Is now the right time for external HR consulting?’
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‘We are already quite well positioned and just need a little strategic or operational support in certain months or for certain projects. How flexibly can we work with you?’

The challenges in the field of human resources are becoming increasingly diverse and demanding - whether it’s recruiting highly qualified employees, developing a people strategy or introducing tools for better performance management.

This is where HR consulting comes into play, as specialised HR consultants can use their strategic knowledge to become indispensable resources - and ideally real ‘game changers’ - for companies as they tackle various tasks. 

In this article, you’ll learn what HR consulting is, how HR consultants can support you, when the right time for external consulting is, and what to look out for when choosing a consulting company.

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HR consulting: What does it actually mean?

HR consulting is also known as people consulting or human resources consulting. Regardless of which term you prefer, it traditionally refers to a service that advises companies in the areas of HR strategy and HR management. However, such consultants can often also support you in related areas such as organisational development or management coaching.

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Tasks: In what areas can HR consultants support you?

HR consultants have a diverse range of tasks. How a consultancy can help you achieve greater business effectiveness depends on your company's individual needs and the consultants' specialisations. 

HR consultants can support you with these challenges and problems, for example:

• Overarching HR strategy: A clear people strategy aligned with your company goals is essential to make the best possible use of your resources. An HR consultant will help you analyse the status quo and identify the most important adjustments for the coming months or years. In addition to the pure exchange of knowledge, expertise in stakeholder communication (including slide building 😊) often comes into play here.

• Talent acquisition and recruitment: The shortage of skilled labour affects almost all industries. To avoid being overtaken by the competition in recruiting suitable employees, HR consultants can develop short and long-term recruiting approaches for your company and, depending on the consultant's profile, implement them directly with you. They often also support the creation of requirement profiles and job advertisements or even take over the entire recruitment process.

• Employee retention: Which management culture, benefits or development programmes are essential to keep highly qualified employees happy and retain them? HR consultants can answer this question with you and create individual plans to increase employee satisfaction.

• Employer branding: Employer branding is no longer a luxury but has become indispensable for most organisations seeking to attract talent. HR consultants know how companies can become attractive employers and provide input on necessary measures such as employer branding videos. 

• Organisational development: Change management, restructuring or the further development of corporate culture: organisations are constantly changing and the associated processes need to be supported in the best possible way.

• Software selection and implementation: The right software solutions can enhance HR processes and make them more efficient. From managing employee data and automating recruitment processes to working with OKRs - the choice of tools is vast. HR consultants can identify suitable options based on your specific needs and help you implement them.

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Timing: When is the right time for HR consulting in my company?

The use of recruitment consultants may be appropriate at different times. The prerequisite is that you have the appropriate financial resources, depending on the scope of the assignment. Here are three scenarios in which HR consultants are often used - they may of course overlap:

1. You see a need in various HR topics, but your company has no dedicated HR staff or your HR team is small or overloaded: Consultants often act like temporary team members. They can help you to put strategically important processes on a solid footing or roll them out and take some of the workload off your team. This can take different forms: Either you commission an HR consultancy with a specific subject area or project or you look for an interim HR manager who can also temporarily take over all operational HR topics for you.

2. You need additional expertise in a specific area: The topics that land on the desks of HR managers are as diverse as they are complex and hardly anyone can cover them all. For this reason, consultants specialise in certain areas and can provide you and your team with targeted advice on topics your internal expertise does not cover.

3. You would like an external person to analyse or provide input: For specific topics or processes, it’s advisable to bring in a person ‘from outside,’ as they can look at current issues and problems with more distance and objectivity. Experienced HR consultants have already supported many companies at different times and can use their knowledge to help you see the ‘big picture’ or make comparisons. This external perspective is also helpful for certain situations with your team. For example: Would you like clear feedback on your performance as a manager? External consultants can gather unfiltered feedback from your team in a Leadership Feedback Session.

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What you need to consider to choose the right consultants

There are many HR consultancies and the question arises: How do you find the right partner who is qualified for your issue and meets your requirements for collaboration?

Choosing a suitable consultant needs to be carefully considered, as it can, for example, determine how your company's entire HR management strategy develops. You should, therefore, ask yourself the following questions when making your choice:

• Specialisations and industry knowledge: Is the consulting firm familiar with your company's industry? Do they specialise in areas such as HR strategy, organisational development or onboarding?

• References and reviews from previous clients: Who has the consultant worked with before? How did previous clients feel about the collaboration? You can also consult portals such as Proven Expert to check these questions.

• Cost structure and cancellation policy: What are the costs? How are the services provided billed? Is the cost breakdown transparent and understandable? With what deadlines and at what cost can you terminate the collaboration?

• Getting to know each other personally: Is the consulting firm professional? What’s the first impression? Do you like the consultants on a personal level? Can you imagine sharing and working on key confidential details of your company with them?

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When is Julia Reis Consulting the right partner for you?

In the last five years, we have advised more than 60 companies on HR and organisational effectiveness. We have three main focus areas:

1. Mission: We’ll keep you focused on your goals.
2. People: We’ll enable you to win and retain the talent you need.
3. Productivity: We’ll help your teams leverage their full potential.

In a nutshell: Our mission is to build better organisations together with you.

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When are we a good fit?

Julia Reis Consulting is the right consulting firm for you if the following points apply:

✅ You and your organisation are open to change

✅ Your company has between 10 and 200 employees (we often also advise larger companies, but prefer to work with smaller organisations, as our impact can be particularly high there)

✅ You have a digital mindset and are open to new tools

✅ You have a ‘can do’ attitude and want to implement ideas quickly

✅ Our values of ‘excellence coupled with pragmatism’, ‘client value and flexibility’, ‘honesty and authenticity’ and ‘looking at the whole’ resonate with you
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Does that sound like you? Then get in touch with us!

You can arrange a free exchange with our founder Julia via this link.

Even if we might find out that we aren’t the right partner for you, we are happy to help: We’re connected with a wide range of consultancies and advisors and are happy to put you in touch with other experts.

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