Top 4 HR Consultant Myths Demystified!

Many business organisations or people are skeptical about HR consultants and the reason for that ranges from a few unpleasant work experiences with a self proclaimed consultant to not knowing how to collaborate with an experienced one.

Being wary of the HR consulting firms or individuals comes from the fact that people don’t really know who we are or what can we bring to the organisation.

The elementary thing that needs to be kept in mind is that consultants can add value to your firm and can amplify your business only when you know the right time to refer to them.

Myths about HR Consultants that needs to be debunked.

We have contrasting views and opinions on HR consultants and HR consulting firms that are not always true. So, here we are bringing an end to all of the fallacies about the core of the business industry.

1. An HR Consultant won’t give your organisation the consideration an in-house management team would:

The moment you outsource your HR function to Nonprofit HR, you can be credulous that your assigned HR Business Partner(s) will give your employees as much time and care as an in-house HR manager would. At Nonprofit HR, we precisely assign HR business partners to clients based on their calculated and strategic specialities and the unique culture of each client organisation. Business partner portfolios are built up to ensure balanced workloads, client receptiveness and flexibility.

2. It’s a non-technical function and does not have a seat in the boardroom:

This a very common misconception that people usually have. In fact, while starting your career in this field, a lot of people may come to you discouraging your choice. This is because they believe that HR is not really a sustainable job or is not as important as sales marketing operations, etc.

Now my answer to this is that HR is a function that uses people and anybody who says that it’s a non-technical function brings a smile on my face (Hint- Huge sarcasm) because dealing with people itself is a task of complexities.Person A behaves in a certain way- person B behaves in a certain way- person C behaves in a very different way, that is to say that we’re actually dealing with a set of people in the organisation around certain processes that needs to be put in a place and those processes can be technical or non-technical.

So, it has a mix of both technical and non-technical function.

Now, coming to the point of having a seat in the boardroom. Most of the firm’s that value their employees or are great places to work are the ones who invest in their people and that investment in people is the core of the big companies that exist today. This happens because they have strong people practices& who gets those people practices? Obviously, the senior leadership and the HR leadership combined together makes that happen. Hence, HR does have a very important and critical role to play in the boardroom.

3. To work with a HR consultant, you need to have a big company:

Business consultants are associated with big companies or start-ups but small ones do need them too.

Collaborating with a business consultant at a start-up level of your business is considered witty. It requires some entrepreneurial years to get into the market and realise what works and what doesn’t. Gearing up your journey with a realistic business plan, strategic activities and achievable goals with a properly conducted market and competitor analysis is a good investment that you’ll not regret.

One advise: First, start on your own and then move on to the experts whenever you need them. It’ll save you a lot of time, effort and resources in the future.

4. HR Consultants or HR consulting firms don’t stay once the contract is over:

The biggest concern that constantly loops around the client’s head is that they might be left with a package of papers, strategic plan and at a loss.

They are often worried that consultants might stop caring for them once the contract time is over and they are done with delivering all the materials, suggestions and presentations.

Reliable HR consulting firms always extend their support and welcome their clients to contact them and ask quick questions. Long-term engagement between the client and the consultant is what is known as professionalism.

The widely spread misconceptions are all debunked! Now it’s up to you to decide whether your business needs the help of an HR Consultant or you’re steady enough to start on your own.