What is the Value Proposition of an HR Consultant? (Part One)

Over the next couple weeks, I will be introducing a 5-part series that reveals the ‘hidden’ benefits that a small business will realize by hiring a Human Resources consultant.

Blog Post - compressed -“Human Resources are like natural resources;-2 2 2

We will be exploring the following Top 5 areas where an HR Consultant is instrumental and has a direct impact on your business’ bottom line.

#1 Strategic Hiring

#2 Effective Communication

#3 HR Policy

#4 Performance Management

#5 Cost Savings

First, we have to understand the definition of a value proposition. From our trusted friends at Wikipedia, a Value Proposition (VP) is a promise of value to be delivered and acknowledged and a belief from the customer that value will be delivered and experienced. So, we will be looking for extrinsic and intrinsic qualities that an HR consultant brings to the table that actually creates lasting and tangible value.

So, let’s get started….


#1 – Strategic Hiring

Why should I have a plan around hiring?

-The costs of employee turnover (both real costs, such as time taken to select and recruit a replacement, and also opportunity costs, such as lost productivity) range from 30% to 150% of the employee’s salary (Source: American Management Association)

-22% of new hires leave their jobs within 45 days of being hired (Source: Wynhurst Group)

-46% of new hires fail and are let go from their jobs within 18 months of being hired. 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons and only 11% of the time for a lack of skill (Source: Leadership IQ)

So, lets bring it closer to home…

Example: A poor hiring decision has been made. Employee Y leaves your company within 3 months OR you have to fire him/her after 3 months.

5 serious effects on your bottom Line:

  1. Re-recruiting: You have to consider the time and costs it takes to re-post a position, review more resumes, conduct phone interviews, arrange in-person interviews for one or more members of your management team, and the costs associated with administratively setting up a new employee.
  2. Lost productivity: The moment Employee Y exits the organization their manpower is gone. Either the job doesn’t get done which translates into missing deadlines and impacting customer satisfaction. Or another member is picking up the added responsibilities for a couple months while you are re-recruiting and re-training a new employee. This impacts overtime expenses and the longer it takes to get a fresh employee up and running the burden is on the ‘remaining/loyal’ employee. If this happens repeatedly, the ‘remaining/loyal’ employee will see the situation as unfair and stressful and will blame the employer, possibly resulting in their resignation…which leads to more re-recruiting.
  3. Re-training: 80+ hours of re-training and/or job shadowing (conservatively speaking) impacts the trainer’s and trainees’ productivity and can become a burden on a ‘remaining/loyal’ employee. If this becomes a habit your ‘remaining/loyal’ employee will get tired of re-training new employees, complain to co-workers which lowers morale, and might even decide to leave.
  4. Termination Stress: Firing employees can be extremely stressful, so a manager/business owner that has to fire employees repeatedly will eventually get worn down emotionally. They also have to spend time documenting the concerns and having to think about the impact on productivity and cost which takes away from their own productivity and satisfaction with their job.
  5. The Grass is Greener Dilemma: If other employees see your new hire leaving for voluntary reasons they will find out why. It might be for a better career advancement opportunity, better pay, better overall benefits, better work/life balance and the list goes on. If employees are starting to willingly leave, usually a trickle effect can start to happen in the organization and the employee morale can start to drop significantly. This morale issue can lead to lost productivity and eventually more employee turnover.

If you are thinking, ‘I don’t want these issues to creep into my organization’ that is the first step in the right direction. As a Human Resources Consultant, my goal is to provide services that will create a hiring approach customized to your organization’s values and work ethic. Putting in effort up front will pay dividends in the future with higher retention rates, stronger employee satisfaction, higher productivity, less employee stress, and lower overall costs. Plus, you will be confident in your evaluation skills, which is so important as a business owner.

HR Designs likes to help managers implement sustainable solutions. So, of course we can do it all for you but we also like to teach, train, and coach to make sure you and your leadership team have the skills to run an efficient HR organization without the costs of a full time HR manager.

Stay tuned next week for part 2 of this series where we will learn how Effective Communication impacts your bottom line!


-Your local Chattanooga Human Resources consultant

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