If you are thinking about hiring an HR Consultant, here are a few tips to assist you in your search.
HR Consultants can assist organizations of any type or size with a variety of people focused initiatives. Depending on your needs, you may hire someone for a short-term project or long-term partnership. An HR Consultant may focus on one specific area such as Compensation, Labour Relations or Training & Development while others may act more as Generalists.
Once you have determined what you need assistance with, there are few things you will want to keep in mind when selecting an HR Consultant.
1. Know what you are looking for
Human resource management is a diverse field. When you hire a consultant you my need help with one or more specific projects. If you need help developing an employee handbook, you need to look for someone who has a strong knowledge of employment law, policy development and management. The perfect person for this project may or may not, have the skills and expertise required to help you improve your organizations compensation philosophy or identify the best human resource information system (HRIS) for your company. Look for someone who has expertise and experience specific to the needs of your organization.
2. Look for someone with experience
To have the skills necessary to provide high-quality human resource consulting services, an individual should have significant work experience. There’s no better way to get the knowledge required to provide HR consulting services than having experience developing policies, making decisions and dealing with the consequences of those decisions in a professional environment.
3. Certification or Designations are an asset
When you are hiring an HR consultant, it is always a good idea to look for someone that holds a professional designation. When hiring someone with their CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation, you can be sure that the person you are hiring has knowledge on all key aspects of HR and that the individual stays current with what is going on in the field by keeping up with continuing education requirements. You can verify that an individual holds a valid certification by contacting the CHRP website (www.chrp.ca) or other provincial HR Associations.
4. Check Client References
When trying to determine the HR consultant that will work best for the project at hand ask for contact information for current and past clients. Ideally you can connect with clients that have used the individual’s services for a project that is similar in scope to the one that you need help with. As with any reference check, ask questions that relate to the consultant’s productivity, approachability, communication style, attention to detail, expertise, timeliness and anything else you feel they will require in order to ‘fit well’ within your organization. It’s always good to ask if they would consider using this consultant again in the future.
For additional information on hiring and working with HR Consultants, you may want to check out next week’s webinar: Working Effectively with HR Consultants offered through BCHRMA (http://www.bchrma.org) or contact us today.
The BC HR Association
Hiring an HR Consultant
Posted in HR Consulting
If you are thinking about hiring an HR Consultant, here are a few tips to assist you in your search.
HR Consultants can assist organizations of any type or size with a variety of people focused initiatives. Depending on your needs, you may hire someone for a short-term project or long-term partnership. An HR Consultant may focus on one specific area such as Compensation, Labour Relations or Training & Development while others may act more as Generalists.
Once you have determined what you need assistance with, there are few things you will want to keep in mind when selecting an HR Consultant.
1. Know what you are looking for
Human resource management is a diverse field. When you hire a consultant you my need help with one or more specific projects. If you need help developing an employee handbook, you need to look for someone who has a strong knowledge of employment law, policy development and management. The perfect person for this project may or may not, have the skills and expertise required to help you improve your organizations compensation philosophy or identify the best human resource information system (HRIS) for your company. Look for someone who has expertise and experience specific to the needs of your organization.
2. Look for someone with experience
To have the skills necessary to provide high-quality human resource consulting services, an individual should have significant work experience. There’s no better way to get the knowledge required to provide HR consulting services than having experience developing policies, making decisions and dealing with the consequences of those decisions in a professional environment.
3. Certification or Designations are an asset
When you are hiring an HR consultant, it is always a good idea to look for someone that holds a professional designation. When hiring someone with their CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation, you can be sure that the person you are hiring has knowledge on all key aspects of HR and that the individual stays current with what is going on in the field by keeping up with continuing education requirements. You can verify that an individual holds a valid certification by contacting the CHRP website (www.chrp.ca) or other provincial HR Associations.
4. Check Client References
When trying to determine the HR consultant that will work best for the project at hand ask for contact information for current and past clients. Ideally you can connect with clients that have used the individual’s services for a project that is similar in scope to the one that you need help with. As with any reference check, ask questions that relate to the consultant’s productivity, approachability, communication style, attention to detail, expertise, timeliness and anything else you feel they will require in order to ‘fit well’ within your organization. It’s always good to ask if they would consider using this consultant again in the future.
For additional information on hiring and working with HR Consultants, you may want to check out next week’s webinar: Working Effectively with HR Consultants offered through BCHRMA (http://www.bchrma.org) or contact us today.