Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use full-service benefit consulting firms

Employee benefits take up enormous resources. While you can't be constantly shopping for the best deals so that you can sustain employee retention goals, you can utilize the services of consulting firms for HR to make sure that you are getting the benefits packages that work best for your company.

I recommend: BPC is a full-service benefits planning company that can put together everything from 401K plans to health insurance and flex accounts. Diversified Benefit Services specializes in helping small to medium-sized companies find the best total benefit packages for their employees.

Choose HR consulting firms for recruiting

Work with niche agencies to monitor your hiring practices and remove the hiring burden off your managers. Consider hiring an HR consulting company for a focused approach to your business to bring in new line employees, managers and executives.

I recommend: Use the 25-plus years of experience from Bonadio to recruit the right talent for the right job and save yourself hours and hours of reading resumes and performing interviews. Talent Fusion will create a recruiting program for your company that will bring in the talent you need while reducing your costs as much as possible.

Upgrade your IT with HR consulting companies

You should consider working with human resources consultants that bring a vast knowledge of technological advancements that you need to remain competitive. There are so many advancements in communication and IT business programs that you need to investigate all the alternatives to remain

I recommend: Work with Optimum Solutions to find the best human resource software to run your organization. Utilize Optimum for installation and training as well. BSC can find the right IT solutions that will integrate easily into your current systems to increase efficiency. They will advise you on the best systems after a review of your business practices.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When you are working with human resources consultants, make sure that they have a way to offer measurable results on a regular basis.

Guide to Human Resources Consultants

Take advantage of the best human resources consultants for small businesses

By LaRita Heet

1. Find the most flexible human resources consulting options to fit your needs and budget.
2. Outsourcing HR tasks to a human resources consultant offers a smart (and legally, safer) alternative to delegating HR tasks to an untrained employee - or, worse, ignoring HR issues altogether.
3. HR outsourcing means you have an outside human resources consultant to troubleshoot sensitive employee situations. 

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Determine what you need from a human resources consultant

HR consultants can provide help with payroll, employee performance appraisal, workplace audits, compensation studies, and many other tasks. Whether you need help with one task - or ten - there is an HR consultant to help you.

I recommend: HR Options provide HR consulting professionals who specialize in federal and state law compliance, strategic HR planning, recruiting and more. Their extensive HR audit assesses your current HR processes and outlines where improvements should be made.

Take proactive steps to hire an HR consulting professional to establish policies

Don't wait until you're facing an employee-related crisis before you bring in a human resources consultant. Many serious HR problems can be avoided simply by having the right policies in place from the beginning.

I recommend: Still not convinced you need HR consulting? Try taking the free quiz at HR Design Solutions.

Look for short-term HR consulting services for immediate answers

If you have a quick question for a human resources consultant but haven't contracted with anyone yet, never fear: call-in HR consultants offer inexpensive, immediate answers.

I recommend: HR Advice is staffed with degreed, experienced human resources consulting professionals. Premium membership gives you up to 2 hours monthly online or on the phone with an HR consultant, plus additional benefits - not bad for the very-low fee of $7.95 a month.

Find a professional employer organization with human resources outsourcing services

PEOs offer many benefits to the small business owner, including human resources consultants who can help you manage hiring, training, employee discounts, and law and regulatory guidance.

I recommend: Oasis Outsourcing provides HR consultants, administration, support, counseling, and additional programs to the small business owner. Review a directory of Human Resources Outsourcing providers at Business.com to find the top HR consulting services for small businesses.

Review your options for the best HR consultant for your needs

Not all consultants - or small businesses - are the same, so find the right consultant whose expertise and strengths fit your company and HR issues.

I recommend: Search the human resources consultants to find one whose expertise fits your HR outsourcing needs at M2 Consulting. Trust a respected company, ADP, for payroll-related human resources outsourcing.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  The most time-consuming (and prone to errors) HR task is payroll (and tax withholding). If your budget is tight, contract with a human resources consulting professional in this area only until you can afford additional HR outsourcing.
• •  Find a flexible human resources consulting firm that will allow you to add services as your business grows.
• •  HR consultants are often contracted to deliver sensitive materials, such as sexual harassment training.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Start out on the right foot with human resources consultants

Instead of going through a lot of trial and error and spending time and valuable resources setting up your HR policies and procedure, bring in a human resources consultant to get you started off on the right foot. You can use consulting firms for HR to organize your hiring and employment benefits packages that are best for your needs.

I recommend: Follow human resource news and get connected to consultants who are involved in the issues that shape their profession through the Society for Human Resource Management. Turn to Kennedy Info to help you set up your HR operations and continue to make full use of your organizational systems by utilizing the most information you can through your consultants.

Use HR consulting firms for training

While you are busy growing your business, your staff may be lingering in an office that is out-dated and inefficient. By bringing in an HR consulting company to review your office policies and procedures, you will make your entire company more profitable.

I recommend: Get information about the latest news affecting HR consultants and the issues they face through the Human Capital Perspective, a monthly newsletter that follows the industry. Use HR Consultants for management performance enhancement, HR organizational development and policy training to give your staff the tools to make your entire company more profitable.

Contract for continued human resources consulting

You may reduce some of your costs by outsourcing your HR operations completely to professional human resources consultants who can set up your new systems and mange the day-to-day operations and reporting platforms. HR consultancy companies also can be used for ongoing support and training.

I recommend: Find profiles of consultants and follow the issues facing HR consultants at Human Resources Independent Consultants, an industry networking and trade group. Find HR consultants and keep up with the industry through the Professionals in Human Resources Association.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Interview at least two or three HR consulting companies before settling on one company to make sure that they are a good fit for your personality and requirements.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Sourcing

Sourcing is the process of identifying and screening candidates for a position in your organization. Successful organizations use strategies such as hiring a temporary employee to test them out and using LinkedIn and Facebook to find the right employee. HR consultants can be helpful in assisting you with the best methods to use for your business.

I recommend: For an overview of some of the steps you should take to maximize online recruiting go to hrworld.com. Go to Aerotek for an overview of a typical hiring process.

Employment screening

Employment screening is the process of reviewing records on potential employees to objectively evaluate their qualifications and to identify hiring risks. HR consultants can do a variety of employment screening for you such as address history, SSN verification, county and state criminal records and the sexual offender registry.

I recommend: For a list and description of the types of screens and background tests to consider, go to IntelliCorp.

Employee development

Employee development programs and processes are designed to improve employee performance once he or she is on the job. The three basic aspects that most HR consultants offer include training (activities that enhance the employee's ability to do his or her current job), education (programs that focus on future opportunities) and development (on-the-job activities that increase the scope of an employee's capabilities and are not classroom- based).

I recommend: Go to gNeil for a review of some of the types of training businesses purchase from HR consultants.

Workforce management

There's a wide variety of human resource tasks that are completed in most organizations and should be automated to save time and money. HR consultants can help with the processes referred to as workforce management, which include things such as as time and attendance, scheduling, absence management and payroll.

I recommend: Kronos offers a description of the various programs to consider automating.

Salary administration

Salary administration is often referred to as compensation and is the method for ensuring that employees are paid appropriately for the work they do. A salary administration program can be built by an HR consultant and should be equitable (similar employees are paid equally) and competitive (as good as comparable organizations).

I recommend: For the steps to consider when building a compensation and salary administration program, go to Compensation Resources. For a list of the elements to consider in a compensation software program, visit Decusoft.

Compliance

There are state and federal regulations that each business is required to follow in order to employ people; this is referred to as 'compliance.' An HR audit conducted by an HR consultant is a method for discovering what HR programs and processes need to be developed to ensure that a business does not have unlawful or ineffective HR policies, procedures and practices. After conducting an HR audit, businesses will also need to make sure employees in the organization are trained in these programs to maintain the highest level of business ethics.

I recommend: Factors that should be included in an HR audit can be found at Laurdan Associates. For a list of compliance training programs to consider, go to WeComply.