HR Consulting

BY
DR. KUMKUM MUKHERJEE
What is HR Consulting?

 HR consulting is consultation on human

resources practices.

 This can range from requiring assistance with

recruiting and hiring efforts, or it can be
strategic integration of HR programs,
processes, policies or practices.
What is HR Consulting? (Contd.)

 Specialist advice and services provided by a

third-party to help businesses maximise the
efficiency of their HR operations and
implement appropriate new policies and
procedures in the best way possible.
 HR Consultants are often valued by
companies for their ability to bring an
outsider’s objective view.
What Does a HR Consultant Do?

 A HR Consultant helps the customers with

recognizable proof of their HR needs, assist them
build up an activity plan and set up approach and
methodology to upgrade the achievement of their
association
 Specialist advice and services provided by a third-
party to help businesses maximize the efficiency of
their HR operations and implement appropriate new
policies and procedures in the best way possible.
 They are often valued by companies for their ability
to bring an outsider’s objective view
What Does a HR Consultant Do?
(Contd.)
 HR consultants are often brought in to address a
particular problem or deficit and are tasked with
assessment, auditing, proposal and implementation of a
policy designed to address the deficit and drive
organisational change.
 The job duties/responsibilities of HR consultants often
include: Advising management on the administration of
human resources policies and procedures by analyzing a
company's current HR programs and recommending
solutions.
 Conducting audits of HR activities to ensure compliance.
Role of a Consultant

 The consultant's primary role is to assist an
organization to improve its performance.
 While the consultant may act as an educator, a
catalyst for deeper change, a resource, or a facilitator,
the leadership of the process remains within the
client organization.
 The role of an HR Consultant is to assist the clients
with identification of their HR needs, help them
develop an action plan and establish policy and
procedures to ensure the success of their
organization.
Role of a Consultant (Contd.)

 HR Consultants can fill two typical roles

(Steele F. ,1975; Kubr, M. 1993, 1996;
Niedereicholz , 1996), Curnow-Reuvid , 2003
and Kipping, K. and Clarck 2014):

(1) Expert Resource Consultant

(2) Process/People consultant.

Role of a Consultant (Contd.)

 The Expert Resource Consultant suggests solutions

based on expertise and experience and assists in the
implementation. The role is very typical in information
benchmarking and design consulting

 The Process/People consultant assists in searching for

solutions with methods that facilitate and raise
creativity of the client company so that they will be
able to implement solutions themselves.

 This role is traditionally demonstrated

by organizational development and change consulting.
Competencies of An HR Consultant

 Candidates must have proper self-confidence.

They are here to impart some wisdom and
know-how on others.
 Moreover, they should have practical and
theoretical knowledge both for understanding
the right solutions to implement. 
 They must have the ability to explain concepts
and ideas in simplified manner
What Is HR Consulting?

 Human resource (HR) consulting, also referred to

as human capital advisory, spans advisory and
implementation activities related to the
management of an organisation’s human
capital and the HR function.
 The scope of services range from extended
work on human capital strategy, to the design
and deployment of a compensation & benefits
framework, down to the transformation of the
HR function.
HR Consulting Market

 The market for human resource consulting

services is estimated to be worth $31 billion,
representing approximately 10% of the
total Global Consulting Market
 Since 2011, growth levels in the market have
been restored and the revenue of HR consulting
services has seen a rise of around $1 billion per
year. Annual growth percentages vary between
3.6% and 4.5%, with most recent years showing
better performances
HR Consulting Market (contd.)

 In the coming years, spending on HR

consultants is forecasted to continue to grow
on the back of large trends in the human
capital domain such as an ageing workforce,
continued mismatch on the labour market,
the rising impact of diversity /inclusion and
the need to bring employee capacities in line
with 21st century skill sets
HR Consulting Market (contd.)

 However, during the crisis years, HR

consulting usually becomes one of the chief
casualties.

 During the recession of the Consulting

Industry spending on human resource
consulting contracted by 10% or more
HR consulting services

 The market for human resource consulting

services consists of eight main disciplines:
Human Capital Strategy, Compensation &
Benefits, Organisational Change, HR Function,
Talent Management, HR Analytics, Learning &
Development and HR Technology.
HR Consulting Service: Human Capital
Strategy
 Human capital strategy includes a variety of strategic work in
the HR domain, such as defining a corporate culture,
organisational design, setting up a people strategy that
supports key pillars in the business, as well as the design of
HR-related strategies in the area of diversity, recruitment and
talent management among others.

 Compensation & benefits, a segment also known as total

rewards, looks at all aspects of employee compensation and
benefits from base and variable pay to bonus schemes and
other secondary benefits across the entire organisation –
from board level to employees on the shopfloor. The
discipline also includes pensions / retirement consulting, and
advisory services tied to health and welfare.
HR Consulting Service:
Organisational change
 Organisational change encompasses the people side of change, aimed
at successfully guiding and embedding changes in organisational
structure, ways of working, or cultural changes within an enterprise.
 Change management stands at the heart of the service area, spanning
advisory expertise to tools and interventions, with leadership
alignment, stakeholder management, change interventions and
cultural management being the main offerings.
 Organisational change services can be sold as standalone offerings by
consultancies. However, they are typically bundled into larger
functional transformations to safeguard the people side of change.
 The HR function area focuses on all activities related to improving the
functioning of the human resource department. Offerings vary from
developing and implementing an HR target or delivery model, to the
implementation of HR systems and technologies, or other HR
transformations that boost processes and organisational efficiency.
HR Consulting Service:
Talent Management
 Talent management encompasses all activities required to
recruit, retain and develop talent, as well as establishing the
right structure and processes to ensure that professionals
can perform optimally.
 Key propositions include strategic workforce planning ,
recruitment & retention, workforce effectiveness and
performance management.
 Through the rise of data and new technologies, HR
analytics has grown into a full-fledged service area within
HR consulting. HR analytics focuses on applying analytic
processes to the human capital spectrum, with the key
objective of adding insights and value to HR activities.
HR Consulting Service:
Learning & Development
 The learning & development service line, also referred to as training &
development, is concerned with activities aimed at improving the
performance of individuals and groups.
 The scope ranges from organisational and competency development
across leadership, departments and functions to support the training
and education needs of individuals.
 Learning & development also includes the soft side of development,
such as coaching and mentoring, as well as the technological side of
training, such as the development and implementation of learning
management systems.
 Lastly, HR technology is the field that specialises in all systems and
tools used in the HR department, including large ERP modules by
SAP, Oracle or Microsoft, and more niche solutions per functional
domain
HR consulting firms

 Analysts typically distinguish between three

types of HR firms:
 The large global players that specialise in
human resources (e.g. Aon Hewitt, Hay
Group, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson),
 Generalist consulting firms that have a
separate HR consulting unit and
 Niche players that focus on a specific
discipline or market.
HR and Labour Laws
 Labour law mediates the relationship between workers,
employing entities, trade unions and the government.
 Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship
between employee, employer and union.
 Individual labour law concerns employees' rights at
work also through the contract for work. 
 Employment standards are social norms (in some cases
also technical standards ) for the minimum socially
acceptable conditions under which employees or
contractors are allowed to work.
 Government agencies enforce labour law (legislature,
regulatory, or judicial).
HR and Labour Laws (Contd.)

Major Laws
 Child Labour and Factories Act
 Working Conditions
Individualistic Laws
 Employment Terms (Compensation, rights and privileges, etc.)
 Minimum Wage
 Living Wage
 Hours
 Health & Safety
 Discrimination
 Dismissal
HR and Labour Laws (Contd.)

Collective Labour Laws

 Trade Unions
 Workplace Participation
 Collective Bargaining
 International Labour Organization
 International Labour Law
HR and Labour Laws (Contd.)
Labour Laws
 The Factories Act, 1948
 Sexual Harassment
(Prevention), 2013
 Employee Provident Fund,
1947
 The Apprenticeship Act, 1961
 Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
 Workmen’s Compensation
Act, 1923
Labour Laws
 Payment of Gratuity Act,
1972
 Payment of Wages Act,
1936
 Industrial Dispute Act, 1947
 Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
 ESI
 Abolition of Contract
Labour Act
 Rules To Find An HR Consultant

 Cost effective. Outsourcing could be cost effective in stead

of developing a hr department or hiring knowledgeable
persons
 Efficiency. Experienced outsourced providers can often
deal with HR processes more effectively – especially quite
complex HR functions such as recruitment, compensation
and benefits administration, employee regulations,
employee handbooks and occupational health and safety.
 This will reduce the time that employers and managers
spend on HR-related paperwork and procedures, and more
time dedicated to their areas of focus. They can also
suggestions for policy improvements
 Rules To Find An HR Consultant (Contd.)

 Employee development. Outsourcing HR functions can

help businesses manage employee performance and
development. If desired, the human resources
consultants can implement performance management
plans to ensure employees comply with company policies
and procedures and successfully meet business goals.
 The outsourced HR team can then monitor employee
performance and report findings to management. This
reduces the workload of managers by minimizing the
amount of administrative responsibilities they must
focus on.
Rules To Find An HR Consultant
(Contd.)
 Regaining primary focus. Business leaders
often get embroiled in the day-to-day HR issues,
distracting them from their main business focus.
Outsourced HR consultants allow you to shift
your focus back, while providing comfort
knowing that the HR side of things is being
taken care of.
 By working alongside the HR consultants, your
own HR staff can learn and grow, as well as
being able to focus their efforts in key areas.
Rules To Find An HR Consultant
(Contd.)
 Save time. HR consultants can often be brought in
to help create some of the more difficult HR
documents such as employee handbooks and
employee files, and to help establish best practices.
 In turn, this documentation contains the answers to
many employee questions, ranging from how to
book vacation to fire safety procedures.
 By having the answers at their fingers tips,
employees (and employers) get consistent answers
to their questions, faster.
Employing an HR Consultant:
Advantages
 Employee satisfaction and decreased turnover.
The quality of services your outsourced human
resources consultants provide has a direct effect
on employee satisfaction .
 Having an HR expert speak honestly with your
employees about their work, and then having
changes implemented that are fair and that
benefit everyone, will lead to greater employee
satisfaction, increased productivity and
decreased turnover.
Employing an HR Consultant:
Advantages
 Return on investment. Having an outsourced
HR team assist with your long-term strategic
management and goals such as succession
planning and professional development allows
more time to be invested into these areas than
you or your in-house HR team may have.
 This shift in HR focus towards strategy, policy
and decision making will bring about a much
greater, sustainable return that the initial up-
front investment in outsourcing.
Employing an HR Consultant:
Disadvantages
 Morale. The biggest disadvantage can be the morale of
employees who hear that an “outsourced consultant” is
being brought in. These loaded words brings
connotations of job losses and pay cuts. Lower morale,
can often lead to less productivity. (You may find
employees asking why the business would spend money
on consultants and not offer bonuses.)
 To help avoid this, when choosing your human resources
consultants, choose a team who are able to clearly
demonstrate how they will integrate with your
employees and bring them onboard. Because without
employee buy-in, any HR changes they bring about will
be short-lived.
Employing an HR Consultant:
Disadvantages
 Lack of in-house expertise. With any type of consultant, there is
always an initial period of learning where they will need to spend
time getting to know you and your organization. If this important
piece is skipped over, they risk implementing changes that don’t
adhere to your values and philosophies, and ultimately set you
back. To avoid this, make sure you choose an HR consultant who
invests time in understanding you and your organization, and
making sure that any changes are in line with your values.
 Additionally, outsourcing important HR functions such as
employee training and development might prohibit your HR
employees from accomplishing their career goals. For example,
hiring a third-party to conduct safety or compliance training could
prevent an HR training professional from learning something new
and challenging.
Employing an HR Consultant:
Disadvantages
 Confidentiality. Any HR Consultant worth
talking to will insist on providing a
confidentiality agreement. In their role as
your outsourced HR, the consultant will be
privy to many (if not all) employee details and
it’s vital that your data remains safe. Insist on
this or walk away.
Employing an HR Consultant:
Disadvantages
 Loss of Human Factor. According to a 2008 SHRM study, the
loss of face-to-face interaction is the biggest disadvantage of
outsourcing.
 Employees want a familiar face when they have HR issues;
replacing a human with someone on the end of a phone is not
always a positive exchange. For example, when answering
questions of a personal nature, most people would feel more
comfortable talking face-to-face. Employees want to feel
secure with their personal information and decisions.
 To avoid the impersonal feeling, you may wish to have your
outsourced HR consultants visit the office regularly or devote
time each week or month to work at your location.
Overall View
 Summary
 There are many tangible benefits to outsourcing human resource
functions, but the decision to outsource should not be taken
lightly. Cost reasons alone are not sufficient to drive the decision.
It will not be right for all. If you are deciding whether or not to
outsource, consider first the gaps and issues that currently exist,
and whether or not you have the expertise in-house to solve them.
 Outsourcing your HR and introducing new processes can also
present sizeable change and it’s important to find an HR team that
will devote significant time to this process. The initial time spent
choosing the right outsourced human resources consultants for
you and your organization will pay off enormously in the long-
term
Core Fields in Practice

 Employee engagement: measure employee
engagement levels through surveys and interviews,
define and improve performance in employee
engagement and retention, including total rewards
strategy, employee performance management,
leadership transformation, and organisation
structure design.
 Compensation: design and manage compensation
programs related to basic salary, building of salary
structure, bonuses, and stock plans
Core Fields in Practice
(Contd.)
 Employee benefits: optimize benefit plan,
design and administration (inclusive of health-
related benefits) by assessing competitiveness
and effectiveness of benefit plans (analytics and
design), and cost-effectiveness and quality of
vendors (brokerage).
 Actuarial and retirement: provide actuarial and
administration services to manage cost and
effectiveness of retirement programs, including
defined benefit and defined contribution plans.
Core Fields in Practice
(Contd.)
 Mergers and acquisitions: conduct assessment of human
capital with due diligence, coordinate and administer
cross-functional activities during execution, including
payroll and HR Technology . Align organizational cultures
and work styles during post-merger integration

 Talent mobility: Provides the insight and execution for

full international expatriates (usually for executives) or
local recruits (partial-package expatriates), from pre-
move informative guide, to post-move expat
management program
Core Fields in Practice
(Contd.)
 Other services may also include legal
counselling, global initiatives, investments
consulting, and the implementation of
human resource technologies to facilitate
human capital management.
Top HR Consulting Firms
RANKING NAME OF THE COMPANY
1 Mercer LLC
2 Willis Towers Watson
3 Deloitte Consulting LLP
4 Aon Hewitt
5 McKinsey & Company
6 Korn Ferry
7 The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
8 Accenture
9 PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services
10 LLC &
Bain (PwC Advisory Services)
Company
Qualifications and Certifications
for HR Consultants

Many human resource consultants have specialized

qualifications or certifications, such as:
 Educational: Masters in Management/HR/Industrial
Organizational psychology, MBA, Ph.D. in
Management, DBA
 HR consulting: Associate or Fellow Chartered Institute
of Personnel & Development (Assoc. CIPD or FCIPD),
Fellow Australian Human Resources Institute (FAHRI),
Certified Human Resources Consultant (CHRC),
Professional in Human Resources (PHR), SPHR, GPHR
by HRCI, USA, SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP by SHRM, USA
Qualifications and Certifications
for HR Consultants (contd.)

 Human resources: SHRM (US), and (Canada),

FCIPD, MCIPD, PGDHR, DHR (UK),
Registered Professional Recruiter (RPR)
(Canada)
 Social Science: Behavioural Science
(Psychology)
 Compensation: CCP (Certified Compensation
Professional)