Article by: Warren Rothman, Senior Human Resource Consultant

The Problem
“We’d really like to bring an HR professional on board but we just can’t afford it, particularly now with the economy in such bad shape.” That’s an understandable perspective for a company that has yet to make this investment and many organizations punt—pulling in another employee (often reporting to the CFO or administrative officer) to function as the HR department. This may work, up to a point, if basic HR functions are met: employees are hired, paid and receive benefits; people come to work and hopefully, perform up to the organization’s expectations.

But what about other important functions and processes like legal and regulatory compliance, performance management and coaching, reference checking, handling terminations (including exit interviews), policy development and interpretation, management training, conflict resolution, employee relations (including employee communication and complaint investigation), compensation and benefits planning? Many of these reflect areas in which HR can truly add value to the business at both a strategic and transactional level, functioning as a business partner to senior management.

The Solution
An alternative to an in-house HR staff that has been adopted by a number of organizations – family run, for profit and not-for-profit – is to engage outside consultants to provide on-going HR support on a retained basis.

A typical retained arrangement includes:
Round-the clock availability of an experienced HR professional by phone, email or in person, as well as on-site presence for management or employee meetings.

Quarterly management training in such areas as interviewing skills, conflict resolution, communication skills, sexual harassment or performance management (all in accord with senior management.)
Conducting reference checks, exit interviews, new hire orientations and routine investigations (often in partnership with outside counsel.)
Research to support policy or program development.
Quarterly senior management progress reporting.

Needless to say, the scope and deliverables for each engagement would vary based on the organization’s needs. But the bottom line is that opting for a retainer can be a very cost-effective way for an organization to address its human capital management needs in these difficult economic times, or at any time, for that matter.

Blue Prairie Group’s human resource practice has been hired by many organizations, such as Triangle Package Machinery and Chicago Public Radio, to provide retained support; addressing, both reactively and proactively, the many day-to-day and strategic HR issues that require attention. Our team, with combined experience totaling over 75 years in senior roles (both on the inside, as HR management, as well as in consulting – please see the Blue Prairie Group website to read our biographies), is available when needed and at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time, qualified HR professional, considering cash compensation, benefits costs and payroll-related taxes.



Contact Info
To learn more about Blue Prairie Group’s human resource consulting practice (including retained HR), please contact:

John Savas, Partner & Human Resource Practice Leader
312/376-8442
john@blueprairiegroup.com
 

Warren Rothman, Senior Human Resource Consultant
312/376-8451
warren@blueprairiegroup.com


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