The cost of getting your HR wrong

‘ I asked myself did I really need a HR Consultant’ one of our valued clients said to me recently. I’d heard the phrase before – quite a lot to be honest – it always makes me secretly smile!

I had also heard ‘it’s a cost I could do without’, ‘Ive survived this long without one’ and ‘Ive got away with not having HR help – there’s always Google’.  

However I have also heard phrases along the lines of ‘I didn’t really know how much I needed a HR Consultant – thank you so much Vicky and your team - what would we do without you?'

A bit like you not appreciating the value of something until that something breaks or goes wrong; I may be thinking of the kettle or washing machine as I’m sitting here in my kitchen but it’s the same analogy. Many of our clients reach out for our support when they have a people problem and they really need some help to take the headache away and solve that problem – they just want it to go away so they can focus on the more positive, productive and revenue generating side of their business. They’ve usually spoken to a friend or colleague; someone who has been there and got the t–shirt.  Sometimes they’ve googled ‘tricky employee problem’ or ‘dealing with a difficult employee’ and been overwhelmed with the sea of advice, adverts and dramatic headlines out there;

In all honestly these headlines are the tip of the iceberg. Did you know there were 103,984 Employment Tribunal Applications in the 12 months April 2019- April 2020 and the average pay out was £13k for unfair dismissal claims and £28k for discrimination claims.

So quite frankly it maybe a cost many businesses could do without, however the cost of dealing with the consequences of such problems and the impact on the reputation on your business should not be underestimated.

Usually, not always,

• these problems manifest because of not dealing with the certain something in the first place
• or not giving feedback or documenting conversations
• these type of problems don’t usually go away on their own and
• talking through them with a HR Professional who can guide you through a resolution process isn’t as expensive as you might think!