December 2013 | Small Medium Entrepreneur | 75

5 Spell Out the Role: As organisations grow, nothing hurt them more than the

culture and values that are usually borrowed from the start-up phase. Any HR consultancy that provides vision, mission, and goal-setting related HR services should be employed to also help in articulating the culture and values of the SME.

Make HR Policies for Growth: Particularly, when SMEs experience rapid

growth, HR consultancies can be roped in to introduce robust HR policies, processes and systems – just those things that maybe

Acquire the Growth Team: HR consultancies can help the SME bring in talented

people at the right time, develop them regularly, deploy them to the right jobs, reward them adequately, retain them for the right reasons and ultimately ensure they join the leadership bench – all of which should be delivered in a highly cost effective and efficient manner.

Build Win-Win Relations with Consultants: The challenges that SMEs are

likely to face when working with HR consultancies are manifold. But the most important one is developing a practical solution to an existing organisational problem (rather than an imaginary one) with the help of clear roadmaps, timelines and deliverables and executing it.

Interestingly, relevant experience and expertise developed in working with SMEs can be more of a help for an HR consultant than that gained from large corporations. It also helps to clarify when and how exactly an HR consultancy will become redundant in a relationship.

Be Ready to Take Over the Core HR Function From Consultants:

Management consultants are notorious when it comes to creating additional work and justifying their presence well beyond their expiry date. Obviously, in the long run it would be prudent for SME businesses to staff their HR departments with skilled employees who can take over from the HR consultancies and run the show themselves.

missing and perhaps, not required at all in the start-up phase. As SMEs mature, it may be imperative for them to look closely at just those processes, policies and systems that were introduced at an earlier phase of the organisational journey and may become potential bottlenecks for the next stage of growth.

Mature HR experts are required here to dismantle structures that may no longer be required. Obviously, this stage is one of the most critical for any SME as this can make or mar their future. Those that make the transition survive and grow while those that do not get stuck in an orbit that invariably leads to further decline.

Sumeet Varghese, SPHR – Founding

Partner, Your HR Buddy. He has worked with

100+ SMEs across India in various capacities

including that of consultant, trainer and

researcher.

Best-Practices HR

Tips to Manage HR Consultants Effectively

For SMEs in India, the choice of deploying an HR consultancy perhaps represents one of the most important challenges for their business. It starts

with identifying the need to bring in an external agency to support them for HR processes. Traditionally, SMEs find it easier and more prudent to hire the services of a Chartered Accountant or a Tax Advisory than that of an HR consultant. Also, in most cases, it is the Chartered Accountant who begins to initially provide advice on certain specific aspect of HR like payroll and labour. Here are some tips for SMEs on how to use HR consultant.