An HR consulting firm advises other companies on policies, pay, hiring and organisation. Its own people are judged against what it recommends, so the firm's own HR has to be visibly sound.
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Share your requirementsAn HR consulting firm helps clients design roles, set pay structures, build appraisal systems, write policies and run training. Its people come from varied backgrounds: former HR heads, trainers, psychologists, recruiters and management graduates. Work arrives in projects of a few weeks to a year, each for a client with its own culture and sensitivities. Consultants see salary data, grievances and restructure plans, so confidentiality is the firm's reputation. Clients notice whether the firm treats its own staff as it advises them to. Read it with the management and business consulting hub and the professional services sector page.
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
Clients ask for the firm's own role descriptions, appraisal form or policy. If the firm cannot show them, trust is quietly lost.
A former plant HR head, a trainer and a psychologist define quality differently. Deliverables vary and clients notice.
Salary files, grievance records and restructure plans pass through consultants' laptops. Careless handling damages a reputation built over years.
Fixed-fee projects overrun because effort was never logged by task, and the next quote repeats the same mistake.
A pay specialist may spend months on one client, without peer review or a chance to share their approach.
After a few years of building client relations, they leave to start their own practice, often taking one or two clients.
Start with the topics that matter most here: Policies, Compliance and Governance; Organisation Design; HR Operations and Governance. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for professional services, not in general.
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
The pieces a HR consulting business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Role descriptions, an appraisal cycle, a leave policy and a code of conduct that the firm can show clients.
What this coversHideRole descriptions, an appraisal cycle, a leave policy and a code of conduct that the firm can show clients. HR policies and governance provides the shape.
A short guide to what a good policy, pay structure or survey report looks like in this firm, with samples, so quality does not depend on the author's background.
What this coversHideA short guide to what a good policy, pay structure or survey report looks like in this firm, with samples, so quality does not depend on the author's background.
Where files are kept, who may see them, what to do with a laptop and when to delete.
What this coversHideWhere files are kept, who may see them, what to do with a laptop and when to delete. Each consultant signs and is reminded yearly.
A simple record of days spent on each phase, reviewed at the end to improve quoting.
What this coversHideA simple record of days spent on each phase, reviewed at the end to improve quoting.
A monthly session where consultants bring a live problem to colleagues, which links to the competency work.
What this coversHideA monthly session where consultants bring a live problem to colleagues, which links to the competency work.
A frank talk on client relations, referral arrangements and returning later, written with a qualified professional where contracts matter.
What this coversHideA frank talk on client relations, referral arrangements and returning later, written with a qualified professional where contracts matter.
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirementsConfirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
Clear roles and descriptions for the firm's own team, which also serve as samples for clients.
A grade and skills framework for consultants from varied backgrounds.
The firm's own policies and code of conduct, written to the standard it advises clients to meet.
Client communication, report writing and presenting for consultants.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in professional services, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
Why associates and managers leave consulting, accounting, legal and advisory firms, and how to ask about progression, workload and partners at exit.
6 min readRead article
A practical contents list for an employee handbook in a growing Indian business: what to cover, what to leave to policies, and how to keep it usable and current.
5 min readRead article
A flat structure works until the founder becomes the only route to a decision. How to tell when you have passed that point, and how to redesign without a reorganisation.
8 min readRead article
Every growing company reaches a point where the founder approving everything stops being speed and starts being the bottleneck. Twelve signs it has happened, and what to fix first.
9 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Clients judge you by what you show them. A firm that advises on appraisals while running none loses credibility fast. Having your own set also gives you real examples and lessons to share.
Write a short quality guide with samples, use peer review before issue and keep a library of reviewed work. Backgrounds differ, but clients should receive the same level of care from each consultant.
Keep it in a limited location, give access only to the project team, avoid personal devices and delete when the project ends. Ask a qualified professional about the rules and put your practice in writing.
Log days per phase on every project and compare them with the quote at the end. After a dozen projects, you will see where you under-price, and can adjust the next quote with real figures.
Not by wishing it. Offer growth, shared credit and a path to partner. Agree early how client relations and referrals will be handled if someone leaves, with advice from a qualified professional.
We would ask for your own role descriptions and appraisal form, compare two deliverables from different consultants and check where client files are kept. Your own policy set and a deliverable guide are natural first jobs. Scope is written down for your approval.
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