Companies employ HR Advisors to manage and support various aspects of the employee lifecycle, such as recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, compensation and benefits, and performance management.

The role of the HR Advisor is to ensure that your company complies with employment law while also promoting a positive work environment for your employees. They act as a liaison between management and employees, providing guidance and advice on HR policies and practices. Additionally, HR Advisors are often responsible for developing and implementing training programs, resolving conflicts, and ensuring that the company is able to attract and retain top talent.

In an ideal world, all companies would be able to employ a team of HR professionals to help ensure their employees are all happy, engaged and working to meet their company’s objectives. However, we live in the real world and recognise not all companies have the resources, or the inclination to employ a whole team of HR experts. That’s where outsourcing all or part of your HR function comes into its own and can provide you with several benefits, including:

1. Cost savings: Outsourcing HR functions can help you save costs on payroll and benefits administration, employee training, and recruitment.

2. Access to expertise and experience: By outsourcing HR functions, you can leverage the expertise of specialised HR service providers who have in-depth knowledge and experience in HR laws, regulations, and compliance issues.

3. Enables you to focus on core business: Outsourcing your HR function can allow you to focus on your core role and strategic initiatives rather than spending time and resources on administrative HR tasks.

4. Provides access to technology and resources: HR outsourcing providers often have access to advanced HR technologies, resources, and tools that you may not have in-house, for example benchmarking software, employee engagement surveys etc.

Whatever your reason for employing staff – to increase productivity and efficiency, to expand business operations, improve customer service, or to bring in new ideas and perspectives, your HR function should play a key role in helping you achieve your aim, so make sure you make the right choice for you.

The cost of HR support really depends on the nature and level of cover you’re looking for. We have a comprehensive range of services to suit all needs and all budgets. Prices for all HR services are available on the website.

If you’re not sure which level of service would benefit you most, please give us a call and chat to one of our friendly team members on 01536 215240.

This is exactly how Gateway HR started, with Emma Wynne sat at her kitchen table back in 2007 and starting what she thought would be a one-person consultancy. However, as the business really took off, Emma soon realised that she was not offering the service she wanted to, as of course when she was with one client, others needed her – and in some cases urgently. Since 2010 we have had the guarantee that there will always be a fully qualified member of the HR team available for our clients during office hours. Giving our clients the reassurance that even if the person they normally talk to is with another client or on leave, that they can always get the advice and support they need.

If you do choose to go with a one-person consultant – there are some great ones out there, you may want to ask how many other clients they have and what arrangements are in place to cover holidays and sickness, so you can ensure you will have the support you need, when you need it.

If HR staff are qualified and keep up to date with employment law, then the advice should be ‘safe’ whether it comes from a one-person consultancy, an independent HR SME, or a national company.

One of the key differentiators between us and the large nationals is that we are personable – hence our tag line “Personable HR and Training”. We feel we could not be this if we were a huge national company with a call centre answering questions and requests from clients. We are proud to say we know all our clients personally – we take time to get know them and their business. Regardless of how large we grow as a company we will keep this personable promise at our core, and will never have members of our HR team looking after 50+ clients as we don’t believe this can be done in a personable way.

This is something we get asked a lot, as we know it is a sales pitch by many in our industry to scare people into buying from them. This goes against all we stand for and let us explain why. As many of us know, insurers are not overly keen on paying out. So, employers who use an insurance backed provider, are likely to have to do WAY more than is necessary in terms of processes, in order to meet the insurance companies demands and expectations.

Of course, we always advise clients on what they need to do legally and within their own policies, but we like to give our clients options so the action they take suits them and their business – not just do what the insurer says. We have been supporting our clients since 2007 and are proud to say that none of our clients have had a tribunal case in that time due to any advice or guidance from us – in fact we have diverted a fair few. And, don’t forget if you need any reassurance, we have Professional Indemnity Insurance which covers any advice we give.

Absolutely not, as we feel this goes against one of our core values of “We do the right thing”. We have always had a notice period of just 3 months to terminate an ongoing contract with us and are delighted to say that many of our clients have been with us for many years – some for over 10!

As one of our clients, we want you to be with us because you value our service and enjoy working with our team – not because you’re locked into a service contract.

We know that one of the worries when it comes to outsourcing any service, or seeking professional advice, is how much this is going to cost. So, let us reassure you of a few things. Wherever possible, all our prices are clearly shown on our website. For those of you considering our Peace of Mind service, the amount you pay per month does vary depending on how many employees you have and which level of service you choose. However, once that has been established, the price you pay for advice is fixed regardless of how often you pick up that phone or drop us an email. This reassurance also stands for those who subscribe to our Outsourced HR Manager service. The only difference here is that you choose how many ‘days’ of operational and/or strategic support you want in addition to your inclusive helpline support.

If you need extra support beyond that included in your chosen package, of if you are one of our ad hoc HR clients, then you can be reassured that we only charge in 15-minute increments, so no paying for time that wasn’t used and no need to buy blocks of time in advance. In addition to this, our team will always be happy to give you an indication of the amount of time a piece of work may take before it’s carried out, so you will always be in control of how much you spend.

Absolutely not, we’ve worked with many internal HR teams since starting the business back in 2007. We work with them for many different reasons the most common is in relation to projects, helping that internal team either by taking on a project that they just don’t have time to do, or supporting them within a project. Our Standalone HR Heroes service provides that second opinion and sense check, when there is no internal person to ask. We know that when you’re working on your own within HR you sometimes just want to be sure your planned action is the best option and that any risk has been taken in to account.

With us supporting an internal HR team, it also allows the internal HR team to focus on strategy, the things that are going to make the difference to the business and help it achieve its goals. We can support in the more operational areas, updating policies and procedures and developing managers, so the internal HR team can focus on strategy – although we’re also here to help with that if needed.

Another service popular with HR professionals is our HR Coffee Club which provides a great supportive community and 24/7 access to a wealth of online resources including templates for letters, forms and policies and process flow charts.

We are here to support our HR colleagues, genuinely working in partnership with the aim of managing and developing people to be their best.

A question we get asked quite a lot is “do you specialise in our sector? Do you have other clients within our sector?” Quite often the answer is yes, as we work with clients in many sectors – public, private, charity – manufacturing, education, hospitality, animal care, healthcare…. we have clients in all those sectors and many, many more.

The reason we don’t restrict our services to a specific industry is because we genuinely believe that our skills and experience and adaptability can help us work in any sector. In our humble opinion, people are people regardless of the role that they do. Each person is different and will bring different talents and different challenges to the workplace. We’re very experienced as a team in terms of learning and adapting to different sectors and different organisations. This includes understanding and interpreting different terms and conditions, working with unions (or not), levels of hierarchy and different cultures.

If you feel that working with a HR provider that only works with your specific industry is really important to you, then we’re not the right fit for you. However, if you want a service that is personable, expert, and adaptable to your needs, then Gateway HR certainly is the right provider for you.

If we had a pound for every time somebody has said “Well, I thought I could use Google to get the answer for free online” or “I took / borrowed lots of HR documents when I left my previous employer, I thought I could just change the logo and use them.” we’d be a very rich company!

The short answer is you can. However, our response is always the same – you need to be very, very careful.

How up to date is the information on Google? Are you sure it is compliant with current employment law? How reliable is that information? Does that information really fit with your business, and what you want to achieve? Do you know who wrote the information? Has the author been trained in employment law and HR, and are they keeping themselves up to date with changes in legislation and best practice?

When it comes to borrowing from other organisations, everything above still applies.

When “borrowing / adapting” documents make sure that you are not committing your organisation to clauses in employment contracts that you wouldn’t want, or polices that do not meet your needs or perhaps you cannot afford, or clauses that have the potential to invalidate your policy.

A few years ago Emma was auditing the handbook of an accountancy company. In their disciplinary policy they had listed examples of gross misconduct which included “failure to give emergency care to an animal”! On investigating further, Emma discovered that the handbook had been ‘borrowed’ and duplicated from a friend who ran a veterinary practice.

When it comes to your documentation, it’s worth putting in the time to find out where it’s come from, or in our opinion, obviously to get those documents written for you, to be sure you are compliant and that they meet the needs of your business.

It usually only needs to be a big project once, as when you have them in place it’s a much smaller time and resource investment to then update them as and when your business changes or legislation dictates an update.

When deciding whether to sign up to any of our services you may be asking yourself “will I get value for money every month?”.

It is a very fair question and we hope this will help show how our clients make the most from their monthly subscription. When we ask our clients what they value most, it is always the unlimited helpline for support. Knowing they can ring whenever they need us, and whether a quick question or an in-depth challenge they always get a friendly, knowledgeable member of the HR team to help.

Another highly valued benefit is the monthly lunch and learn clinics, on a different HR topic facilitated by our team. These one hour sessions are a combination of facilitated learning and open Q&A sessions. Delegates often learn as much from the other people in the session as they do from our expert facilitators. With our average attendance at those events of 20 – 30 different businesses, there is a lot of learning and ideas shared.

Our 24/7 HR Hub means that any time of day (or night!) our clients have access to basic policies and template letters, process flow charts and a range of other useful resources for all areas of HR.

If all that was not enough, many of our clients also have access to training credits. These can be used towards any of our training – whether that’s our accredited Chartered Management Institute (CMI), training for Management and Leadership or Coaching and Mentoring, a bespoke training programme or for you to develop Mental Health Champions in your organisation.

All these elements provide added value to your subscription – and remember, you don’t need to call us only when things go wrong! Our HR Team loves to discuss ways to develop your people, or to share new initiatives that increase motivation and engagement in your teams!