HR Consultant vs. HR Manager: What’s The Difference?

Through the years, human resources (HR) has evolved into a crucial corporate function that contributes to a company's most valuable asset: its people. In today’s ever-changing corporate landscape, you need an HR professional that’s fully equipped with the right knowledge to help you grow your people and company. What should you hire, an HR consultant or an HR manager? Let’s take a closer look at it.

What Are Human Resources?

Let’s start with the basics: what is the role of human resources in a business? Human resources (HR) is an umbrella term for the administration and development of an organization's employees. 

HR functions and duties consist of:

• Recruitment and onboarding
• Terminating employees
• Payroll administration
• Employee training and development
• Safety compliances
• Observance of labor laws and regulations

Beyond this, human resources also plays a crucial part in creating a productive organizational culture and boosting employee engagement and performance. The HR department is what bridges the gap between employee performance and company goals. 

As you can probably tell, these are a whole lot of tasks that need proper time management. Business owners struggle to juggle these responsibilities all while managing and expanding the company. That is why they hire HR professionals to do the job. 

However, there seems to be some confusion over the distinctions between an HR consultant and an HR manager. How are they different? And which one is the best fit for your business?

HR Manager 

HR managers are in-house, full-time employees that oversee all HR-related operations and tasks. They take the lead in hiring, firing, policy enforcement, benefits administration, employee onboarding, and more. They are also usually the point of contact or link between the management and its employees. 

Human resources tasks in larger companies may be split up amongst many other employees. There are HR generalists, HR practitioners, or interns that help the managers out. 

However, most small businesses lack the resources to recruit an HR team right away. That’s why their HR manager typically splits their time between administrative tasks, strategic planning, and managerial responsibilities. They often act as a generalist and are responsible for carrying out duties in all of these areas.

Benefits Of Hiring An HR Manager 

Accessibility is the main benefit of having an HR manager. HR managers are accessible full-time to help with everything from payroll to leaves to employee inquiries. 

They free you up to concentrate on expanding your company. Without them, you will have no choice but to handle all of this administrative work on your own.

HR Consultant 

An HR consultant is a third-party or outsourced HR specialist, usually from an HR consulting firm. They ensure that a business follows all regulations and standard procedures for its industry. 

Hiring an HR consultant is much like hiring a part-time (or freelance) chief human resources officer (CHRO). They are professionals that provide a strategic and tailored internal HR strategy for businesses. They take a comprehensive assessment of the company, search for weaknesses and chokepoints, and provide recommendations for improvement. 

Some businesses can also employ specialized HR consultants for advice in specific areas like talent acquisition or coaching. 

An HR consultant will be able to look at your company from an outside perspective and bring fresh ideas to the table. With their strong knowledge and expertise, you'll be able to pinpoint problem areas and create a workable strategy for fixing them.

Benefits Of Hiring An HR Consultant

An HR consultant offers you overall flexibility and convenience in all aspects of HR. 

HR consultants take on the work of creating the procedures and making suggestions for best practices. Therefore, all that’s left to do is execute. 

Your business also gets the huge advantage of expert advice and extensive capability. Experienced HR consultants have wide-ranging knowledge and experience with employee policies and procedures.

They can provide an in-depth, data-backed analysis of HR policy regardless of the industry. This, in turn, leaves little to no room for risk and error — which is incredibly crucial in today’s corporate landscape. 

And finally, it's a much more cost-effective option. Cost is one reason why businesses do not grow their human resources department right away. Moreover, management may not exactly know how much more staff they need on board. 

Working with an HR consultant will save you a lot more money than recruiting more in-house staff. They serve as a guide on how to effectively scale and improve your HR department.

HR Consultant vs. HR Manager: What’s The Better Choice? 

Ultimately, hiring a human resources manager is a good option if you merely need someone on board full-time to assist and oversee day-to-day HR tasks. HR consultants, on the other hand, may be the best option if you want to transform the organization or provide a full-proof professional HR strategy to your company. 

Better HR For Better Business With DSA HR Solutions, Inc.

Your employees are the heart of your business. We can assist you in finding, retaining, and constructing long-term, scalable HR frameworks to get the most out of your employees, and drive you to business success. 

Contact us today to learn more about our HR consulting services!