As a business owner or manager, you know that your people are one of your greatest assets. However, occasionally you might want some assistance in dealing with people related issues in your organisation.
Our services can be tailored to suit your needs whether that is an initial department set up and legal review, contracts of employment and a company handbook, advice on managing a particular issue, representation at a Rights Commissioner hearing or the full outsourcing of your HR function on both a temporary or ongoing basis.
What are your HR needs?
A) I am looking for a Strategic HR Partner
B) I need HR Advice
C) I have a HR project to complete
A) I am looking for a Strategic HR Partner
Aspire HR can provide you with a dedicated HR Consultant to help you comply with legislation and manage your workforce to maximise employee engagement, well-being and business results.
Your HR Partner will work with you as part of your leadership team a specific number of days per month (onsite or remotely) to develop and grow a professional HR function.
You can completely outsource the HR function to Aspire HR who can manage both the strategic and operational aspects of the function. Alternatively, we can work to support internal HR staff to deliver a valued HR service to the business.
We will:
- Take time to understand your workforce size, stage of growth, maturity, industry, nature of the job roles and the owners ambitions for the business.
- Engage with the owner/founder, the leadership team and the managers/supervisors to understand their expectations of HR.
- Devise a HR Strategy to deliver on the business expectations.
- Devise an annual HR implementation plan, aligned to the HR and business strategy.
- Establish a quarterly HR Review with the leadership team to review progress against the plan and agree changes as required.
- Monitor progress and report on agreed metrics to feed into future plans.
Costing model
We define the level of support needed and agree a 12 month contract and budget which is invoiced monthly. A reduced rate is provided for any extra HR support that is required during the year.
B) I need HR advice
Aspire HR provide you with a dedicated HR Consultant who is responsible for supporting you with all HR queries. This means you will build a relationship with one key individual who will be familiar with your business and the people within it.
This allows us to provide added value by advising how to apply the law in a way that will work in your company. We build up an understanding of your organisational structure, the personalities, skills and interest areas of key people. We can then give faster, practical advice rather than just quoting the law to our clients.
Costing model
Flexibility is key as businesses grow so we understand not all businesses are ready to develop a full HR function. If you just need someone at the end of the phone/email who can support you on an ad hoc basis, we offer an annual rate card to clients.
The hourly rate reduces in line with the number of hours used over the calendar 12 month period. Invoices are issued monthly based on time spent with each client each month. You are only charged for the time we spend advising – this might be a 15-minute phone call one month or 14 hours of meetings the next month.
C) I have a HR Project to complete
- As businesses develop, it is common for one role to have responsibility for human resources in addition to other areas. This can work well for initial stages of business development as long as you have solid HR foundation in place.
This requires a strong contract of employment template and key policies in terms of disciplinary, grievance and dignity at work. You also need strong payroll support to ensure the correct entitlements are being provided to staff in terms of annual leave, public holidays, working time, minimum wage, subsistence etc.
Typical HR projects we provide include: - Workplace Relation Commission (WRC) audit support*
– Mock preparation audits
– Act as the company contact through a WRC audit
– Support the company to rectify breaches identified by the WRC - An employee survey and a one-to-one follow up with HR.
- Contracts of employment and employee handbook
– Provision of template documentation, tailored to your business
– Provision of training on how to apply the policies
– Advising employers step by step through a live issue - Investigations and appeals for disciplinary, grievance, bullying & harassment issues
- Creating a bespoke performance development cycle
- External remuneration reviews to ensure salaries are competitive
- Supporting internal recruitment campaigns
– Devising job profiles
– Acting as part of an interview panel
– Providing access to psychometric assessments - Identifying a suitable cloud-based human resource information system (HRIS) solution and supporting implementation
– Tracking working time via clocking machines or website/mobile phone applications
– Enabling employee self service for annual leave and other requests
– Creation of a portal to support communication and employee engagement.
– Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP)
– Learning and development (L&D) supports
* The WRC are responsible for ensuring compliance with employment law in all Irish businesses. They conduct announced and unannounced inspections of workplaces all over the country and can issue on the spot fines or issue proceedings against non-compliant employers.
Costing model
The parameters of the project will be agreed and where practicable we will provide a set fee for the project deliverables. Where the effort required cannot be quantified, we will apply the HR advice costing model.
How it Works
How will it work if you choose to work with Aspire HR?
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|---|---|---|
| Briefing Management Meeting with Aspire HR | We draft an Action Plan and costing proposal based on our discussion | Employee and Management Meeting with Aspire HR |
| In this meeting, we discuss your goals – what you hope to change or improve as a result of this HR intervention. | An action plan is devised and discussed with management. Once agreed, contracts are issued and signed. | Introduction either to all or specific employees and management to implement the action plan. |
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|---|
| Briefing Management Meeting with Aspire HR |
| In this meeting, we discuss your goals – what you hope to change or improve as a result of this HR project. |
|
| We draft an Action Plan and costing proposal based on our discussion |
| An action plan is devised and discussed with management. Once agreed, contracts are issued and signed. |
|
| Briefing Management Meeting with Aspire HR |
| Introduction either to all or specific employees and management to implement the action plan. |
(A) Sample New Client Assessment Project
A typical example of a new client assessment includes a WRC Preparation Audit, employee survey and one-to-one follow up with HR. In this scenario, once the project scope is agreed we will follow the stages below.
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|---|---|---|---|
| Employee and Management Meeting with Aspire HR | WRC Preparation Audit | Employee Survey | One-to-one meeting with each employee |
| In this meeting with all employees, we explain what we hope to achieve, why and how it will work. Employees are assured of full confidentiality at this meeting. | We will work onsite to review all current files, HR policies, processes and payroll information. | Employees are asked to complete a survey where they provide positive feedback, constructive criticism etc. | After studying the results of the survey, we have one-to-one meetings with each employee. They can air their views, concerns etc. in a confidential environment. |
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|---|
| Introduction of Aspire HR to the whole team |
A communication is sent to all employees (via email or telephone/video call) to explain what we hope to achieve, why and how it will work. Employees are assured of full confidentiality. |
|
| WRC Preparation Audit |
| We will work to review all current files, HR policies, processes and payroll information. |
|
| Employee Survey |
| Employees are asked to complete a survey where they provide positive feedback, constructive criticism etc. |
|
| One-to-one meeting with each employee |
| After studying the results of the survey, we have one-to-one meetings with each employee. We can probe for more detail on their views, concerns etc. in a confidential environment. |
At the end of this project, the client will receive a comprehensive report detailing their compliance levels including specific action items and summary feedback from their own teams on key emerging themes, current level of employee satisfaction and well-being and suggestions for how the working environment could be improved.
Our audit process is pragmatic and will collate the employee information into the necessary format for a WRC audit as we progress. This means at the end of the process the company will be audit ready or know what steps to close off to be audit ready. Where requested, we can go on to support implementation of the common action items like creating a personnel filing system for all staff (hard and soft) or updating contracts and handbooks. This ensures a one stop shop for our clients, where they can delegate the whole task rather than simply adding to the to-do list!
(B) Sample Contracts and Handbooks Project
All businesses are legally required to have a contract of employment for each staff member to reflect their current terms and conditions. In addition, staff must be provided with details of the company grievance procedure, disciplinary, bullying and harassment policies. Aspire HR can provide a range of comprehensive and tailored documents to meet this obligation in an effective and engaging way. When dealing with people, every issue goes back to the questions, what is in the contract or job profile? What does the policy say? Businesses will save themselves time, money and frustration in the future by getting the right building blocks in place as early as possible. If you are going to spend any money on your HR – spend it getting this right.
Our process
We initially review what is currently in place, often through the WRC preparation audit. If the current documents can be brought up to our standard with a few simple changes, we will simply edit the current documents and bill only for the time we spend. If new documents are required we will provide a costed solution for contract and handbook templates, job profiles, bespoke changes and training for the managers on how to use the documents. Taking the time to implement reliable HR documentation is a fundamental aspect of any HR system.
If requested, we can then populate the signed off templates for each staff member, liaise with each person to issue them, answer any queries and collect and file signed documents.
Where clients require continuing support, we can work on ad-hoc projects or as a Strategic HR partner a prescribed number of days per month.
1. Ensure The Best Talent in the Right Roles
Purpose: We can help you attract a strong continual pipeline of talent into your business, ensuring expectations from both the employer and the employee are clear and agreed.
Specific activities include;
- Develop an attractive employer brand
- Ensure clarity in role responsibilities and person specifications
- Source and co-ordinate the best talent from websites, agencies etc.
- Create interview questions and schedule interviews
- Screen & select candidates
- Align people to correct roles, using psychometric assessments
- Manage the offer and contract stage
- Implement a thorough induction programme
- Promote diversity & inclusion throughout
- Initiate a positive experience at all points of contact with the company
2. Core HR Service
Purpose: Deliver a responsive HR service to the business, mitigating risk while demonstrating the culture and values.
Specific activities include;
- WRC audit preparation
- Contracts of employment and employee handbook
- Investigations and appeals for disciplinary, grievance, bullying & harassment issues
- Compliance with employment law
- Support a focus on health, safety and well-being of staff
- Utilise cloud-based solutions, where possible to improve the employee experience and increase efficiencies
- Advising & supporting managers to manage probations and ongoing development
- Create and utilise a bespoke performance development cycle
- Annually assess the total reward system to ensure it is fit for purpose i.e. salary, pension, health benefits, bonus, holidays
- Manage all employee issues & complaints (in line with Mission, Vision, Values)
- Support development of good people ‘norms’
- Advocate for ethical decisions & corporate social responsibility
3. Inspire your People to Care about your Business
Purpose: Inspire, motivate and support the development of your people’s individual potential to meet the current and future needs of your business. The most productive employees feel proud to work for your business and trust in you as an employer. We provide a variety of services, including psychometric assessments, which help you to understand what motivates your people and build trust.
Specific activities include;
- Support communications articulating mission, vision, values
- Concentrate on defining shared goals and interdependencies
- Understand individual motivators and strive to meet them
- Structure work aligned to individual strengths
- Negotiate time and space for employees to be effective
- Highlight positive achievements and celebrate success as a team
- Encourage a strong employee voice to be heard
- Respect feedback with action
- Develop a culture of regular, quality feedback accompanied by suggested actions
- Create development plans and follow through on staff development commitments
- Maintain correct resourcing skills to meet business needs
- Promote internally first, where possible
- Reward in a tailored way for maximum impact
- Take a supportive whole person approach to people management
- Create opportunities for social interaction
- Focus on equity in decision making
4. Implementing Change Initiatives to Drive Success
Purpose: For your business to grow, it must continuously learn from past experiences and improve practices. This function ensures agility in HR, questioning why and how we deliver value, seeking opportunities to reflect & learn, gathering stakeholder feedback and facilitating the implementation of change initiatives to drive success.
Specific activities include;
- Design the best organisational structure
- Continually review and improve two-way communication flows
- Facilitate workshops to support teamworking, shared learning, ideas
- Project manage new initiatives
- Maximise technology to report metrics & drive efficiencies