On paper, that feels like your HR is sorted but here at Marches HR, we’re seeing something different play out across Herefordshire and the surrounding areas. Small employers are paying £150 or more a month for a helpline, then still coming to an independent HR consultancy like us for extra support when they have a real life issue.
So what’s going on?
What HR helplines are actually built for
Most HR helplines are built to answer questions quickly. They’re call-based, supporting a large number of organisations at once. That usually means:
- A different advisor every time you get in touch, who may not always be a qualified HR professional
- Explaining your situation from scratch… again
- Generic guidance based on whatever you’ve shared in that single call
- Standard templates, scripts or links to further reading
For simple, one-off questions, that works fine. A quick check on notice periods or holiday entitlement doesn’t need much beyond a clear, correct answer and a helpline’s often the fastest route to that.
But we know most real people problems aren’t simple. They come with history, context and risk attached. That’s where a helpline on its own starts to fall short and where a proper HR consultancy relationship earns its keep.
Why an HR consultancy gets called in twice
We recently worked with a client who’d already followed guidance from their HR helpline. They’d done everything they reasonably could with the advice they’d been given, including checking their process against the Acas’ overview of redundancy rights.
But something still didn’t sit right with them. They weren’t confident in the advice they’d received. They didn’t feel safe moving forward alone. So they came to us. Not once… but twice.
Within about an hour of properly reviewing the situation and asking the right questions, the gaps were obvious. The original advice hadn’t explored the full context. Key risks hadn’t been picked up. Nobody had raised whether legally privileged advice might be worth getting given the particular situation they were in and the risks they therefore faced. And there was no ongoing, hands-on support to help them through what came next.
None of that’s a failing on the client’s part. They followed the guidance they were given, in good faith, and did so promptly. The gap sat in how the advice was put together for the client by the HR helpline in the first place… quickly, generically and without anyone able to sit with the detail long enough to spot where it mattered to that unique client.
This isn’t a dig at HR helplines. They have their place. They’re just not built to sit alongside you the way an ongoing HR relationship can.
What an HR consultancy relationship looks like
When clients join us through our HR Sorted membership, they’re not just calling a helpline. They’re accessing an HR consultancy that flexes to whatever’s in front of them.
Sometimes that’s just a quick question, answered fast, but when things get complicated, our existing relationship shifts into dedicated 1:1 support… time to talk it through, time to be challenged (think ‘critical friend’), time to sense-check a decision, time to see the bigger picture.
And when it’s needed most, we’re there with you, on Teams, on a call or in the room – whether it relates to a disciplinary or grievance, a redundancy process or a settlement agreement.
We get to know our clients and their organisations. We communicate like a team. We stay alongside you as situations develop, not just for the initial contact.
What’s more… we’re a small business and employer ourselves, so we know the pressures our clients are under… the juggle, the time constraints, the weight of getting people decisions right. That’s also why our small business and charity HR support is built with the same close, ongoing approach rather than a one-off HR helpline call.
The feedback we hear from our clients most often isn’t about speed. It’s about confidence. Clients tell us they feel calmer, clearer and more confident about what they’re doing, why and how, when they’ve sought advice from us over an HR helpline.
So what are you actually paying for?
If you’re already paying £150-plus a month for HR support but still find yourself looking elsewhere for reassurance or proper guidance, it’s worth asking what that money’s actually buying you and whether an HR consultancy relationship would serve you better.
There’s absolutely a place for HR helplines but when something truly matters, most businesses and charities don’t just want to receive scripted, generic HR advice from someone who doesn’t know them and their organisation. What they really want is an independent HR consultancy that’s properly by their side."
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