Background
- Location: United Kingdom
- Size: 100+ employees
Challenge
In November 2023, the client’s sole HR professional (Head of HR) had to leave the organisation due to unforeseen circumstances. This individual was a single point of failure, as the business was then left with no one to deal with their day-to-day HR matters, let alone manage any bigger, more strategic HR requirements.
Being in the manufacturing sector, the organisation faced regular audits. But having no one to manage their processes such as right to work and health and safety inductions posed a significant problem, leaving them at risk of not complying with crucial regulations. The business knew that if they continued as they were, the consequences could include both heavy fines and reputational damage.
Solution
Vero HR was approached and stepped in as external HR support, acting as an extension of the client’s team through its partnership-driven model. Vero supplied two dedicated HR team members: one for processing the day-to-day HR admin needs of the business and one for dealing with higher-level employee relations issues needing more experienced support as well as engaging with the company’s legal partner when required.
The admin resource managed everything from issuing job offers and completing right-to-work checks to holding weekly induction meetings with new employees. The second, more senior, resource dealt with any employee relations issues that arose throughout the week either remotely, or on-site as needed.
As the temporary model continued and through conversations with Vero HR, the client realised they didn’t need to replace the Head of HR with a like-for-like, senior HR professional. After all, around 80% of their time was spent on lower-level administrative tasks.
They concluded that using Vero’s services and lowering the seniority of the vacancy from Head of HR to an HR Advisor, they could get the best of both worlds for a fraction of the cost while erasing the single point of failure.
This gave the client two options:
- Make their temporary solution permanent and continue using an on-site Vero HR Administrative resource to complete the majority of their HR tasks, accessing an additional, more senior-level team member when required for any complex issues.
- Hire an in-house HR Advisor to complete the admin tasks and, again, when they were inevitably going to require more experience to deal with complex HR matters, utilise Vero HR’s services for support from a senior-level professional.
In this case, the client felt their situation best suited option 2. This new strategy also provided the organisation with both depth and breadth of HR skillsets and experience, as they weren’t restricted to just a single senior HR professional. They could access the wider Vero HR team and their varying areas of expertise when required.
In addition, the initial resource Vero deployed also had a HR technology background. This parked discussions with the client on the benefits of utilising HR software to increase the efficiency of their processes and gave them a proactive view of how to make further improvements.
Meanwhile, Vero HR’s internal talent acquisition team (available exclusively to Vero HR clients) stepped in to recruit for the new in-house HR Advisor role. The talent team liaised closely with the on-site Vero HR team member to grasp the business culture, nature of the role, and better understand which candidates would be the best organisational fit.
The client’s permanent HR set-up is now as follows:
A part-time, in-house HR Advisor to manage all day-to-day tasks such as processing:
- Right-to-work checks
- Starters, contractual changes and leavers
- Reference letters
- Health and safety documents
- Holiday and sickness records
- Induction paperwork
- Recruitment coordination
Access to a dedicated senior HR professional through Vero HR, working as an extension of their team, to support with tasks including:
- Employee relations issues
- Disciplinary or grievance cases
- Policy reviews and creation
- Handbook reviews and creation
Results
Vero HR enabled the client to cut the total cost of their HR function by more than half – reducing the seniority of the HR role from Head of HR (circa £60,000) to part-time Advisor (£26,000) – lowering annual salary costs. Their partnership with Vero HR costs £300 a month (£3,600 per year), totalling an annual saving of £30,400.
The client saved further costs using the Vero Recruit service instead of an agency. Using the Vero Recruit model, the total cost of recruitment was £3,710 (14% of base salary). Using an average agency model with a placement fee of 20%, it would have cost them £5,200.
On a wider, more strategic scale, the ongoing partnership with Vero HR has enabled the client to remove the single point of failure and future-proof their HR department while strengthening regulatory compliance, by providing access to more experienced HR professional resources with a broader range of skills when required. The client now has access to a £1.5 million, corporate-sized HR team for less than £4,000 a year.
“Vero HR’s work has been great. Their support during the absence of our HR staff has helped us recruit a new permanent HR advisor. Their ongoing support has also helped us get things in line. Overall, they’ve exceeded our expectations.”
– Financial Controller
