FAQs

What is retained support?

Retained support, or a ‘retainer’, refers to ongoing HR support your company would receive from us, in exchange for a fixed monthly amount.

 

How much does a retainer cost?

We have 4 levels of retained support that we offer, dependent on your business’ people and HR needs. Each retainer package is calculated based on headcount, as the more people you have, the more support you’re likely to need.

Full details of our retainer costs can be found on our pricing page.

 

What do I get in a retainer?

The basic level package provides unlimited employment law and HR support via telephone or Microsoft Teams. You have a nominated consultant who gets to know you and your business so advice is tailored to your specific needs, without having to explain the business background each time (as you would with the more traditional call-centre consultancies).

In addition to basic HR advice, we also offer more strategic support, which is specifically for growing businesses that understand the value of growing a people-centric culture, and who want to drive growth through having a high-performing team. We do this by tracking people data to ensure you are clear on the return on your investment when it comes to people activity. That means that all your decisions regarding HR and people activity are made with the support of data. We work with you to build your people strategy and an actionable people plan to drive activity.

We also provide training and recruitment support for growing businesses that really want to propel their business growth.

Full details of our retainer costs are on the table on our pricing page.

 

Do I get a fixed amount of hours to use with my consultant each month?

No, our support is unlimited. We base our pricing on your business’ headcount, as the more people you have, the more support you’re likely to need.

By understanding your headcount numbers, we’re able to estimate how much time we think you will need with your consultant over the course of a month, but it’s not an exact science, so you’ll get exactly the support you need, whenever you need it and at no additional cost.

How do I know I’m getting value for money?

There are a few ways to determine this. The first is considering the quality of the support you will get from working with us. Each of our consultants is CIPD qualified, or has equivalent experience in real life, or in most cases, both! That means we know HR and people and have seen and dealt with most kinds of trickly people problems.

By working with us, you get a nominated consultant who will really get to know you and your business; in addition, you also have access to our wider team of experts. We know that in the world of employment law and HR, not very much is black and white, so by having a team of experts, we’re able to utilise our collective experience to ensure you’re always getting the very highest quality support, advice and guidance, at all times.

By having a retainer place, you can control your costs more easily, with no additional expenses such as NI, PAYE, pension costs, etc. Having employees can be costly, so by outsourcing, you’re more in control of your overheads.

 

Do I have to sign up for a long contract?

No. All our retainers are on a rolling monthly basis. That means we simply ask for 30 days’ notice if you wish to terminate for any reason.

 

Is retained HR support expensive?

We have retained support packages to support most budgets, so we’re confident you’ll be satisfied with our pricing.

Outsourcing isn’t a ‘cheap’ solution, but we strongly believe, you get what you pay for!

It’s important to remember that a company’s people are quite literally their most valuable asset, so why wouldn’t you want to make sure you’re taking the very best care of your most valuable asset?

The other thing to consider is the cost of not having HR support – think costly grievances and employment tribunals and lawyers, not to mention the lost time for senior managers and staff. By working with us we prevent these sorts of issues from occurring in the first place, which is why our clients see us as an investment and not a cost.

 

Do your prices increase annually?

Yes, we review our fees annually, usually in line with inflation. This means we’re able to attract the best HR professionals in the industry, ensuring continued quality of support for you.

Win back your time with retained support from The HR Consultants