4 Disadvantages of Hiring an HRMS Consultant

There are many advantages of hiring an HRMS consultant such as process improvement, cost savings and filling a gap in HRMS staffing. It’s important to remember however, that this is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution and an HRMS consultant is not always the best option.

Make sure that your HRMS team and project do not suffer from these dangers if you bring on an HRMS consultant:

1. Knowledge walks out the door 

Knowledge, training and experience walk out the door when a consultant leaves.

Even if you have the best HRMS consultant, there is still a period of transition due to someone leaving.

Worst case, if you do not ensure knowledge transfer and appropriate documentation, you’re left holding the bag as the only person skilled in a particular function or task has left the building without a full transition.

2. Existing HRMS team morale can suffer

Often, HRMS consultants are brought in due to their years of experience and expertise. But how often have you had a ‘Consultant’ who is right out of college with no work experience who is as skilled on the new HRMS as your current staff?

Decide whether an HRMS consultant is right for you using our guide to hiring and working with HRMS consultants

Your staff do not have the privilege of coming in mid-morning Monday and having Friday off. It’s important to remember that your HRMS staff will be the core team supporting your new HRMS after the consultants leave, so be sure that they do not feel like second-class citizens in the process.

3. Budget impacts

Consultants come with a high price tag for a variety of reasons: experience, skills and short term availability. If you do not tightly manage their time, however, your project budget can be blown if you extend their assignment past the budgeted amount.

Total average cost of an employee is currently $29.99 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A consultant can easily go up to $400 an hour, so financially they can have a heavy impact to your project costs if relied upon at great lengths.

4. Lack of continuity

Each time you bring in an HRMS consultant you lose time and energy getting the resource up to speed about your organization, industry and HRMS landscape.

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While an HRMS consultant may come with great ideas, they do not have the history of what works at your organization or the challenges encountered in the past. With this in mind, sometimes an HRMS Consultant is not the best choice, due to the extra time needed to get educated.

Consultants can be a smart staffing move, just be sure that you consider all of the relevant factors prior to making a decision to go with an HRMS consultant.