HUMAN Resources Services
Welcome to Lynn HR Consulting, where Human Resources meets unparalleled efficiency and cost-effectiveness. We redefine HR consulting by seamlessly embedding ourselves into your business, functioning as your in-house HR department at a fraction of the cost. Our tailored solutions cater to the unique needs of small to mid-size businesses, offering comprehensive human resource services. Our team of experienced HR professionals becomes an integral part of your organization, ensuring a deep understanding of your culture and goals.
For small to mid-size businesses, we offer a one-stop solution for HR needs, including employee relations, performance management, and compliance. We seamlessly integrate into your operations, providing the expertise of an in-house team without the associated overhead costs.
For larger organizations, Lynn HR Consulting goes beyond conventional consulting. We specialize in taking on specific HR projects and providing interim executive services. Whether it's a comprehensive HR audit, organizational restructuring, or leadership transition, our seasoned professionals are equipped to handle it with precision and efficiency.
HR Services We Provide
Onboarding is meant to be a meaningful process for your new team members. First impressions – even virtual ones – do matter. How do you want your new team to talk about their experience with your business to friends and family – or even the community at large – on social media? We assume you want them to rave about everything from their recruiting experience to pre-employment to orientation and onboarding.
Below are some steps that we suggest, at a minimum, including in your onboarding checklist:
Welcome Email: Who doesn’t want to be acknowledged on their first day of a new job? People’s emotions tend to be pretty high day one, so sending a simple email to let them know you are thrilled they are here and honestly that you were expecting them is HUGE!
Federal paperwork: We all have to do it, but you can control the timing of most of it (except the I9). No one feels welcomed by a stack of paperwork being shoved in their face the moment they walk in the door.
Company paperwork: See above, but same concept. It’s better to space it out and plan some fun or training in between.
Orientation: A great way for you to find out more about your new team member, share more about the company and sometimes start introductions. Lots of businesses use this time for paperwork, but we think it should be more interactive since it’s usually the first part of a new team member’s day one.
Position overview and mentoring/training: Let the new team member know you have a plan for them to get as acclimated as possible and you care about his/her success!
Introductions: take your new team member on a tour, introduce him/her to the team in a fun way whether it’s with icebreaker questions or a game even if it’s virtual.
30/60/90-day reviews: A new team member should know how he/she is progressing especially within the first 90 days (which is also typically the introductory period). It is best practice to onboard employees in general during their entire first year of employment. We promise you will see the evidence in your retention rate!
Most people think of an employee handbook as a thick manual with a bunch of information that no one reads. Unfortunately, we have seen this to be true for the most part – at least until a lawsuit presents itself. As scary as that sounds, employee handbooks are MUCH more than that. Having a current and relevant employee handbook absolutely lowers the risk of costly litigation, but is also a foundational part of your business’ culture.
Employee Handbooks contain the scope of your business’ mission, vision, values, expectations and policies for how you want your business to run; the WHY of your business, what you expect from your employees, and what they can expect from you. It’s really the best reference point for your business’ standards.
We suggest updating your Employee Handbook once a quarter to keep up with the evolving state and federal laws and regulations.If you’re thinking… “How in the world am I supposed to do that?”…Don’t worry. We have you covered! This is part of HR’s role.
If you already have an Employee Handbook, you are a step ahead! Let us know if you need help with any revisions or additional policies.
Just a couple of reminders:
*States do vary on requirements for Employee Handbooks.
*All employees should have access to your Employee Handbook.
Policies and procedures are essential for running an effective and efficient business. They outline the expectations, guidelines, and process everyone must follow in order to be successful. While a bulk of a business’ policies can be found in their Employee Handbook, it is best practice to have the procedures in a separate location – whether that's a “document” or shared digital space – where all team members can access it. Most policy and procedure manuals are written for leaders, and referenced by leaders, but there is a lot of transparency and value in open access to all.
Below are some policies we HIGHLY recommend every business has regardless of in which state your business resides. And, we can’t forget to mention, each state does have other requirements outside of federal regulations.
Policies/ Procedures to have (keep in mind some of these policies are required by state law, but all are good to have regardless):
Harassment policy
Bullying policy
Drug/Alcohol policy
Reasonable Suspicion
Corrective Action policy
General Emergency procedures
Remote Work Policy
Leave Policies & Procedures
Grievance Procedures
Equal Opportunity
Performance varies from employee to employee, and even goes through its own cycles, depending on a person’s personal life. We all know high performers are an absolute gift to any business, but it’s important to keep them engaged with stretch goals, development opportunities and career advancement. The best way to do this is through performance management. Just because people are high performers doesn’t mean they don’t need check-ins, feedback, support, and recognition.
Low performers are also a reality in any business, which is where documentation really comes into play. In order to keep consistency across the organization, all leaders should document performance. But when performance really starts to drop – either based on behavior or competency – having solid documentation helps to move employees to next steps, be it corrective action, performance improvement plans (PIP), or termination.
Overall, the most important part of performance management is creating goals that can be tracked. We can help you customize your performance management process to reflect your business needs, keep you connected to the work being done, and build genuine relationships with your employees.
As an employer, creating a solid foundation from a legal and cultural standpoint can feel like a daunting task. But we promise it is worth its weight in gold. Why? Because it shapes your current and future success.
We also recognize that starting out demands a considerable amount of your time, energy, and focus while you're being pulled in a million different directions at once. This is why you need someone else with expertise to lean on. Below is a great place to start. We consider it our “short” list of essentials to have as an employer.
How and when leaders communicate to their teams, or how the business communicates as a whole, is a vital element to developing culture. We can create communication plans that take into account the culture you are trying to build while providing different modes of communication that can be cascaded from leaders to team members, such as talking points for a change or issue, ongoing communication through newsletters, or focus articles about a specific topic. We have the knack for taking large amounts of complex information and making it simple to understand.
Does your organization feel the impact of not having enough leaders? Is your organization flat with all leaders sitting at one level? Do your frontline workers need more support?
Let us help you define the levels of leadership and management you need to support the activities of your business and your employees.
Employee Relations encompasses many aspects of a business’ relationship with its employees. Human Resources’ value really shines in this space because we help to prevent and resolve employee-related issues, whether it involves a formal investigation, or conducting stay interviews, or to improve retention.
Sometimes the best decision for a business and an employee is to part ways. We can help coach leaders on the best way to say goodbye with everyone’s dignity intact, while keeping in mind the best way to reduce any legal risk the termination might pose.
Role-playing the conversation, creating talking points, and making sure all the appropriate documentation is in order are great ways to prepare for an involuntary termination. Because people react differently to these types of situations, being prepared is the best approach.
For voluntary terminations, or when an employee gives the business notice that they will be leaving, best practice is to schedule an exit interview with that person (with a third party present) 1-2 weeks after their departure.
Policies and procedures are essential for running an effective and efficient business. They outline the expectations, guidelines, and process everyone must follow in order to be successful. While a bulk of a business’ policies can be found in their Employee Handbook, it is best practice to have the procedures in a separate location – whether that's a “document” or shared digital space – where all team members can access it. Most policy and procedure manuals are written for leaders, and referenced by leaders, but there is a lot of transparency and value in open access to all.
Below are some policies we HIGHLY recommend every business has regardless of in which state your business resides. And, we can’t forget to mention, each state does have other requirements outside of federal regulations.
Policies/ Procedures to have (keep in mind some of these policies are required by state law, but all are good to have regardless):
Harassment policy
Bullying policy
Drug/Alcohol policy
Reasonable Suspicion
Corrective Action policy
General Emergency procedures
Remote Work Policy
Leave Policies & Procedures
Grievance Procedures
Equal Opportunity
Are you growing, acquiring, or merging multiple companies? If so, we can help you manage the due diligence, transition, and integration of new and tenured employees.
We are well-versed in reviewing all implications of joining teams across companies, from looking closely at differences in policies to compensation and benefits to making recommendations that take into account the employee experience and business needs.
Do you have new leaders or leaders who have been recently promoted into a bigger role?
Do you have aspiring talent you want to develop and retain?
We have extraordinary coaches who will work with leaders at all levels to discover their strengths and develop and work on goals.
Metrics are important for all businesses to consider, regardless of industry. Below are a few metrics we know to be vital to the success of any business and the decisions they make:
Revenue Factor (measures effectiveness): Revenue / Total # Full Time Employees
Revenue Per Labor Costs (measures efficiency by reducing costs): Revenue / Total Labor Costs
Human Capital Return on Investment (prime measure for analyzing human resource practices): (Revenue – [Operating Expense- (Compensation Cost / Benefit Cost)] / (Compensation Cost/ Benefit Cost)
Human Capital Value Added (amount of value added to the company): (Revenue- [Operating Expense- (Compensation Cost/ Benefit Cost)] / Total # Full Time Employees
Human Resource Expense Factor (measures human resources cost per employee): Human Resource Expenses / Total Employees
Turnover Rate (benchmarked against the Bureau of Labor Statistics): [# Separations in a Month / Average # Employees During Month) x (# Workdays)] x 100
Time to Fill: Total Days Elapsed Since Requisition / # Hires
Cost Per Hire: (External Costs + Internal Costs) / # Hires
Turnover Costs Per Employee: (Separation Costs + Replacement Costs + Training Costs + Lost Performance) / # Replacements
Health-Care Cost Per Employee: Total Cost of Healthcare / Total Employees
Employee Benefits as a Percent of Payroll: Total Employer Benefits Payments / Total Gross Payroll
Human Resources-to-Employee Ratio: (Total # Human Resource Full-time Employees / Total # Full-time Employees) / 100
With our background in education, we have the ability to incorporate adult learning methods to meet your training needs.
Whether that’s training both leaders and employees on HR policies and regulations to reduce your risk of litigation, or training leaders on how to cultivate effective teams while simultaneously providing them with development opportunities that will optimize their skills and confidence as leaders.
HR FAQ's
HR is involved in all aspects of a business but can best be broken down into two sides: operations and strategy. Operations would be considered day-to-day people issues like recruiting or onboarding, managing performance, policy and procedure, compliance, and everything in between. Strategy comes into play when the business needs to align goals, enact change management, develop leaders, impact culture and keep employees engaged so that they want to stay for the long haul. In essence, we solve problems. If we can’t solve them, then we find out who can.
There are plenty of analytical tools for Human Resource professionals to use from a consultative approach. Sometimes it’s better to have a fresh and objective perspective when it comes to solving problems. With that being said, we also make sure to learn the ins-and-outs of your business to provide the best results.
Already have a Human Resources department? No problem. We can always take on the projects they may not have the time to complete, or fill in during a vacancy. Sometimes it’s also helpful for an outside partner to make recommendations or train new HR professionals.
Even though each state has varying employment laws, the awesome part about working in HR is that we can work in any state – business is business. Let us help you with all the compliance and legal requirements for your business.
Thankfully, no; however, sometimes the best decision for a business and an employee is to part ways. We help coach leaders on the best way to say goodbye with everyone’s dignity intact and also keep in mind the best way to reduce any legal risk the termination might pose. We will also help you create talking points, roleplay the conversation and talk about how to best approach the situation if the employee becomes upset because the reality is – being fired never feels good.
Our function is to balance business needs with employee needs. We maintain that balance by helping you create great workplaces for your employees while simultaneously meeting your business goals.
We know that businesses thrive when they invest in their people. So much of that success comes from the environment we create for our team members. Successful businesses, and the ones that stand the test of time, understand that their employees are not only part of their business but are essential to it. Your success is their success, just as their success is yours.
"If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got."
- Albert Einstein