Consulting Services

Having the right HR strategy is important for executing your business strategy and objectives. HR@Work can help you develop a strategy and organizational plan designed to drive performance and meet your financial, talent acquisition, and retention goals. We also work closely with clients to develop succession plans, organizational design, and communications strategies and materials, including in multimedia form.  We have a unique approach to succession planning and organizational design that encompasses planning at each level of the organization by service line with attention to each service line’s revenue, operating costs, and quality of services.

HR@Work can assess your existing HR practices and compliance with federal and state employment-related laws.  The goal of an HR Health Check is to ensure that your HR practices are compliant, efficient, and aligned with your business and culture. HR Health Checks are conducted at a client’s site and encompass a review of:

• HR-related policies and procedures
• Employee files
• Form I-9s
• Recruitment and onboarding process
• Employment termination process
• Pay practices and FLSA and MA Pay Equity compliance
• Posting requirements
• Benefits administration processes

Following the review, we provide a written report and recommendations for improving HR practices and mitigating risk of noncompliance.

HR@Work can help you develop a custom employee handbook that meets compliance requirements AND reflects your organization’s mission, values, culture, business goals, and workplace expectations.  A comprehensive, well-written employee handbook:

• Serves as a communication tool for new hires and existing employees regarding policies, practices, and procedures, and promotes employee benefit plans
• Helps guarantee consistent treatment of workplace issues
• Informs employees about critical policies such as harassment avoidance, leaves of absence, drug, alcohol and tobacco use, Equal Employment Opportunity, dress code, cell phone and camera use, e-mail use, Internet use, weapons, compensation philosophy, performance expectations, business ethics, rules of conduct, and disciplinary procedures
• Gives managers a solid reference tool and reduces their time spent responding to questions from employees about policies and procedures
• Provides deterrents to and defenses in litigation of workplace disputes
• Is available online for easy employee access
• Is easy to update

HR@Work can help develop a new employee handbook or bring your existing handbook up to date to meet your organization’s unique needs and objectives. We start with a review of your existing policies and practices that you have already documented, including your current employee handbook if there is one – then work with you on the addition of new policy areas, revisions to existing policies, and the deletion of unnecessary policies. We guide you throughout the process by:

• Meeting with your organization to determine the topics to be included and to generate the necessary information
• Advising you where policy changes or additions are needed to comply with applicable laws, to protect the interests of the organization, or to improve human resource practices
• Producing the handbook in a format that best suits your needs and written in user-friendly and easy-to-understand language for employees and supervisors – not in legalese.

HR@Work has in-depth experience in compensation allowing us to provide a full range of compensation services:

• Job market pricing research and reports
• Base pay/salary structures and mapping of all jobs into the structure based on market and job responsibilities
• Salary administration policies and procedures
• Compensation design, including:
  • Determining the right pay mix (i.e., percentage of total compensation comprised of base pay versus incentives and bonuses)
  • Incentive plans based on attainment of performance goals
• Benefits market comparison and cost analysis
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) job classification (exempt or nonexempt) reviews
• Analysis and financial modeling of new or changes to pay programs

Job descriptions are a key component of human resource programs in all organizations.  They support:

• Recruitment
• Compensation programs (establishing the value of positions within the organization and comparing to similar positions in the market)
• Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), MA Pay Equity Act, and more
• Performance appraisals
• Training and development
• Compliance with wage and hour laws

HR@Work can help you create job descriptions summarizing the essential functions of each job in your organization in a uniform format, compliant with ADA and other non-discrimination and wage and hour regulations.

We have developed an easy-to-use “job questionnaire” to collect job-specific information and we can assist you further by interviewing incumbents and managers.  Each job description describes:

• Job purpose
• Essential functions and other duties
• Responsibility and accountability
• Knowledge and skills required (including education, experience, certifications, licensures, and registrations required, technical skills, and abilities required)
• Mental and physical effort required
• Working conditions

Our expertise in writing job descriptions enables us to provide you with a customized, consistent, uniform, highly professional and compliance-sound product.

Hiring the right talent and then retaining them are important for any organization’s success. HR@Work can help you:

• Develop sourcing strategies, including leveraging free social media resources
• Draft compelling job postings that attract the right applicants
• Screen resumes
• Establish best practices for interviewing applicants, including development of general, behavioral and situational interview questions that dig deep into a candidate’s qualifications for a job
• Establish best practices for assessing and evaluating applicants, including development of candidate evaluation tools
• Create effective onboarding programs designed to retain talent

High performing people want to work for organizations where they have the opportunity to grow and advance in their career. Opportunity for advancement is often ranked by high performers as the component of an HR program they value the most. HR@Work can help you:

• Create a meaningful but simple process for managing performance reviews, including how to give specific feedback to employees regarding their performance
• Identify opportunities and tools for developing top talent such as job competencies required at different levels within the organization, career pathing, and special assignments designed to advance skills

HR@Work can also support you in managing the performance review process, including providing a summary of performance metrics, ensuring managers complete reviews, and reviewing the quality of the reviews.

Benefits, work-life effectiveness, and recognition programs can be a competitive differentiator with respect to employee satisfaction and engagement. HR@Work can work with you to evaluate your existing programs and/or design creative new programs in the context of your HR strategy and budget constraints. Our services include:

• Reviewing existing programs and recommending design and/or benefits funding changes that better align with your business goals and HR strategy (Note: For programs provided through a broker, we can also work with your broker.)

• Designing work-life effectiveness programs such as time off, telework, and flexible scheduling, including policy development

• Designing low-cost, yet highly-effective programs that recognize and celebrate performance that drives successful business results

Establishing a new business is an ambitious undertaking that includes human resources as well as funding, research, marketing plans, competitive analysis, website design, licensing, real estate, office equipment, telephones, insurance, legal structure, tax, and other vital matters.

The human resource (HR) component alone, encompassing employee selection and orientation, compensation, payroll, employee records, benefits, familiarity with employment law, policies and procedures and many other challenges, can be particularly daunting.  For a start-up, effectively handling HR concerns at the outset can enhance productivity, reduce the risk of litigation, and contribute to a successful beginning.

New companies doing business in the U.S. for the first time may also have the challenges of immigration processing and records, tax coordination with home country, relocation, housing assistance, schools for children, and language training.

HR@Work can assist you in identifying and implementing the HR programs that your start-up needs and reviewing your compliance.  Our staff includes experienced professionals who have helped businesses like yours to take the right initial steps. Some examples of how HR@Work can help your business include:

• Assistance in setting up your hiring process and supporting tools
• Sample forms for HR and payroll administration and assistance in setting up your employee record keeping
• Development of job descriptions
• Development of basic policies and preparation of a basic employee handbook customized to your business
• Help with government compliance, and reporting and recordkeeping requirements, such as Form I-9s
• A packet of required workplace postings
• Advisory services to ensure compliance with workplace laws
• Establishment of competitive compensation and benefits programs
• Training in core HR skills for your management team
• Experts, when you need them, to provide consultation in dealing with employee issues

Training can increase the productivity of your employees, sharpen the judgment and decisions of your managers, and keep you out of court. Training pays great dividends when it is tailored to your employees’ abilities and the specific outcomes you wish to achieve. The lack of effective training and development is often cited during exit interviews as a chief reason the valued employee left for what appears to be a better opportunity elsewhere.

HR@Work can help you identify organizational training needs and customize programs to fit those needs. The program content can typically also be customized to fit your timeframe, whether it is as brief as two hours or as extensive as two days.  We design and conduct high-impact seminars and workshops in the following areas:

• Recruiting and Hiring the Best
• Using Free Social Media to Attract and Hire the Best
• Management 101
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Conducting Effective Performance Reviews
• MA Paid Family and Medical Leave Act
• Top 10 HR Practices for Mitigating Risk
• Compensation 101