As part of the HR On-Demand suite of services offered by MRG, I routinely receive requests from HR Directors who will ask me to come to their agency to perform an organizational assessment. They’ll describe a very specific set of problems in their organization in great detail. They’ll even say that “everyone seems to have a general idea on what the source of the problem is”. So why is it that when they clearly feel that they’ve got an understanding of the situation and challenges inside the organization, they respond by requesting an assessment from an external HR expert?
A new perspective can help reveal more than just the what – they can reveal the WHY. After 20 years as an HR Director before becoming a strategic HR advisor, I’m very familiar with the challenges and stresses that come with overseeing HR for organizations and my fresh set of eyes can often quickly assess the source of the problems that everyone is aware of. The benefit of my outside role allows me to address a wide range of interpersonal conflicts while also adhering to a strict set of policies, procedures, and practices.
With that in mind, I applaud the HR Directors in my network who’ve chosen to seek support from a dedicated HR consultant. Bringing in an expert to conduct a neutral, third-party assessment has a wealth of benefits for your organization—and your HR Director’s sanity.
External consultants who perform organizational assessments help by:
Offering a neutral point of view
HR Directors generally know when something is wrong in their organization but rarely have the full picture because they may be too close to the issues. A third-party assessment can offer a second opinion on major challenges and validate or challenge internal assumptions.
Limiting personal conflict
HR matters can sometimes be emotionally charged. People’s careers, compensations, benefits, and day-to-day workflow can be impacted by HR changes, which can make it harder to address specific points of friction. Bringing in an HR expert helps avoid allegations of bias or impropriety and limits impacts to working relationships.
Serving as a dedicated project manager
HR Directors have to balance multiple priorities, which makes it harder to conduct internal assessments. A third-party consultant can be the driver for a project focused on strategic outcomes, opening space for daily HR work to proceed.
Targeting follow-up
Organizational assessments are never an easy fix and tend to be a harbinger of what’s really needed. They are most useful for identifying underlying issues, which then targets specific attention going forward. An external consultant can offer personalized follow-up, like direct coaching and other HR resources need like training, systems and technology process improvements, to address these concerns following the assessment.
When conducting organizational assessments, my role is to serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to the HR Director to help identify and resolve the core issues, transform work relationships, and ultimately improve overall work dynamics in the long run. It brings me great joy to watch my clients move forward post-assessment to see vast improvements on their team.
If you or your organization could use an HR expert to help you overcome obstacles on your team, reach out to MRG.
Patty Francisco, Ph.D., is an MRG affiliated consultant and Human Resources expert with over 30 years of public sector HR experience. She provides expert counsel and advice on a wide array of critical HR functions from conflict resolution to organizational strategy.
Patty launched the HR On Demand service at MRG, connecting California public agencies with expert strategic advising, organizational assessments, and scalable HR services tailored to address agencies’ unique challenges and opportunities.