Such is the complexity of HR and employment law, it’s likely that even those companies with their own internal HR teams will benefit at times from further input – particularly those who’ve gained expertise within their own business and in their dealings with a wide range of clients.
As it grew and developed TC Group in Northampton shifted away from the traditional role of a pure accountancy practice and extended itself into the advisory andconsultancy space, developing a suite of service lines tailored to what clients need to achieve their business objectives.
One such line is the firm’s HR Services department, led by Bruce Keir, Head of HR Client Advisory, and providing a complete set of outsourced HR services from recruitment and onboarding, performance reviews and employee benefits, all the way through to acting as an internal HR team – should a client require this.
Bruce said: “Our focus is on getting to know our clients very well and to understand their business and the characters within the business. That requires really strong relationships because they’re coming to us when there’s an issue, some- thing that’s affecting their people and their lives, and them trusting in us to help them is vitally important.
“They need to feel confident in being able to have honest and open conversations with us, and in return, we need to be agile enough to meet any situation.”
Bespoke range of services
- HR Outsourcing – ongoing HR support on a subscription basis, taking on HR challenges or routine tasks.
- HR Consultancy– Supporting with one-off people related projects or pay-as-you-go HR consultancy, supporting simple HR processes to complex tasks.
- HR Health Check – an analysis of 12 core functions within a business, assessing where the business is at that time, diagnosing risks and delivering solutions to overcome HR concerns or build on things the business is doing well.
- HR Templates – templated employment contracts, employee handbooks and other essential documentation.
- HR System Support – partnering with BreatheHR, a cloud-based software platform that streamlines employee data, documentation and processes whilst also working with a number of other HR system providers, supporting due diligence, implementation and roll out to ensure the system is being used effectively.
TC Group also takes on specific projects that can be defined as having a start and end point. That could be anything from carrying out engagement surveys, overseeing redundancy processes or reorganisations, reviewing policy or staff handbooks, changing contracts of employment or carrying out due diligence where a client is looking to acquire a business.
“Most of our clients are between 40 and 100 employees,” said Bruce, “because they’re businesses that are big enough to need some support but probably don’t need to employ an experienced HR manager or director. We can work with them up to the equivalent of HR director level. That said, we do work with smaller, and much larger, companies, too.
“Because we deal with wide range of clients in a wide range of sectors we’re always seeing new things to add to our knowledge. Whatever we come up against, there will be someone in the department who’s dealt with something similar before. We’ll know where things have gone well and where maybe not so well, and because of the relationships we have built we know we can have difficult conversations if we need to, because clients trust us.”
The biggest shift in working patterns in recent years has been in how employees are perceived and their expectations from the workplace. The team at TC Group are well versed at working with clients to improve their recruitment processes and retention levels.
Bruce added: “It’s difficult to find good people in the current job market so we can work with clients on their brand and how they ‘sell’ themselves to candidates. They need to ensure their company is seen as a great place to work, and how they get that message out to candidates is crucial.
“It could be the ‘look and feel’ of the place, diversity and inclusion, or benefits and career progression, for example. But the biggest factor is that if you can get engagement up, then your own people will go out there and tell others they are happy at your company. It’s why we’ve seen a huge increase in clients coming to us to help them try to do something about that. It’s something we’ve always measured ourselves on at TC Group because we know a great culture’s the cornerstone of any great business.”
‘An extension of our team’
TC Group’s HR team has been working with Addsecure for many years, throughout which time the company has grown and evolved through acquisitions and mergers.
Based in Queensbridge in Northampton, Addsecure provides smart transport solutions to the logistics industry, including tele- matics, vehicle cameras and temperature control systems.
Emma Abbott joined the team in 2023 as the company’s UK People and Culture Manager and has benefited personally and professionally from the inside knowledge TC Group has built up over the years.
“Bruce has been involved with the company for some time and he and the team understand the business, and that’s been really helpful to me at
times, being relatively new and being able to benefit from their knowledge of the time before I came on board,” she said.
Emma oversees the HR side of the business across a number of teams including finance, sales, R&D and customer support – encompassing colleagues in the office and out in the field. One of the key benefits to Emma is having additional support when she needs it, should an issue arise or the volume of work build up.
“I see TC Group as an extension of our team, you never know what’s going to come up when you’re dealing with people and it’s good to know they’re there, if I have a question I want to ask, or if the volume of work suddenly builds up for some reason.
“We use the Breathe platform, which is invaluable when you’re dealing with different teams in different areas of the business. We’ve made a number of acquisitions over the years, and Breathe helps bring all that information together across the different offices.”
Emma paid tribute to Bruce’s team’s flexibility and ability to respond quickly as and when they are called upon.
“They have adapted as we’ve grown and our needs have changed as a business,” she said. “And what’s helpful to me is that they always respond when I need them. Even though I know they’re always busy, it never feels that way when I speak to them, nothing’s ever too much trouble.”
With employment legislation set to change dramatically in the coming months, now is a perfect time to review your HR and people processes. TC Group’s HR Health Check analyses all things People and HR related. To receive a 10% discount on the full price of the Health Check, quote ‘All Things Business’ when speaking to Bruce and his team.
Find out more about TC Group on 01604 746760 or visit their website.
