For excellent performers in Human Resources Management, the path to the top of one’s profession takes a very short time. Many excellent HR practitioners become heads of their HR functions (or reach this ceiling between the ages of 35 and 45 years). If one has to work till they are 60 years of age, it means there’s still over 20 years worth of capability to earn. For others, it is reaching a mandatory retirement age when you still have a lot of energy to continue working. Sometimes, it might be helpful to provide consulting services as you hop between employment contracts or as a bridge between times of unemployment and employment or, as a post-employment activity.

Even the best dancer has to leave the stage.

While it is easy to call oneself a “consultant” and, some HR practices seem easy to implement, carrying a consultant’s mindset is a different ball-game. You have to learn to step out of an employee mindset and start using a business mindset. In this article, I talk about the small steps you need to start taking to prepare yourself for a consulting career.

The top five things you need to do to transition into consulting

1. Build your expertise: Consulting work requires a deep understanding of specific HR disciplines, such as recruitment, testing, selection, talent management, compensation, or benefits. Build your expertise in one or more of these areas through ongoing learning and professional development opportunities. For example, in recruitment, do not stop at knowing the steps in a recruitment process but build your capability to explain why you are taking each step, the premises and assumptions you hold, knowing what alternative steps can be taken to recruit and being able to critique a recruitment process. A practical approach in doing this is by looking a bids/ proposals shared by companies considered top-notch in recruitment and understanding their proposed methodologies.
2. Develop your consulting skills: To break out into consulting, you need a unique set of skills. The top five skills include, problem-solving (ability to collect, analyze data and generate creative and feasible solutions), adaptability (ability to quickly adapt to new situations, new work environments, new clients, handling unexpected challenges), contextualilzation (ability to contextualize solutions to client-specific requirements), communication (oral and written for presentations, prospecting and reporting), project management (prioritization, activity scheduling and tracking, meeting deadlines). These consulting skills should be framed around your area of expertise as mentioned earlier.
3. Build your network: Consulting work for most people who are starting out often comes through referrals and networking. Building relationships with colleagues, clients, and industry leaders to increase your visibility and expand your professional network is a good way to do this. In HRM, joining a professional association is helpful in growing your network. Participating in specific HRM events provides you with an opportunity to grow your network.
4. Develop your brand: Sometimes it is helpful to create a personal brand that highlights your unique value proposition as a consultant. This is where being an expert in a specific HRM area helps build both your brand and your credibility. You can do this by developing a portfolio of work, building a professional website, or creating content that showcases your expertise as well as presenting or publishing on areas of your expertise in HRM in different forums.
5. Associate /volunteer with senior consultants: This is akin to a flea hoping onto the back of an elephant and leveraging their strengths to grow your profile. Truth be told, over 98% of good consultants will trace their consulting lineage/ history to some great consultant /mentor who they learned from. No person is an island. Learn more about HR Mentoring here

Now that you know what it takes to break out into consulting. You might want to consider other “operational” aspects like registering a business, meeting compliance requirements for statutory regulations and other things. That notwithstanding, with in-depth expertise, you can start as an individual and then grow into a company.

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If you need further help breaking out into consulting, book an appointment with Coach Andeh to think through how you can harness your potential to earn by being a consultant.

“Transitioning into consulting requires in-depth expertise, preparation, development of a set of critical skills and action” – Coach Andeh