Ingham Jones keeps small firms on the right HR track : Consultants can “tell it as it is” to owner‐managers

Purpose – Describes how HR and workplace‐psychology agency Ingham Jones works with small and medium‐size companies in West Yorkshire, UK. Design/methodology/approach – Provides two case‐study examples of small firms, estate‐agent group Jump and Apollo Blinds, which employ Ingham Jones. Findings – Reveals that Jump consults Ingham Jones at least twice a month about contracts and other HR issues, and has used Ingham Jones to write motivational‐training courses. Ingham Jones helped Apollo Blinds to draw up an HR policy, and is involved with the company's training and people development. Practical implications – Demonstrates that issues such as recruiting the right people, rewarding them properly and ensuring the existence of proper succession plans are crucial to the success of small organizations as well as large ones. Originality/value – Highlights the fact that outside consultants can “tell it as it is” to owner managers, in a way that full‐time employees sometimes cannot.