A consultancy specialising in human resources has expanded.

And now Performance Solutions is offering a range of new services to help companies better manage their staff.

The firm, based in the British American building on Front Street, is celebrating 15 years in the business — and president and senior consultant Kelly Francis said the future looked bright.

Ms Francis, who has worked in human resources for nearly 30 years, said: “We have been steadily growing — we now have a dedicated immigrations manager, who was promoted last August.

“Given all of the changes in immigration, that’s great.”

The firm offers outsourced HR, immigration services and payroll and plans to introduce a new Certified Strengths programme from the global Gallup organisation within the next few weeks.

The programme — a first for the Island — is designed to help companies develop their employees through regular assessments.

Ms Francis said: “What we’re trying to do is introduce something which is truly a development tool — employee recruitment and retention are becoming more and more important and people have to have the tools to develop their employees.

“This will assist with forming goals, understanding why certain things are required and leveraging existing skills going forward.”

Ms Francis said that — despite the recession — she had been able to take on three additional staff members and hoped to have a Gallup-qualified Strengthfinders coach on the Island by next month.

She added: “Hopefully, we will have eight people in total by the end of May.”

Ms Francis said that the recession had hurt Bermuda businesses — but also led to more outsourcing.

She added: “There was a period a few years ago where the market really got hit and a lot of local companies really suffered — construction and a lot of the trades really got hit.

“In the last six months, it’s been a mixed message — I have had clients who are growing and recruiting and a resurge in clients looking for training and development.

“We’ve also seen an increase in outsourcing proposals, which is good for us.”

Performance Solutions helps companies unable to provide their own human resources department with “hiring, firing and disciplinary matters”.

Ms Francis said: “It’s very client-driven — they could be recruiting or dealing with an employment issue. We help large and smaller companies down to individuals looking for staff like care assistants — we do a lot of immigration work.” She added that the firm could also help firms who did not want confidential or sensitive matters dealt with in-house and assist in setting up performance management projects like employee opinion surveys, succession planning and job description rewrites.

Ms Francis said: “We also have an HR strategy planner based in the US who comes in and out who helps with organisational restructuring and strategic planning. She works with boards of companies on turnarounds, setting new goals — helping them to reposition.”

In addition, Performance Solutions can handle payroll work for smaller clients.

Ms Francis added the firm would launch a new-look website at the start of May, while a new service, Meetups, was also set to be offered to clients. She said that Meetups offered both a social element and guidance on HR issues.

Ms Francis added: : “Meetups are very helpful — being a member of a Meetup group, you get website assistance and outreach assistance.”