Showtime’s House of Lies has become a TV cult classic, portraying cutthroat management consultants who will stop at nothing to seal a deal. While that premise makes for great drama, it’s hardly the way the consulting industry works, especially when it comes to Resources Connection (NSDQ: RECN).

RECN consultants, which does business as Resources Global Professionals, are more like C-suite temporary workers, rather than high-powered advisers. Instead of taking an outside observer’s approach to problem solving, the company’s consultants work closely with insiders on specific projects and bill at a fixed hourly rate. With more than 2,000 consultants in 66 countries, Resources Connection assists clients with everything from financial and accounting services to management transitions to software implementation and risk management.

Prior to the Great Recession, RECN’s business was booming. Revenue rose fourfold between 2003 and 2008, to a high of $840 million. But over the next two years, sales were cut nearly in half, bottoming out at almost $500 million in 2010, as businesses delayed projects and let go of staff.

Since then, Irvine, Calif.-based RECN has seen renewed growth. Co-founder Donald Murray took over as CEO in mid-2009 and refocused on the project-staffing business. After losing 20 cents per share in fiscal 2010, ended in May, the company’s earnings rebounded to 53 cents per share for fiscal 2011 and to 94 cents per share for fiscal 2012, on a modest uptick in revenue (to $572 million for fiscal 2012).

Still, RECN stock was recently trading at $11.63 a share, down 22 percent from its 12-week high, and yielding 1.8 percent. So now is a good time to consider a position.

Just-in-Time Employees

Nearly four years into delaying major initiatives, companies are starting to implement projects that can’t be put off any longer. On top of that, the baby boomer generation is beginning to retire, leading to a “brain drain,” not just in corporate America but worldwide.

RECN’s solution? The hiring of experienced consultants (20 years experience on average) at an hourly rate. This allows companies to work through their backlog of projects, as well as address gaps in know-how created by retirements and layoffs.

The company has also recently expanded into the healthcare sector, focusing primarily on compliance issues. As the healthcare reform law passed in 2010 comes into force, hospitals and other medical facilities will need help navigating the minefield of new regulation.

At the same time, Resources Connection has a solid balance sheet, with no debt and more than $120 million in cash. And thanks to its variable cost structure (no work, no pay), it’s able to closely match its resources with its needs. In fiscal 2012, free cash flow rose more than 50 percent, to 77 cents per share. This more than covers the company’s 7-cent quarterly dividend. And a payout ratio of 36 percent leaves plenty of room for dividend growth.

Going forward, the consensus forecast is for RECN’s revenue to rise about 40 percent during the next five years, with earnings increasing 23 percent.

The biggest risk for the company is a slumping global economy. That prospect seems unlikely, since the US economy continues to improve and the Europeans are making progress in addressing the region’s debt crisis.

Even if the global economy were to take a downward turn, with more than 1,900 clients, including 85 percent of the Fortune 100 companies and three-quarters of the Fortune 500, RECN’s client base is well diversified across both geographies and industries.