Most top-level companies have an HR department. However, a good number of people don’t know the importance of HR and the role they play in protecting employees’ welfare. HR, Human resources in full, is basically an umbrella term used to describe the management and development of employees in an organization. Their role goes beyond hiring and firing employees. It includes anything and everything to do with employees’ management, welfare, and even their steady development working for a particular company.
Most modern companies tend to outsource their HR functions for a variety of reasons. Some experts argue that outsourcing is quite beneficial for the company, while others think outsourcing HR services doesn’t make a difference. We believe that outsourcing HR services is very helpful to a company and to the employees in particular because they will have an independent body looking over them. To understand the importance of outsourcing HR services, you first need to know the role played by HR in an organization.
Recruitment and Onboarding
As mentioned earlier, one of the roles of any HR department is the recruitment of personnel. However, what you did not know was that HR is still responsible for onboarding new recruits. Onboarding refers to the entire process of hiring, welcoming, orientation, and making sure new recruits have an easier time adapting to the company. This means that HR has the responsibility of bringing new talent into the organization and making sure that they get up to speed in no time. Recruitment is by no means an easy task. HR needs to identify potential candidates for the job, conduct interviews, and select the best person for the job. To put into context how big this responsibility is, anyone who works for an organization, be it a top-level manager or the one in charge of finances, has to go through HR. It is also worth mentioning that good onboarding increases retention ad maximizes employee engagement, so it is critical for HR to get both of these right.
Building & Maintaining Company Culture
Gone are the days when company culture used to be a nice-to-have. Today it is important for every company to have one because the benefits you get from it are quite significant. Company culture has the impact of improving employee engagement, increasing job satisfaction and staff retention, as well as defining business success. HR plays a very significant role in this as they are in charge of developing, reinforcing, and changing an organization’s culture. Other aspects of the company culture that HR has a hold on include pay, performance management, and reinforcing the values of the business.
Performance Management and Training
Almost all employees have a skill gap since no one is perfect. It is, therefore, the role of HR to ensure that employees coming in learn their new roles and that they know what is expected of them in terms of performance. Through the help of HR, the company is able to support employees who have a hard time readjusting to their new roles and can even identify stars of the future that the company can count on to help them achieve their long-term goals. This role is a very critical one for HR because it affects some of the other roles they are in charge of. For instance, through proper performance management, there is better employee engagement, reduced employee turnover, increased productivity, and a more positive culture. Finally, comprehensive training enables the company to strengthen any weaknesses they might have on the human resource side, which has the effect of increasing the business’ competitive edge.
Business Communications
Effective communication is critical for the successful operation of any business. Through proper communication, there is an element of understanding across different departments and even different levels of management. The task of ensuring this is possible is charged to the HR department. They define the best communication channels within the company and, more often than not, tend to facilitate communication between employees and senior management. This way, the company can form better relationships with its clients, and there’s generally a more positive culture within the organization.
Now that we’ve established the roles of HR within a company, it’s time to see why outsourcing these services would be beneficial to a company.
Saves on Costs
Considering all the roles that HR is in charge of, it goes without saying that HR management can be quite expensive. Especially for companies that have a large workforce, it is a big ask for the HR department since they have to take care of the welfare of every employee under that company. This burden is transferred to the company since they are the ones to take care of benefits, taxes, and workers’ compensation. When you outsource these HR services to an independent body, the company now only has to worry about paying the contract once they have finished their duties.
Specialized HR Talent
As we highlighted earlier, HR is in charge of a wide range of roles within any organization. This means that to function effectively, you will need an HR department with diverse skills and attributes so that they can be able to handle their duties well. Since that can be quite expensive, outsourcing HR services provides a cheaper alternative, and you get a more specialized team where everyone understands their role and knows exactly what is expected of them at the end of every quarter.
Time Savings
It goes without saying that when you outsource your HR services, everyone else within the company gets a reprieve, and various departments will have a smaller workload. This is because when you outsource your HR services, the company handling them will take care of everything HR-related. As a result, your employees will have more time on their hands which in turn can be used productively for more important matters. The end result is that the company is more productive.
In conclusion, the HR department of any company is in charge of a number of roles which are quite critical to the company. Offloading these roles to an independent company can be quite helpful to the company as it results in efficiency and effectiveness.