Fear of outsourcing damages effectiveness

HR chiefs feel that their current focus on service delivery is preventing them from improving the company’s commercial performance, but see day-to-day activities as too important to be outsourced.

A survey by recruitment process outsourcing firm Ochre House reveals that nearly two-thirds of HR heads are unsure of outsourcing basic processes because they feel they are too important to the day-to-day running of the company. This results in a lack of resources to address more strategic HR concerns, such as leadership development and productivity. The vast majority of respondents felt they could achieve more for their organisation if they had the support of the board.

One major UK retailer comments: “There is still a disconnect between the board’s vision for our people and actual investment. As things tighten in the market we are once again in the unenviable position of having to rationalise in HR, which will stop us realizing core people goals for the business even in the short term.”

“We found most heads of HR admitting that their departments were currently spending the bulk of their time on recruitment and basic HR services,” says Damien Stork, Director, of recruitment process outsourcing firm, Ochre House, which commissioned the research. “However it was clear that they actually wanted to reduce this commitment and redeploy resources to workforce planning and leadership development.

“Despite a definite inclination to outsource the more ‘transactional’ aspects of HR, as many as 64% of respondents remained hesitant because they believed they were ‘too important’ to the business,” says Stork.

Source: The Grapevine Online

Posted by The Grapevine Online