Too many projects?  Not enough time to get ahead?

Have you been wondering how you are going to get through all your projects this year or is your department so small that you need some help from time to time.

Spending more time than you want on non-value add activities?  From payroll to compensation and benefit administration – these are very time consuming tasks.  The answer for some is to outsource to a 3^rd party HR Services provider.

In my experience, small HR departments may not have the skills, knowledge or capacity to meet the growing demands of the department nor the budget to add headcount.

In these cases, it makes sense to outsource projects or specific HR services to someone that can not only turn around the project promptly, but also give you the tools you need to ensure you can keep it alive. In some cases, this may mean training your team so that you build some in-house expertise.

How much does this service cost?

The most important part of this process is properly defining the scope and the expected deliverables. This way, everyone is clear on what each party is contributing, what the end product will be and what the timelines are. From there, the consultant becomes very clear on the project definition and will be able to provide a project cost. This is the preferred approach as it will give you a definitive cost to allow for budgeting.

As an HR leader, you should budget for some consulting or miscellaneous dollars each year. This will give you some flexibility when the inevitable barrage of projects hit all at once and the department is at the tipping point.

When is it time to outsource?

When administrative processes start slowing you down it is a good idea to outsource.  Employee engagement and relations can’t and won’t wait and the impact on the business is significant.  The best way to ensure that the business priorities get the attention they deserve is to build some capacity with short-term boosts in resources.  By outsourcing some of these projects, you will be able to focus your attention on your people – where it belongs.