What is Outsourced HR?
Outsourced HR is the outsourcing of your human resources function to a team of expert consultants. The scope of the outsourced HR support can vary widely depending on your needs.
It can be a complete outsourcing solution for all your HR functions through managed HR support or simply a request for assistance with that HR project work which has never taken flight. The HR functions that can be outsourced include:
- Strategic and tactical HR
- HR Strategy
- Workforce Planning
- Salary benchmarking
- Employment Contracts
- Employment Policies
- Awards Alignment
- Talent Acquisition
- Employee onboarding and Induction
- Leadership and Coaching
- Engagement Surveys
- Performance Reviews
- Remuneration Reviews
- Workplace Investigations
- Employee Terminations
HR outsourcing can make a massive difference to your long-term and short-term success. Many organisations look externally for assistance when they lack the internal capacity and resources to fulfil their HR ambitions or obligations.
Outsourced HR is usually a great option for businesses who are seeking to bring life to their non-existent, time poor or specialist HR function. performHR’s clients have experienced amazing results and saved on their HR costs by using our outsourced HR services as they seek to grow their business and manage employment risks. By having a team of experts at your disposal, outsourced HR can always have a consultant at the ready to meet your needs.
Why should I outsource my HR function to performHR?
Unless you’re an HR organisation yourself, outsourcing all or part of your HR capability requirements makes great business sense. An internal stand-alone resource or small team simply can’t provide the breadth and depth of expertise that your business might need, in the way that we can. The talent that you can access through performHR is generally unaffordable for a small-to-medium-sized business to access internally. From employment relations to culture re-engineering, recruitment streamlining, HR strategy and HR infrastructure – we can deliver what you need, when you need it, in a way that supports your business strategy execution.
We work with businesses across multiple sectors, varying sizes and complexities, and can provide assistance in the exact way that suits your needs. For example, we can supplement and support your existing HR team, or take ownership of your entire HR function. We can take care of all your strategic and tactical day-to-day HR needs, or focus on one specific part of your HR capability. The choice is yours. Essentially, our HR team can become your HR team in the short or long term as you need us.
You get to focus on what you’re great at, with the peace of mind that your human capital needs are being taken care of.
What are some of the benefits of outsourcing HR?
There are many benefits to outsourcing all or part of your HR function to performHR. We’ve listed what we know are the top 10 benefits, as indicated by our clients:
- Gain peace of mind that you are compliant with all relevant governing legislative or regulatory compliance requirements.
- Improved internal HR processes and infrastructure, which enable greater efficiencies and more targeted business outcomes.
- Reduced people risks, as you start working more proactively with experts in their field and pre-empting matters that might occur – rather than reacting to them after they occur.
- Cost-effective outsourcing. You don’t have the responsibility for, or costs associated with training your HR team. Payroll tax and workers compensation premiums are not impacted, and leave entitlements are non-existent. Our outsourcing services are clean, agile and can be turned on and off as needed. Simple!
- An experienced and informed HR team, available to you for advice, support and specific services such as workplace policies, mediation and external workplace investigations.
- Subject matter expertise and contemporary HR thinking, available to you whenever a curly question might arise.
- Quality control measures that ensure the accuracy and acceptable standard of the work and deliverables being produced.
- Improved employee engagement and retention, and a more focused workforce.
- Fewer workers compensation claims, resulting in lower premiums.
- More proactive HR, resulting in more effective leaders and confident business owners.
What are the core capabilities of the team at performHR?
Some of our capabilities include organisational design, learning and development, coaching and leadership development, workplace culture design and performance management. We take care of all your strategic and tactical HR needs.
Our Employment Relations team includes solicitors, employee relations specialists, industrial relation experts, investigators and mediators, so you’ll have access to the right expertise as needed. Our team comprises HR executives with broad senior leadership experience working with highly regulated, diverse and complex business environments.
Does performHR work with a particular Human Resource Information System (HRIS)?
Technology can sometimes play a part in solving a client challenge, or making their HR function more efficient and effective. We make it our business to know which people technology platforms are available on the market so that we can best support our client needs. Whilst we have some platforms that we know well, we are system-agnostic when it comes to HRIS – because no one system can be the silver bullet for all clients.
We can help you find the right HRIS by first determining what your requirements are. We then review current systems, information and size of the data to be handled, taking into consideration budget, privacy requirements and any current ways of doing HR that you don’t want to lose. Once we have this information, we develop a brief and go to market accordingly. While there are some really useful systems in the marketplace, they should never be considered as the sole answer – they’re just one part of the solution to creating an effective HR function.
How much does HR outsourcing cost?
The cost is dependent on the work we are delivering for you, so it’s difficult to provide specific costs before speaking. However, there are some cost factors that we’ll highlight to help you in your decision making. When you work with us, there are a few headaches that we take away and a few costs that we reduce. For example:
- You no longer need to worry about your HR function taking leave.
- If you’re unhappy, you can simply terminate the contract rather than have the myriad of headaches typically associated with exiting an employee.
- You don’t pay for our training, workers compensation or payroll tax.
- You don’t have to manage us – we’re proactive and we simply get the job done.
- You get outcomes more quickly than you otherwise would with only an internal team.
- You can expect high levels of quality and innovation, ensuring your HR is done well and done right.
Our clients continue to engage us not just because of the great work that we do, but because it makes financial sense to do so. We strive to leave a client’s HR function in a far better state than when we found it. These are some of the reasons why our clients keep coming back time and time again. It just makes good financial sense.
How many people does performHR assign on client accounts?
As we don’t have ‘standard packages’ this completely depends on the scope of the engagement, the size of your organisation, the sector you’re in, how quickly you need things delivered and the complexity of your organisation. We develop a unique solution to suit your needs, and our client teams are constructed accordingly. At the extremes, an outsourced HR client team can have from three people and upwards (we’ve had as many as 12 people on one client account before), all being involved at varying times and focused on specific areas. To deliver on the complete outsourced HR solution, the team comprises people onsite at your premises, people supporting at our offices, our Employment Relations team tapping in and advising as needed, and a Client Relationship Manager reporting to a Director to ensure the HR strategy we’re pursuing is the best one to achieve your goals.
Does performHR outsource client work to overseas contractors?
No – never. We’re a team of Australian-based HR experts, solicitors and employment relations specialists. Every person on our team is directly employed by performHR and is based in one of our five locations around the country. We’re big believers in sticking to what we’re great at and working in partnership with others who are great at what they do. So, in certain instances we may engage one or more of our trusted partners to work with us to deliver expertise needed and we will always consult you before doing this.
Does performHR work onsite at client premises?
We absolutely do. The key here is knowing that we can, and do, work where it’s needed. While we are driving change, it’s important to be onsite and work side by side with your team. When we need to develop infrastructure or deliver high-volume tactical HR, working remotely often makes sense because it’s efficient. Ultimately, you decide. We can guide and suggest but essentially we’ll deliver the work in a way that supports the outcomes we are engaged to achieve. What’s certain though, is that your team won’t feel the difference. We make it our job to embed our team in with yours, building trust and delivering a seamless service. The way we work is demonstrative of our values – figuring it out, overcoming any challenges and showing our clients how to do the same. With the face of the workplace changing quickly right now, our approach to work has never been more relevant and valued.