Five Keys to Outsourcing Human Resources

Juggling the needs of your business with business tasks can be a delicate balancing act. Whether you elect to do things in-house or outsource tasks such as human resources depends partially upon the company’s growth, and partially upon finding excellent outsourcing partners. 

As a company grows, it's important to know when to look for support outside of the company. This is referred to as outsourcing.  Knowing your strengths helps you to determine what aspects of your business can be outsourced to a specialist, which ultimately saves you time and money in the long run.

There are five keys to understanding when and how to outsource human resources for success: 

1. Know your core value proposition. The first step to intelligently delegating work outside your company is understanding what you do best. This is your core value proposition.  Many of the things that are important to running a business will pull your attention and focus away from the core value, and understanding it and knowing what it is that you do best will help your company grow and will also define those things that should be done within the company versus those activities that potentially could be outsourced.

2. Be organized. Before you can delegate you must create the specification of work.  The extent to which you can clearly delineate the scope of the project or work will define how successful you will be.  In addition, you should create a timetable for deliverables, a template for reporting, and an exit strategy if the relationship isn't functioning the way you feel it should be.  Not creating a clear understanding in the beginning could be a recipe for failure in the future.

3. Know Your Budget. Your time is valuable.  You’re more likely productive at your core value proposition that you are to some of the supporting roles that are necessary to run a business.  To that extent, outsourcing will actually save you money since you can be much more proficient doing what you do best and simply paying others to do what they do best.

4. Make a Plan. Authorized alterations can be expensive.  If you have plan, try to stick to the plan.  Each modification that sounds great as the project moves along may wind up costing in the end.  Be sure that you have a goal and plan in mind and that you and your outsourced vendor are both sticking to that plan.

5. Don't Settle.  If you aren't happy with the results or the partnership, it's possible you missed one of the steps along the way - you may not have made a good plan, or you may not have clearly shared expectations.  Either way, if it becomes apparent that the project is not progressing well, you should have an exit plan.

Understanding and sharing expectations when it comes to outsourcing is critical for the relationship to be effective.