As your business start to grow and expand, are you finding it more difficult to manage HR yourself? If yes, this can be a sign that it’s time to look at outsourced HR support. Outsourcing HR to the right company will allow you to work on growing your business while prioritising employee wellbeing, company culture, and compliance.
If you feel that you do not require any HR support at all then here is something to think about. You will have an accountant to help you manage your finances effectively and you will have an insurance company to protect your assets. Why would you not have an HR Advisor to help look after and protect your most valuable assets…your employees?
If you are a busy business owner in a family business, a growing business, a larger establishment or even a start-up business, having outsourced HR Support can help in so many different ways.
What is outsourced HR?
A lot of people assume that Human Resources is all about hiring and firing. However, it’s so much more than this. In short, HR outsourcing means a business is paying a third-party business to complete their HR tasks for them. These functions can include:
- Performance
- Developing People
- Employee Engagement
- Succession Planning
- Managing Absence
- Customer Satisfaction
- Help and Improve Productivity
- Recruitment
- Growing and developing your Business
- Leadership
- Culture
Cost Effective
Hiring an in-house HR Consultant can be expensive and only leaves you with one person to drive your HR function forward. An outsourced HR company offers you a full team of talented HR experts for a much more affordable cost. They will help you with a wide range of services including employee contracts, handbooks, dismissals, recruitment, business strategies, bespoke issues and much more.
Employee Handbooks
Our team can help you to create Employee handbooks. This is something that can be developed through time and do not need to be 70 pages but these are the main factors that a handbook should include:
- Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure
- Absence notification process
- Trigger points for managing absence in the workplace.
- Social Media and IT policy
- Plus more
If you would like help with creating an employee handbook for your business, feel free to contact us.
Contracts of Employment
In terms of your contracts of employment, you should always issue a contract within 8 weeks of the employee starting. However, it is good to get into the practice of issuing these just before the start date. Outsourced HR services can make it easier for you to provide staff their contracts in time. We always advise our clients to put themselves in their employee’s shoes. Would you work for a company that didn’t issue a contract?
Other things to make sure you cover in your contracts are:-
- Job Title
- Location
- Pay
- Pay Date
- Contracted Hours
- Notice Period
- And any other contractual benefits
Our advice when looking for outsourced HR support is to do your research.
Do you want someone to be on the other end of the telephone or someone that will have a more personal approach? Shop around and look for testimonials and references. You might prefer to deal with someone who has experience in your industry and sector, for example a family business. You may prefer someone who has experience across multiple sectors which could add value to your own business. As part of your research, check where the HR Consultants/Advisors have gained their experience.
You may also wish to consider engaging an HR Consultant who has an HR professional qualification. For example the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). There are various levels of certification and levels of professional membership.
Our team all hold various HR qualifications, Alistair is Chartered FCIPD whilst Claire, John and Jenna are all MCIPD qualified.
Do I need to be tied into a long-term contract?
This depends what you’re looking for. We would suggest you don’t as there are a lot of HR providers happy to work on a retained basis, partnering your business without the need for a long-term contract. If you are being offered a 3 or 5-year arrangement, then you should question this. Decide whether this is right for your business. This isn’t right for our clients, and although we have worked with some clients for a number of years, there’s no formal agreement forcing them to work for us for this period of time.
If you are only looking for a one of piece of support, then obviously a retained model partnership isn’t right for you. If it is a one-off project, check which HR providers are happy to work on this basis. Also check what service level agreements they have and the price for this piece of work. We offer a pay as you go service for businesses who prefer to work on this basis.
How much is outsourced HR support?
Price is something that will influence your decision so it’s important you check this out. HR providers should display their prices on their website or marketing material. This will allows you to benchmark and make an informed decision. It’s important for us to be transparent. In addition, we have included our full price range on our website. The factors that will influence price are:-
- Size of your business (number of employees)
- Type of support required and volume – ie processing starters, leavers etc and generating contracts of employment
- Number of hours spent on-site per month
- Number of calls/emails per month
If HR providers are not displaying prices or giving some kind of indication, then I would question why.
Our advice is to shop around, do your research and find an HR Consultant who can not only help with HR in your business, but act as a trusted business advisor, regardless of your sector. At the end of the day it is what is best for you and your business so make sure you find the right outsourced HR Consultant.
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