Historically, Human Resources departments was seen as an administrative team within an organization that focused on regulatory compliance and payroll. However, in today’s ever-evolving and increasingly people-focused business world, HR has become an integral part of any successful company’s leadership team.
The most successful companies have learned to strategically focus their HR assets in order to make the largest impact within their organization. In this post, we’ll explain just how to do this.
Specifically, we’ll discuss:
- Big Picture HR Strategies vs. Tactical HR Elements
- Keeping Your Internal HR Assets Focused on Big Picture Strategies
- Outsourcing Your Tactical HR Elements
- Choosing an Outsourced HR Partner
Big Picture HR Strategies vs. Tactical HR Elements
We’ll frame our recommendations in this post under two main categories: 1) Big Picture HR Strategies and 2) Tactical HR Elements.
Big picture HR strategies are the items that you hope to improve over time. Examples include company culture, talent acquisition, employee development, employee diversity, employee satisfaction, and employee retention.
Tactical HR elements are the day-to-day or week-to-week processes that must be carried out for standard HR operations. Examples include processing payroll, administering benefits, and storing employee data.
Keeping Your Internal HR Assets Focused on Big Picture HR Strategies
Successful companies generally keep their internal HR assets focused on big picture HR strategies. This means that HR leadership and supporting staff focus their day-to-day efforts on improving company culture, recruiting top talent, developing strategies to improve employee diversity, and other high-return areas.
These are the tasks that will lead to greater success for your company in the long run. Ultimately, HR is all about people. Where would your company be without the people who keep it running? While the tactical HR elements like payroll and benefits administration are critically important too, the work involved with their administration is much more technical and involves little to do with strategic human capital management.
For this reason, your internal HR assets should focus on those bigger picture HR strategies that will significantly impact the people who work for your business moving forward.
When you are looking to hire new HR team members, be sure you keep these considerations in mind. You might have a candidate who is an expert in administering payroll and benefits, but make sure the candidate can also think strategically about big picture HR efforts before you hire them. The ability to contribute to the big picture HR efforts will be much more valuable for your business in the long run.
Outsourcing Your Tactical HR Elements
Tactical HR elements such as payroll processing, benefits administration, and storing employee data are not overtly challenging – but implementing and managing systems to carry out those tasks does take time and resources.
Outsourced HR partners already have these systems in place, and they have mastered the use of these systems as they have implemented them with hundreds of businesses just like yours. If you choose a partner that is a great fit for your business, they should be able to get the systems up and running for you with a short onboarding timeline.
Although there are costs associated with hiring outsourced HR partners, it also saves you time and money by eliminating the need for you or your staff to implement and manage tactical HR systems.
The other significant benefit of working with an outsourced HR partner is that it can greatly reduce HR risk. By having an expert third party manage key HR processes on your behalf, you can greatly reduce the odds of making costly mistakes associated with violating HR laws or payroll processes. As a business owner, the last thing you want to deal with is a fine imposed by a local government agency or disgruntled employees with late paychecks.
Choosing an Outsourced HR Partner
Here are some questions you should ask yourself when you are researching different HR outsourcing solutions:
- What will be the costs of working with this partner, both in the short term and the long term?
- Does this partner have the technological capacity to grow as my business grows? In other words, can this partner adapt to fit my needs as my company expands to include more staff and potentially additional geographic locations?
- Does the partner provide adequate training to my staff so that we can use their platforms or systems to the fullest extent possible?
- Does this partner meet all legal compliance requirements, especially related to privacy and security of sensitive employee data?
- Will this partner have the financial stability to ensure they stay in business over the long term?
- Can I depend on this partner to properly address challenges and issues in a time-sensitive manner?
Key Takeaways
In the realm of HR administration, there are both big picture HR strategies as well as tactical HR elements.
Big picture HR strategies include things like improving company culture, acquiring new talent, employee retention, improving diversity efforts, and developing employees.
Tactical HR elements include things like processing payroll, benefits administration, and storing employee data.
Savvy business owners will understand the advantages to keeping internal HR assets focused on big picture HR strategies while outsourcing tactical HR elements. Some of these advantages include:
- Increased efficiency of employee time and resources.
- Reduced risk of litigation and fines for employers.
- Increased focus on the big picture aspects of your business that will lead to greater success over time.
Finally, if you do decide to work with an outsourced HR partner, be sure to do your due diligence so that you pick the best fit for your business’s unique needs.