Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/124894
Upside NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WORK World-Class Outsourcing For years the Hackett Group's HR benchmarking analysis has shown the increasing use of HR outsourcing. Now its research of Global 1000 companies during the past two years shows that effective use of outsourcing plays a key role in achieving world-class HR organisations. According to advisory practice leader Harry Osle, "Our research shows not only that it is possible, but also explains precisely how world-class HR organisations manage to do more with less and play a key role in helping their companies succeed." Hackett HR benchmarking provides staffing and cost comparisons by HR process and then identifies best practices. Those companies in the top quartile in both efficiency and effectiveness metrics are considered world class. The research finds that world-class HR organisations: • Spend 27 per cent less on HR services per employee than typical companies; • Reduce HR labour costs by 29 per cent; • Operate with 24 per cent fewer HR staff per 1000 employees; • Spend 50 per cent less on outsourcing; and • Dedicate 25 per cent greater spend to technology. World-class organisations use HR outsourcing more effectively; they outsource at similar levels to typical companies, but they retain fewer in-house staff associated with these processes, gaining greater cost benefits while avoiding work duplication and shadow staff. HRO service providers have been encouraging clients for years to simplify and standardise processes and policies to gain the most from outsourcing, which matches what world-class HR is doing: • Using more self-service for payroll, training, total rewards administration, and staffing services; • Focussing on automation, standardisation, and complexity reduction; and • Reducing the number of job grades, health and welfare plans, and compensation plans. Integrated talent management is another component of success. The HR leaders closely align talent management strategies with business objectives and increase strategic workforce planning capabilities, including high-level consulting, analytics, and modeling. They also develop internal talent, recruit externally faster, and measure rigorously. HR executives at world-class organisations have a seat at the table, and are universally involved in business planning compared to half in typical companies. Leading HR staffs are much more engaged in managing and facilitating organisational change. According to Hackett, an increased focus on measurement and analytics is another way that world-class HR organisations partner with the business more effectively. Only 20 per cent of typical HR [6] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | WINTER 2013 groups report metrics for HR-managed projects, while the leaders do this more than three times more often, and close to 80 per cent report organisational metrics for change initiatives. Leading full-service HRO vendors have been building out their own talent management offerings and have added options for HR analytics, providing support for two more aspects of world-class HR. —By Linda Merritt, research analyst, NelsonHall Talent Squeeze With recent reports of job gains showing a modest decline in the U.S. unemployment rate, human resource professionals around the globe are enduring continued challenges in attracting and retaining top talent. This talent paradox, combined with dynamics of four distinct generations in the global workforce, points to the need for more effective and adaptable talent strategies and rewards programmes. The 2013 Top Five Global Employer Rewards Priorities Survey from Deloitte, the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS), and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans reveals that HR leaders across the globe are acutely focussed on talent as the top challenge and priority during the next three years. Approximately one in four respondents from all geographies surveyed, including the Americas (24 per cent), EMEA (28 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (24 per cent) cited finding, motivating, and keeping talent as their top priority. The Top Five Global Employer Rewards Priorities Survey series is an annual barometer of talent and rewards management challenges. Conducted globally for the first time this year, it included rankings of the top five priorities for 2013 from 27 different countries: • The ability of reward programmes to attract, motivate, and retain employees; • Clear alignment of total rewards strategy with business strategy and brand; • Motivating staff when pay increases are flat or non-existent; • The cost of providing benefits to employees; and • Demonstrating appropriate return on investment for reward expenditures. From a personal employee perspective, retirement continues to be top of mind. Two-thirds (66 per cent) of U.S. respondents ranked their ability to afford retirement as their top concern. This issue is so deeply felt that more than one in three U.S. employees (34 per cent) plan on delaying their retirement. This is in contrast to other regions, including EMEA, where a triple-dip recession looms. There, 16 per cent of employees say they plan on delaying retirement; the same is true in Asia, where 17 per cent indicate plans to delay retirement as well.