Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/169755
HROA A Paradigm Shift How automation and blended workforce solutions are changing the game. By John Hindle At a recent Human Resources Outsourcing Association (HROA) EMEA board meeting, the directors discussed the changes in the nature and delivery of work in both client enterprises and outsourcing providers, along with the challenges they present for HR and HRO as professional practises. The automation of work and blended workforce solutions are emerging as significant trends in the HR industry. Today, organisations are increasingly adopting a result-centric approach and are more concerned about the quality and timely delivery of the work rather than the means used to attain the outcome. The focus is shifting away from the traditional HR outsourcing paradigm of wage arbitrage, offshoring and multilingual centres, as clients themselves look to automation as a lever to improve enterprise productivity. [34] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | SUMMER 2013 As organisations across the world look for growth amid challenging economic circumstances, work automation may be the key differentiator. This is beneficial because it has a consistently lower cost of operations than people transacting the work. However, the challenge in adopting this approach effectively and economically is that work automation requires a more standardised process and delivery approach than is typical of organisations today. Historically, large organisations have been reluctant to standardise HR processes completely. Increasingly, they are more open to standardising processes within their companies, however they often find it challenging to move to these processes across an industry or sector. That may be changing with the advent of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery platforms for HR services.