Outsourcing recruitment is one of the most likely HR functions to be outsource. Many smaller companies and organizations are choosing to outsource some or all of their recruitment needs.  According to the Society for Human Resource Management, there are “several reasons, including cost savings and the freeing of human resource professionals to focus on more strategic efforts, HR functions are among the services organizations are most likely to choose to outsource. As a result, HR professionals are being asked to identify outsourcing solutions for businesses and guide organizations through vendor selection and management of the outsourcing relationship.”

There are many considerations regarding the choice to outsource the recruiting aspects of the human resource function. As an organization grows, there are likely to be more human resource issues and more recruiting needs. If there is a significant challenge that requires organizational focus, it may be the considering outsourcing recruiting rather that dealing with multiple challenges at the same time makes sense. In particular now that hiring qualified candidates is so challenging, there is a particular need to find external recruitment help. There are a variety of considerations for choosing to outsource, developing an outsourcing agreement, and transitioning in-house to third party management of some human resource functions.

The case for outsourcing is clear for smaller organizations as they may not have had an HR function previously or as the HR function is needed to focus on other strategic issues.  The Society for Human Resource Management makes that case that. “The process of deciding whether to outsource HR functions begins with consideration of how outsourcing could help an organization and includes how well positioned HR would be to help the organization manage a transition to outsourcing. It is important to analyze how the company is currently delivering HR and to identify whatever gaps may exist between the organization’s HR needs and HR functions. Employers should also research the outsourcing industry and its trends and analyze how industry trends could affect their organizations.”

This article in SHRM provides a helpful set of considerations that any employer could use to evaluate the question of whether to outsource some or all of their HR functions. These questions are provided below.

When deciding whether to outsource, an organization should be able to answer questions designed to analyze its HR needs, its current HR processes, its business plan and its outsourcing options such as the following:

• Can HR handle outsourcing without disrupting the current operation?
• Do HR staff members have the time and experience to deal with outsourcing?
• Is the HR department sufficiently staffed to manage the outsourcing relationship?
• Is HR providing excellent service with existing staff and processes? Is HR meeting all the organization’s needs?
• Most importantly, will the CEO and top management team support and pay for an outside vendor?
• Does the company have a clear mission and vision? Have company values been established?
• Does the situation merit outsourcing?
• If so, what type of outsourcing solutions would best fit the situation?

In addition, it is important to know the ways in which an outsourcing arrangement can fall short of expectations and to mitigate such risks.”

A separate article will address the risks of outsourcing and ways to mitigate these risks.

In our blog, we have summarized the transitional considerations and some ways to outsource specialties of the HR function.  We are an external recruitment company that help our clients review their hiring needs and the strategic value of the roles that need to be filled.  The purpose of this analysis and review is to help determine if outsourcing the recruitment process is a good fit for your organization.  We have developed a hiring assessment tool that helps in this review. To see this hiring assessment tool, please go to https://www.hireoutcomeshr.com/hiring-assessment/

We believe that if organizations focus on quality and effectiveness metrics, cost effectiveness and efficiency will follow. Measurement of speed (time to fill) and cost (cost per hire) are worthwhile measures, but they will not reveal the impact that hiring decisions have on organization outcomes and success.

Source: Outsourcing the HR Function (shrm.org)