Is It Time to Outsource Your HR?

CoAdvantage- In the lifecycle of a successful business, it can be incredibly challenging to figure out when to bring on some help to handle workforce-related management and compliance. As a startup grows, for example, there will likely come a point when they need more HR expertise, but it doesn’t make sense to do everything in-house when it’s so efficient and advantageous to let experts do it for you. How do you know if you’ve reached that point?

1: Assess your HR

Start by understanding your current HR roadmap and compass if you can. (It’s also okay if you’re starting from scratch; that’s also a signal getting some help is a good idea).

Analyze the results of your last HR plan, if possible. Hopefully you had some kind of roadmap in place, along with metrics you used to define success. Review performance against that plan and pat yourself on the back for any successes. Then, identify any shortcomings to address.

Otherwise, perform an informal review of the past year in HR and jot down the notable hits and misses.

2: Look at the data

You probably have more employment- and workforce-related data available to you than you realize, and this information can help to reveal specific areas where you need help. For example, if your accounting software or service produces exception reports, you can get an idea of your payroll error rate. That can give you a sense of whether you need a professional payroll service or need to revisit/upgrade your existing service.

Altogether, a data-driven assessment process should generate two key items: (1) a better understanding if you need help because you’re falling short of your workforce-related goals and (2) a clearer idea of what you need from an HR partner.

3: Spot areas where you need help

If you’re not meeting goals, or if your new goals seem unattainably ambitious compared to your available resources (personnel, budgeting, time), it might benefit you to find help by outsourcing some, most, or all of your HR activities. Alternatively, you might be facing specific challenges – maybe you’re facing a worker shortage and are struggling to compete with other companies actively recruiting the best talent – and you don’t know where to start in facing those issues.

It’s particularly important for small businesses to sit down and identify areas where they’re falling short or need help, because owners and top leaders often end up shouldering a disproportionate amount of transactional HR work. This work is critical (the government will shut you down hard if you violate compliance regulations, and your employees will rebel if you don’t keep them paid), but it also pulls leaders away from revenue-generating work in favor of administrative work.

An outsourcing partner like CoAdvantage can eliminate that burden from your plate. An HR partner can also save costs: thanks to our buying power, for instance, we can often offer better health care options at lower prices than small employers can do for themselves. Bundle a handful of services together, and the savings can multiply.

CoAdvantage, one of the nation’s largest Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), helps small to mid-sized companies with HR administration, benefits, payroll, and compliance. To learn more about CoAdvantage’s ability to create a strategic HR function in your business that drives business growth potential, contact us today.