To Hire or Not to Hire?

March 8th, 2017
Written by: Dana Papke

Should smaller organizations employ an in-house HR professional or outsource the role? That’s the REAL question…

As a CEO, you know there’s not enough time to take care of everything required to grow a company. You and your top managers know your products and services; know you need to hire, motivate and retain people who can help bring those products and services to market and service customers. You’ll also know that effective HR management is critical to the success of that delivery team.

But how do you fill this crucial role? With various critical HR functions – employee training, setting standards, hiring and firing – lumped into one position, it’s essential to find the right resource for the job your company needs.

For smaller organizations, often the practical choice comes down to a person early in their HR career. Depth and experience equate to a salary that’s beyond many a small company’s budget. It’s why 85 percent of companies outsource at least some of their HR functions. And the growth into outsourcing HR has been a success. In a Hewitt’s HR Outsourcing Trends and Insights survey, 82 percent of companies say outsourcing has achieved the expected benefits.

SHRM, the Society for Human Resources Management, says the most common reasons CEOs choose to turn over HR management to the experts include value for money; enables CEOs to focus on strategy; means compliance with laws and regulations is handled better; results in more effective employee management, with fewer problems; and, overcomes lack of in-house experience and the associated concerns about legal exposure.

The sophisticated and delicate nature of nurturing your employees and building the foundation for a growing business is a monumental task. In TPO’s experience, it’s often a relief for CEOs to delegate the HR workload: assessing the business strategy, identifying talent issues holding a business back, and finding quality individuals who can fill key roles.

Whatever your decision – individual or outsource company – your HR representative should be one of your best spokespersons, capable of understanding the products or services your company sells, and applying that understanding to find, attract, retain, develop and manage the team you need to build your business. These actions are all critical to attracting and retaining the best talent, which in turn drive innovations that move the business forward.