How to Know When to Outsource Your HR

You didn’t start your business to get buried in HR paperwork (unless you’re in HR!) But as your team grows, it’s easy to find yourself bogged down in admin, compliance, and people problems. Outsourcing your HR lets you step back and breathe again. It’s smart, strategic support that keeps your business compliant, your people happy, and your focus where it belongs: growing your company. But at what point do you take the plunge and ask for help?

Why Outsource Your HR?

Because you can’t do everything! That’s why businesses grow and evolve, because at some point the founder realises they can’t keep all the plates spinning on their own. So, they hire people to help, and soon they have a team to manage. That comes with a lot of extra responsibilities, knowledge and paperwork, especially as the HR function becomes more strategic. You might be able to manage it for a while, but eventually, you’ll need help.

Outsourcing your HR is the perfect solution. By bringing in an expert to help get your house in order and keep things running smoothly, you can save time and money, reduce your own workload, minimise errors, and increase your compliance. Plus, if your HR consultant is proactive, it can give your employees a boost too!

An outsourced HR consultant can provide you with everything you need across the board of HR functions including HR administration, legal compliance, employee relations, recruitment and performance management. Even as your company grows and you look towards bringing in in-house HR, a consultant can provide data reporting and analytics to help you with statutory reporting, and make sure that your team has all the backup they need to inform company strategy.

Signs You’re Ready to Outsource

The big question is, how do you know when it’s time to outsource? After all, it can be difficult to see the signs when you’re in the thick of it. So, here are my top 7 ways you can tell you need to outsource your HR.

You’re getting overwhelmed by daily tasks: If you or your team are spending too much time on administrative tasks, outsourcing might help. Think hiring, employee data, onboarding and resolving employee disputes. While important, all of this takes away from other business priorities. Hiring an HR consultant can take that burden away and let you focus on other things.

You’re struggling with compliance: There are a lot of different laws and regulations involved in hiring and managing people, and you need to be compliant with all of them. If you don’t have your eye on the ball, you could land yourself and the business in hot water. Compliance isn’t something you mess around with, so if you’re struggling to keep up, or think you’re missing something, it’s time to ask for some external help.

You’re growing rapidly: Expansion is a good thing! But growing quickly can come with challenges, and your current HR structure might not be able to handle the increased workload. A little extra support can go a long way in making sure you don’t buckle under the pressure, and that your systems can grow along with you.

You need specialised skills: Not all HR is simple. Sometimes you need expert knowledge in a specific area like benefits administration, employee relations, performance management or redundancy. You might not have these skills in-house, and not need to hire an employee for a permanent position. An outsourced HR consultant is the perfect solution for this.

You have limited resources: You might have a small team (or even just one person), with a limited budget to hire a full-time HR professional or expand your in-house department. An HR consultant comes without the expense of an employee, but with all the support you need.

You want to refocus: Maybe you’re ready to shift your focus away from just the operational HR tasks (which are essential, but also just the beginning). Moving into more strategic activities that can help drive company growth like talent development and employee wellbeing, outsourced HR can be the perfect solution.

You’re always dealing with disputes: If you feel like you’re constantly going back and forth handling employee relations and conflicts, it’s a sure sign that something’s wrong. Rather than spending all your time chasing your tail, bringing in expert, dedicated support can save you time, money and sanity.

Outsourcing your HR role may seem like the expensive option, but it really isn’t! When you outsource, you gain the expertise of someone who is fully trained in the art of HR, without having to employ and train them yourself. You also won’t need to provide benefits, or waste time helping them figure out how their role works. Instead, you get an expert HR manager from day one, giving you time to focus on the more important tasks that may cross your desk on a day-to-day basis. If you would like to find out more about outsourcing your HR, get in touch with me today.