Buck Consultants Survey

Buck Consultants, an ACS company and one of the worldís leading human resource and benefits consulting firms, announced today the results of a national survey of U.S. organizations. According to the survey, to maximize the business value of human resources outsourcing (HRO), employers should plan ahead for the changed roles of retained HR staff.

In its survey ìRetained HR After Outsourcing: Optimizing Performance,î conducted in the first quarter of 2006, Buck analyzed responses from 85 U.S. employers in a wide cross section of industries. The results showed that, after implementing HRO, retained HR staff becomes significantly more involved in consultative and decision support. Whatís more, companies reporting the greatest success from HRO plan ahead for these new roles and invest more in training and change management.

ìBusiness value, not just cost reduction, should be the objective of every HRO initiative,î said Bruce Barge, Ph.D., Managing Director of Buckís HR Management practice. ìOur survey shows that planning ahead for the changed roles of retained HR staff results in maximum business value.î

In the study, ìhigh-performing organizationsî are defined as those reporting ìsignificantî or ìvery significantî increases in customer satisfaction and productivity improvements in HR service delivery as a result of HRO.

Among the results of Buckís survey:

High-performing organizations planned ahead 48% more often than other respondents for the new roles of retained HR staff.

Overall, 54% considered the future role of retained HR staff in their outsourcing strategy. Only 13% waited until outsourcing was implemented before considering retained HR staffing issues.

More than one-half of all respondents provided retained HR staff with consultative skills training, while 50% also provided business skills training. High performers were 39% more likely to have engaged in training efforts.

After HRO, employers want the best and brightest for their retained HR staff. Nearly one-third recruited from outside their current staff, and retention bonuses are used selectively to keep existing staff during the transition.

The Buck survey also examined todayís HRO trends and possible future changes.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents currently outsource a significant part of their HR functions and another 21% have plans to outsource or are seriously considering HRO. Companies that outsource most often cite cost efficiencies (28%) and the ability to focus on strategic issues (24%) as the reasons for doing so.

The longer an organization has outsourced, the more likely it is to outsource multiple HR functions. Sixty percent of respondents who have outsourced for three or more years outsource between three to seven HR functions.

ìAs HRO services mature and successes are more widespread, organizations that currently outsource are willing to expand the scope of HRO,î said Barge. ìIn the future, we expect to see continued change in the structure and role of HR, as administrative tasks are largely automated.î

Whether or not they currently outsource, many respondents expect significant changes in their HR operations in the next few years:

88% will increase their use of technology to deliver transactional support
72% will increase strategic HR support
59% will increase global alignment of HR systems and processes
58% will increase consultative services to line managers
57% will increase decision support.

www.buckconsultants.com

Distributed by HR Marketer.com