Every day, I come across entrepreneurs stating they are fed up with unproductive employees demanding high salaries, numerous teams failing to fulfill their tasks, or money muddled for promises. What if each of them could delegate all these worries to an external company that has a complete set of business applications, systems, solutions, and staff devoted to business? How many of them would be ready to outsource?
The concept widely spread in the United States of America and Western Europe, yet less present in the Eastern European areas, delegating tasks to a person or an organizational segment outside the company itself (referred to as outsourcing or externalization) has so far proved efficient for hundreds of companies that have saved their finance, time, and energy while achieving their goals.
How does it work? It is well known due to the natural tendency of any business owner to increase their profit. Step one is increasing sales; step two is decreasing expenses. In the latter case, a time-tested solution is identifying the departments generating the profit in the company and the auxiliary ones, which actually consume your finance. The latter ones can be outsourced. This scheme can be applied to several segments, including IT, transportation, security, logistics, accounting, human resources, etc.
Even though many owners regard outsourcing as expensive at first glance, its benefits are not late in coming. The first effect seems even quite the opposite: by outsourcing a segment of your business, you can save more than by creating a new job or an entire department. This is due to the fact that, in addition to the actual salary, the employer spends money for workplace maintenance, logistics, leave allowances and sick pays, corporate events, staff training, etc. Outsourcing saves you from this nuisance.
Speaking in specific terms, a simple calculation in case of an internal HR specialist, for instance, in a company with 30 employees, with a net salary of 4 000 lei, demonstrates that the employer can save at least 60% of the expenses per year by contracting an external person.
Another benefit of outsourcing is specialized, complete, and professional solutions. When we hire an external company for HR services, we gain from its experience and expertise. Often we have to admit that an employee who has to combine several functions – most often, human resources functions are delegated to accountants or office managers – can skip essential details. In case of outsourcing, instead of a single person, you can benefit from the services of an entire team that keeps up with any legislative amendments, trends, and methodologies that regularly appear on the market.
Many employers have often confirmed to us that finding an experienced human resources specialist and a true guru in the field in the labor market is a complicated task. Meanwhile, outsourcing implies skilled and experienced persons eager to provide 24/7 support and solve any unexpected situation in a timely manner. Moreover, employers will not waste their time and energy to find a reliable person, ask for recommendations, or integrate a newcomer into the team just to get disappointed after a little while.
Ten out of ten companies whose human resources departments we have managed have successfully passed the Labor Inspectorate checkups without getting any objections, fines, or other problems. This is due to the fact that a good outsourced team increases your company’s accuracy, productivity, and efficiency in the long run.
What can we do with distrust?
Unfortunately, Moldova cannot boast of a culture of outsourced HR services consumption. One of the most common reasons mentioned to us by entrepreneurs is the lack of confidence in those who do not work side by side with them on a daily basis.
In our opinion, the solution can be found in focusing on objectives and results achieved on time. Hiring a person who works as much as ten employees, over the schedule, in accounting, human resources, and secretariat, just to gain one-day salary will decrease the quality of work, while qualitative results come from a an outsourcing company in a comprehensive and systematized way.
It is important that, while outsourcing, we pay attention to several aspects, including the company’s experience in the market, the term from which it activates, the portfolio of the customers they work with, the specialists they have in the team, and the technology used for meeting its short-term and emergency demands.
Although outsourcing your HR department seems to “devour” your money and be unjustified at first glance, it can become the secret of success in the long run. By identifying an HR company that understands your business, has proven its experience, is goal-oriented, and values its customers in the long run, you will achieve measurable objectives that result in gaining a larger market share and increasing your profitability.
Cristina Fleștor,
HR Portal Director
