Have you ever wondered about outsourcing some of your HR functions and why? This can be a bit of a difficult conversation to have with an HR audience as the thought of outsourcing usually equates with job loss. The good news is, it really doesn’t.

For the past few years, there has been a great deal of conversation about the need to make HR an integral part of driving the overall strategy and success of an organization. The trouble is in many cases HR is still stuck in the transaction processing business which takes up most of the valuable time that could be dedicated to more strategic projects.

A strategic decision to outsource some of the tasks in HR should at least be investigated. One of the fastest growing areas of HR outsourcing is with payroll services. According to WiseGuyReports, the “Analysts forecast the Global Payroll Outsourcing Market to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% during the period of 2016-2020”. That is a pretty significant number indicating that other companies (even perhaps your competitors) think that this is a good idea.  

The Early days of Outsourcing and what was learned

Outsourcing was originally viewed as a cost cutting opportunity, but something went really wrong with that. Christa Degnan Manning pointed out that the first generation outsourcing focused on cost reduction and head count reduction at the expense of the employee experience. In the end, the benefits of cost reduction were overshadowed by the dissatisfaction of the employees. As she said, “Just as companies that outsourced key customer functions purely for cost reasons have learned from the error of their ways, I think the best businesses are going to realize that the employee experience is just as important as the customer experience. Maybe even more so, because the employee ultimately affects the customer experience.” Too true!

So where are we now?

Today the successful Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) vendors have evolved into client-centric enablers to HR and consider employees to be included in the list of valuable clients. Thankfully, there are vendors now who strategically work with their clients (employees included) to do much more than simply process the payroll. Now there is a new type of BPO labeled HR-as-a-Service which is offered by NGA Human Resources. The key features of their approach can be summarized as:

• BPO isn’t one size; doesn’t fit all proportions.
• NGA Human Resources excels in customer providing a client-centric approach to BPO as opposed to a cookie cutter approach to BPO which historically forgot about the “human” in human resources. NGA’s flexible, client-centric more inclusive approach and positive customer experience is worth the investment.

 So What is HR-as-a-Service?

HR-as-a-Service is a comprehensive platform provided by NGA Human Resources that focuses on HR Consulting, Payroll Services, HR Outsourcing and Application management Services. 

1: Digital HR OnPremise & Cloud:

Planning & Roadmap • Employee Centric Design • Implementation & Integration • Change management • Continuous Improvement• Configuration Management • Integration Management • Security Management • Reporting Management • Release Management

2: HR and Payroll Outsourcing:

Payroll Processing • Managed Payroll Services • Managed Payroll Data Services • HR Services Wrapper• HR Administration • Time Administration • Talent Administration • Employee Benefits Administration • Service Center Management


 Not only do they provide HR-as-a-Service – they help you with a seamless transition

NGA provides a thorough process to prepare and transform your company seamlessly with focus on the journey through 3 stages:

1: Getting the HR house in order – creating efficient HR Operations:

Core HR implemented • Payroll streamlined • HR service delivery engine • Rich reporting

2: Programs to maximize your investment in your workforce to make you an employer of choice:

Talent functions • Collaboration • Attract multi-generational workforce

3: Provide tools to help your company build a high performing workforce:

Strategic workforce planning • Learning organization • Collaboration • Analytics


 
Case Study

I had the opportunity to attend a recent analyst update intended to provide insights into the future of the market and to determine the requirements for client success. The value of hearing clients’ experiences firsthand was priceless.

One such client, Boston Scientific, highlighted their transition from being a company in the early stages of BPO to their recent successful relationship with NGA and their vision for the future. NGA continually referred to the triumphs of “Client Centricity”.  Boston Scientific is an excellent example of how far NGA has come in providing a comprehensive and positive user experience, which has ultimately resulted in better efficiencies for Boston Scientific.

The Strategic Mission of HR

• Boston Scientific is global company that manufactures medical devices in 13 locations around the world and employs over 25,000 people globally. The company is dedicated to transforming lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. The nature of their business requires top talent who remain highly motivated therefore strategically HR has been tasked with supporting growth, strengthening execution while enhancing its capabilities.

NGA’s Role in Client Centricity

• NGA integrated the culture of Boston Scientific with the dedicated service center team. The old model of multiple service centers providing multiple language support was scrapped in favor of a single location with single language support model. This initiative brought the entire Boston Scientific team together into a single location. Centralizing the team and focussing on integrating the Boston Scientific culture into the NGA team resulted in greatly improved the customer satisfaction. In fact, in the last 24 months customer satisfaction scores have improved by 11%.
• NGA HR is responsible for providing solutions for continuous process improvements which has been greatly enhanced with the team approach.
• Part of NGA was also tasked with assisting Boston Scientific with Support for large transformations which included moving to SAP SuccessFactors from PeopleSoft. NGA Human Resources was responsible for signing off on all of the requirements for SAP and implemented all modules in 1 year – Employee Central and all other modules, comp, benefits, performance etc. These improvements have created greater efficiencies for both Boston Scientific and NGA Human resources which has had a positive i9mpact on the bottom line costs – a win/win for both sides.
• The complete account is consistently managed by a single account manager and dedicated team which has resulted in a cohesive service delivery that will continue to deliver positive results as more efficiencies are discovered.

Clearly, this approach of supplier becoming part of the fabric of the client has already yielded some very successful results.

Conclusion

The Managed HR-as-a-Service is just beginning but is estimated to grow exponentially as these new services evolve. The market estimate is somewhere near 5% and that is a big number as it is growing quickly. Clearly the offering has changed and you really should look at this as a way for your HR to become more strategic!

About NGA Human Resources

They support 8 million employees worldwide and have 8 thousand employees and over 1,000 system implementations. They provide payroll and HR services to 1 out of every 5 Fortune 500 companies.
NGA HR has the unique capability to deliver global solutions for HR and payroll in 25 languages and in 145+ countries. Their approach is basically to be a one-stop-shop for all administrative HR processes, including HR, time, payroll, compliance, analytics, etc. across multiple geographies, languages, cultures and regulatory environments. As a result, HR leaders can benefit from a well-run ‘HR engine room’ and focus instead on executive-level conversations about HR on strategy and business enablement.

Strategy

1. All about HR – with focus on HR processes
2. Focus on client centricity – across every segment
3. Help our clients on the journey to Digital HR
4. Differentiate through flexible global delivery and technical platforms
5. A leader in the segments that they serve