To have your hand held, or to hand it over? When should you let someone else do the dirty work?

Successful business people know that they need to delegate administrative tasks, to concentrate on driving revenue. There will come a time when you either need to recruit someone to look after time-consuming tasks such as HR or outsource responsibilities to an external agency. When it comes to outsourcing HR there is a range of solutions available to business owners including ‘off the shelf’ document and procedure packages, HR support lines or a face to face consultant.
But which solution makes sense for your business? There are several questions to consider before you decide.

Do you spend too much time on non-revenue generating activities?

The first question you should ask yourself is, ‘how much time am I currently spending on people management?’ Time spent on non-revenue generating activities hits you directly in the pocket. It can be incredibly frustrating for business owners to devote time and energy to dealing with people management issues and risk missing out on valuable business. Administrative activities such as payroll are time-consuming enough but when you start having to deal with disciplinary issues and recruitment you will notice that a significant proportion of your day is focussed on these necessary, but time-consuming, tasks. Outsourcing and delegate these HR activities helps you to focus on the things that matter in your business.

How many people do you employ?

Most small businesses do not have the luxury of an HR team. If you have fewer than 50 employees you may find that you are dealing with people management issues yourself, or leaving the responsibility to other directors or individual managers, who may be inexperienced or side-tracked by their own workload. Depending on the structure and size of your business, you may require support with a range of tasks from payroll to engagement, disciplinary to recruitment and much more in between.

What can you afford to delegate?

Many people often think that they are saving money by looking after everything themselves and not being able to delegate. Putting lost revenue making time aside, is your time best spent looking after HR? Off the shelf, policies are a great starting point but you really need someone skilled supporting your business, to make the most of them.

Are you an employment law expert?

You may be very capable of dealing with day to day administrative tasks but require help with ensuring you are compliant with employment law when dealing with more complicated scenarios like disciplinary issues. In this scenario an HR Support Line may be all that is required, to give you the guidance and confidence to deal with situations yourself. However, you may feel safer by taking on a consultant who can review all your policies and procedures to ensure consistency across the business. Particularly, if you have several managers addressing HR tasks with various approaches and experience levels. It’s a consultant’s job to stay on top of changes to rules or legislation so you don’t have to. They specialise in what they do and must continually develop their skills to compete. A skilled HR person must be an expert in rules around recruitment, collective bargaining agreements, disciplinary procedures, training and much more. Can you honestly say you have enough time to become proficient in all these areas and run your business at the same time?

Does dealing with people fill you with dread?

Many of us find confrontation terrifying. We may be experts in our field and fantastic at driving business, but really struggle when it comes to dealing with the difficult scenarios we can, and usually WILL find ourselves in, when dealing with employees. If this sounds familiar, then you should really let others do the dirty work. It’s not just a case of passing the buck, delegating challenging people management issues to an HR professional will also ensure they are tackled professionally and in the interests of your business. An HR Support Line would be useful in this instance but taking on a consultant will help you to take a step back from the situation, safe in the knowledge it is being dealt with professionally and in the interest of your business.

Do you want a partner to delegate to who can help your business grow?

There are many circumstances in HR where having someone IN the business, rather than down the end of a phone, is much more effective and productive. Partnering with an HR consultant gives you the opportunity to have a “face” in your business. Someone who can get to know your business, your culture, your staff and your plans, from the inside out. Someone who can create your HR strategy in line with your objectives and proactively manage any issues that arise, before they become a problem. It’s just like having your very own HR department.

Do you need help planning for growth?

Businesses need to be nimble and quick to respond to opportunities. But as your business grows, you will require more people to deal with the increase in workload, which in turn makes people management much more complex and time-consuming. If you involve a consultant in your business you will have a specialist on hand to help you quickly find, hire, train and manage the individuals you need. Losing an opportunity because you or your team lack capacity or skills gives the advantage to your competitors.

Is your current HR person over stretched?

You may look after HR yourself, or have employed someone to delegate it to. But is there enough time in the day to look at the bigger picture? If you or your HR manager are tied up with managing payroll and recruitment, then you may wish to take on a consultant to help you with other tasks such as developing your company benefits package, writing your employee handbooks or ensuring your team are fully trained, to be the best they can be at their jobs.
HR can be complex but it doesn’t have to be a headache. For advice on the right solution to help your business grow, contact us for an informal chat on 0330 555 1139 or by email at hello@tercushr.co.uk.