The focus of entrepreneurs is on developing their business. With full innovative power, they develop new offers and optimize processes to satisfy the needs of their target groups. Existing and potential customers are at the center of all considerations. Not only customers, but also the employees who provide their human capital, have needs. Therefore, startups also face the challenge of creating a working environment that promotes employee engagement. With partial or complete HR outsourcing, startups and SMEs can effectively face these challenges.
This is What HR Outsourcing Can Do for Startups
The monthly payroll is one of the first tests of trust for startup employees. Errors in payroll are the sure way for employees to no longer see their employer as a cool startup, but as an unprofessional chaotic bunch. Personnel administration & payroll require compliance with countless legal and tax regulations. Most founders feel that dealing with these regulations is a necessary evil rather than a fulfilling task that advances their business.
The solution for the lack of expertise is then quickly found – software must be used. Bexio, Klara, Aba Ninja etc. promise that payroll is child’s play with their solution. In fact, these applications are generally absolutely suitable for managing the payroll of startups. But why do all Bexio variants allow trustee access? Probably because the topic of payroll cannot be handled correctly without specialist knowledge.
The range of services offered by HR outsourcing is not limited to payroll processing, but covers the entire employee lifecycle. Effective HR outsourcing also works in the areas of recruitment, onboarding, salary policy, employment contracts, employer branding or separation management. In all these sub-areas of human resource management, smaller companies need solutions that are flexible and needs-based. Outsourcing meets these requirements and is also cost-efficient: because expenses are only incurred for services that are actually provided.
In addition to the variable use of capacities for operational processing, HR outsourcing enables access to expertise. Dr. Google is an excellent sparring partner for answering many questions. However, as soon as mastering an HR challenge requires networked thinking and (leadership) experience, easy and quick access to expertise is the more promising choice. Good HR outsourcing creates added value here that small companies can hardly provide in-house.
Requirements for Successful HR Outsourcing
Startups are very agile. They are (usually) clear about where the journey should go, but the route planning is flexible. An HR outsourcing provider in particular must therefore deal intensively with the business models of its customers. A good understanding of the startup customer’s business model makes it possible to participate in the frequent changes of direction in consulting and to adapt HR processes in such a way that they support the customer’s organizational development.
For the HR outsourcing partner, this means adapting the processes to the specific needs of the startup. Successful HR outsourcing does not force startups into highly standardized processes, but adapts processes to the changing requirements of agile organizations. This means more complexity for the HR service provider, as it has several process variants and tools in parallel operation, but a noticeable advantage for the startup. Here, too, it becomes clear once again: simple solutions for the customer often mean more complexity for the provider.
Team members of startups often work independently of location and time. An HR outsourcing partner for startups must have the same mindset. It goes without saying that all processes are handled digitally and that everything (except the people) must be accessible 24/7 and from anywhere. Likewise, the safe handling of asynchronous (chat, Slack, MS Teams etc.) and synchronous communication channels (calls, meetings) is a “must-have” for HR outsourcing providers. Anyone who, as an outsourcing partner, is still talking about digitization and is not yet digitized should look for a different target group.
If you are wondering what opportunities HR outsourcing offers for your startup or SME, then book a call right away.
