Human resources has a critical function in any company or organisation as it deals with its most important asset – its employees. Yet, many SMEs still choose to deal with this internally, with functions often performed by the business manager or by department heads. They do so even though payroll and HR management functions can take up to 40 per cent of a professional’s day.

This is why SMEs are finding it not feasible to have professionals spend so much of their time on activities that are neither core business functions nor revenue generating.

When an SME outsources its HR activity, it discovers business benefits that will help it gain competitive advantage. The key is to develop a strategy and solution for the SME’s needs and long-term plans.

One area an expaning organisation should consider is outsourcing its recruitment activity. This service can be opted for on a retainer basis and has a number of advantages.

Firstly, outsourcing recruitment means finding a new employee in less time and with more success, because an HR specialist knows how to match the job description with CVs and finding the successful candidate. This is time-consuming for an employer. This pro­­cess also has a higher retention rate because specialist recruiters stand more chances of finding the right person.

Besides a much smoother hiring process, recruitment by retainer attracts better candidates and ensures greater confidentiality not only in terms of competitors not knowing what resources you are looking for but also among candidates being interviewed, who do not know for which company they are being interviewed.

Misco offers the highest level of personalised service and our experience in the field has shown us that a retained search approach is considered more serious and professional by senior executives. It is also resulting in much higher employee retention. Practically all our follow-ups confirm that employees proposed by Misco have been retained by our employing clients.

From my experience dealing with retainer-based recruitment services, we are constantly on the lookout for talented individuals, so clients are constantly benefitting from a growing and updated database. It is also a learning experience in that we not only fill a gap but gain knowledge about the organisation, its structure and most importantly, its culture.

The highly-structured, time-consuming process of recruitment by a retainer falls within the bigger picture, whereby a company will choose to outsource all its HR activity to HR specialists. This brings with it some very interesting advantages.

One obvious benefit your company enjoys when outsourcing its HR requirements is that it will free a lot of your time and energy so you can concentrate on the core activities of your company.

HR is a very demanding aspect that requires dynamism and constant innovation. Many organisations find they’d rather focus on their core strengths and income generators by outsourcing HR.

Running an effective HR department incurs constant substantial investment and organisations are finding they would be better off outsourcing HR to specialists, because it works out cheaper than setting up and employing their internal HR department.

Also, outsourcing HR to specialists who are constantly abreast with developments means that your company will be compliant with the latest HR practices. HR outsourcing improves recruitment of the best talent. Recruitement is a critical function and many organisations would rather leave this role in the hands of a specialised company.

Of course, with advantages come some disadvantages, namely that HR, which is an integral part of your organisation’s success, is being run by outsiders who are not necessarily fully in tune with your strategy and philosophy. However, the advantages far outweigh this aspect, which is easily overcome by outsourcing to reliable, trusted and experienced specialists.

Joanne Bondin is an HR specialist at Misco Malta.

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