Motivations for HR outsourcing in Australia

The aims of this research are twofold; first, to determine which human resource (HR) functions are most commonly outsourced in Australian organisations and second, to explore the motivation to outsource these HR functions. Results from a nationwide survey identified recruitment and selection, training, occupational health and safety, payroll and employee benefits as the top five outsourced HR functions. The three common reasons to outsource these functions were to acquire specialised HR capabilities, improve quality and efficiency, and to free resources to concentrate on the strategic role of HR. Four main outsourcing drivers–resources, learning, cost saving and political–were identified, which offer explanations for the most commonly outsourced HR functions. Apart from the learning factor, these are consistent with motivations for outsourcing in non-HR areas.     

The changing requirements of the HR professional—Implications for the development of HR professionals

This article examines the new competencies that are required in today's human resources (HR) professionals and how one company has gone about the development of those competencies within its human resources community. In addition, the author looks at the role that universities, professional associations, and “best practice” companies play in enhancing the capabilities of the HR talent that will serve companies' growing HR needs. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

人力资源外包：对人力经理的影响及其应对策略

本文在阐述人力资源外包的概念和作用基础上,分析了人力资源外包后在战略规划、外包工作能力、沟通技能、职业角色转换等四个方面给企业人事经理带来的挑战。本文指出,在有效应对人力资源外包的挑战方面,人事经理最为关键的应对策略是掌握好外包工作和内部人力资源管理核心技能培养方面的平衡艺术。     

Outsourcing HR as a competitive strategy? A literature review and an assessment of implications

HR outsourcing as an organizational strategy has increased substantially over the last decade. However, this trend has attracted little academic attention regarding how outsourcing decisions are made, the manner in which these decisions are implemented, how outsourcing effectiveness is measured, and its impact on organizational performance. In this article, we provide a critical review of the reasons for, the processes involved in, and the perceived effectiveness of HR outsourcing.We investigate the implications of HR outsourcing for the role of the HR function and for the various groups of people affected by this strategy. We argue that organizations should apply both the resource‐based view and institutional theory when making outsourcing decisions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

HR professional development: creating the future creators at the University of Michigan Business School

This article focuses on the development of mid‐ to senior‐level HR professionals through a public program offered at the University of Michigan Business School. We suggest that developing HR professionals requires a theory of competencies about what HR professionals must know and do and a development experience based on those competencies. We highlight how we have created a competency model over the last decade and designed our HR executive programs to deliver against this model. We also show the pedagogical techniques used to deliver these competencies. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

基于角色的HR从业人员的培训研究

现代人力资源管理在企业管理中起着无可替代的重要作用,提高HR从业人员培训的有效性也是企业日益重视的话题。在HR从业人员目前的培训仍存在诸多问题的现状下,本文引入了社会心理学中的角色理论,通过分析HR从业人员的"角色丛",确定关键核心能力,构建基于角色的培训体系。     

An analysis of the relationship between HR professionals' competencies and firms' performance in Malaysia

This study examines the competencies of human resource professionals in the manufacturing companies of Malaysia. The competencies that are examined in this study are business knowledge, strategic contribution, HR delivery, personal credibility, HR technology and internal consultation. All these competencies will be tested whether or not they are significantly related to a firms' performance. The sample employed here consists of HR professionals from Malaysian manufacturing companies in the southernmost state of Malaysia, Johor.A total of 89 firms responded to the survey exercise. This study uses quantitative methods such as spearmen ρ correlation and multiple regression analysis to test the variables. The finding shows that the top nine ranking HR competency factors are from the domain of personal credibility and HR delivery. The respondents' self-rated competency shows that personal communication, legal compliance, effective relationship and performance management rank above all other factors. Competencies such as strategic contribution, business knowledge, HR technology and internal consultation have significant correlation with firms' performance. Furthermore, it is found that out of all HR competencies, the highest contributions to a firm's performance are strategic contribution and internal consultation.     

The State of the HR Profession

We want to create a new narrative about the human resource (HR) profession. HR professionals have often been plagued with self‐doubts, repeatedly re‐exploring HR's role, value, and competencies. If HR is to fully (and finally) become a profession, these self‐doubts need to be replaced with informed insights. These informed insights should be based more on global data than personal perceptions so that the emerging narrative for the HR profession has both substance and meaning.     

Patterns underlying required HR and IT competencies: a content and cluster analysis of advertisements of HR manager positions

Abstract

Despite the pervasiveness of Information Technology (IT) in organizations, IT competencies for non Information Systems professionals such as Human Resource (HR) managers have been overlooked and limited attention has been paid to the interrelationships between IT and non-IT competencies. Building upon signaling theory and the configurational approach, this study characterizes actual IT and HR competencies that firms signal when recruiting for HR manager positions. A content analysis of 207 online job advertisements of HR manager positions is first conducted. Using factor analysis, three bundles of competencies are unveiled: IT, strategy, and employee and workplace well-being. Then, a cluster analysis approach that combines hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering algorithms is applied, followed by discriminant function analysis for validation. The study uncovers three strongly separated clusters of recruiting organizations based on required IT and HR competencies for HR manager positions. The clusters are labeled according to their dominant required competencies: (1) strategy proponents ?10% (2) technology proponents ?30%, and (3) basic proponents ?60%. The proposed classification goes beyond the normative understanding of IT competencies for HR managers and the way they combine with HR competencies: it provides a well-structured and parsimonious lens that is useful for recruiters, applicants, and educators.     

业务外包风险分析及其识别研究

业务外包在当今全球化的背景下发展十分迅猛。各个机构通过确定自己的产业边界将非核心业务外包给服务供应商,以此来达到节约成本,聚集资源,发展核心业务,增加核心竞争力的目的。但各机构在享受外包带来好处的同时也承受着风险。本文在文献调研和自身研究积累的基础上对外包中存在的风险进行了分析和识别,为企业在外包过程中做出正确的决策提供借鉴。     

The role of change agent as mediator in the relationship between HR competencies and organizational performance

Human resource (HR) practitioners, as change agents, are responsible for easing the impact of changes in their organization and to protect employees against the side effects of these inevitable changes. Sometimes, the change helps to produce a significant increase in performance and the company can boost sales and production without additional cost. Several vital competencies that are reviewed in this paper include business knowledge culture management, effective relationship and human resource development skills. Based on the findings of this study, not all competencies are related to the role of change agent. HR practitioners who are unable to function as change agents will inevitably create a barrier against their becoming a well-integrated strategic partner. Therefore, the role of change agent also mediates the relationship between certain HR competencies and organizational performance.     

Conformist innovation: an institutional logics perspective on how HR executives construct business school reputations

In this paper, we explore whether Legge’s classic 1970s criticism of human resource (HR) executives as ‘conformist innovators’ is still relevant. Drawing on institutional logics, we analyse HR managers’ rationales for choosing particular university business schools to provide senior executive development. Our mixed-methods study demonstrates that senior HR managers socially construct and enact business school reputations by drawing on strategic rationales. These rationales are embedded in societal, field and organizational logics, especially the extant reputational rankings of international business schools and an ‘ideal’ template of elite business schools. We find that these rationales, and the decisions they evince, tend to confirm the traditional picture of conformist innovation among HR executives. We discuss the implications for the reputation of HR as a profession, their employers and business schools.     

Preparing for organizational death: Proactive HR engagement in an organizational transition

This article describes an HR team's call to action in managing an organization's transition from healthy, vibrant, and financially successful workplace to its death after being acquired. The HR team countered conventional practice in two key ways. First, despite being from the seller's side, it acted unusually early in the company's acquisition and operated proactively throughout the integration process. This constructive approach stemmed from the self‐confidence developed in the HR function over years of process improvement and culture change. Second, the HR professionals were motivated (rather than threatened) by the high stakes involved in this organizational transition. Their company—with its industry‐leading business results and a loyal, long‐tenured workforce—was slated to be closed, dismantled, and auctioned off in pieces to other firms. The HR team's mission was to help people deal with the death of their current employer and prepare for life afterward while maintaining a focus on business results. This article shows how HR helped senior leadership handle the challenge of retaining the talent needed to meet customer commitments and keep the business running while also readying people for an uncertain future with many eventual layoffs. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The HR competency requirements for strategic and functional HR practitioners

HR competency research has predominantly focused on identifying generic HR competencies for HR practitioners using a universalist approach. This approach has led to the distinction between strategic and functional HR competencies, and a belief that the former is superior to the latter for successful performance in the HR domain. However, little attention has been paid to the interrelationships between strategic and functional HR competency dimensions, and their perceived relevance to strategic and functional HR roles. Drawing on a situationalist perspective and using a mixed-method approach, seven HR competency concepts are identified and examined for their perceived relative importance to strategic and functional HR roles. The findings indicate that Business Awareness competencies are important differentiators between strategic and functional HR roles, whereas Leadership and Relationship Building and Self-Belief and Social Factors are generic to all HR practitioners. The findings also indicate that there is a wider range of HR attributes required for HR job success than those espoused in the HR literature. Theoretical implications and recommendations on selection and development programmes for HR practitioners are also discussed.     

A decision model for outsourcing training functions: distinguishing between generic and firm-job-specific training content

Employee training plays a crucial role in the success of most organizations. Due to its developmental aspect, training is closely linked to core competencies and strategic focus. However, it is also one of the most widely outsourced HR functions in most Western economies.

This article attempts to illustrate and propose a decision model for the factors that shape the expected benefits and subsequently the extent of outsourcing training functions. A distinction is made among generic training (for the development of competencies) and job- or company- specific training (for example, induction training, job specialization, etc.).

Two decision models are extracted with structural equation modelling. Asset specificity, market availability, in-house development of training and firm size are discussed. The factors shaping the decision to outsource, as well as the perceived benefits from outsourcing employee training, are different for each of the two types of training (generic and specific). The reasons underlying those differences are discussed. For both types of training service it is proposed that the expected quality benefits, not cost ones, induce companies to outsource training.

Thus, this study attempts to offer a useful insight into the factors shaping the extent and the expected benefits from outsourcing training services. The outcomes can further assist HRM professionals (managers and providers of HRM services), as well as academics to gain a better understanding of the nature of HRM outsourcing decisions in general, and a ‘basic’ HRM outsourcing practice – training – in particular.     

企业人力资源外包——定价策略和收益分析

本文在阐述人力资源外包的概念、外包的动力及作用等基础上,对企业人力资源外包成本和收益决策进行了详细的分析和讨论。本文认为,人力资源外包收益的获得不仅体现在外包价格和外包监控成本之上,也同企业外包后由于人力资源服务水平的提升带来的收益增加和/或其他方面的成本降低相联系。因此,系统地分析并考虑人力资源外包后的整体优势,通过科学的人力资源规划和有效的员工激励来促使生产率提升将会是企业提升人力资源外包总体收益的关键所在。     

HR Professional Role Tensions: Perceptions and Responses of the Top Management Team

The aims of the research are to explore evidence of professional human resource management (HRM) role tensions, the factors that affect HRM role tension, and to consider the impact on management perceptions when role tensions exist. Using a qualitative approach, 25 interviews were conducted in Australia with senior HRM personnel, top management team (TMT) executives, and a management consultant. Findings reveal that the failure of the HRM profession to attract people with a business focus increases HRM role tensions. Respondents report that tensions were reduced when aspects of the HRM role were devolved or outsourced, there was an acceptance of a changed psychological contract, and clearer attempts were made to communicate an agreed‐upon strategic focus for HRM. HRM role bias led to a reduced willingness among TMT members to respect, and communicate with, HRM professionals. The implications of the negative outcomes of HR role tensions are discussed with reference to the power of the HRM function. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Social Capital Effects on the Career and Development Outcomes of HR Professionals

HR professionals’ roles require them to be responsive to both employee needs and top management strategies. However, the need to respond to the often competing employee and strategic agendas makes relationship‐building efforts challenging. This study examines the social capital characteristics of HR professionals and the impact on receipt of network benefits and career outcomes. Results indicate that HR professionals benefit from relationships with other HR professionals for career sponsorship and role‐related benefits. However, it is contacts who are in higher positions or in other organizations that transfer the most influential benefits, which in turn relate to objective career outcomes. Few benefits are obtained from contacts in non‐HR functions. The results illuminate relationship development opportunities for HR professionals. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Downsizing and the changing role of HR

This paper examines the changing role of HR in the specific context of downsizing. It highlights the key dilemmas facing HR professionals - on the one hand, the contribution of HRM to the achievement of business results has come under increasing scrutiny and, on the other hand, most of the challenges of downsizing are people-related issues that require sophisticated HR interventions. The paper reports the key findings of a pilot study conducted in sixty organizations in the UK that downsized in the last three years. The key conclusion of the study is that the role of HR has become wide ranging, covering the strategic as well as implementation aspects. The clear message from the study suggests that, unless there is alignment between the two aspects, the envisaged benefits of downsizing are unlikely take place. Key challenges facing HR professionals are managing middle managers, managing careers and managing employee expectations. There are indications to suggest that the process role of HR is likely to become more important in the medium and longer terms.     

HR外包服务的战略营销

随着社会经济发展与专业化分工,HR外包服务作为企业HRM战略变革的重要手段,逐渐被更多的企业所接受。新《劳动合同法》的实施又给企业HRM提出了新要求,如何专注价值、降低成本、灵活用工、规避风险已成为企业人事管理面临的现实课题。同时,新形势也给国内HR外包服务机构带来难得的发展机遇。本文以HR外包服务行业为着眼点,从行业战略格局分析入手,展开营销价值思考与营销模式设计,并提出HR外包服务机构营销策略要点建议。