The focus of entrepreneurs is on the development of their business. They develop new offers with full innovative power and optimize processes to satisfy the needs of their target groups. Existing and potential customers are at the centre of all considerations. Not only customers, but also the employees who provide their human capital have needs. Therefore, start-ups also face the challenge of creating a working environment that promotes employee engagement. With partial or complete HR outsourcing, start-ups and SMEs can effectively meet these challenges.
This is what HR outsourcing can do for start-ups
The monthly pay slip is one of the first tests of confidence for employees of start-ups. Payroll errors are the sure way that employees no longer see their employer as a cool start-up, but as an unprofessional chaos troupe. Personnel administration & payroll require compliance with countless legal and tax requirements. Most founders find dealing with these regulations more of a necessary evil than a fulfilling task that moves their business forward.
The solution for the lack of expertise is then quickly found – software is needed. Bexio, Klara, Aba Ninja etc. promise that payroll is a breeze with their solution. In fact, these applications are usually absolutely suitable for handling the payroll of start-ups. But why do all Bexio variants allow trustee access? Probably because the subject 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 in separation management. In all these sub-areas of human resource management, smaller companies need solutions that work flexibly and according to their needs. 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. While Dr Google is an excellent sparring partner for answering many questions. However, as soon as tackling 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.
Prerequisites for successful HR outsourcing
Startups are very agile. They are (mostly) clear about where they want to go, but the route planning is flexible. An HR outsourcing provider, in particular, must therefore take a close look at the clients’ business models. A good understanding of the start-up client’s business model enables them to follow the frequent changes of direction in consultancy and adapt HR processes to support the client’s organizational development.
For the HR outsourcing partner, this means adapting the processes to the specific needs of the start-up. Successful HR outsourcing does not force start-ups into highly standardised processes, but adapts workflows to the changing requirements of agile organisations. Although this means more complexity for the HR service provider, as it has several process variants and tools in parallel operation, it is a noticeable advantage for the start-up. Once again, it becomes clear that simple solutions for the customer often mean more complexity for the provider.
Team members of start-ups often work independently of location and time. An HR outsourcing partner for start-ups must have the same mindset. It goes without saying that all processes must be handled digitally and that everything (except the people) must be accessible 24/7 and from everywhere. Likewise, the secure handling of asynchronous (chat, Slack, MS Teams, etc.) and synchronous communication channels (calls, meetings) is a must-have for HR outsourcing providers. Anyone who is still talking about digitalization as an outsourcing partner and is not yet digitalized should look for another target group.
If you are wondering what opportunities HR outsourcing can offer your start-up or SME, then book a call here.
