Outsourcing HRM activities in Australian organisations

Abstract

Although human resource management (HRM) outsourcing is an international trend little has been written in the Australian literature about HRM outsourcing choices. The aims of the research are to determine first which HRM areas are most likely in Australia to be initiated using external consultants, second whether organisational size or sector impacts on the outsourcing decision and third the type of skills that HRM consultants bring into organisations. Results from an on-line survey generating 1372 responses identify training and development, recruitment and selection, and HRIS as the primary outsourced HRM areas. With respect to organisational determinants, larger organisations were more likely to use consultants; sector differences revealed higher recruitment and selection and performance-related pay outsourcing in the private sector, higher HRIS outsourcing in the public sector, and a focus on employee relations in the not-for-profit sector. There are no differences in the qualifications of HRM professionals and consultants but consultants are more likely to have broader business experiences.

HR outsourcing: the impact on HR role, competency development and relationships

“…HRO offers the chance to devolve the administrative and employee focus, and concentrate on strategy and change. Research suggests that HRO is positively associated with a strategic HR department (Delmotte and Sels, ; Tremblay et al ., ), as complex contracting environments require this level of HR intervention (Raja et al ., ) and enable HR to develop strategic competencies (Rucci, ; Sheehan, ), and legitimise continued presence. Indeed, the continued outsourcing of transactional processes internationally (Alewell et al ., ; Sheehan, ; Chiang et al ., ) implies the ‘reinterpretation of existing events and new forms of action consistent with new institutional expectations’ (Rogers et al ., : 569).…”

The pursuit of HR outsourcing in an emerging economy: The effects of HRM strategy on HR labour costs

“…Many organizations find it is difficult to address changing customer needs, cope with obsolete technology, and enter new or emerging markets. This has signalled the end of the common way of conducting business, and has mandated new approaches toward strategies that organizations must adopt in order to safeguard business sustainability (Sheehan, 2009). This scenario also affects the development and growth of manufacturing organizations.…”

“…From the context of Malaysia, manufacturing organizations have been at the forefront of the economic expansion and are considered the powerhouses of the country's economy. This has signalled the end of the common way of conducting business, and has mandated new approaches toward strategies that organizations must adopt in order to safeguard business sustainability (Sheehan, 2009). From this context, organizations in Malaysia face challenges in terms of cost-effective financing and finding both the skilled manpower and technological capability needed for such sustainability.…”

Útvistun og efnahagsþrengingar: Staða mála í þjónustufyrirtækjum

“…Svo virðist sem ekki sé gerður greinarmunur á stefnumiðuðum þáttum mannauðsstjórnunar og öðrum þáttum. Kannanir leiða í ljós að algengt sé að útvistað sé fraeðslu-og þróunarmálum, starfsmannavali, launamálum, frammistöðumati, lögfraeðilegum málefnum og starfslokum (Quinn, 1999;Shen, 2005;Sheehan, 2009;Schlosser, Templer og Ghanam, 2006).…”

“…Staerri fyrirtaekin útvista frekar stoðþjónustu (akstri, raestingum, mötuneyti og öryggisgaeslu), þegar minni fyrirtaeki útvista frekar mannauðsstjórnun og stjórnsýsluverk-efnum (launamálum, fjármálum, símsvörun, bókhaldi og bakvinnslu). Það er í samraemi við fyrri rannsóknir (Belso-Martines, 2010;Edvardsson o.fl., 2011;Sheehan, 2009). Skýringin liggur líklega í ólíkum þörfum fyrirtaekja eftir staerð.…”