Costs prove top priority for HR professionals

News Article - 02 July 2010
Category: Business

Costs and budgeting are now the biggest concerns for HR professionals, ahead of a more traditional focus on recruitment, motivation, training and strategy. A survey of HR professionals revealed that 7 out of 10 had been tasked by senior management to streamline HR administration in order to cut costs.

Respondents emphasised outsourcing as a viable method to achieve cost reductions, and allow HR departments to improve efficiency and plan strategies more effectively. Employment law (66%) was chosen as the most popular area for outsourcing, followed by recruitment (40%), training (33%) and information support (23%).

In the tough post-budget trading markets, experts believe controlling costs and achieving certainty over legal spend will become increasingly important to organisations. With limited resources, companies will outsource to ensure sufficient resources are available for critical operations.

The survey follows a report from professional services firm KPMG that suggests chief information officers (CIOs) from around the world are planning to increase the current value of outsourcing operations. Called From Cost to Value, the report notes that CIOs are increasingly putting value for money as the top priority in business. Outsourcing was also highlighted for its ability to improve innovation and productivity.

Creating efficient IT value is an essential step for businesses of all sizes, particularly in the post-recession climate. Whilst outsourcing may be the most workable solution for some companies, others may prefer to strengthen the infrastructure of internal systems, allowing the firm to handle a wider range of operations in-house.

Access software streamlines a number of HR tasks, centralising information and allowing key management figures to access it easily. Superior business intelligence gives management not only the extensive suite of standard graphical data, but also the ability to create user-friendly dashboards to display relevant information brought in from a range of sources including charts, listings and Internet RSS feeds.

With greater resource capacity available to handle HR-related tasks, companies regain the power to focus on retention of talent, proactive recruitment drives and other key HR functions.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

Article keywords: Human resources, business intelligence, human resources software, HR solutions, dashboards, IT, information technology

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