To Outsource or not to Outsource, that is the question!

In the business world today some words take on different or unusual meanings. Webster's added over 100 new words to the dictionary in 2007. Heck we even have new words created daily. Most of them are not difficult to figure out their meaning, but some are. Many people use or create acronyms and sometimes those are hard to figure out. With the rising popularity of texting, we had better get with the program. As a matter of fact, there is one of the new words in that last sentence. Fifteen years ago you would never tell anyone you had been "texted." Now you may have been texted a dozen times before you get out of bed each morning and you do not even know it until later in the day! LOL (Laugh out loud) we are constantly looking for ways to save time so we can do more. Don't we already have enough to do now?

Speaking of saving time, how does a business owner do that? In business, really all we have is our time and intellect, right? I mean when you strip it all down to the bare bones, it is those people who manage their time and their intellectual capital the best that gain the upper hand. So creating more time to work on improving the business would make sense right? How do you create more time? There are, after all, only 24 hours in a day so creating more time is really impossible. Or is it..... Outsourcing has become an accepted way to create more time. Most people don't think of it as creating more time, they think of it as becoming more efficient. Outsourcing simply takes a portion of the workload and assigns it to another company that can do the work more efficiently because they are set up to do so. Car manufacturers are a perfect example. They don't manufacture every single part that goes into car, it would be far too complicated and expensive.

So why do small businesses have such a difficult time outsourcing parts of their business that they cannot do as efficiently or effectively as an outsourcing service? I think it is because they do not fully understand the concept of outsourcing. Outsourcing HR has been increasing in popularity in recent years as more and more business owners become more familiar with the outsourcing concept and more comfortable with the idea that a well run outsourcing arrangement can really create more time inside an existing business that in return can create increased profits by allowing a business owner to have his staff spend more time focus on core business strategy.

Most business owners did not go into business to be an employer. I have said in the past, the employer function is simply a side effect of having a successful business. Most businesses are loathe to spend money "HR" because they view it not as a source of income, but as a drain on profits. HR is the last place they wish to spend money. I think that is because they don't stop and think what an efficient and well planned HR strategy can do. Outsourcing HR instantly creates an HR infrastructure that can literally catapult a business to heights of success not imagined. Like it or not, employees drive the direction of your business. If your business does not have a firm HR infrastructure in place, your concept of "control" may be skewed. Outsourcing HR may be a viewed by some as an admission of defeat. It should merely be looked upon as a new direction or strategy to ultimate success.

Yes, many businesses do just fine with their current HR practices. Those tried and true strategies that have served them over the last twenty years. "I don't need any help with HR" I often hear. "We are doing just fine." I sometimes wonder why people like that aren't driving an Edsel. Could it be, that there was a better idea for a car that came along and we all jumped on board? Maybe there are better ways to run a successful business by partnering with someone that has an idea for a "better way to do business." Check it out! Using a Professional Employer Organization can relieve the side effects successful businesses experience with attracting, retaining, and managing a workforce.

Want to do more with less? Think about outsourcing.

Have a winning day!

Steve