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Posts Tagged ‘Value’

• 04 Jun

  

  Posted by
  Ryan Anderson

  
  

  Category

  • Commentary

  Don’t Allow Standard Expectations to be What Sets Employers Apart

  2

  If I have heard it once, I have heard it a million times: “We are a good employer because of (insert reason here)”.  “Insert reason here” ends up a generic, yet positive reason to why you, as an applicant, should be baited to pursue a career with the Company.

  What most employers fail to consider is what should be your unique selling propositions as an employer and what sets you apart from other organizations. Employers need to rethink the selling points that market you as an ‘employer of choice’. If your best tag line features include things you should naturally be doing, a rewrite is in order:

  “We provide base salary and benefits” – Great…and you should.
  “We are an equal opportunity employer” – You are supposed to be!
  “We offer a comfortable working environment” – Opposed to?

  These types of postulates remind me of banter with mates who want undeserved points for paying their bills on time, taking care of their kids and being a courteous driver.  All fantastic qualities affording you the right to claim you are a decent human being, but nothing that sets you apart from what you should be doing.

  Employers want to believe that their offerings are original and different, when in fact there is little that is separating them from other organizations. Consider identifying benefits that are outside of the norm. Do you offer tuition reimbursements and professional development? Do you offer flexible hours for those who have varying commitments supporting a healthy work/life balance? Do you promote strong workplace values such as public image and ethics?

  Employers need to discontinue marketing themselves with reasons that should be expectations of employees and not as perks. Less credit needs to be taken for the things that employers should be doing naturally, and more for truly enhancing an employee’s experience with an organization.

• 21 Jan

  

  Posted by
  Brian Moore

  
  

  Category

  • Commentary

  The DIY Culture: Not for HR

  2

  

  Have we become the do it yourself (DIY) generation? Have we been sold on a philosophy that I can do pretty much anything as good as the experts?

  Just look at the growth in DIY retailing….. home furnishings and hardware stores that have sprung up in the last decade:  Home Depot, Lowes; the increase in DIY instructional magazines and videos; and the new DIY Network cable channel.

  What has driven this phenomenon?  Where did it come from? Likely it originates out of the sense of accomplishment to be derived from ‘doing it yourself.’ It’s about taking ownership. It is about self-reliance. It’s also likely a bit ego driven.

  For most people it is also about cost.

  There is a belief that there are significant cost savings in doing things yourself.  However, I would wager that for every person that was able to pull off redoing their washroom at home there are far more who failed or ended up spending more personal time and money than anticipated.

  The DIY retailers sell you the raw materials, the instructions and the tools to undertake a project but they are missing the most important ingredients of planning, experience and expertise.

  Not everything can be DIY.

  For example, you require an electrician to certify the work you have done or your home insurance may be null in void in the event of an electrical fire.

  Similarly why put your organization at risk thinking that you can handle very technical components of your business, like HR. Anyone can handle the transactional aspect of HR such as benefit administration but it requires true experience and skill to handle a mass layoff or prevent a union drive from succeeding. HR is not a DIY.

• 24 Dec

  

  Posted by
  Erik Bartz

  
  

  Category

  • Commentary

  Key Drivers to Outsource HR

  0

  With 2009 coming to a close, many small businesses across Canada are starting to feel the effects of a turbulent year ease off, and they’re starting to look for ways to reign in costs and prepare for better days in 2010.  A hot trend in the small business market is Human Resources Outsourcing.  According to Hewitt Associations, a global provider of HR consulting services and research, the most common reason for outsourcing HR is to reduce overhead.  This is achieved by using the HRO firm’s economies-of-scale for things such as benefit products, HR infrastructure, or payroll systems.

  Size Counts

  Economies of scale are the primary method an HRO firm can reduce a business’ operational costs.  By pooling several businesses together, HRO firms aggregate needs for benefits, advice and legal expertise.  Additionally, they can manage routine HR tasks more efficiently as the talent and infrastructure is already in place.  When a small business joins the HRO firm, they simply access these existing programs at reduced rates and a minimal investment of time.  They can jump onto the HRO’s programs and platforms with little start-up time or expense, and can hit the ground running.

  Other reason to outsource human resources include:

  • Access to outside expertise
  • Improving service quality
  • Ability to focus on core expertise
  • High cost of remaining compliant with rapidly changing legislation
  • Eliminate high volume of low-value transactional activities
  • Reduce management distractions away from core business
  • Leverage existing staff to focus on key competencies
  • Reduce transaction costs

  Expanding into Canada

  Outsourcing is also a strategic advantage for foreign companies entering the Canadian market.  An HRO firm can quickly adopt a business’ policies to be compliant with Canadian legislation to on-board staff and efficiently pay their Canadian employees without any headaches.

  The H.R.O.I.

  Studies show once HR operations are outsourced, many companies show a strong return on investment.  IDC, a global provider of market intelligence, conducted a survey of executives and reported almost 85 percent of respondents saved as much as they spent on outsourcing.  And the savings, according to 95 percent of the respondents, went toward operational performance and innovation.  Check out some of our testimonials.