Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Watch for training outsourced human resource jobs online

Take the time to regularly watch the HR outsourcing job boards, as you look for opportunities online to advance your career. You'll find a number of online training programs that will be most helpful in your search for employment. Check out the requirements and look for training to make you more suitable for the position you seek.

I recommend: Find training opportunities, seminars and articles about training at HR.COM. The HR Store has a number of different training programs through their Human Resource University.

Look for human resources outsourcing professional development through associations

While you are pursuing a career in the HR industry you should also be accruing a list of connections that will help you throughout your career. Trade associations are great places to get involved with more senior level professionals and make those important contacts. At the same time, most associations offer a wide variety of professional development courses that will look good on your resume.

I recommend: Find professional development workshops and seminars through the Human Resource Planning Society. You’ll find training and networking opportunities through a membership regionally or nationally with the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources.

Enroll with a specialty school for providers of HR outsourcing services

Armed with a variety of special certificates and training, you will open up the options available to you in the HR outsourcing field. Try different areas before landing on the position that works best for you. Continue to pursue your education to get better paying jobs and add to the experience that will make you a better candidate for other career moves.

I recommend: Check out the degree opportunities at the Center for Human Resource Management Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University. HR To Go offers a multitude of courses for outsourced HR skills.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Talk to your current employer about paying for human resources outsourcing training. Most employers will pay some towards your education if you are willing to work with the company for a certain length of time.

Guide to Outsourcing Your HR Function

Focus on your core competencies

By Peter Altuch, President, HRshopper.com, Inc.

A PEO provides an integrated, cost-effective approach to the management and administration of the human resources functions of its customers. It does this through the practice of “co-employment” - contractually assuming substantial employer rights, responsibilities, and risk by establishing a long-term, employer relationship with its customer's employees.

Under a co-employment relationship, the PEO:

Yet, the customer retains sole responsibility for such key functions as managing worksite employees, product development, distribution, marketing, sales, and services.

Most outsourcing companies can provide your employees with online access to view their benefits, enroll, and conduct basic transactions. Almost all have toll free 800 numbers.

Most of the large consulting firms handle HR outsourcing but they are still trying to digest all of their Fortune 100 clients and their "backrooms" are being pushed to the brink. Many of the well managed and capable outsourcing companies are not yet household names and therefore are best found by your HR broker. Usually they can deliver several competitive bids within a few days. Some brokers will work with you to better understand the bids and help you make the right choice for your business.

Outsourcing is no longer and IT issue. If you are not talking to your broker about how to save money and leave it to the pros you could be making a big business blunder.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Society For Human Resource Management

This is the mother of all web sites for human resource professionals. A lot of their education is free, but some pages will require professional membership subscription. If you a small business owner and do not have a dedicated HR professionals, give your acting HR staffer a membership and you will not regret it.

I recommend: www.shrm.org

An Inside Look at HR Outsourcing

Learn more about outsourcing your HR with this professionally written book available at Amazon. You can preview the contents and decide if it is right for you and your staff.

I recommend: Out of Site: An Inside Look at HR Outsourcing

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Start your HR outsourcing with something simple if you want to reduce risk. You should consider outsourcing COBRA compliance which is a regulatory nightmare and can be very costly if you are not in compliance. Your Employee Assistance Program and Flexible Spending Accounts are other areas of HR that lend themselves to easy outsourcing but relieve you of the administrative burden.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find the online HR outsourcing trends

As HR outsourcing companies learn more about how small businesses and their employees navigate the Web and use their Internet connections, they are becoming savvier about making their information more accessible. You need to stay on top of the trends to get your HR team on-board with emerging technology provided by human resources staffing outsourcing providers.

I recommend: Find the kinds of comprehensive news and interactive blogs you need at HR.COM. Members of the Human Resources Outsourcing Association find the latest news affecting the industry through alerts and association news logs.

Stay on top of HR outsourcing solutions information

While you can't spend your whole day reading about what every HR outsourcing firm is doing or what latest scheme your competitor has come up with, you need to stay informed about the latest news affecting your industry. Find niche publications that can narrow your focus and regularly feed you with the important news that you need to have each day.

I recommend: You’ll get breaking news and research reports regularly from Breaking Human Resource News. News, views, blogs and informational articles can be found at HR World.

Get involved with HR outsourcing firms

You often can hear about the latest news affecting your industry before it even hits the press from a good networking group. Find ways to interact with your peers and be prepared to give and get important information on news and trends that you've picked up. Use your involvement for a number of reasons, including finding leads for business and getting heads-up about news that hasn't hit the press yet.

I recommend: The Society for Human Resource Management is a great source for the important news that drives the industry. Subscribe to and read HRO Today for news and features that will guide your informed decisions for your business.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Give employees time each day, when you can, to read an industry publication and present regular reports on the HR outsourcing news that they've found.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

PEO

PEO stands for professional employer organization. A PEO performs all the functions for your company that a normal HR department would perform. The only difference is that the PEO is a third party charging a fee for these services.

I recommend: The relationship between a PEO, a company and its employees is depicted by Administaff. Learn more about the specific functions a PEO performs as well the reasons many companies today consider PEOs a more cost-effective solution to their hiring and employee management needs.

Co-Employment relationship

Co-employment relationship refers to the interaction between companies, PEOs, and employees. This relationship is similar to employee leasing.

I recommend: Pay Care examines the co-employment relationship by explaining the legal rights and responsibilities each party possesses. In particular, you'll find out how PEOs handle their employment liability exposure.

Total Rewards Planning

One of the typical programs that an HR outsourcing firm would design is known as total rewards planning, a comprehensive benefits package to lure and retain top talent.

I recommend: Go to Human Resource Management Associates to learn more about one of the most popular benefits programs any HR outsourcing firm can create for your company.

HR outsourcing services

Considered as a whole, HR outsourcing services are broken down into categories relating to hiring, benefits, and risk management. You can expect any HR outsourcing firm to provide all of these services.

I recommend: Read about the solutions that an HR outsourcing firm like Cyber Futuristics offers to its client and how outsourcing services in general have changed over the years.

Employee leasing company

Quite the opposite of a PEO, an employee leasing company strives to find the best deals on health insurance and other employee benefits, usually by purchasing these items in large volume.

I recommend: ADP breaks down the various services an employee leasing company offers, contrasting them with those offered by a PEO so that the respective benefits of each to your company are apparent.

Life cycle of an employee

If you want to approach HR the way the professionals do, then think about HR tasks as they are needed by workers during the entire life cycle of an employee.

I recommend: Check Point depicts the life cycle of an employee through an easy to read flow chart, starting with the position opening that led to the employee's hire and ending with the circumstances that separate the employee from the company for good. At each step of the way, the chart identifies a standard function that an HR outsourcing firm would have to complete.