To the uninitiated, engaging an HR service provider must be a daunting task. Finding the vendor with the reputation, resources and knowledge required – not to mention the right cost for those services – might be a full-time job in itself. Yet the benefits of seeking out the best of the best are significant. The most sought-after service providers can be HR’s right hand, acting as a seamless extension of the in-house HR team, providing specialist expertise and having deep knowledge of their sector.
There are three basic service provider classifications that HR can leverage: consulting/advisory, information technology, and process outsourcing. Most HR professionals would have encountered these organisations either on the client side (ie the business that is procuring the services) or the supplier side (ie the business – or vendor – that is providing the service).
For the HR Service Provider awards, HRD identified 10 key specialist areas:
Vendor submissions were vetted and voted upon by an independent panel of judges consisting of HRD’s own global team of subject-matter experts, as well as respected industry professionals. One award per category has been given to the service provider who garnered the highest number of votes. Judges were interested primarily in service delivery: how does each organisation deliver its services? They also looked at innovation and a commitment to research and development. Most of all, they wanted to see how the lives of HR professionals are made easier or more efficient by using these products and services.
As HR’s role becomes more and more strategic, it’s likely that service providers will be increasingly called upon to help out with day-to- day transactional work, or to help in-house teams provide specialised services. Read on to see who is up to the task in 2018.
