Countdown to the 2013 HR Technology Conference

Gary Bragar, HRO Research Director, NelsonHall

This year’s HR Technology Conference, less than 10 weeks away, will be back in Las Vegas October 7-9 (please note onsite rooms are going fast, I had to stay at alternate hotels the past two years!).

With 6,000 people from 28 countries attending last year, I continue to find it an invaluable investment of my time to:

• Attend presentations
• View technology exhibits
• Network with peers
• Meet individually with companies that I do business with and others I want to learn more about.

Presentations: Session topics include:

• Strategic View
• Talent Management
• Social in the Enterprise
• Workforce Analytics and Planning
• HCM and Workforce Management
• Recruiting
• Service Delivery
• Expert Discussions & HR Tech Talks.

Be sure to check out the agenda at: http://www.hrtechconference.com/agenda.html

Highlights of just a few of the many presentations include:

• High-Tech/High-Touch RPO: What the Doctor Ordered for Boehringer Ingelheim – presented by Corry Ioli, Executive Director, Talent Management & Acquisition, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sue Marks, CEO, Pinstripe
• Goldman Sachs Buys RPO Eyes (and Hands) for a Quarter Million Resumes! – presented by Tom Osmond, Global Head of Talent/HCM Solutions, Goldman, Sachs & Co and Regina Lee, Division President, ADP
• HR Tech Talks, presenters: I Come From the Water: Evolution of the Modern Manager, Kris Dunn, CHRO, Kineti; Clowns, Sharks, Anemone and HR – What Do They All Have in Common? Mary Sue Rogers, Global Managing Director, Talent 2
• How Mobile, Social and Gamification Tools are Improving Employee Health – presented by Barry Hall, Principal and Innovation Leader, Talent & HR Solutions, Buck Consultants and Scot Marcotte, Managing Director, Talent & HR Solutions, Buck Consultants.

Whether your company has outsourced or continues to do everything internally, there are bound to be several sessions where you can learn how to improve HR in your organization and be a better business partner. When I was on the buy-side prior to joining NelsonHall, I would attend such HR conferences to:

• Learn about the broader industry
• Think about how our HR outsourcing contract compared to others
• Get ideas on improvements we could make.

Technology Exhibits: Since technology is changing so rapidly, it is often difficult to keep up with new applications that are available. The conference is a great way to get exposed to a broad-range of recent innovations. You can stop by any booth and see a demo. There is no pressure and vendors are excited about their new products and services and are happy to show you more.

So here is your chance to make a difference at your organization; you might stumble onto a better, more user-friendly technology for example. Even if you are not the decision-maker, you can always tell your organization about it when you return and request a customized demo. Alternatively, if you are already outsourcing, you might see something that you don’t have and can bring it to your provider’s attention.

Network: The conference provides an opportunity to expand your network with others, including HR practitioners, buyers, providers and analysts, etc. In addition to the daytime events, there are evening socials too. HR deserves to have fun!

As a reader of my blog you are entitled to a discount. Just use the Promo Code HRO13 (all caps) when you register online at: http://www.HRTechConference.com/register.html to get $500 off the rack rate of $1,895. The discount does not expire until the conference ends on October 9, 2013.

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NGA’s Broadening Offerings

Liz Rennie, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall

Last week we attended the Advisor & Analyst Summit with NGA where CEO Adel Al-Saleh presented the highlights for FY2013 (up to 30 April 2013) and described the company as an “IP-led HR services company.” Focus was given to the company’s ability to support global payrolls, whatever the HRIS platform, as NGA supports multiple platforms such as Workday, SuccessFactors, PeopleSoft, Oracle and SAP. Further, NGA announced that BPO agreements are in place with all the above-mentioned technology companies.

NGA serves all size companies and is particularly focused on global enterprise clients. Multi-country BPO HR/payroll is where NGA sees growth. Over the last year NGA experienced flat revenues, the downturn in the consulting was cited as the main reason; however, EBITDA was up by 8.6% to $157m. Workforce administration and global payroll were cited as areas which were experiencing growth. A “sweet-spot” client would be a client who wants its IT to be managed and requires service components for HR administration and/or payroll.

New wins and renewals for FY 2013 were cited as Aer Lingus (Irish HRO client based on ResourceLink), Textron (PeopleSoft renewal), Pirelli (40 countries in scope), State of Texas, McGraw-Hill and Orica.

FY 2014 priorities

• Evolve the client-centric coverage. This means to increase the reporting and visibility of customer satisfaction to drive this higher
• Drive the maturity of global delivery capabilities
• Evolve the transformation consulting services
• Invest and launch key IP platforms, including:
  – Global payroll
  – Service center tools & utilities
  – euHReka – Preceda – ResourceLink – Moorepay
• Increase traction of key partnerships:
  – Workday
  – SuccessFactors-SAP
  – Oracle.

NGA already has more than 8 clients utilizing the Workday platform.

NGA presented its Global Delivery Model, which demonstrates the maturity and scale of NGA’s global delivery, including approximately 1.2k employees in Manila, 1k in Kochi, 100 in Dalian, China, 150 in Katowice, Poland, 500 in Granada, Spain and 200 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These centers have been undergoing a center standardization based on Six Sigma to improve alignment.

NGA’s depth of knowledge is evident in the 8 IP components presented, including its NGA Service Catalogue, Global Statutory Center, ePIM Implementation Methodology, SunEXo (to track payroll status), ScopeHR (to configure scope), Online Reference Guide (for processes and instructions), Global Standard Training and Global Process Framework.

Being an IP-led HR services company, NGA has to clearly articulate the value of the IP to the client and then ensure that the IP roadmap is closely following its client’s needs. Furthermore, increasing technology capability with a broader partner ecosystem could bring further challenges, such as:

• Finding the right technical solution for a client without confusing them; especially where they are simply asking for a service
• When the IP becomes less technology centric, NGA could lose some of the depth of knowledge that is already built into the IP.

NGA continues to be a company that is flexible to the needs of its clients. In this current climate companies need agility in HR solutions, services, prices and (now more than ever) technology. NGA offers a global delivery network that is experienced and always hungry for more business.

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Talent2’s Competitive Edge

Linda Merritt, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall

The NelsonHall HRO team recently spoke with Mary-Sue Rogers, Talent2’s global general manager for HR managed services, for an update on the major Asia-Pacific, pan-regional HRO service provider with ~2.6k clients across 30 countries. Its client base includes companies of all sizes in both the private and public sectors. The company had a busy fiscal Q4 2013 winning more than 60 contract awards across its service lines, including payroll, RPO, learning and HR advisory services.

The Asia-Pacific HRO Market is Competitive

Asia-Pacific is a huge and diverse region with many of the individual nations still considered “emerging markets,” with opportunities for long-term growth. Talent2’s in-region competitors are largely global HRO providers, some span all service lines and others go head-to-head-on a single service like RPO.

So how does a ten-year-young company compete with many of the biggest names in HRO? Its competitors also have in-region locations but find it hard to match Talent2’s 40+ HRO-dedicated locations supporting 31 languages in 16 Asia-Pacific countries, including parts of the Middle East. In May 2013, Talent2 further expanded its operations in support of the Asia-Pacific region by opening a service delivery center in the Philippines.

Succeed With a HRO Competitive Edge

It is a core part of providing multi-country services to offer local subject-matter expertise on employment rules, regulations, taxation and compliance reporting, and all of the competitors can provide such services directly or through vetted local partners.

Talent2 demonstrates deep knowledge of local regulations as well as cultural and business environments. It knows the nuances that others may miss, which can help develop a service offer that is right on the mark for design and cost. For example, in the first instance, Talent2 addresses the following questions:

• What style of payroll service center support is preferred by employees in different areas of its region?
• What are the differences in an MNC headquartered in the West versus one headquartered in the target region?

As a result, 50% of its clients use multi-country services led by payroll and followed by RPO. Some start with one targeted country and add more over time.

Quality services and competitive pricing, along with its deep knowledge, provides a winning combination for Talent2, achieving a NelsonHall estimated ~10% growth in FY 2013.

Then Change to Remain Competitive

Talent2, which became a private company in 2012, is working its way through its stated development roadmap. The multi-pronged plan is focused on upgrading and rationalizing its technology platform to meet current and future client needs and going environmentally green to control internal costs and lower the total cost of ownership for its clients.

HR services are changing rapidly all over the world, as are client needs and interests, and no service provider can long rest on its laurels. Therefore, the question arises: does your HRO service provider’s competitive edge match your needs today, and will it tomorrow?

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HRO Inflection Points

Linda Merritt, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall

Everywhere around us inflection points are occurring. Inflection points are a sign that change is occurring that will create a new order of things. Whether we see them, understand their long-term implications, and leverage them to our advantage is another issue.

Social Inflection Points Impact HRO

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on two issues impacting marriage law that will change who is entitled to marriage-related federal benefits.

Major social change invariably impacts HR and HRO services, and the marriage law rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court will have wide-ranging implications for workplace benefit plans in at least 12 states.

The long-term implications may take many years to become clear, but leveraging in the short term has already begun. ADP was the first HRO vendor I saw tweet about the court’s ruling by announcing an upcoming webinar on the changes to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Mercer quickly followed with a ‘benefits administration alert’ letter.

Technology Inflection Points Impact HRO

As a disruptive technology, SaaS has started a global “cloud war” that is only just beginning. HR and HRO are just a small piece of the IT landscape and we will see skirmishes as new entrants and long-term leaders battle for market share, industry leadership and shareholder value as they transform not only technology offerings, but revenue streams and business models.

Oracle’s Larry Ellison has been in the news for the last two weeks reporting on earnings that were already impacted by SaaS and the cloud war. Here was one of the industry’s titans comparing Oracle’s SaaS revenues (annualized at ~$1bn) to comparable revenues posted by perennial competitor SAP and upstart Workday!

Upgrade or rip-and-replace decisions are becoming imminent for HR clients and HRO services providers. Many vendors, including Ceridian, Mercer and Talent2, are already developing integrated service platforms and more cloud offerings for organizations of all sizes.

Client Inflection Points Impact HRO

To identify current trends in HRO customer requirements I reviewed current (2013) sources, including NelsonHall’s Targeting Payroll BPO market analysis and HR Outsourcing Confidence Index, and also HRO vendor discussions. Further, I reviewed a research survey by Mandy Sim, a University Teaching Fellow with the Business School at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, entitled the HRO Adoption Survey Report 2012, which identified key Asia-Pacific HRO practices based on a survey conducted on delegates who attended the HRO Today Forum APAC 2012.

Following are my findings on what today’s HRO clients, across service lines and geographies, are wanting from prospective vendors:

• Value for price, balancing cost with improved outcomes and business impact
• Standardization of processes and technologies
• Advanced subject-matter expertise and best practices
• Scalability across services and geographies
• Access to new tools, technologies and services.

Ready or not, change is coming to HRO. Are you ready for how will it impact you and your organization?

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Catching Up with ADP

Linda Merritt, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall

The recent passing of long-term U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg reminds us of his early role in the formation of what became ADP, a founding member of HR outsourcing. In the early 1950s he was engaged in selling insurance and sold a policy to two young New Jersey businessmen, Henry and Joseph Taub. The Taub’s were pioneering a then new concept; payroll outsourcing. The brothers knew payroll processing and Lautenberg knew sales and marketing. Lautenberg took a risk and joined the Taub brothers and together they created a new industry.

Establish Operating Principles

By the time the company incorporated in 1961 the three leaders established principles that still guide the company some 60 years later. Following are a few of the principles they put in place.

Focus on Business Markets that Offer Significant Growth Opportunities

ADP has always pursued growth through new market opportunities, both by expanding it service lines and by entering new geographies. Much of the early growth was through acquisitions, as well as organic growth. Lautenberg retired as CEO from ADP in 1982 having made over 100 acquisitions!

Over time, ADP became a global player. An early acquisition was GSI, a large payroll and HR services company in Europe. The latest 2013 acquisition is Payroll S.A. to expand LATAM payroll capabilities to Chile, Argentina, and Peru. In the last few years major acquisitions included Workscape (benefits), The RightThing (RPO) and SHPS (benefits).

Embrace Technological Change to Enhance Product and Service Offerings

By the early 1960s ADP had moved from manual operations to the pre-computer punch cards and on to leasing its first computer: an IBM 1401 mainframe. That willingness to continue to embrace the new is seen in ADP’s successful launch of a series of cloud-based SaaS HR technology and BPO service platforms, including Workforce Now (1k-20K employees), Vantage HCM (50-3k employees), and GlobalView for multi-nationals. Together, the three services support more than 40k clients.

The company has also launched extensive mobility options, including RUN powered by ADP for small business mobile payroll and ADP Mobile Solutions for access to a broad range of information and transactions spanning time and attendance to benefits and pay cards.

Attract and Retain Motivated and Talented People

ADP has grown into a $10bn global outsourcing business with one of only four remaining AAA credit ratings in the U.S. With ~570k clients across 125 countries, we know customers support its line-up of services and proprietary developed technologies. What about people? A few recent awards tell the story:

• Ranked second on Fortune’s 2012 list of America’s Most Admired Companies in Financial Data Service
• Ranked in the Top 50 on IDG’s Computerworld 2012 list of the 100 Best Places to Work in Information Technology (IT)
• Named to the 2012 Working Mother 100 Best Companies, for the third time.

We therefore need to ask the question of prospective purchasers: does your prospective or current HRO service provider have long-term guiding principles and can you see evidence of them in action? Because ADP does.

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Mercer on the Move

Linda Merritt, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall

This week I attended Mercer’s always well managed and informative analyst forum in Boston, MA. The meeting was focused on the talent consulting line of business.

Talent Management on the Rise

Mercer research indicates that human capital issues are a top CEO concern and managing talent is becoming a board of directors’ issue, moving beyond the traditional CEO succession planning and compensation to overall talent and workforce planning. The new Mercer Talent Barometer Survey, which was introduced at the 2013 World Economic Forum, reports that 60% of the 1,200 global companies surveyed are investing more in talent, but only 30% feel that their workforce plans are highly effective.

The business of talent has become both exciting and disruptive, with possible new entrants, globalization, media, innovations, and opportunities. (Talk about new entrants, eHarmony is considering getting into the talent matching game!)

With a possibility of double-digit growth, the talent group looked at how to grow across the talent value chain by expanding its services, tools and technology offerings for talent, rewards, and communications to increase growth and leverage Mercer’s depth of experience and capabilities.

The answer will become apparent over the next few months as more packaged solutions are launched that combine consulting, information, and technology to meet the needs of clients that want a less-customized consulting approach with “off-the-shelf” packaged and reusable services and tools.

Workforce Planning Versus HR Analytics

Some elements that will be leveraged are already mature and solid revenue producers. Surveys, benchmarks, and analytics for compensation/total rewards and job structures are a more than $200m line of business. Globalization of the revenues is already well on its way, with about equal distribution from North America, Europe, and emerging markets across 57 countries.

Instead of focusing on HR analytics, Mercer is emphasizing data acquisition and integration, data modeling, as well as data visualization as it applies to a wide range of workforce and data that drives business results. This may mean a consulting and outsourcing services engagement, it may mean workshops and training, or self-service use of integrated SaaS technology platforms with one or more Mercer products.

Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast

There are a lot of moving parts in Mercer’s strategy to create an integrated talent solutions portfolio.

It is brought together under the go-to-market Talent Impact label that includes new and existing products and services to forecast, engage, mobilize, reward and assess talent. Behind the scenes Mercer will be streamlining its own architecture into fewer and more integrated technology platforms to support the new offerings.

There is a lot to be done in a short time, but that is in alignment with the “think big, start small, and move fast” philosophy of Orlando Ashford, senior partner and president of Mercer’s talent business. Mercer is on the move!

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U.S. Jobs Grow – How Will It Impact HRO

By now, most have heard last Friday’s favorable jobs news.

In the U.S., 243,000 jobs were added in January, bringing the unemployment rate down to 8.3%, and as noted on one of the staffing provider’s earnings calls last week, down to 4.2% for college graduates. Government jobs have contracted as expected, while the private sector had the gains in the services industry, specifically in leisure, hospitality, education, healthcare, and retail, and in manufacturing, including construction.

Also last February 3, Randstad reported a five-point rise in its U.S. Employee Confidence Index.  The index measures the workers’ confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment. This is the biggest increase since the survey started seven years ago.

With good reason to be optimistic, many RPO providers are realizing the gains with increased hiring volumes by existing clients. Even before this welcome employment news, 2011 had been a good year for HRO. In RPO, many vendors achieved significant growth, including Kelly OCG, whose RPO revenue was up 40% year-over-year from 2010; Pinstripe was up 58% y-o-y with 21 new contracts and extensions; and for Q4, Kenexa reported an RPO growth of 54% y-o-y.

But the benefits go far beyond RPO. Increased hiring bodes well for providers of payroll, benefits, and learning as the number of employees they serve increases. For example, ADP, who already pays 1 of 6 U.S. employees, announced the number of employees on its U.S. client payroll increased by 2.8% in fiscal Q2 2012, for the period ending December 31, 2011. Benefits administration providers including Aon Hewitt, Fidelity, and Mercer reported numerous contract awards in 2011. In MPHRO, in North America, ADP won several new contracts, while IBM was awarded a large MPHRO contract with Air Canada and NorthgateArinso awarded a seven-year MPHRO renewal by Fifth Third Bank. In learning, vendors including Raytheon, Xerox, and Accenture won several contracts. There are more updates to follow on learning as NelsonHall is currently conducting a global learning BPO market analysis.

However, a few words of caution by ManpowerGroup were given last February 3 that demand is expected to continue to fluctuate and it would be prudent for employers to adopt flexible workforce models that include: full-time, contingent, and virtual-skilled workers to ensure productivity.

There are a few key implications here:

• Providers who haven’t yet provided recruitment services that include RPO, MSP, and Contingent Workforce services would be prudent to evaluate doing so and/or consider partnering with a vendor that does
• Given the ManpowerGroup statistic that 52% of U.S. companies are struggling to fill key jobs, focus on the development and retention of talent is more paramount than ever. Buy-side organizations should be continuously monitoring employee satisfaction, reviewing attrition rates, conducting exit interviews to find out why people leave, and developing action plans to improve organizational effectiveness. If buyers do not have this capability, they may want to consider a talent management vendor who can help them, which has become a key HRO vendor focus and for good reason!

Gary Bragar, HRO Research Director, NelsonHall

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From Public to Private – RPO Can Help – Part 1

According to data from the Office for National Statistics in the U.K., in 2010, public sector employment fell by 132,000 jobs with local government accounting for the largest proportion at 66,000.  In Q4 2010 alone, 45,000 public sector jobs were lost, including 24,000 in local government, 9,000 in central government, and 8,000 in Civil Service.

It is estimated that an additional 330,000 jobs will be lost in the public sector over the next four years.  While this is, of course, not good news, especially for those workers directly impacted, employment in the private sector increased by 77,000 jobs in Q4 2010.  Thus, the article last week by Hays is timely in that more needs to be done to support workers who are transitioning from the public sector to the private sector.

Hays and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) partnered to publish a report called “The challenges of transition: from public to private.” Public and private sector employers were interviewed and in the report the LCCI and Hays identified six important steps to ensure successful transition including:

1. Encourage better understanding – Coaching, mentoring, and peer-support schemes for public sector workers prior to, during, and after transition to the private sector should be encouraged. These would increase the retention of new employees and also enable the private sector to identify the skills available in the public sector.
2. Incentivize the private sector – The government should subsidize recruitment and training costs for private sector employers who hire public sector employees. One option would be to adapt the Redundancy Action Scheme in Wales, which gives employers a contribution to salaries and training if they hire someone who has been made redundant.
3. Identify regional skill gaps – Local enterprise partnerships and recruiters should work with trade associations and professional membership bodies to identify the skill shortages that will be created by future job vacancies and look at how former public employees can fill those gaps.
4. Review on-boarding procedures – Private sector employers should review their onboarding (induction programs for new employees) in anticipation of recruiting people from the public sector to ensure successful transitions.
5. Enhance existing support programs – Public sector employers should be more proactive in their support for workers facing the prospect of redundancy with practical job-seeking and career planning programs specifically designed to equip them for the private sector.
6. Promote self-reliance and resourcefulness – Public sector workers should be encouraged to work with recruiting experts who understand both the private and public sector and can provide free advice on CVs, job applications, and interviews.

Public sector employees have many skills that are needed in the private sector.  However, to shift such a large proportion of workers will require specialist help.  That is where RPO providers come in. Although the loss of jobs in the public sector is more of a current U.K. phenomenon, RPO providers can help in several ways in all regions.  In NelsonHall’s recently published RPO market analysis report, the following trends are occurring:

• Clients are seeking vendors that can help with their talent strategy and workforce planning. For example, vendors such as Hays provide workforce planning as part of their service offering and have seen an increase in the use of this service during the economic recovery.  Other vendors in the U.K. providing this are Ochre House in its contract with SAS and Carlisle Managed Solutions in its contract with Luton Borough Council.  In the U.S., Adecco’s recent RPO contract with SI includes employment branding, research, and talent market mapping.
• Clients are looking for vendors that can provide consulting services around workforce planning, such as Fosters did in its contract with Futurestep, which includes hiring for positions in the U.K.  Part of the vendor selection criteria included the ability to provide value-added services beyond recruitment, including workforce planning.

But, there’s more to the story than just identifying skill gaps.  Take the weekend to think about it and we’ll pick this up again.

To be continued.

Gary Bragar, Lead HRO Analyst, NelsonHall

NelsonHall HRO Confidence Index finds Banking, Healthcare, Pharma and Manufacturing Industries to Experience Strongest Growth

My blog last week focused on geographical HRO growth per the findings of NelsonHall’s most recent HRO Confidence Index. Today, the focus is growth by industry sector. When asked about expected changes in 2010 HRO revenues by industry sector, year-on-year relative to 2009, the HRO providers that participated in our most recent Index responded similarly to the prior quarter, with strong growth continuing to be expected in the banking (3.9 on a 1 – 5 scale), healthcare, pharmaceutical and manufacturing (all 3.8 on a 1 – 5 scale) industries.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, expectations from the state and local government sectors declined during the quarter. Addressing this drop first (always nice to end on a more upbeat note!), although a few state and local government contract renewals and new wins created some optimism in the second half of 2009, frozen decision making remains as many states struggle to pass budgets. State and local government HRO contracts are few and far between, and have an extremely long sales cycle. In today’s environment, as jobs are hard to come by and the recovery is taking longer than most of us thought or hoped, state talk of outsourcing, even without job reduction, will be hard to pass muster.

Now on to the positive. Supporting high growth in the pharmaceutical industry, RPO provider The RightThing issued a press release on June 1, 2010 stating that as hiring freezes across the U.S. begin to lift, there has been a major trend in pharmaceutical client hiring as organizations begin to rebuild their employee base. Over the last four months, The RightThing has assisted in major expansions (to the tune of 2,300 total positions) with five North American pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer Ingelheim.

And the NelsonHall contract database provides evidence of HRO’s growth in the banking and manufacturing industries. A hefty number of the most recently signed HRO contracts include Xafinity with BAE (pension administration), Kenexa with MphasiS (a 360-degree survey program), Xchanging with Insyte (multi-process HRO), Alexander Mann with Premier Foods (contingent workforce), Liberata with the U.K. Ministry of Justice (a portion of which is for payroll outsourcing), Hewitt with International Paper (multi-process HRO) and Manpower with Techcombank (RPO and staffing).

The continued growth in the banking industry is due to a number of factors. Hit exceptionally hard by the recession with downsizing in HR departments/across the board and in a current state of reorganization, banks are now trying to be more efficient and, in doing so, no longer want to assume the risk of investing in technology and HR staffs when they may be required to downsize again. And there are common roots to continued growth in the healthcare, pharma and manufacturing industries. In addition to reducing risk and becoming more efficient (obviously requisites for any private or public sector organization), it’s also about being able to quickly scale up and down. For example, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a new drug to prevent or cure a life threatening disease, manufacturers will need to rapidly hire staff to meet demand. Swift hiring of large numbers of employees, which has implications for payroll, benefits and learning, is often difficult for a company to do internally. HRO providers with much more abundant resources can more quickly deploy resources to meet this new demand.

Gary Bragar, Senior HR Outsourcing Analyst, NelsonHall

The Public Sector – an HRO Opportunity, One Way or the Other

The public sector is a dual factor in HRO. The first factor is government’s role in legislation and regulations that impact commercial sector client needs. The greater the uncertainty, changes and compliance focuses, the greater the opportunity for HRO providers to emphasize their subject matter expertise and risk mitigation partnership capabilities as added value incentives beyond the traditional cost savings and administration benefits.

The second is that the public sector is a major market for services for those providers with the stamina and fortitude to persevere in the long wave sales cycle public arena, the skin thick enough to survive the public commentary of creating change in organizations with often polarizing interest groups, and the management and technology wizardry to make margins at the same time as operating under more restrictions than with commercial clients.

The January 2010 NelsonHall BPO Index showed that 2009 global public sector BPO awards outpaced the private sector, led by Europe where government BPO spend was a whopping 74 percent of total contract value.

We can see the impact on HRO with some examples of 2009 public sector awards and renewals:

• RPO ended 2009 on an up note with Manpower being awarded a $200 million contract by the Australian Defence Force, as well as public sector RPO awards won by Carlisle Managed Solutions in the U.K. and Kelly Government Solutions in the U.S.

• CSS, General Physics and Raytheon each won major new and renewal military and defense learning contracts

• Health and welfare did very well, with Ceridian being awarded a $477 million contract for additional Military OneSource services and with Hewitt winning a flexible benefits contract by the State of Georgia

• European municipalities awarded contracts and renewals for Pensions, Payroll and HR administration services that included Logica in Sweden, KMD in Denmark, and Capita Hartshead and Mouchel in the U.K.

• Convergys stayed the course and received a two-year renewal by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and a five-year and $185 million extension by the State of Florida

Jamie Liddell points out in his Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) article on Public Sector Outsourcing After the Recession that economic pressures are continuing to grow on revenue-strapped public sector organizations in the U.S. and Europe, driving increased interest in outsourcing options. Jamie says that, “the U.K. is widely viewed as a ‘world leader’ in public sector outsourcing,” and that outsourcing already accounts for about thirteen percent of government spending. The U.S. has not yet seen a similar surge in outsourcing, but economic pressures will encourage both public sector agencies and HRO providers to address and overcome barriers to increased outsourcing. As we see from the U.S. awards in a down year like 2009, it can be done and we will see more in 2010.

There is no way around it. The public sector will continue to be a major opportunity in 2010, both as a regulatory driver and as a major HRO buyer.

Linda Merritt, Research Director, HRO, NelsonHall