Success Factors for the Market Segments of MPHRO

Last week, I discussed the four market segments of multi-process HR outsourcing (MPHRO) as defined in my 2011 NelsonHall MPHRO report: multi-country standardization, client-specific shared service transformation, core business focus, and technology-led HR service enhancement.  This week, I’ll examine success factors for service providers within each segment.

In the “multi-country standardization segment,” which is the segment with the highest growth rate for the next five years, it is critical for vendors to be able to support a client’s operations across a wide range of countries including emerging markets. Providers must also be able to rollout standardized HR administration and payroll to create a global system of record. Examples of service providers operating in this segment include ADP, HP, and NorthgateArinso.

To be successful in the “client-specific shared service transformation segment,” the largest of the four, vendors must provide HRO support directly or through a partner for all HR service lines (i.e., payroll, benefits, learning, RPO, and workforce development services) and have a high degree of multi-shore delivery capabilities to support clients in various locations.  Equally important is a service provider’s ability to be able to work with the client’s existing HR technology.  One of the biggest challenges faced by vendors in this group is getting clients to transition more than just back-office functions to its offshore service centers to reduce operating costs.  Service providers operating in this segment include those that have been long-term players in the MPHRO market such as Accenture; IBM; Aon Hewitt; ACS, a Xerox Company; and U.K.-based Capita.

Within the “core business focus” market segment, success is contingent on a provider’s ability to quickly deploy HR services and be accessible when expertise is required.  In terms of HRO offerings, standardized HR administration and payroll are a must and providing support for talent management services is very appealing.  The biggest challenge for vendors operating here is all the competition that exists from some of the following vendors: Genpact, TCS, Talent2, Infosys, HCL, Wipro, and Caliber Point.

Success in the final segment, “technology-led HR service enhancement,” requires vendors to provide their own standard technology for HR administration and payroll that includes talent management functions.  Also, it’s important that this technology be rolled-out relatively quickly.  Providers that fall within this segment mirror the multi-country standardization segment, but also include vendors such as Ceridian.

There’s lots of room in the MPHRO market for all types of buyers, so it’s critical for service providers to decide which segments are of strategic value and to define their sweet spots in their MPHRO portfolios and fill in capability gaps where contracts can be lost to competitors.

Amy Gurchensky, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall

HRO Themes at the HR Tech Conference: Portals, Platforms and Self-Service

If you’ve never attended the HR Tech conference – which was in Chicago last week – I highly recommend finding a way to do so next year (and not just because the venue is changing to Las Vegas.) It’s always a top-notch conference with a superior speaker line-up, and a great forum for meeting with HRO buyers, providers and pundits.

With my eyes and ears focused, of course, on all things HRO, the key themes I witnessed – during both public sessions and private meetings with providers – were portals, platforms and self-service, all geared toward improving the customer experience and getting work done as quickly and easily as possible. By-the-drink-pricing and quick solution implementation were also key focuses. Some examples:

• Caliber Point’s recently launched multi-tenant HRO service, called Republic. For mid-market organizations with between 2,000 and 15,000 employees, it’s a SaaS solution based on Oracle and includes software hosted and maintained by Caliber Point covering payroll, recruiting, performance management, compensation, employee benefits, time and attendance and reporting. Pricing is per employee per month by country, which covers both software licensing and BPO services, and implemetation can be completed in as quick as six – eight weeks.
• ADP’s new portal and mobile developments, to be launched by early 2011. I must admit that increased mobile access to HR information, anytime, any place, didn’t wow me until ADP used the example of getting a listing of your in-network benefits and providers on your mobile phone. Think about it…you’re out of town on holiday – without your laptop – and you cut your foot on a piece of glass on the beach or sprain your ankle while skiing. You could pull your insurance card from your wallet or purse and call the 800# to find a local in-network provider. But, with instant access to the information on your mobile phone, why wouldn’t you take the quick route?
•  Mercer’s integrated rewards and talent management offering, called Human Capital Connect. The technology platform includes performance management, succession planning, compensation and incentives. While a third-party provider can’t replace an in-house manager’s performance management responsibilities, Mercer provides not only the technology but also consulting for implementation, training, change management and execution, and a dedicated client team to ensure success. 
• IBM’s transformation of its HRO client Kraft’s employee portal, with enhanced self-service, phone-based call center support and live chats with call center specialists. During its session at the HR Tech conference, Kraft stated IBM’s recently established Manila HR Services Center is getting high marks for customer satisfaction and intuitive and user-friendly employee self-service. And we can anticipate this contract, which will further roll out into 2011, will continue to support Kraft’s approximately 140,000 employees, per its acquisition of Cadbury, with the same improved employee experience, including further enhancements to live chats.

Yes folks, today and into the future, we’ll see rapid developments in portals, platforms and self-service. But these technological developments won’t remove the “human” element from HRO. Rather, they’ll increasingly support the way humans need, want and expect to accomplish their tasks and jobs, at an increasingly attractive price point.

Gary Bragar, Lead HRO Analyst, NelsonHall

Infosys, Wipro, TCS and other Offshore Providers: How Strong an HRO Play Can They Make?

Against the backdrop of Infosys’ most recent quarter-end financials announcement – of which 6.1 percent of revenue was attributed to BPO, and five to 10 percent of that BPO revenue is estimated to have come from HRO – how viable can it and its Indian brethren be in the HRO space? Despite inherent challenges and both real and perceived buyer concerns about offshoring HR processes, offshore providers are making strong investments in and “upping the ante” of their HRO capabilities.

For example, Infosys within the last several months launched a new SaaS plus BPO platform offering which supports HR processes. And other Indian providers such as Wipro, Caliber Point, Secova, Modis and TCS are partnering, primarily with Oracle and SAP, for a technological BPO backbone which supports HRO processes, and then building more standardized BPO services around that technology.

Further, to address language and cultural barrier concerns of many buyers, India-based offshore providers are understandably touting their centers in locations such as Romania and Poland as HRO delivery sites.

Finally, price points are clearly lower in India and other low-cost locations such as the Philippines in which offshore providers have centers. In today’s economy, given that providers such as Hewitt and Convergys have been challenged to meet the cost-cutting requirements of their existing clients without themselves utilizing offshore resources, there are clearly some natural opportunities for offshore providers.

But the operative word above is “some” natural opportunities. Remember, there are many concrete and ostensible inhibitors to offshore HRO. So where are offshore providers making, and can they make, their play?

At least for the relative near-term, it’s in the low-cost transactional services and low- and mid-level analytics processes. For example:

•  In recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), CV/resume screening and, in some cases, candidate short-listing. But beyond these initial activities, most will require onshore hand-off

•  In learning business process outsourcing (LBPO), managing course scheduling and learner assistance around which courses are suitable, etc. But with language, cultural and proximity issues, the possibility of venue management, course development and learning delivery is null to void

•  In back-office processes, those which are non-voice-related, such as payroll reconciliations, accounting within pensions arrangements, fulfillment, etc., in benefits administration

•  In HRO analytics, low-end processes such as monthly and quarterly reporting on employees per business unit, geography or employee population diversity; cost per hire; hiring manager satisfaction; learner satisfaction and utilization rates for decision support tools. Mid-level analytics provided by offshore providers could include loyalty and attrition modeling

•  And of course the IT support around all of these HR processes

The bottom line is that offshore providers are viable contenders in the HRO space, but we believe buyers are still cautious about fully embracing offshore outsourcing, so are likely to engage only in the non-high-touch areas. If a buyer is seeking lower cost, transactional services, offshore HRO is certainly worth examining.

Helen Neale, Research Director, Human Resources Outsourcing, NelsonHall