HRO Can Help Stem Absence Management Cost Hits – But There’s More

A recent CyberShift survey found that one third of the 1,088 respondents cited absence management as a continuing top priority. Yet 53 percent of the survey participants stated they did not have an automated system in place for absence, leave, vacation and FMLA tracking. This is a pretty scary statistic, especially when, per CyberShift, unscheduled absenteeism can cost businesses more than $760,000 per year in direct payroll costs alone.

At the same time, forward-thinking buy-side companies over the past couple of years have awarded absence management contracts to HRO providers, and the vendors are beefing up their absence management offerings. Let’s take a look.

Absence Management Contracts

• MidlandHR was awarded 10 contracts in the last two years for its iTrent HR and payroll software, including its absence management modules, by the University of Exeter, Capel Manor College, Oxford City Council, NetworkersMSB, Pentagon Investments, Preston College, Which? (yes, this is an actual company name), Manchester Fire and Rescue, Kent County Council and Farnborough College
• Wipro implemented Oracle’s PeopleSoft Enterprise HCM 9.0 for Jammu & Kashmir Bank in India. Modules implemented include absence management and approval workflow
• NorthgateArinso won a five-year contract with Hastings College for its ResourceLink HR platform, which supports absence management
• Convergys entered into a five-year contract renewal for multi-process HRO services with a leading business services company; components of the contract include absence management and leave administration
• Hewitt was awarded several unnamed contracts that include absence management
• Raet won a 10-year contract with OSG for its online HR portal, which includes absence management

Providers’ Enhanced Absence Management Offerings

Just a couple of weeks ago, Capita acquired FirstAssist Services Holdings Ltd. to strengthen its capabilities in health and workforce management, including absence management. In January, Hewitt added participant advocacy services to its absence management offering. In August, Ceridian added Presagia’s employee leave management software to support its leave management services. And Xchanging announced an alliance with absence management specialist FirstCare through which the two parties will jointly go to market with FirstCare’s absence management and occupational health pre-employment screening services and Xchanging’s portfolio of HRO services.  

Here’s my take. Leveraging software and services for absence management tracking is a great step in the right direction when it comes to stemming costs. But equally, if not more, important is drilling down into the why’s of non-authorized and non-sick absences. This maps to blogs I’ve written over the past year that focus on rampant employee dissatisfaction. Unhappy employees are more inclined to call in sick simply because they don’t want to go to their jobs. Get to the heart of employee dissatisfaction, fix what is truly broken across the enterprise, and absenteeism will decrease. Strong leadership and performance management training is invaluable in helping determine the root of employee discontent. Corporations lacking internal training programs of this type can leverage offerings from both full-scope and pure-play learning services HRO providers.

Gary Bragar, Lead HRO Analyst, NelsonHall

Why We’ll See Increasing RPO Contract Activity in a Jobless Recovery

We’ve already witnessed a variety of RPO contracts with 2010 start dates, including Kenexa’s with the U.S. Air Force, PeopleScout’s with US Airways and the United States Infrastructure Corporation, and CPH Consulting’s with EEF. And I believe we’ll see an increasing number of RPO contracts announced and kicked-off in 2010, despite the jobless recovery. Why this counter-intuitive expectation? Let’s look at two factors which will contribute to an increase in RPO contract activity this year.

Soon-to-be and 2009 University Graduates

According to research conducted by U.K.-based RPO provider Alexander Mann Solutions, there will be significant competition for fewer jobs among this year’s graduates, only 26 percent of graduates feel confident of finding a position this year, 18 percent of 2009 graduates wound up applying for any job and only 37 percent are limiting their job applications to positions which are in line with their long-term career goals. Further, a full two-thirds of those fortunate enough to be offered jobs said they would accept more than one offer due to skepticism of the job actually coming to fruition until they actually start and are on the payroll. Think about the havoc this economy-driven “apply for any job/many jobs/accept several job offers” rise in quantity of applications and potential loss of selected candidates will wreak on internal recruiting departments already cut to the bone.

I’m Just Happy to Have a Job – Not

RPO provider Adecco Group North America’s annual American Workplace Insights Survey found that just 39 percent of employees feel the economic crisis has caused them to appreciate their jobs more (a steep drop from 55 percent of workers who felt that way a year ago), only 17 percent of employees accept working harder to avoid layoffs, only 19 percent are willing to work longer hours, and 93 percent of workers have less confidence in company leadership since the economic crisis started. Employee satisfaction is clearly on the decline, even worse than when I wrote about it in my September 3, 2009 blog. If companies don’t step-up their hiring activity at least a bit, work quality will suffer and top quartile employees may well jump ship and join another company which has begun hiring and has a strong employee satisfaction brand in the marketplace.

Both these scenarios point to increased RPO contract activity in 2010. In-house recruiting departments may well need assistance in handling the huge influx of incoming job applications, screening and selecting the best talent, and retaining key employees, all while reflecting a positive brand image for both talent attraction and retention purposes.

So despite the jobless recovery, I do expect to see resurgence in RPO activity this year. What do you think?                

Gary Bragar, Lead HRO Analyst, NelsonHall

Employee Dissatisfaction = Boon to the HRO Industry?

While this headline sounds counter-intuitive, let’s look at several news pieces published in just the last week.

An August 26 article by Hudson (a recruitment and talent management services provider) stated, “The global financial crisis has had a severe and divisive impact on the sentiment of the workforce in Australia and New Zealand.” “Employees’ feelings of disaffection are already playing out in the market, more employees are now seeking new roles (jobs) compared to before the downturn, almost half of the workforce is seeking a new role (47 percent) and 56 percent said they would consider roles they previously would not have looked at. If employees are disgruntled or unhappy with their current roles, the moment a better opportunity presents itself they will leave.”

Also on August 26, Jobfox, an Internet-based job site reported, “A recent study concluded that 54 percent of employed Americans plan to look for new opportunities once the economy begins to turn around”.

According to an August 31 USA Today article, “More than eight in 10 employers feel that their workers are just happy to have a job, but just 53 percent of employees feel this way, according to Monster.com.”

17 percent of workers are thinking of changing jobs in the next 12 months, per a survey employment website SnagAJob.com released on August 27.

And in a nationwide telephone survey of 500 hiring managers and 500 workers from various sized businesses – conducted by Robert Half International and CareerBuilder between April 30 and May 31, 2009 – more than half of employees plan to make a career change or go back to school.

Now, think of the impact this employee churn will have. Many are using the term “the jobless recovery” and talk of how the return to job creation will likely lag other evidence of recovery. This could lull in-house HR departments and HRO service providers into thinking the need to gear up for greater volumes will not be needed until later in 2010. While I agree, some churn may well pick up earlier. And churn triggers so many HR transactions – in virtually all aspects of HR including administration, payroll, learning, benefits hiring and staffing – that even if jobs aren’t growing, just replacing current positions will cause HRO activity to pick-up, as in-house HR departments have been cut to the bone.

I believe the economic downturn will be an economic upturn for the HRO industry. What do you think?

Gary Bragar, Lead HRO Analyst, NelsonHall