Posted tagged ‘hr outsourcing research’
May 31, 2012
As we near the halfway point, 2012 is going well for HRO. As support, here are choice tidbits from our HRO news coverage and analysis.
First quarter revenues were solid for most vendors. RPO and PEO led the way with continued strong growth in the mid-to-high teens even as new job growth has stalled. Clients are increasingly using HRO services to help manage and balance workforce talent needs. Lower but steady mid-single digit growth is rolling along for benefits and payroll in the traditional HRO service areas.
There was plenty of new business to go around by service line, vendor, geography, and in both the private and public sectors. There was even a very nice smattering of large deals with TCVs in the hundreds of millions!
Logica was awarded a 6-year multi-process HRO contract by BAE Systems to support its 33,000 U.K. employees. Included is implementation and management of a single-tenant, hosted Oracle HR platform, along with payroll, and adminsitrative services in support of talent management functions including recruiting and learning. This is Logica’s second significant sized multi-process HRO win in six months. This is a good indicator of its success as a major preferred partner of Oracle for HRO in Europe.
Speaking of Europe, HP has been awarded a major 15-year multi-process HRO contract by Italian financial services firm UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions SCpA. A major driver for this deal was the need for a platform to support globally standardized HR and payroll processes across the countries in scope (Italy, Austria, plus a third country), serving ~98,000 employees. The HRO services in scope include payroll, time and attendance, workforce administration, learning and development administration, mobility, and ex-pat services.
The U.K. was the hottest area for the public sector. These deals are long wave sales with lots of competition, and there were even incumbent upsets. The services are naturally very important, but the promised cost advantages must be delivered. Lots of hard work and strong partnerships will be needed by the client organizations and the vendors to ensure success.
- Capita was awarded a £250m contract by the Cabinet Office to exclusively manage the Civil Service’s training services. It will both directly deliver training and manage a competitive network of other training suppliers.
- Capita was awarded a £440m contract by the British Army for recruiting services. The Recruitment Partnering Project contract is for 10 years and Capita will also deliver supporting technology for the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. It will partner with Kenexa for assessment and recruiting technology.
- Almost at the finish line is CSC as it has been selected as preferred bidder for a £400m, 7-year contract by the MoD to provide pay and pensions administration services to the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) for the U.K. Armed Forces.
Let’s all hope the rest of the year keeps HRO growing and rolling along!
Linda Merritt, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall
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Categories: benefits administration, financial results, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, HRO Services, learning outsourcing, Mobility, multi-process hro, nelsonhall, payroll outsourcing, PEO, recruitment process outsourcing, Total Contract Value, Workforce administration, Workforce Talent
Tags: benefits administration, British Army, CabinetOffice, Capita, CSC, HP, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO News, HRO providers, hro research, HRO services, Kenexa, learning outsourcing, mobility, MoD, MPHRO, nelsonhall, payroll outsourcing, pension administration, PEO, Q1 2012 Results, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, rpo, TCV, UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions, workforce administration
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May 22, 2012
ManpowerGroup Solutions held its first analyst event outside of the U.S. in Mexico City to focus on the fast-growing Latin America market which includes Mexico and Central America (MeCA), and South America. I must first say the hospitality extended to us by both the Latin America and U.S. ManpowerGroup teams present was the warmest I could have imagined.
The agenda included:
- Introduction to ManpowerGroup MeCA
- Talentism is the new capitalism: ManpowerGroup insights from the World Economic Forum
- The economic landscape in Mexico and Latin America
- ManpowerGroup priorities, progress, and perspectives
- The RPO and MSP market in MeCA
- Visit to ManpowerGroup client and ManpowerGroup office (particularly helpful to understand how jobs are advertised in Mexico)
- Labor and workforce demographics in South America
- ManpowerGroup brand, messaging, and target markets
- The global RPO COE
- Analyst perspectives on topics including: client readiness for global talent planning, client satisfaction, and ManpowerGroup strategies
With such an informative agenda, I’d be writing a small book if I tried to cover all the content, so I’ll focus on the client visit to KidZania. KidZania is a global organization with franchises in Mexico. It is opening its third office there by June, which we were able to visit. KidZania is focused on creating a live learning experience for kids that allows them to role-play adult activities including working different jobs, spending money, and even learning how to drive a miniature car after acquiring a permit. The facility is Disney-like, but better because adults are not allowed inside. ManpowerGroup also has its first job agency within KidZania, so kids can assess their skills and search for jobs available on computers.
ManpowerGroup Solutions began providing RPO services to KidZania in 2010 after the client was searching for an agile vendor that could provide a flexible workforce solution with a focus on talent. The client stated the following three primary objectives of which ManpowerGroup has exceeded its expectations:
- Find the right candidates fast
- Reduce time / cost of recruitment, including quickly scaling up and down to meet hiring needs
- Create the right culture among kids, parents, and collaborators.
I’ll revisit the Latin America market in a future blog, but for now I will say that although Mexico had one of its biggest recessions in 2008 – 2009, it has made a quick recovery, and is expected to create ~1.2m jobs this year. Mexico is about more than just outsourcing for labor arbitrage; it is about outsourcing for job skills where more than 100,000 engineers and technicians graduate every year from science and technology programs. Just last month, for example, Volkswagen’s Audi luxury-car unit announced that it will open its first North American factory in Mexico.
ManpowerGroup has more than 2,000 clients in MeCA and is present in 10 countries in South America. RPO is provided to both Mexican headquartered clients and U.S. MNCs with hiring needs in Mexico.
Gary Bragar, HRO Research Director, NelsonHall
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Categories: Center of Excellence, Flexible Workforce, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, Labor Arbitrage, MSP, nelsonhall, recruitment process outsourcing
Tags: Audi, CoE, flexible workforce, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, KidZania, labour arbitrage, Latin America, ManpowerGroup Solutions, Mexico and Central America (MeCA), Mexico City, MNC, MSP, nelsonhall, rpo, South America, Talentism, U.S., Volkswagen, World Economic Forum
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May 10, 2012
Every quarter, my colleague Amy Gurchensky surveys HRO vendors for the NelsonHall HR Outsourcing Confidence Index (HROCI), which is then available for our clients and the participating service providers. In normal times, the HROCI does not change drastically from quarter to quarter; it more shows changes in trends over time. In uncertain times, however, it is a timely way to see changes in market perceptions even before disruptions occur in contract values, volumes, and revenues.
It is of some comfort that the HROCI is in a steady state of small changes from quarter to quarter. That is not a sign of upcoming exuberant growth, but it is a predictor that we will continue to see solid continuous HRO growth throughout 2012.
The most recent HROCI shows a vendor confidence level of 153, where 100 represents unchanged confidence and higher scores indicate increased confidence. While 153 is down a bit from 164 in 1Q 2011, it is in line with 3Q and 4Q 2011 at 151 and 147 respectively. Vendor confidence is often based on how current business is going, along with the pipeline. In HRO, growth from existing clients is just as important as new business. Ever since deals got smaller in scale and scope, there has been increased focus on retaining and growing existing accounts, and we see positive vendor confidence here as well.
Looking at some of the HR lines of service, payroll is once again in the leading position for growth, followed by RPO, multi-process HRO (MPHRO), benefit administration, and learning. MPHRO is expected to perform well in 2012, primarily driven by the need of organizations to standardize HR services across regions and geographies. Vendors such as ADP and NorthgateArinso that previously offered primarily payroll and employee administration services have been very active in acquiring or partnering to extend capabilities to a wider range of platform-based MPHRO functions. In addition, Logica is becoming increasingly successful in this space in Europe.
There is a slight tempering of growth expectations that can be seen in the data, although pipelines still seem solid. I think this is the same kind of hedge-your-bets thinking that is in the larger economy and what we are seeing from HRO buyers. Everyone still has a healthy sense of caution in case things suddenly go sideways.
Luckily, more and more HRO buyers and clients are willing to move ahead and get on with doing business, even if a bit cautiously. Other buyers still suffer from frozen decision-making and unwillingness to make long-term investments. Buyers with clear direction for what they want to achieve through HRO are the most likely to be deal ready – as along as prices are right and there is not too much upfront investment. The earlier service providers can assess readiness, the faster they will be able to fill pipelines with well-qualified prospects.
Linda Merritt, HRO Research Analyst, NelsonHall
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: benefits administration, Employee Administration, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO Buyers, HRO Confidence Index, HRO Growth, learning outsourcing, multi-process hro, nelsonhall, payroll outsourcing, recruitment process outsourcing, Vendor Confidence
Tags: ADP, Amy Gurchensky, benefits administration, Employee administration, Europe, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO Confidence Index, HRO Growth, HRO providers, hro research, learning BPO, Logica, MPHRO, nelsonhall, NorthgateArinso, rpo, Vendor Confidence
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May 3, 2012
HRO is an ever changing set of services, processes, technologies, and client needs. My HRO colleague Amy Gurchensky recently covered one of the emerging service areas in benefits: health care exchanges. I wanted to know more about active employee exchanges and arranged for educational briefings with Aon Hewitt and Mercer since both are already in this market.
Both of the HRO service providers have found similar reactions from insurers to the exchanges. As with any new concept, some carriers are more progressive and recognize changing market needs. Other carriers are more cautious and methodical and want to know more about how the new models work, how to underwrite the risk, client implications, etc.
Even though health care exchanges offer preconfigured selections with price advantages for employers, exchanges are still group programs and the employer is still the plan sponsor for active pre-65 participants. Aon Hewitt’s corporate exchange offering includes services to help clients meet their obligations as plan sponsors.
Exchanges are a bundled service. Along with structured plans from participating carriers, traditional benefits administration services are also included. Both Mercer and Aon Hewitt have great depth in providing end-to-end participant services, handling escalations, and advocacy. For example, Mercer’s exchange offering includes clinical case management support as well as program oversight and audits. Aon Hewitt includes both tier one and tier two call center support and advocacy services for participants with issues or claims that are more complex and require a greater level of case management and carrier interaction.
Both companies are major league benefits administrators, and I wondered how the exchanges may impact revenues as clients move to an exchange-style service. Mercer sees the revenue impact as neutral initially and additive overall; Aon Hewitt views the exchange markets as an important natural extension of its traditional benefit administration services.
Today, health care exchanges are a very small part of benefits HRO, but there is significant growth potential. Mercer will be testing service models in rolling its Mercer Benefits Choice Exchange (MBCE) for employers with less than 1,000 employees, so expect to see the changes and evolutions that are common with emerging services. It will not be surprising if more HRO vendors launch exchanges, and even a couple large carriers may decide to offer exchange services directly as the market develops.
The future of health care private exchanges is not dependent on whether or not the current U.S. health care reform is amended or survives. Research indicates that up to 90% of employers offering health care coverage intend to continue to offer coverage in 2014. Employers will continue to need options that help them offer competitive benefits at controllable costs, and innovative HRO service providers will continue to develop new services and options to meet those changing market needs.
Linda Merritt, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: benefits administration, Call Center, Health Care Exchange, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, nelsonhall
Tags: @amyg_nh, Amy Gurchensky, Aon Hewitt, benefits administration, call center support, Health Care Exchange, health care reform, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, HRO service providers, Mercer, Mercer Benefits Choice Exchange, nelsonhall
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April 26, 2012
Even when the U.S. unemployment rate was over 10%, we’ve heard that the unemployment of skilled workers with college degrees remained low at ~4-5%, and we’ve read data on just how bad the skill shortage is, including ManpowerGroup’s findings that 52% of U.S. companies are struggling to fill key jobs. We’ve also heard from me as an analyst (and former HRO buy-side client), pointing to the fact that development and retention of talent are more paramount than ever. But not as much has been written about what are the top global skill shortages. Well not until last week when U.K.-based global recruitment and RPO provider Hays issued a good concise summary of the top ten global skill shortages.
The list divides the skills by soft skills and hard skills that are in shortage globally.
Soft Skills
- Languages
- People and communication
- Team management and leadership
- Organization.
Hard Skills
- Financial and budgetary
- IT
- Green skills
- Procurement and negotiation
- Research and development
- Healthcare.
Beyond being good for job candidates and employees to know the skills they need to focus on; employers need to do a better job of investing in their workforce to develop and retain the talent that they already have. In fact, employees are looking for that. Mercer’s newly released eBook, “What’s Working Around the World”, points to the fact that career advancement and training opportunities are among the top priorities of the employee value proposition in many countries and are needed to address low levels of employee engagement.
As I get ready to publish my next global learning BPO report, I am optimistic to hear that talent management focus is no longer just a desired priority but is now a business imperative. Clients are increasingly focused on learning linked to talent management, including the linkage of learning to performance management and developmental plans. To meet client needs to attract, develop, and retain talent, vendors have been developing their talent management capability. This includes MPHRO vendors such as Xerox, Aon Hewitt, Talent2, IBM, and Accenture, whose talent management offering includes workforce forecasting and analytics, recruitment, performance management, succession planning, and learning.
In the report, I also wrote about the advent of social learning. For now, I’ll just say that speed to competence, followed by how the new generation of employees that are entering the workforce wants to learn, as well as the need for improved talent management, are what’s driving the acceleration of social learning.
If you are not already following me on Twitter, please do so at @GaryB_NH as I will tweet when the LBPO report is published. I’m targeting the 30th of April, in time for my presentation at the HRO Today Forum on May 1st titled State of the Learning BPO Marketplace and the Emergence of Social Learning.
Gary Bragar, HRO Research Director, NelsonHall.
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, lbpo, learning outsourcing, multi-process hro, nelsonhall, skilled labor, Skills Gap, Social Learning, Talent Management, Unemployment rate, Workforce Investment, workforce retention
Tags: Accenture, Aon Hewitt, Hard Skills, Hays, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, HRO Today, IBM, learning BPO, Manpower, Mercer, MPHRO, nelsonhall, skilled labor, Skills Gap, Social Learning, Soft Skills, talent management, Talent2, top global skills shortage, Unemployment levels, Workforce Investment, workforce retention, Xerox
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April 18, 2012
This week, we look into the world of benefits from the 10th Annual MetLife Study of Benefits Trends. The long-running employee benefits research highlights the changes in trends due to the changes in the economy and their impact on the generations of employees.
Employer goals and objectives for benefits remain the same: control costs, attract and retain employees, and increase productivity. It is what employees, especially younger employees, value now that has been changing. And that may call for a change in strategies and approaches to maximize the dollars that employers spend on benefits.
Traditionally, younger employees were not very focused on long-term financial planning and retirement; now, 52% of those 21- to 30-year-olds are concerned about long-term financial security. Even though employees know that they must accept greater individual responsibility (63%) and are likely to face additional cost shifting in the future, nearly half (49%) of those surveyed say that because of the economy, they are looking to their employer to help them achieve financial protection through a range of employee benefits. The Generation Y percentage looking to the employer for help is even higher at 66%. Today’s employees of all ages are more aware than ever of the value of employer benefits, both traditional – like medical and dental – and voluntary benefits, where the employee may pay more or all of the cost. Take advantage of this awareness to increase communication, education, decision support tools, and even branding of the benefits you are providing.
Seventy percent of surveyed employers are planning to retain current benefit levels and only 10% may cut benefits, but 30% may need to continue cost shifting to employees. Few employers are planning to spend more overall on benefits, but employers are open to shifting priorities. For example, there are plans to increase the number of wellness programs and voluntary benefits offerings like long-term care, critical illness coverage, optional life coverage, and optional disability coverage.
Another reason why I wanted to bring this study to your attention is that it separates the employer data into progressive and standard. Progressive employers more attuned to changing employee needs – such as wanting more choices and life stage options – and likely to make adjustments to achieve cost control, attract and retain employees and increase productivity. This split is similar to other areas of HRO where one client wants the latest in transformation to optimize value and achieve business results and another wants improved technology and processes to lower costs and increase efficiency.
Employee benefits needs are growing, changing and challenged by uncertain economic conditions. All benefits HRO clients should expect to have a partner in adapting to changing conditions. Whether that means access to full-scale consulting for a revamp of benefits spend, policy, and offerings, or basic access to vendor research and client networking opportunities, what matters is the match of client expectations and the service provider’s ability to deliver.
Linda Merritt, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, Employee Benefit, Financial Security, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, nelsonhall, Retirement planning, Voluntary Benefits, Wellness, Workforce Productivity, workforce retention
Tags: Annual MetLife, benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, benefits HRO, employee benefits, financial security, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, long-term financial planning, nelsonhall, Progressive employers, retirement planning, standard employers, Voluntary benefits, wellness campaign, workforce productivity, workforce retention
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April 13, 2012
To complete our review of HRO’s total cost of ownership (TCO), I want to expand on the factors that can either ramp-up or create a drag maximizing savings. The ADP studies on TCO do more than show the savings that real customers are achieving; the research also looks at why.
First, we need to understand what goes into TCO, which can help create a base case for outsourcing and in tracking the results. Included in the ADP TCO research are:
- Systems cost for initial implementation, upgrades (both amortized over three years), and system maintenance
- Direct fully loaded labor costs for associated administrative and IT employees
- Non-direct labor cost for overheads like facilities and corporate overheads
- Supplier or outsourcing costs.
Some of the costs are hidden in budgets other than HR’s, including IT, finance, or corporate. Remember that some of the employee costs are also hidden out in the field. We call them the shadow staff—people who support HR processes part-time. It’s important to understand the full cost of providing pre-outsourced services to be able to determine the difference in operating expenses after outsourcing.
There are also costs that result from the “seams.” Seams create gaps and can be found between technologies, processes, and people. These costs are seldom apparent or included in base cases, but they are real and can make the difference in 8-10% savings versus 20-30% savings.
Why does using a single vendor for multiple integrated processes create additional savings? With more services on one vendor integrated platform there are fewer interfaces to maintain, which costs less. When using various separate technologies and vendors, more complexity is in the system, and that generates an increased need to ensure that interfaces are maintained and addressed every time a change is introduced; it also increases the need for customizations and workarounds. When a payroll change was made, I could not understand why it took so long. It was because payroll data touches so many other HR processes that every calculation and interface needs to be addressed, tested, and ensured, many of which touch other suppliers and outsourcers, which adds even more time and cost.
Fewer systems, fewer non-integrated interfaces, and fewer vendors reduce complexity and can further reduce cost. The same concept is true for processes and people. Changing and standardizing internal processes and behaviors across the enterprise is hard. Persistence over time can make the difference in achieving 20% savings and 40% or greater savings.
The good news is that you do not have to do this all alone. Understand what you can expect from your primary HRO vendor(s) and what is included in standard pricing and what additional services are available at additional cost. HRO vendors like ADP, IBM, and Infosys, while specializing in various areas of HRO services, understand the importance of ongoing HRO governance, relationship management, change management, and step-by-step maturity along the way to maximizing the TCO benefits of HRO.
Linda Merritt, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: Change Management, Employee Costs, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO Governance, HRO providers, hro research, nelsonhall, payroll outsourcing, TCO, Total cost of ownership
Tags: ADP, ADP TCO Research, change management, Cost Savings, Employee Costs, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO governance, HRO providers, hro research, HRO service providers, IBM, Infosys, Multiple Integrated Processes, nelsonhall, payroll outsourcing, Relationship management, Seams, TCO, total cost of ownership
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April 3, 2012
Private health care exchanges are a hot topic, and the number of HRO service providers with such an offering is expanding. In addition to current providers including Aon Hewitt, Extend Health, and Xerox/ACS, Mercer announced a suite of health care exchange offerings last week.
It’s no surprise that health care exchanges are increasingly popular since the benefits extend to both employers and employees. While employers reduce liability and administration while accessing better plans or prices, employees obtain access to competitive pricing, employer subsidies, and assistance with selecting the plan best-suited for their needs.
Here is a brief synopsis of the existing health care exchanges in the market.
Retiree exchanges: These exchanges typically help retirees select a Medicare plan and/or supplemental insurance products based on their medical needs and budget. Service provider offerings typically include:
- Call center services to assist retirees in selecting a plan including assessing needs, evaluating options, and enrollment into a plan
- An online portal for shopping plans
- Written materials / communications such as booklets, letters (e.g., appointment, confirmation of coverage, and annual enrollment letters), appointment reminders, etc.
Retiree exchanges were the first type of exchange to appear in the market, and as a result, there are a few service providers with such offerings available. Extend Health has its ExtendRetiree exchange. Aon Hewitt added its retiree health care exchange in March 2010 when it acquired Senior Educators, Ltd. In 2011, the exchange was renamed “Aon Hewitt Navigators.” Xerox/ACS launched its retiree exchange, “My Medicare Advocate,” in October 2010.
Among the exchanges it announced last week, Mercer launched its Retiree Medical Exchange. Its exchange leverages any employer subsidies available for coverage by converting current and future retirees to a DC model where they purchase individual coverage most-suited for them.
Active employee exchanges: While the retiree exchanges are focused on individual coverage, the exchanges for active employees are focused on group plans.
Aon Hewitt’s offering, for example, provides employees with a credit to purchase health coverage that can be accessed through its private exchange. Once employees log-on to the exchange, they will select health care coverage from group options that are standard levels of coverage with varying levels of reimbursement.
The Mercer Benefits Choice Exchange (MBCE) allows employers with 100 – 1,000 employees to contribute a set amount to a HRA. Employees then use decision-support tools to select coverage and enroll online.
Mercer’s other offering, Mercer Health Advantage (MHA), allows self-funded employers with >3,000 employees to enroll employees in new medical plans beginning January 1, 2013 that will save the employer 5% or more. Employers will also get access to dedicated MHA clinical care management with ongoing oversight and audit capabilities.
Benefits administration is a major and mature HRO service line. Health care exchanges present a welcome new growth opportunity for HRO and more options for employers and active and retired employees. Expect more benefits service providers to add to the available service offerings.
Amy L. Gurchensky, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: Active employee exchanges, benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, Health Care Exchange, healthcare, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, Medicare, nelsonhall, Retiree exchanges
Tags: ACS/Xerox, Active employee exchanges, Aon Hewitt, Aon Hewitt Navigators, benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, Extend Health, Health Care Exchange, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, hro, HRO providers, hro research, Medicare Plan, Mercer, Mercer Benefits Choice Exchange, Mercer Health Advantage, My Medicare Advocate, nelsonhall, Retiree exchanges
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March 19, 2012
I attended ADP’s Meeting of the Minds (ADP MOTM) that happened last week March 11 to 14 in Dallas. This was my first time attending, and I didn’t quite know what to expect until I arrived—well, how about ~900 enthusiastic ADP clients. This is an annual event of which ~30% of attendees were first timers.
Sure, there were a few ADP presentations and demonstrations on ADP’s latest products and services, but many of the sessions were not conducted by ADP and were instead facilitated by HR practitioners and clients. Professional development would be a good way to summarize it. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas—how about ~170 sessions that you could attend to learn about everything from Healthcare Reform to Payroll taxes, to RPO, to best practices across a number of services, and functions including shared services, recruiting, change management, etc. There were also hands-on training sessions, of which I attended Learning, part of ADP’s Talent Management.
I could write my entire blog talking about the keynote speaker, Emmitt Smith, and the fun social events, but I’ll shift gears to talk about HRO to keep with our blog focus.
To begin, it’s important to share ADP’s three priorities, as stated by CEO Carlos Rodriguez, that are important to advance ADP as a:
- Technical leader
- Service leader
- Global leader.
Regina Lee, president of ADP’s national and major accounts, GlobalView, and ADP Canada, spoke about four key areas of investments that were made by ADP:
- Integrated Human Capital Management: including Vantage HCM and Workforce Now
- Talent Management: including the integration of performance management, succession planning, and learning. ADP’s talent management platform has over 100 clients
- Benefits Administration and Healthcare Management: having acquired Workscape in 2010 to strengthen ADP’s benefits administration capability, in addition to Workscape’s talent management and compensation capability. On March 8, ADP announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire SHPS Human Resource Solutions (rationale is below)
- HR BPO, including the acquitisition of The RightThing in October 2011 (further details below).
I’ll finish my blog focusing on Benefits Administration and RPO.
The Workscape acquisition has proven to be a success, with ADP adding ~100 additional benefits clients annually. SHPS will further strengthen ADP’s benefits administration offering with capabilities including:
- Eligibility and enrollment
- Spending accounts administration
- COBRA administration
- Absence management
- Benefits advocacy.
SHPS will strengthen ADP’s leave administration and reimbursement account administration capabilities, including HSAs and HRAs, which have become increasingly important as more employers offer high deductible benefits plans to their employees. You can read about this in my recent blog.
The RightThing – coming off its best year in 2011 – was ranked by NelsonHall in its 2011 RPO report as the top U.S. RPO provider in terms of North American revenue, bringing in ~80 clients. Prior to the acquisition, ADP provided recruitment administration and technology, but it is now a full end-to-end RPO services provider. Expect an RPO contract announcement soon and much more to come as RPO will continue to be provided as a standalone service and now also in combination with ADP’s multi-process HRO services.
Gary Bragar, HRO Research Director, NelsonHall
Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.
Categories: benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, Change Management, COBRA, healthcare, Healthcare Reform, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, HRA, hro, HRO providers, hro research, HSA, Human Capital Management, multi-process hro, nelsonhall, Payroll Taxes, recruiting services, recruitment process outsourcing, Shared Services Centers, Talent Management
Tags: ADP, ADP Canada, ADP MOTM, benefits administration, change management, COBRA, GlobalView, HCM, Healthcare management, healthcare reform, HR, hr outsourcing, hr outsourcing research, HRA, hro, HRO providers, hro research, HSA, Meeting of the Minds, MPHRO, nelsonhall, Payroll taxes, recruiting, rpo, Shared Services Centers, SHPS Human Resource, talent management, Texas, The Right, Workforce Now, Workscape
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March 5, 2012
I am deep into research for the next NelsonHall Targeting Benefits Administration market analysis, and I noticed that like multi-process HR outsourcing (MPHRO), total benefits outsourcing (TBO) often stems from a desire to consolidate the number of service providers. The benefits of MPHRO are realized mostly by client employers with self-service convenience provided for the employees. The benefits of TBO extend beyond the client employer to its employees and retirees who get an enhanced participant experience from the services being integrated, which not only offers convenience and ease of use but may also increase the value of the offered benefits to the individual participants.
While the drivers and benefits of TBO are often similar with clients, how TBO deals have come into existence have greatly varied. The four different methods we’ll further discuss include:
- The traditional big bang approach
- The big bang approach version 2.0 (i.e., converting existing consulting clients)
- The mass consolidation approach
- The step-up approach.
The traditional big bang approach: This is the oldest method in existence and is quite recognizable in the market, especially with large multi-nationals. It doesn’t happen often, but it definitely creates a big bang when a large employer outsources defined benefit, defined contribution, and health and welfare program administration for the first time—with all going to one service provider!
The big bang approach version 2.0: The big bang approach version 2.0 differs from the traditional approach in that the client and service provider already have a pre-existing relationship, typically on the consulting side. Also, the client may or may not already be outsourcing some benefits administration services to perhaps test the waters, but the majority of services remain in-house.
The mass consolidation approach: In this approach, the client has already outsourced all benefits administration services to a variety of service providers and is now seeking one vendor to manage all services. Consolidation is sometimes done by a larger vendor management strategy but is often triggered by mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Client M&A activity is a real two-edged sword for all suppliers including TBO providers. Even if separate benefit vendors are initially kept in place, the danger zone remains open for years—especially during times of contract renewal.
The step-up approach: The step-up approach is the newest method and is exactly as the name implies. It is where clients begin using a particular service provider for one benefits administration service and then, based on performance and satisfaction, add other services accordingly.
Later this week, we’ll take a look at examples of each type of TBO deal.
Amy L. Gurchensky, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall
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Categories: BAO, benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, Total Benefits Outsourcing
Tags: benefits administration, benefits administration outsourcing, big bang approach version 2.0, defined benefits, defined contribution, health and welfare outsourcing, HR, hr outsourcing research, hro, mass consolidation approach, multi-process hro, step-up approach, TBO, total benefits outsourcing, traditional big bang approach
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