HR Service Delivery will be Changing Rapidly

The 15th Annual HR Service Delivery Survey, performed and released by Towers Watson, has revealed that an increasing number of employers are planning to change the structure of their HR functions due to continuing pressures for improved HR services delivery. The survey also found that shared services are the most valued process for delivering HR services. Investment in HR technology is also expected to remain strong for the remainder of 2012.

Of the 628 organizations surveyed, 44 percent said that they were changing their HR structure within the next year or two. This is a significant increase over the 2010 statistic of 28 percent. Almost two-thirds of respondents indicated that the primary driver for change was need for more efficiency and a further half is looking to improve the quality of their processes while lowering costs.

“After several years of relative stability in the HR function, the way HR services are delivered is changing,” said Tom Keebler, global leader of Towers Watson’s HR Service Delivery and Technology practices. “Technological advances are pushing organizations to take advantage of much that the constantly changing technology and delivery landscape has to offer. Further, HR is pushing change by either growing into or being led to a more savvy approach. The bottom line is that HR is changing, with an eye toward delivering services more effectively and efficiently.”

About 40 percent of polled companies seek to change their HR function by moving to or reverting back to a shared-services environment while 31 percent said they were bringing in additional services into their existing shared services organization. About one-fourth stated that they were going to outsource at least some HR functions.