StrategyDriven’s Resource Management forum provides materials focused on the leading practices of companies effectively managing their personnel, intellectual property, equipment, facility, and other assets in support of strategic planning and tactical business execution.

To Outsource Is To Grow: Why It’s Good To Hand Over The Reins

One of the major problems faced by business owners all over the world is knowing when to let go. There are plenty of reasons why. As a company owner, you are used to making the decisions and there is a good chance you like to keep things under your control. As much as you like to think you are running a tight ship, if you are lending your hand to every aspect of your business, there is a very good chance you are spreading yourself thin. And at that point, it’s time to give yourself a break.

To Outsource Is To Grow: Why It's Good To Hand Over The Reins
Photo courtesy of Flazingo

You can’t do it all

You are right when you think you are the best person to lead your business, but you just can’t do everything. Delegating to a trusted employee is a perfect fit for the day-to-day running of your company. But what about those times when you have a special project or need help to explore emerging technology? Outsourcing to professional services may be the quickest and easiest way of handing these situations.

Specialist knowledge

Specialist companies will have a much deeper understanding of their industry than you can expect your employees to have. Sure, they know your business inside out but they may not know how to maximize your opportunity in particular areas. Let’s say your current in-house software system is bogging down from a recent influx of customers. In this case, IT outsourcing is likely to be better for you than leaving things to your under-pressure support team who may be challenged by their current workload.

The money

There are financial factors too, and your operational costs may be lower when outsourcing. Let’s say you want a new website designed. The investment required to find, employ, and train staff to do so often outweighs that of the one-off cost you would pay a freelancer or a small web developer company. There are offshore markets to explore too. Many highly skilled developers can be found in emerging markets such as India, where costs are far lower. Making use of modern communications technology makes it easy to share projects and get the same quality of work as you would get from your local town. And all for a lot less money.

Resources

At the end of the day, it’s all about resources: if you don’t have enough of them, you can’t possibly expect to grow. You may get a surge of new customers but if your team isn’t big enough to handle it, the influx could strike a serious blow to your business. Outsourcing at the right times and in the right areas mitigates your risk and opens up new possibilities. If you don’t free up the reins, stagnation – and possible implosion – is likely to be waiting for you at the next corner.

Examining the State of the U.S. STEM Workforce: Today and Tomorrow

One of the major STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) debates currently underway today in the United States revolves around whether or not there is, in fact, a STEM workforce shortage in the country.

To further examine the myth versus reality discussion, this year’s Bayer Facts of Science Education survey, the 16th in the series, polled talent recruiters at Fortune 1000 companies both STEM and non-STEM alike, about their companies’ current and future STEM workforce supply and demand needs. We chose talent recruiters as the target for our survey because these are the people on the front lines of the STEM shortage argument.

Several trends emerged in the survey.

1. STEM Degree Holders are ‘As’ or ‘More In Demand’ for both STEM and Non-STEM Jobs.

Today, STEM skills are in demand by employers for jobs that are traditionally considered non-STEM, with demand for two- and four-year graduates equipped with these skills exceeding demand for their counterparts who don’t have these skills.


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About the Author

Laurel Rutledge is the vice president of Human Resources for Bayer MaterialScience LLC. She is responsible for providing human resources strategic leadership to meet the challenges and objectives of the business. The Bayer Facts of Science Education is an ongoing public opinion research project commissioned by Bayer since 1995 as part of the company’s award-winning Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) initiative. For more information about this survey or other Bayer surveys, please visit www.bayerus.com/msms.

The Secret to Successful Recruiting

Recruitment has always been a tricky business. So many times a candidate can sound like the perfect match on paper, only to prove a disappointment at interview. Then there are the even worse scenarios, where a candidate comes across both in real life and on paper as perfect, only to then not meet the criteria when actually in the job. There must be a way for recruiters to ensure that they hire only the best and most promising candidates, those who are almost guaranteed to perform and stay in a role for the long term.

While workplaces are swiftly becoming more and more advanced in cloud computing, using social media for marketing purposes, and generally becoming au fait with modern technology, there is one area which is sadly lacking when it comes to technological advancement. Despite the realization that computer software greatly enhances the efficiency with which businesses operates, the use of recruitment software is not widespread. The simple fact is that not many business leaders are aware that recruitment software can transform your HR practices for the better and make hiring a simpler process.

Why should you invest in software for your HR department? There are several reasons for doing so, each of which is detailed below.


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About the Author

From her 25 years in business, Elizabeth Hill aims to pass on knowledge and skills gained in that time through her writing. She loves walks in the countryside, spending time with family and friends, and is ever so ‘slightly’ addicted to coffee.

Resource Management – High overtime? You may have too many people already!

StrategyDriven Resource Management ArticleIt’s counterintuitive to think of high overtime as being related to over staffing. Most view high overtime as a sign more workers are needed and current employees are over worked. In fact, managers are far more comfortable having bloated staffs rather than either an understaffed organization or one with a staffing level demanding cutting edge efficiency in order to get the work done.


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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Resource Management Warning Flag 3 – Marginalizing Employee Contributions

StrategyDriven Resource Management Warning Flag ArticleAll employees need to feel their work contributes to and is valued by the organization. While leaders may express appreciation for an individual or group’s work effort, resource management programs sometimes unintentionally marginalize employee contributions. Doing so causes employee dissatisfaction, burnout, and unwanted attrition. Resource management and strategic planning programs must therefore be carefully constructed so as to not unintentionally marginalize employee effort.


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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.