Why Knowledge Management?

Growth in HR outsourcing expected

My iGoogle HR Calendar, in a true show of timing, announced today that HR services outsourcing is going to continue to grow 10% annually.

This on the heels of my opining about termination outsourcing services is a definite sign.

The primary reasons cited for the expected growth in HR outsourcing services are the ability to gain outside expertise, the ability to improve quality of service, and the ability to focus on core business activities. All great reasons to to use knowledgeable professionals. Also, all services that a good HR Department can provide...and so the other shoe dropped: the paragraph also stated cost-savings as another driver for outsourcing.

The outsourcing of firings reminds me of a John C Dvorak article of a few years ago, Know-Nothing Knowledge Workers Must Go (PC Mag, Feb 2002)....not because it is an article on reductions in force, but because it described a future where the employees and even their computer and software are essentially outsourced....

"This scenario that I'm going to describe is going to happen someday, because it has to happen someday. It's the most efficient, cheapest, and most hassle-free way of doing things, and eliminates all the true bottlenecks in today's office. Individual workers should first buy and own the computers on which they work. They should take their computers from job to job, upgrade them as they see fit, and individually buy or license the software that they need to do their jobs. They keep the software on their machines, and can move from job to job that way. After all, we've been calling them knowledge workers. Let them show some knowledge."

Something to think about.

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Hired Guns

I was catching up on my Inc. magazines this past weekend when I ran into an interesting article. Meet Rebecca. She's here to fire you is about the latest out-sourced service: terminating employees.

For a while now, consultants have been hired to help make decisions about reductions in force, and more recently outside businesses have been called in to help script terminations and be designated witnesses to firings, but the newest offering provided by HR service providers is to actually carry out the action of terminating employees. 

As a former Vice President of Human Resources for a call center, we hired an average of 10+ people per week to keep the seats filled, and during my 8 year tenure there, I had the distasteful job of terminating hundreds of people. It does get easier over time - but mostly by getting more compassionate and understanding.

My Knowledge Management experience tells me that this latest service is just another step in specialization and the continued rise of the knowledge worker, and that many companies will take advantage. 

As an HR professional, having seen executives agonize over terminations, I'm sure that this business service will catch on.

However, my experience also tells me that the distant, less personal approach will leave erstwhile employees and current staff with a chilly feeling about the corporate culture.

For now, the jury is out. Small businesses will appreciate the help....larger businesses may enjoy the reduced risk...but the long term potential public relations fallout may not be worth it.