Sample Research Proposal on HR Administration Outsourcing: How HR Professionals Optimize the Core Activities

 

 

 

1.0 
Title

The working title of the research is initially
drafted as – HR Administration Outsourcing: How HR Professionals Optimize the
Core Activities

 

2.0 
Background of the Study

Human resource (HR) administration prescribes
structures, policies and processes rather than outputs or outcomes. The
fundamentals of HR administration center the core functions that include
recruiting/hiring orientation, benefits administration, payroll administration
and laws/policies compliances. As such, HR functions can directly or indirectly
add value to the firm that could probably result in superior individual and
organizational performance, reduced turnover and greater profitability. Some of
these are consultancy, learning programs, professional development
opportunities, rewards and recognition and compensation and benefits strategy.

            HR administration could be as
tedious if not challenging to majority of the organizations. Considered to be
non-value adding functions to organizations, still HR administration requires
competence, expertise and diligence to handle. Modern organizations jump into
the bandwagon of HR offshoring. The global trend nowadays is to outsource, or to
establish on-site outsourcing, non-core HR activities, mostly HR functions, into
vendors or service providers which are either generalists or specialists. The
shift that the global HR management experience is from being tactical,
administrative functions towards strategic and consultative.

            Why outsource? Answers to the
question will generally direct to acquiring the competitive advantage. In
gaining the speed and flexibility needed to compete in the global business
environment, companies are obliged to reduce large capital expenditures on
non-core functions and leave them to vendors. As such, the companies need not to
invest capital in maintaining and upgrading their HR administration systems and
infrastructure. Outsourcing non-core functions also frees the HR professionals
to focus on more strategic, higher-value activities.  

 

3.0 
Statement of the Problem

The problem that will be addressed is how
outsourcing non-value activities can free up HR professionals to do more
value-adding works. The basic services that organizations outsource include HR
system administration such as overseeing organizational structure and staffing
requirements and tracking department objectives, goals and strategies;
recruiting, training and development for employees and managers and employee
orientation programs and compensation and benefits management. How the process
of outsourcing of these basic functions optimizes the strategic role of the HR
professionals will be addressed as well. The study will answer the following:

1)                          
How the outsourcing initiative can
help the companies reduce costs and provide high-quality products and services
when HR staffs are freed to focus on strategic works?

2)                          
 How non-core functions
outsourcing contribute in gaining access to outside and maximizing HR expertise
for HR professionals?

3)                          
 How the outsourcing initiative
contributes in achieving HR administration excellence?   

 

4.0 
Objective of the Study

The aim of the study is to explore the rationale
behind optimization of HR professionals’ strategic role through transferring the
non-core HR functions to HR business process outsourcing firms. The following
specific objectives will be addressed:

1)                            
To investigate how HR
administration outsourcing could result in improved organizational performance
and greater profitability

2)                            
To determine how HR administration
outsourcing could deliver competitive advantage

3)                            
To analyse how HR administration
outsourcing could contribute in optimizing strategic and higher-value activities
  

4)                            
To investigate how HR
administration outsourcing could maximise the performance, competence and
expertise of HR professionals 

 

 

 

5.0 
Research Plan

Primary and secondary research will be conducted
in the study. In primary research, the study will survey HR professionals and
staffs regarding the outsourcing endeavor. A semi-structured questionnaire will
be developed and it will be used as the survey tool for the study. It is planned
that the questionnaire will have a 5 point Likert Scale, as well as ranking
questions. Data on both medium will be compared and evaluated using SPSS. A
secondary research will also be conducted in the study.
Sources in secondary research will include previous
research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal content, organization
statistics, etc. Sometimes, secondary research is required in the preliminary
stages of research to determine what is known already and what new data are
required, or to inform research design. In this paper, existing findings on
journals and existing knowledge on books will be used as secondary research. The
findings from the journals and books will be evaluated in the data analysis.
Types of research journals chosen are all related to issues on human resource,
human resources administration and human resource outsourcing. Interpretation
will be conducted which can account as qualitative in nature.