Q: “Why did you decide to outsource HR?” A: “We started to feel out of control.”

March 11th, 2015
Written by: Elizabeth Richards

In numerous conversations with CEOs and Business Owners over the years about outsourcing their HR function—including several just this past week—I hear a familiar theme: “We reached out to you (TPO) because we got to that point where things started to feel out of control.”

Feeling out of control. Let’s dive into that for a moment. It’s easy to focus on the word “control” as in “power,” “control freak” or “policies” to control things. But that’s not what I hear—and in my experience that’s not what the CEO or Business Owner means. They aren’t saying they want more control just for the sake of it—as in power.

The key word is “feel.” Because when they start a business, many leaders operate by touch and instinct, not by process. They have a manageable nucleus of team members and know every one of them. They probably see and talk to each of them every day. They know their strengths and weakness, their stories—their lives. And they are intimately involved in every decision and every initiative.

Then success happens. Growth. That’s a good thing. So you bring on more people. Then some more. And then a few more. Pretty soon the manageable nucleus of familiar faces has become a mix of familiar and less familiar. “Who was that at the copier? Oh, right, that’s Brian–he started Monday.” And the CEO or Business Owner is no longer involved in every decision and initiative. So they have to increasingly rely on and trust others to “get” the vision, brand and thought processes.

At some point in this less familiar environment where the leader just cannot have their fingerprints on every decision, managing by touch and instinct becomes challenging…then difficult…then all but impossible. And that’s what “starting to feel out of control” means.

And when that feeling gets strong enough, they start mentioning it—to their business partner, their accountant, their attorney, their insurance agent. One of them will probably say, “Don’t worry, this is a very typical feeling. Have you thought about bringing on some HR help?” And this often leads to a conversation with TPO—which is where this blog post started.

So the reason—the driver—behind seeking HR expertise is not a desire for process or compliance. It’s starting to feel out of control. If you recognize that feeling, perhaps it’s time to talk about HR. Because HR is not about process or compliance—it’s about helping you get to the next stage of your business in a way that feels manageable—not out of control.