We are pleased about the participation of 65 companies and would like to inform you about the results
For 20 years, we have been doing everything we can to provide our customers with the best possible services in HR outsourcing as well as in the outsourcing of finance and accounting processes. The requirements for our services are subject to constant change. Especially in times of globalization and the increasing use of external service solutions, it is important to us to constantly review the expectations of our work as a service provider. For this reason, we conducted an online survey on the topic of expectations of a commercial service provider in the period from September 20 to October 20, 2013.
- Currently, 41% of the responding companies already work with service providers in the field of human resources (payroll, travel expense accounting, applicant management or online recruiting).
- In comparison, only 23% of responding companies use external support in financial accounting (general, asset, accounts payable, accounts receivable, or scanning/processing invoice receipt).
- Similarly, 85% of the responding companies provide treasury services (capital raising, cash management) without external support.
- Process optimization is currently and will continue to be an important field of work in companies. 75% of the responding companies are currently implementing projects to optimize business processes and 64% are in the planning stage of future projects.
- When using external service solutions, it is very important for companies to have personal, fixed contact persons (98%). In addition, for 68% of the responding companies, the existence of personal contact between the actors in the company and those at the service provider through regular workshops, etc. is of great importance.
- For more than 70% of the responding companies, the offer of software in English and communication with the service provider in English is not important.
- On the subject of ‘service provision and technology in Germany vs. from abroad’, the companies are divided. 51% of the responding companies consider the provision of services exclusively in Germany to be important. 65% make sure that the operation of the application software and data storage takes place exclusively in a data center in Germany.
- Which software the service provider uses is important for 54% of the responding companies.
- On the other hand, companies will attach even greater importance to the topic of ‘mobility’ in the future. The future use of mobile devices in HR management and financial accounting is important for 68% of the responding companies.
Many thanks to all participants!
We raffled off 1 Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and 20 book vouchers among all survey participants.
Congratulations…
The winner of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 is Theresa K., Head of HR at a retail company in Leipzig
Another 20 winners will be happy to receive a book voucher.
We can compare the demand between finance and accounting as well as human resources because we are one of the few providers who specialize in both areas. In this respect, the result coincides with our experience. Payroll, travel expense accounting and applicant management are processes that are increasingly being outsourced. We are achieving double-digit growth rates here. The market for finance and accounting is also growing, but at a slower pace. Possible causes lie in the scepticism of entrepreneurs and fear of losing control. However, this concern is not justified. A BPO service provider is obliged to perform its tasks transparently and comprehensibly for the customer at all times. In addition, he is liable for the correctness of his service. BPO does not necessarily mean outsourcing entire areas. Our customers often start with processes in which a particularly large amount of data is processed, for example the processing of incoming invoices or the preparation of payrolls.
The objective is of course cost savings. Administrative processes are to be avoided or streamlined. Outsourcing models are often in demand that do not focus solely on the cost side. Rather, it is important to analyze the existing processes together with the service provider as part of the outsourcing project and to adapt the process complexity to the actual requirements of the company. An outsourcing solution can help companies optimize costs in the long term. Fixed costs become demand-oriented, variable costs, and in the course of the specialization of the service provider and the use of the external, standardized IT infrastructure of large data centers, the positive economies of scale can be benefited from.
A particular strength, especially of medium-sized companies, is the concentration on the essentials, namely on their core business. Outsourcing processes away from the main business activity supports this strategy. Recently, another argument has been added: companies are finding it increasingly difficult to find suitable personnel for administration. Outsourcing eliminates this problem.
Cooperation with service providers becomes difficult if it is not clearly regulated and expectations are not met. Contracts can be too imprecise, too short or even too extensive and can no longer be controlled. It is important that customer and service provider communicate at ‘eye level’ and that both sides know the respective expectations of each other. Relinquishing responsibility, but retaining control should be the principle. For example, our customers expect fixed, direct contact persons for the respective work process. We offer them this in the long term, as there is very low employee turnover in our company. We also provide all services from our German locations in Leuna and Rostock. In our experience, it is also important to many companies, especially SMEs, that business processes are not relocated abroad.
In an international comparison, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market in Germany has developed very slowly. According to a study by the Offshoring Institute, the current contracted market volume is just under EUR 2 billion. However, the outsourceable volume is EUR 31.5 – 33 billion. The growth potential on the German BPO market is therefore enormous.
