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CIPD in the news

Conflict Resolution at Work, The Sunday Times: HR outsourcing

09 March 2008

The Sunday Times reports that many organisations are increasingly outsourcing HR functions, because of the complexity of employment law. Cost, skills and technological capabilities are all considered to be important factors when deciding whether to outsource these functions. The Sunday Times notes that for many managers dispute resolution is a particularly desired area to outsource.

Mike Emmott, Employee Relations Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says: “Such behaviour is not good for an organisation. You can’t outsource disciplinary processes – they have to be handled by line managers. A line manager’s job is to make sure the team is performing and any issue is in the first instance for the line manager to deal with.

“Some parts of HR are very difficult to outsource and discipline is one. Dealing with a problem at work is all about trust, and it’s up to the organisation to decide how to deal with the problem.”