• Processing of gross to net
• Data entry, both manual and electronic
• Provision of automated or manual calculations
• Checking of input, validation, sensibility checks, investigation and resolution
• Employee payments by BACS, EMTs subject to customer authorization
• Provision of interfaces
• Production and distribution of payslips
• Provision of employee self service
• Employee help desk, etc.

Several key drivers for this outsource were included in NelsonHall's Q2 2013 payroll BPO market analysis:

• Compliance and risk management: remaining fully compliant with current and changing legislation. For example, UK General Insurance stated Real Time Information (RTI) compliance and transitioning has not been an issue as it was automatically included as part of the outsourced service. In sum clients are able to remove the risk of payroll accuracy, timeliness of payments, data security, legislative compliance and system and infrastructure issues
• Strength of the payroll solution, including technology, in this case MidlandHR's iTrent platform. As is common in most payroll outsourcing contracts, UK General Insurance was looking to automate paper-based processes and provide employee self-service, allowing employees online access to their pay statements and associated data. Additional self-service aspects of iTrent modules selected by the client include absence management and holiday requests, travel and expense forms, updating of employee data and access to learning
• Freeing HR resources by saving time on administrative functions, enabling the client to focus on its strategic objectives. In the case of UK General Insurance this means focusing on strategies aligned to organizational business goals, including workforce optimization and employee engagement.

Additional client drivers identified in Nelsonhall's study include:

• A multi-country / global payroll platform managed by a single vendor
• Standardization and centralization of processes and technology, leading to increased efficiency; applicable to single and multi-country payroll and applicable to all clients, including those who have recently gone through an M&A
• Reduction and control of costs.

If you are a buyer or provider of payroll services, what were the primary drivers that led to the decision to outsource in your contract?

Looking at some recent contracts, starting with Raytheon Professional Services (RPS). In H1 2013 RPS announced

• A simulation-based training endorsement by the American Heart Association (AHA). Simulation-based training will be available to the AHA's ~5,000 member hospitals and care organizations
• A multi-million dollar contract with General Motors in Korea to manage content development and training administration services for GM Korea's sales, non-technical after sales and technical dealer personnel

In July 2013 GP Strategies was awarded a multi-year, multi-million dollar global LBPO services contract with HSBC. Initial deployment is planned for the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Hong Kong. Additional geographies will be deployed through September 30, 2014. Once fully implemented and deployed across HSBC affiliates globally, GP Strategies anticipates that HSBC will be its largest client.

NelsonHall is in the process of completing its 5th global Learning BPO market analysis and has learned of several other vendors, including Xerox Learning Services Accenture, IBM and Aon Hewitt, winning LBPO contracts recently. Verticals where we are seeing activity include retail, telecoms, oil & gas, and hi-tech.

Why the increased activity? The market analysis will provide a deep dive, but for now a few reasons include:

• Job skill development
• Investment in talent, including leadership development
• Improved business results

Is your company making an investment in learning and are you doing it internally or with the help of an outsourcing provider?