Oil
giant BP’s transactional HR functions are being outsourced to save money and
improve efficiency.
Simon
Drysdale, BP’s HR manager for the UK continental shelf division, told delegates
at a conference in Scotland that his company is to outsource many of the HR
tasks involving internal and web-based communication.
From
9 April these will be carried out by Irvine-based company Exult, and will
result in five job losses from the 26-strong HR department. He claims it will
lead to cost savings of 20 per cent in the first year.
Drysdale
said, “This move will free up the remaining HR staff to undertake strategic
issues and HR will remain a vital, central part of the way the business is
run.”
But
he warned outsourcing all of HR is a “real mistake” and firms must retain the
department at a strategic level if it is to “flourish”.
Staff
will be able to access and compare jobs across all of BP’s 100,000 staff in 100
countries.
