Indeed.com defines human capital management (HCM) as the process that human resources (HR) professionals use to attract talent, support employees and encourage them to reach their full potential. Not surprisingly, a massive industry has formed to support this vital business function.
The global human capital management market was valued at nearly $22 billion in 2021 and is on pace to top $51 billion by 2031, a healthy CAGR of 9%. Some of the giants in the sector include ADP, Ceridian, Paychex and Workday. Their core capabilities encompass all of the top priorities of HR professionals such as payroll, recruiting, performance management and more. Generally speaking, these key players compete primarily on the quality of their respective software technologies:
- Will the HCM platform support the unique needs of a given industry?
- Does the software integrate easily with other HR systems or office technologies?
- Is the interface easy and intuitive to use for non-HR employees?
However, human capital management companies also continue to offer another service that is as old as the Gutenberg press. The production of printed paychecks, tax-reporting statements and other paper documents puts HCM companies in a challenging spot.
To thrive in a highly competitive marketplace, HCM platform providers must invest every available dollar on software enhancements. They must also continue to support massive secure communications printing and fulfillment operations for millions of paychecks, W-2s and other documents.
This blog will explore the three strategic advantages of print outsourcing for human capital management providers as compared to printing in-house. By shifting production of paychecks and other printed documents to a trusted third party, HCM companies can focus more resources on their core business function of software development. They can also expect to deliver better service to their customers along the way.
The Three Strategic Advantages of Print Outsourcing
1: Reduced Capital Commitments
Maintaining a self-contained print production operation on this scale requires massive ongoing investments in people, equipment and facilities.
- Press operators, warehouse workers, postal optimization specialists, production managers and more are necessary to manage the printing and fulfillment of millions of sensitive documents annually.
- Specialized printing presses, inserters and sorting equipment must be purchased and maintained to enable accurate, efficient production.
- There is also the matter of the production facilities themselves. Print, warehousing and fulfillment operations of that scale may require hundreds of thousands of square feet of space – or more.
When print production is outsourced, all of these investments go away and resources can instead be redirected to the HCM provider’s core function of software development.
2: Risk Mitigation
There is no greater hot button for the average employee than their paycheck. It is a significant responsibility for a human capital management company to take on, even when things are going well. Now imagine what happens when a natural disaster, strike or supply chain disruption takes an HCM’s print facility offline for an extended period. The risk of a public relations crisis, and contract non-compliance, suddenly becomes very real.
These risks can be mitigated by outsourcing printing responsibilities to a third-party with a geographically dispersed production network. Using a print partner with redundant facilities across North America ensures that no single catastrophic event can jeopardize production. Likewise, a printing company has far more supply chain flexibility than the internal print operation of an HCM. This provides a key strategic advantage during times of supply chain constraint like that experienced after COVID-19.
3: Process Improvement
Human capital management companies that maintain responsibility for their own print production are also at risk of using obsolete production methods. A dedicated customer communications management (CCM) provider will continuously invest to advance the state of the art in secure print production, something an HCM cannot afford to do.
By working with a print provider specializing in secure customer communications, a human capital management company gains access to the latest technology and techniques. Production quality, accuracy and efficiency are all likely to increase when an HCM exits the printing business and focuses on the software business instead.
Taylor: Dedicated to Customer Communications Management
Taylor is one of the largest and most technologically advanced graphic communications companies in North America. We have an entire business group dedicated to providing secure customer communications management services on a mass scale. Everything needed to assume responsibility for an HCM’s print production needs is available in a single partner including:
- Data services
- Digital and print composition
- Document design
- Multichannel delivery through mail, email and SMS text
- Postal optimization and mailing services
We also provide industry-leading self-service tools to simplify production management for our customers. Our self-service portal provides total control of the entire production stream. Likewise, our proprietary editing tool allows customers to build, edit and approve communications without the need for costly programming resources.
Contact a Taylor representative to learn more about our customer communications management services.
