Cable and Wireless rings the changes: Company reports benefits and drawbacks of HR outsourcing

Telecommunications giant Cable and Wireless adopted a three‐prong approach to slimming down its in‐house HR, which Ian Muir, vice‐president of group human resources, described as “too big, too expensive and with a cost base that was fixed rather than variable”. First, the company began to implement a global SAP‐based e‐HR system, making it one of the first businesses to have truly global HR processes. Second, it began to outsource some of its HR functions. And third, it concentrated on enabling the remaining in‐house HR people to focus on much more strategic work.