DOBROMIRA MANASIEVA: CONSULTING FOR HR EXCELLENCE

Her HR professional career has taken her to diverse managerial and key positions in some of Bulgaria's leading companies specialising in IT, telecommunication and BPO processes. A driven and visionary professional, she also has a successful HR consultancy practice. Dobromira has an MBA in International Management from the London University, Royal Holloway College and is the member of the Managerial Board of the Bulgarian Association for People Management.

What is a better solution for a company – to have its own НR department or to outsource?

Most of my career was in large companies with big HR teams, where I gained broad experience of the businesses and their processes, and honed my competencies both vertically and horizontally. Big HR teams have the advantage of doing most of the work with their own resources, knowing the company and being entirely focused on it. Their members are thorough specialists in specific areas. This narrows the breadth of the expertise, but allows them to have in-depth competences.

In what cases companies rely mainly on in-house HR solutions and when they prefer the help of an outsider?

Professionals who specialise in one of the company's HR sub functions may get too focused on the routine and lower their sensitivity to the new, the change, the critical approach. This is when the companies seek a consultant capable of bringing in a fresh outlook and expertise needed in the organisation. Such services can cover all HR sub functions as consultant contracts (i.e. trainings, surveys, reorganisations, etc.). Or as well – for the routines to be reduced companies may decide to outsource to (usually administration work) and count on external expertise.

Some smaller companies can lack a dedicated HR team and the option to work with a consultant or to have adequate management of the outsourced service.

Which HR functions are the companies reluctant to outsource or give to an external professional?

One of the roles of the HR management function known as "HR business partner" combines understanding and competencies that are managerial in scope and have an in-depth understanding of HR sub functions. This professional has to have a very good understanding of the company and the work context, to know its people and how to adapt the HR solutions so that they engage the employees. This role is usually internal for the companies.

However, with the right set of professional competencies, experience and personal qualities, an outside HR business partner can become engaged and add value to an organisation. Especially when they have the broad experience and expertise necessary to quickly understand complex situations. Such role, let's call it "temporary HR business partner" or HRBP-as-a-service, is suitable for both small companies and startups, where the professional can be seen as the inhouse HR person, and large companies, where they can be engaged in a particular project, transformation or on-the-job employee training.

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