Once upon a time, human resources duties were completely done in house. Whether a company was large or small, an HR department handled all hiring, firing, retaining, training, complaints and compliance activities.

But today, that landscape is changing, and more businesses are choosing to outsource all or part of their HR needs. Although any sized business can outsource, small to medium sized businesses often have the most to gain.

As a business owner you have a choice; invest in hiring personnel to perform HR duties, or get to know the frustration that comes with spending more time than you want on non-revenue generating activities, such as human resource management.

The third choice is to outsource. Here are four reasons why, as an SMB, you should outsource HR duties.

1) Running an HR department is expensive. Outsourcing HR allows you to hire specialists on an as-needed basis – specialists that you may not be able to afford on a full-time basis.

2) Effective HR management also requires the right tools and technology. In-house HR not only means hiring staff, it also means having the right tools. An innovative HR service provider comes equipped with those tools and understands how to best use them to meet your company’s specific needs.

3) Devoting time to HR activities does not produce a product and does not generate income. Yet, it eats up a large percentage of your time. Outsourcing HR allows you to concentrate on your core competencies while the experts concentrate on compliance activities.

4) Speaking of compliance, while always being compliant with all legislations is a must, it can be difficult to stay on top of every change. When you hire HR specialists, they’re not only experts at what they do, the compliance headaches become theirs.

Outsourcing HR will make your business leaner, more adaptive and allow you to get the expertise you need, when you need it. And that will only make your business more profitable.