What does outsourcing involve in the context of human resources?

Outsourcing in the context of human resources involves hiring external vendors to handle specific HR tasks or functions rather than performing those activities in-house. This approach allows organizations to leverage specialized expertise and potentially reduce costs associated with hiring and maintaining a full internal HR team. By outsourcing, companies can focus on their core business functions while relying on external partners to manage HR-related tasks such as payroll processing, recruitment, employee benefits management, compliance, and training.

Using external vendors can enhance efficiency and effectiveness, as these vendors often have advanced technologies and streamlined processes that can improve service delivery. Additionally, outsourcing can provide flexibility, allowing organizations to scale HR functions up or down based on their changing needs without the long-term commitment associated with internal staffing.

In contrast, the other options describe approaches that either focus on maintaining all HR functions within the organization or centralizing operations rather than engaging outside resources, which does not align with the definition of outsourcing.