Emap, the B2B media group, has outsourced all HR, payroll and benefits delivery to NorthgateArinso. The move follows Emap’s acquisition by Apax and the Guardian Media Group in 2008. The contract is part of a wider strategic plan to outsource all IT, finance and HR services, enabling Emap to focus on its objectives for growth.

Emap’s Performance Director, Tracey Gray, has a vision for aligning the organisation to its core values, which encourage staff empowerment and accountability. As part of her overarching strategy, Gray has appointed heads of resourcing, employee relations, learning and development and reward. The service that NorthgateArinso is delivering to Emap complements the strategy, providing core HR services and supporting her and the directors in helping to instil employee accountability and ownership.

Key elements of the service that are aligned to the core values include self-service, which enables staff to manage their own affairs, from booking holidays to reporting sickness. Managers are then encouraged to take responsibility for following HR procedures in their own teams, using the self-service functionality and supported with an advice line, run by experts at NorthgateArinso, who can be called for guidance whenever it is required.

All of Emap’s HR process will be integrated on one platform, creating a central database that will provide integrated business information via an intuitive dashboard display. This will give Emap’s senior team the workforce information they require for accurate decision-making across the business.

Tracey Gray explained: “Soon into our search, we realised that NorthgateArinso's values were well matched to our own. The team has a good understanding of our challenges and priorities, and is well placed to support our future growth,” she added “Outsourcing the HR, flexible benefits and payroll functions to a single, consistent point of contact will not only free-up managers’ valuable time, but will ensure all HR processes are supported by a single supplier from the day the employee starts in the business to the day they leave,” concluded Gray.”