Offshore staffing or overseas staffing is a business strategy that allows organizations to recruit skilled overseas workers while significantly saving on costs. You essentially treat the workers as if they were your own employees, except that all of the legal, back-office, and infrastructural issues are handled for you by someone else. Businesses have been doing this since the 1960s.
Outsourcing has drastically changed the “geography” of employment. It has altered how businesses are operated, as well. Offshoring, dispersed workforce, contact centers, employee leasing, and remote working are all terms that may be used interchangeably. Firms benefit from quick, flexible access to high-quality personnel. While procedures are optimized, the workflow becomes shorter and more accurate.
Simply said, offshore staffing has the potential to transform the game.
Even if you decide not to use it in your business, it is crucial to understand how it works. “If you deprive yourself of outsourcing while your competitors do not, you are putting yourself out of business,” declared Lee Kuan Yew Singapore’s late prime leader and founding father.
However, outsourcing is not a cure-all. It has drawbacks, and many firms abandon it after being dissatisfied with the outcomes. So, let’s look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing and how to make it work for your company:
- It’s a great option if you want to save money.
Saving money is one of the most apparent motivations for outsourcing. While recruiting personnel will always be costly, BPO specialists believe that using offshore staffing may help firms save up to 70% on overall staffing costs due to much lower compensation requirements.
Further, outsourcing not only saves money, it also eliminates some of the difficulties and expenses associated with employment, such as legal, recruiting, compliance, taxes, health care, and office administration, to mention a few. Outsourcing provides a very flexible approach to work.
- You will have better access to highly-skilled prospects.
Because you are not restricted to local applicants when using offshore staffing, you have access to a larger pool of talent and personnel. Many businesses struggle to find great talent, so why limit your chances of finding the appropriate candidate inside your local region or market? Looking at work from a global perspective provides you with several career opportunities.
Typically, the recruiting process is both time-consuming and costly. When you outsource, your services provider handles everything – from screening, recruiting, and training to onboarding.
- You can more than “quadruple” your staff.
Outsourcing is much more than simply saving money. Consider what you could do and how you could outperform your competition if you could double — or treble — your staff at the same cost. Outsourcing allows for this as much as it can “contract” at a moment’s notice.
Doubling your staff means you have twice as many resources to expand, create, market, research, and support your business, customers, and product.
- Outsourcing significantly impacts both people and corporations.
The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector not only transforms corporations, it also transforms people’s lives:
- For firms, outsourcing results in improved growth, better margins, increased profitability, and the capacity to focus on core operations and expand;
- For onshore employees: Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing may provide greater security and opportunities for growth. Outsourcing may boost profits and resources. This implies that onshore workers have more secure jobs and can concentrate on critical activities and functions that offer greater value to the organization;
- Outsourcing is a financial windfall for offshore outsourced personnel. The pay may seem modest in comparison to their Western equivalents, but they are reasonably well-paid positions that provide safe, secure, and engaging employment.
With outsourcing and offshoring, not only does the business give vital economic stimulation and employment possibilities for everyone in the organization, it also acts as a means of connecting people from all over the world.
Outsourcing’s Difficulties
- It can get “distant”.
People have mixed feelings about remote employment. However, when it comes to outsourcing, you have no option. Your offshore workforce will be located in a different nation. Thus, in order for outsourcing to succeed, you must accept remote work and be able to adapt quickly to remote service technologies. The truth is – remote work isn’t for everyone despite the advantages.
- Communication and cultural difficulties will definitely exist.
Managing an overseas team presents unique challenges. Tiny subtleties in culture and communication may have a significant influence on quality and output. To make outsourcing work, an employer must have an open mind, a beginner’s perspective, and the willingness to re-learn certain managerial concepts.
- It is very process-oriented.
Offshore teams can be very process-driven and may be less inventive or agile than a normal onshore team. They flourish when processes are defined though. This implies that before you begin, you may need to spend time and resources on training, standard operating procedures (SOP), process mapping, and metrics/KPI identification.
In reality, exploring, learning, and engaging with outsourcing might take some time. But think of the alternative. Opting to do all your processes in-house may take longer and even cost more than just money.
The key is to find the ideal outsourcing partner that takes your objectives to heart via established protocols, a trained workforce, secure data systems, and a passionate work culture.
NEARSOL is a US-based BPO and service company that offers clients custom-design solutions. With major hubs in Manila and Iloilo, it began operations in 2011 and has since gained a strong presence in the Latin American regions, the Caribbean, and the Asia Pacific, winning many awards for quality and service along the way. Most recent of which is its Great Place to Work-Certified™ Recognition, a global accreditation that tells stakeholders what employees think of the company culture.
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