Getting offshore outsourcing to work takes work. While you may be sending work overseas, it is important to remember that your offshore staff are part of your team. Thus, they require the same attention and energy you would give to your local workforce.
If you are with the right offshore outsourcing partner, most operational and managerial heavy lifting should be sorted. However, you must invest time and effort through the process to succeed, whether that is in recruitment, onboarding, or your day-to-day working relationship with your staff.
Wondering how to outsource work overseas successfully? Here are tips on how to outsource overseas successfully – from our clients.
1. Get involved in the recruitment process
2. Do not underestimate the power of good communication
3. Make your staff feel they are part of your team
4. Invest in processes and training
5. Take the time to select the right offshore outsourcing partner
Let us dive into the details of each.
There are many modes of offshore outsourcing. A common approach is casual or part-time offshore outsourcing. Under this model, the client typically has little to no say on the staff member working on their project, and these employees are likely to be working with other organisations too. This approach may work for businesses that require less regular support. However, as your business grows and the workload increases, hiring full-time offshore staff can be a more practical and effective option. Providers like Staff Domain offer full-time staff, who are exclusively dedicated to your business and fully integrated into your team.
In opting for full-time offshore staff, it is critical to get involved right from the start, particularly in the recruitment process. It is important to remember you are hiring a new team member – just offshore. They will be working with your onshore team, and potentially with clients. Hence, you need to be certain they can seamlessly integrate with your team and company culture.
Cox Purtell, an Australian boutique recruitment agency, jumped right into the hiring process with us to ensure they found the right candidates. They came to Staff Domain with a clear brief that indicated the experience, location, skillset, and cultural fit they are looking for. We conducted the initial sourcing and qualifying to meet this, but it was Cox Purtell’s hands-on approach that ensured they found three new valuable team members that fit right in.
“We interviewed almost every candidate Staff Domain provided to us. We’re big believers in getting to know someone beyond a piece of paper. The successful candidates went through 3 stages of interviews with different members of our teams to ensure we found the right fit.” And since? “Our offshore team have added value to our clients and candidate base. They are consistently hitting their targets and bringing some great candidates through!”
Lizzie Ritchie
Associate Director, Cox Purtell
Learn more about Cox Purtell’s experience here: Gold standard customer care thanks to offshore recruitment support (access download form)
Communication is vital in any business. However, the reality is that only 32% of people rate their company’s communication as excellent. Shocking, right?
Leading integrated marketing agency Chasing Albert is one business that already implemented a work-from-home setup even before it became prevalent at the height of the pandemic. Given this setup, they already had the processes and skillset to introduce an offshore staff member seamlessly.
Their advice to businesses looking to outsource offshore? Leverage communication technology and prioritize open and regular conversation.
“We’ve been working from home for many years and know how critical communication is for a remote team – whether it’s global or local. We ensure we have a streamlined channel of communication through using tools like Microsoft Teams and Planner. We also have regular online face-to-face meetings to keep across our staff’s workload, ensure they have an opportunity to ask questions, and even just to catch-up socially.”
Marie El Daghl
Managing Director, Chasing Albert
Check our blog for more insights into establishing communication with offshore staff: What will communication be like with my offshore staff?
“One of the things that makes offshore outsourcing successful, and which Staff Domain really helps facilitate, is making your offshore staff feel part of a team. You need to treat them as if they were your employees. Educate them, train them, invite them to team meetings, communicate regularly, set KPIs, and cheer them on when they’re doing great!” Jennifer Viley Founder of ParkerBeth
Learn more about ParkerBeth’s experience here: An offshoring veteran picks Staff Domain above the rest
Staff Domain helps all staff feel connected to their global teams. We are strong believers that the best talent wants the best work environment. We work hard to facilitate a positive, caring culture through in-house training programs, role promotions, team-building activities, bonuses, and more! Learn more about Staff Domain’s offices and culture here.
Great training and clear processes are critical for any new hire. Getting these areas right will give your recruit a solid understanding of the organisation’s expectations and the employees’ responsibilities and ensure their confidence in getting started on the job.
IT-managed service provider Interlinked turned to offshore outsourcing during a period of rapid growth. The team was already pressed for time and needed to get their offshore team up and running ASAP. Staff Domain helped develop processes for managing, answering, and escalating calls.
Training was also provided on various software used by the company such as Autotask, Datto RMM, and IT Glue to speed up the onboarding process. All throughout, Staff Domain provided thorough monitoring and 100% support to ensure Interlinked’s new offshore team was ready for success. Having these processes and training in place became a defining factor during the height of the pandemic. It meant they had the upper hand in handling an influx of calls, resolving issues in no time, and offering holistic tech support.
“Staff Domain delivered an offshore tech support team at a time when we really struggled to do it locally. They provided invaluable support to help get our new recruits up and running quickly, including the facilitation of processes and training. We always saw the value, but we didn’t truly appreciate just how valuable Staff Domain was until COVID-19 hit. Processes shifted swiftly and smoothly, and the training of our offshore team shone through in the way they effortlessly handled our clients.”
Carlos Da Conceicao
Director of Sales, Interlinked
Learn more about Interlinked’s experience here:
Our services include guiding you throughout the offshore outsourcing journey. As such, ensuring you have the right team on board to help you is vital. Before you outsource offshore, it is important to evaluate multiple providers and understand the different solutions. Service offerings, facility standards, and management pricing models form some of the greatest differentiators between offshore agencies.
Overall, the right provider should have great communication skills, be able to prove their credibility through customer testimonials, and be transparent about their working conditions and pricing. NextGen HR chose Staff Domain for these very reasons and more.
“I liked Staff Domain’s approach and in fact, it came highly recommended by one of my own clients. I’d heard many companies struggle with offshoring, and I was drawn to Staff Domain’s methodology and openness about the factors to outsource offshoring success.”
Xavier Miller
Founder & Principal Consultant, NextGen HR
At Staff Domain, our onboarding methodology is backed by independent research into businesses successfully offshoring, so our clients can be confident they are on the path to success. We take a three-pronged approach spanning people management, business processes, and IT set-up and integration. This helps businesses establish strong, long-lasting foundations for their offshore outsourcing journey.
Offshore curious? Let’s talk. Staff Domain‘s offshore outsourcing solutions connect your business to a highly experienced global talent pool for game-changing results. Effortlessly manage your offshore workforce with our comprehensive compliance, payroll, and HR support, and benefit from fixed, transparent pricing in your local currency. Contact us today or schedule a meeting with our sales team to quickly source the right offshore team for your business.
There are numerous benefits to outsourcing jobs overseas. They include significant cost-efficiency as well as operational improvements that optimize operations and shorten project timelines. Furthermore, outsourcing overseas enables 24-hour business operations across multiple time zones, providing uninterrupted service availability and support.
When choosing an offshore outsourcing partner, firms should examine several essential aspects. These include assessing the agency’s industry knowledge, technological competence, and effective track record of completing similar projects. Assessing the outsourcing team’s cultural fit and communication abilities is critical to ensuring smooth collaboration and understanding of project specifications. Researching references and client testimonies, and, if possible, conducting site visits can provide valuable information about the company’s dependability, scalability, and commitment to delivering quality service.
Adapting outsourcing strategies to changing global market trends and technological breakthroughs demands firms to remain adaptable and forward-thinking. Embracing digital transformation projects that leverage emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and cloud computing improves operational efficiency in outsourced operations. Monitoring industry trends, legislative changes, and geopolitical developments allows organisations to predict market transitions and adjust their outsourcing strategy accordingly.
Integrating outsourced teams with in-house operations requires strategic planning and cohesive teamwork. Our clients highlight the importance of fostering a unified corporate culture and shared values across both teams. Regular virtual meetings, cross-functional collaborations, and joint project reviews facilitate knowledge sharing and goals. Communication channels and collaborative tools promote transparency, accountability, and synergy between two teams. By cultivating a cohesive work environment and promoting cross-cultural exchange, businesses can maximise the collective strengths of outsourced and in-house teams to drive innovation and achieve mutual success in global outsourcing initiatives.
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