“What about our jobs?” It is one of the most common questions asked by local teams new to offshoring – and it is a fair question. When most people hear the words “offshoring” or “offshore outsourcing” – they think back to the international behemoths who cut tens of thousands of jobs and took them offshore, just to cut costs.
However, our customers are all small to medium enterprises with different objectives. They need to find talent after months and months of unsuccessful recruitment efforts, retain people after a long string of people moving through a revolving door, or find someone highly experienced for a specialised role that is otherwise unaffordable to fill.
So, let us start with the elephant in the room: will offshoring take away local jobs? The answer is no. In an overwhelming number of circumstances, Staff Domain works with businesses worldwide as their plan B – that is when they cannot find, retain, or afford the talent they need to grow their business. Think of the offshore staff as a support team, not a replacement for the local staff.
We partnered with Bond University for a first-of-its-kind study (Offshoring Study) into firms’ successful offshoring. It was revealed that the greatest realised benefit of offshore outsourcing is expanded capacity.
Expanded capacity is the business’s ability to focus on higher-value, business-critical work – and it is thanks to their offshore team. Where onshore staff are focusing on routine tasks, there is often not enough consistent work to justify hiring a full-time local employee. Offshore hiring would be affordable, sustainable, and make a huge difference to the onshore team’s workload.
For the local team, this means less workload stress, and they gain support in the repetitive, albeit important, tasks that the onshore team does not have the time for. In turn, they will gain more flexibility, more time for where their skills are best used, and ultimately, a better work-life balance.
Here is what one of the Offshoring Study’s participants had to share:
“They all think ‘If I hand this to somebody else, I’m going to lose my job.’ We eventually learned that and got around it by letting them know that they are now all managers. You’re a manager, the skills you learned at university and what you’ve learned since you left are way too valuable to be wasting of data entry and filing. Convincing them of that and that they will get more interesting, challenging and career movements if they give up that data entry to someone else, is a big bonus… From what I’ve heard at various conference, we’re not unusual. We’ve doubled our staff numbers in the past couple of years since we started outsourcing.”
In essence, offshore outsourcing is a change management exercise for local staff. Critical to overcoming hesitancies is ensuring the local staff are prepared and assured as you move to hiring overseas. Here are 3 tips to help get the team offshore ready:
Tell the local staff that they are valuable, and outsourcing is about freeing up their time for more business-critical work. Ensure they understand the benefits of offshoring and how the new hire will support their jobs, not replace them.
Psychologically, the local staff needs to see offshore hires as part of the team, not external help. To do this, treat the offshore team like any other employee. This means including them in company activities such as meetings, company-wide emails, or other communication platforms.
Thanks to the post-pandemic new normal, remote teams are the norm. The tech is already in place, location is a thing of the past, and everyone is familiar with virtual teamwork. Bringing in a new outsourced hire will be similar to welcoming a new local staff who works from home (WFH). You can learn more about how WFH has set teams up for offshoring success here.
So, if the company is ready to go offshore, remember that the onshore team will love the idea once they fully understand the benefits.
Talk to us to learn more about outsourcing. 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.
Outsourcing can reduce the workload of your local workforce by allocating mundane activities or specialised projects to an external team. This enables local personnel to concentrate on core business activities, strategic objectives, and critical jobs that require their knowledge and attention.
Overseas outsourcing promotes collaboration and information sharing among your local staff by building cross-functional collaborations. Local staff can obtain new perspectives, increase their skill sets, and produce innovative solutions that benefit the whole organisation by communicating regularly, participating in joint project evaluations, and exchanging best practices.
Addressing complaints or resistance requires transparency, open engagement, and proactive communication. Clearly express the strategic rationale for offshore outsourcing, emphasise the possible benefits to the organisation and local staff, and allow for input and discussion. Offering training, upskilling programs, and proving the long-term benefits of global collaboration can all assist to ease worries and earn support from your local staff.
Overseas outsourcing helps to diversify the workforce by allowing companies to access global talent pools with various skill sets and specialised expertise. This strategic strategy strengthens talent acquisition initiatives by providing access to competent individuals who may not be easily available locally. Organisations can broaden their talent pool, increase their competitive advantage, and address crucial skill shortages for company growth and innovation by leveraging foreign recruitment channels. This diversification enriches the company culture, encourages information sharing, and builds a collaborative atmosphere conducive to long-term success and sustainability.
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