The Pros And Cons Of Outsourcing - Forbes

Advantages Of Outsourcing. Knowing the benefits of outsourcing will help you decide if this is something that could work for your business. BETAThisisaBETAexperience.Youmayopt-outby clickinghereMoreFromForbesApr11,2022,04:53pmEDTHowSmallCompaniesCanScaleQuicklyApr11,2022,01:15pmEDT12StrategiesToTurnYourCustomerServiceIntoAFive-StarExperienceApr11,2022,01:15pmEDT12PotentialCausesToConsiderWhenWebsiteTrafficStartsToTankApr11,2022,10:20amEDTForbesExpandsIntoMetaverseWithLaunchOfVirtualBillionairesNFTCollectionOnFTXApr11,2022,10:00amEDTLessonsFromCovid-19:StrengtheningHealthSystemsToPreventTheNextGlobalHealthCrisisApr11,2022,09:48amEDTStudents-ActNowToEnsureYouHaveIDToVoteApr11,2022,08:15amEDTSevenApproachesToImprovingOnlineNonprofitFundraisingEffortsApr11,2022,08:15amEDT14SmartStrategiesForChoosingACompanyNameAndLogoEditStoryLeadershipTheProsAndConsOfOutsourcingDeepPatelFormerContributorOpinionsexpressedbyForbesContributorsaretheirown.LeadershipJul17,2017,08:00amEDT|SharetoFacebookSharetoTwitterSharetoLinkedin Shutterstock Haveyoubeenmullingovertheideaofoutsourcingoneormoretasksoremploymentopportunities?Fromproductdevelopmenttosalesandmarketing,thereareavarietyofbenefitsoftakingthisapproach. Withoutsourcinggrowthexpectedintheyearstocome,theremayneverbeabettertimetolearnmoreaboutthistopic.Beforeyoumoveforward,it’simperativetocomparetheprosandconsofoutsourcing.Andit'salsoveryimportanttounderstandtheeffectoutsourcingcanhaveoncompanyculture. AdvantagesOfOutsourcing Knowingthebenefitsofoutsourcingwillhelpyoudecideifthisissomethingthatcouldworkforyourbusiness.Herearethreereasonstogivethisatry: 1.YouDon’tHaveToHireMoreEmployees Whenyououtsource,youcanpayyourhelpasacontractor.Thisallowsyoutoavoidbringinganemployeeintothecompany,whichsavesyoumoneyoneverythingfrombenefitstotraining. 2.AccessToALargerTalentPool Whenhiringanemployee,youmayonlyhaveaccesstoasmall,localtalentpool.Thisoftenmeansyouhavetocompromise.Manycompanieshavefoundthatoutsourcinggivesthemaccesstotalentinotherpartsoftheworld.Ifyouneedspecializedhelp,itoftenmakessensetoexpandyoursearch. 3.LowerLaborCost Didyouknowthereareapproximately300,000jobsoutsourcedbytheUnitedStateseachyear? Everycompanyhasitsownreasonfordoingthis,withmanychasinglowerlaborcosts.Youdon’twanttotradequalityforprice,butoutsourcingoftenallowsyoutogetthebestofbothworlds.Bysearchingaglobaltalentpool,it’seasiertofindtherighttalentattherightprice. ConsOfOutsourcing Despitethemanybenefitsofoutsourcing,youdon’twanttogodownthispathuntilyoucomparethesetothepotentialdrawbacks: 1.LackOfControl Althoughyoucanprovidedirectioninregardtowhatyouneedtoaccomplish,yougiveupsomecontrolwhenyououtsource. Therearemanyreasonsforthis,includingthefactthatyouareoftenhiringacontractorinsteadofanemployee.Andsincethepersonisnotworkingon-site,itcanbedifficulttomaintainthelevelofcontrolyoudesire. 2.CommunicationIssues Thisdoesn’talwayscomeintoplay,butit’soneofthebiggestpotentialdrawbacks.Hereareseveralquestionstoask: •Whattimezonedoesthepersonliveinandhowdoesthismatchupwithyourbusinesshours? •Whatisyourpreferredmethodofcommunication?Phone,email,instantmessaging? •Doesthepersonhaveaccesstoareliableinternetconnection? AccordingtoCameronHerold,thefounderofaCOOtrainingprogram,communicationisessentialtosuccessinthebusinessworld.SincealargenumberofU.S.-basedemployeesreportnotbeingengagedatwork,communicationremainsamajorproblem.Willthisgetworseifyououtsource? 3.ProblemsWithQuality Despiteallthebenefitsofoutsourcing,itisonlyagoodthingifyou’rereceivingthequalityyouexpect.Anythinglessthanthiswillbeadisappointment. Thisisn’ttosayyoucan’tsuccessfullyoutsourceparticulartasks,butyouneedtodiscusstheexpectedqualityupfront. ImpactOnCompanyCulture Asabusinessowner,it’seasytofocusonthebenefitsofoutsourcing,allwithoutconsideringtheimpactitcanhaveonyourcompanyasawhole.Ifyouplanonoutsourcing,youneedtotakestepstoensurethatitdoesn’thaveanegativeeffectoncompanyculture. Apositiveworkcultureleadstoahigherlevelofproductivity,soyoudon’twanttodoanythingtojeopardizethis.Someofthewaysoutsourcingcannegativelyaffectcompanycultureinclude: •Upsetemployeesastheymayfeeltheyarebeingreplaced •Confuseemployeeswhodon’tunderstandwhyyouareoutsourcingparticulartasks •Addchallengestothedailyworkflowofthecompany Outsourcingdoesn’talwayshaveanegativeimpactoncompanyculture,butyouneedtoprotectagainstthisbeforeyouevertakeastepinthisdirection.Thistypicallymeansdiscussingyourdecisionwithanyemployeeswhocouldbeimpacted. Therearemanyprosandconsofoutsourcing,allofwhichyoushouldcarefullyconsiderbeforedecidingfororagainstthisstrategy.Withtheabilitytoaffectcompanyculture,thisisn’tsomethingtotakelightly.Doyouhaveanyexperiencewithoutsourcing?Diditbenefityourcompany,orresultinmoreharmthangood? Followmeon LinkedIn. Checkout my website. DeepPatelEditorialStandardsPrintReprints&Permissions