1. Do you have a prepared offshore strategy?
Having a well-defined offshore strategy and plan is essential to assist your human resources business partner (HRBP) in understanding how they can enhance and optimize your business efficiencies from their end. It is understandable if you do not have a clear vision of your objectives for your offshore journey. Your HRBP should be capable of offering comprehensive guidance and advice to help you develop a cohesive plan.
Below are sample metrics that you can consider in formulating your strategy:
- Who: Determine the individual or team within your company who will be responsible for driving this project – your onshore champion.
- What: Identify the specific roles and responsibilities that your offshore teams can effectively support.
- When: Establish a timeline for scheduling your company’s transition to offshore operations.
- Where: Evaluate the location that best aligns with the needs of your customers and business culture.
- How: Define the metrics and indicators that will be used to measure the success of your offshore team.
2. Is your onshore team ready?
When communicating your outsourcing plans to your onshore team, tailor your approach based on their position within the company and their openness to change. Here are some suggestions to help them feel comfortable with the addition of an offshore team:
- Explain the benefits for them: Highlight that tasks like manual data entry can be offloaded to the offshore team, freeing up their time for more strategic and value-added work.
- Emphasize the benefits for the business and customers: Illustrate how outsourcing can improve customer service, accelerate project delivery, enhance competitiveness, and ultimately boost profits.
- Reassure their job security: Assure them that the intention is not to replace their roles but to scale the business in a more efficient and profitable manner, which will contribute to long-term job stability.
- Seek their assistance: Emphasize the need for collaboration and teamwork during the transition, as everyone will play a role in systemizing the business and facilitating the onboarding and training of new offshore employees.
- Provide education and visuals: Share behind-the-scenes tour videos of potential offshore providers, conduct interviews, and share articles that explain the process and its benefits, demystifying offshore operations.
Transparency is vital throughout the process. Engage key stakeholders and involve staff in the outsourcing process to avoid the common pitfalls of excluding them. Empathize with their concerns, address any negative perceptions they may have heard about offshoring, and provide continuous reassurance.
3. What roles would you like to offshore?
Engage in collaborative discussions with your onshore team to determine which roles are suitable for offshore outsourcing. Review existing job descriptions, if available, to ensure that the tasks can be effectively outsourced. It may be necessary to reallocate certain tasks that are not well-suited for outsourcing to your onshore employees, so a thorough evaluation is essential. If you do not have existing job descriptions, your offshore provider can offer guidance in creating job descriptions that attract top talent for the intended positions. Additionally, during discussions about your offshore strategy, seek guidance and advice from your offshore provider to gain insights into which roles should be considered for offshoring.
Examples of popular roles to offshore include, but are not limited to:
- Remote Executive Assistant
- IT Support and System Administrator
- Accountants & Bookkeepers
- Content & Graphic Designers
- Administrative & Back Office Support
- WordPress / Web Developers
- Business Development & Marketing Personnel
Offshore business opportunities hold great promise, but success requires careful preparation and informed decisions. With the right strategy and a partner like us, you can unluck the vast potential of offshore operations to drive your business’s growth and suistainability.
