The concept of a virtual workplace is becoming a demand for reality. The world is no longer constrained by geological aspects, thanks to the advancement of innovative communication technologies.
We are about to witness one of the most powerful paradigm shifts of human history as the new work from home culture is being in action for quite a time. The shifting mindset of employees is forcing big fishes of the industries all over the world to give it a thought.
Many companies are now hiring employees from different parts of the world. The world now has dozens of tools to manage a team, share work, analyze and communicate instantly with the co-workers or to their immediate boss or even to the clients.
Not only as front office jobs but also for back-office support jobs hiring offshore teams are getting popular nowadays. This trend, like all the others, is a mixed blessing.
We will talk about all the pros and cons of hiring an offshore team for back-office support and will also provide effective strategies to run a successful business through this system.
Here is what you will find in this article at a glance.
Back office support relates to the activities of office personnel that are not directly involved with customer service. The support team doesn’t have to face or deal with clients at first hand. For example administrative management, project planning & implementation, financial & accounting statement maintenance, database management, etc. It is the most important part of a business company to my understanding because they are policymakers.
As an online-based service, Offshoring has its own perks. Some of them are tempting, some are merely good. A lot of them are proved to be true. So, let’s have a look.
No doubt, low costing is one of the biggest advantages of outsourcing. Offshoring the company works to an overseas team can be very cost optimization because it shortens many operational and staff expenditures. A business had to spend a lot of its budget on infrastructure, skilled laborers, and also for maintenance.
Outsourcing back-office jobs to an overseas team can be very cost-friendly because it doesn’t need these kinds of expenditures. Rather a company only needs to think about maintaining data safety and on-time service delivery.
Outsourcing allows companies to lower their overheads. In fact, according to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Outsourcing Survey, 59% of businesses surveyed said outsourcing was used as a cost-cutting tool making it the top reason for outsourcing jobs.
But investing in outsourcing is more of a money-saving tactic. It is an effective way of improving business performance also.
Outsourcing jobs give more freedom to their employees. They feel like they are the frequent decision taker and it helps to boost their self-confidence resulting in better work experience. Employees today can be supervised remotely and they can work within a flexible schedule.
It reduces the monotony of cubicles like working docks in the corporate world and enhances their clear thinking. If guided properly, they can deliver more fruitful results for administrations, and surely it helps the growth of the business to an unprecedented level.
Offshore admin panels can deliver more focus regarding small business growth which in-office admin personnel can hardly focus on. Because the in-office team needs to attend all the maintenance and support they are often considered to put their efforts on successfully providing support to the whole business itself. As a matter of fact, it hampers their focus on core company activities. Thus, offshore back-office teams are a great solution to put more focus on all the core activities to flourish good outcomes.
All the previously mentioned savings from hiring an offshore back-office team can be wisely used in advertisements for company products. It goes without saying that advertisement is one of the most important ways to get more clients and customers. It is a necessary element for generating leads.
Ads will bring prosperity to your business and all the demanded cost for ads can be easily covered with the essential savings. The availability of digital media in modern days is also a way of getting more client interaction.
Offshore hiring can be used as a widespread medium of finding fresh talents. Through online job applications and candidate selection processes it is easier to search for skilled, passionate, and talented employees from all over the world. Technological innovations have made it possible to have a team of multi-cultural people and a dedicated team of experts at the same time.
Every coin has two sides. It is true that hiring an offshore back-office team has its own merits as well as demerits. We will talk about some of the major drawbacks of this system.
Most of the work of the offshore team is done through cloud service and it includes information being passed through the server. Offshore business needs lots of storage space and at the same time lots of sharing which may cause security issues. Moreover, when you hire an operation team from overseas you are likely to share your most valuable information with them- the infrastructure and building blocks of your business. This information can potentially hold the entire future of a company. If there is a slight gap of fate and trust, it could be very lethal to a business stakeholder. As many of the members are located in different parts of the world and there hardly any person-to-person meetup, building complete trust is a key factor here.
As the team could possibly be situated in any country in this world, maintaining a convenient time schedule for all is an issue here. When hiring an offshore administration team, one cannot possibly think of having the service at the time of his concern because of global time differences.
As an offshore back-office recruiter, it is very obvious to have some cultural barriers with your employee. Think of you being a resident in a Western Country and the employee being in Asian countries. This gap of culture can be very crucial as there will be some difficulties while communicating with each other. One of them is surely language differences. If there is no common medium of sharing objectives and visions then there will be lots of problems as without proper communication no business can grow.
Yes, there are some concerns about running a company with offshore back-office teams. We are going to discuss the best possible ways of hiring an offshore admin team for your respective business. Some simple to do things will definitely come in handy.
It is very important to hire the right candidate for the right job. Employers must do their research before hiring offshore employees. One should first know what kind of support he wants for his company and can easily short-list the candidates accordingly.
Many different teams specialize in different types of support. It is the employer who must actively decide what kind of services he requires from the team. Checking the background of employees can play a vital role in this prospect.
It will clarify what their previous work organization was, what their track record was regarding their work experience. It will also help you as an employer to wisely choose the best available option.
As an employer, one must assure the working infrastructure of the candidature team. It will ensure how sound and well equipped their working infrastructure is and how efficiently they can provide service. Technological support is also a key factor as all of the work is delivered through the internet and other services.
Without a good infrastructure and good maintenance of the team, no one will be able to communicate properly, and hence, they will not meet the company goals. If possible, try to visit their workplace and if necessary, recommend them the changes they need.
It is very necessary for any offshore team to understand the culture of the recruiting company. Any organization has its deep roots in the culture because they make business circling the specific culture. Understanding the culture will surely help teams to understand the company goals more clearly. So, one needs to make sure that you and your partner offshore team are culturally compatible. Make sure that there is a common language of interaction from both sides, most likely English, to be precise in sharing objectives.
Legacy in business means sustainable finances, sustainable relationships, and values that share similar significance. It is undoubtedly very important to give a thought about legacy with your overseas team so that a sustainable future for the company is assured.
Win-Lose is a conception of fools. To be successful in the modern age, collaboration is the key. Any business can gain benefits by establishing a mutual understanding. As an employer, it is one’s duty to maintain good relationships with every operating team. Without being one of them you cannot think them to be one of you. Employers must recognize the unique identity of the employees and be able to make them coped with the work environment. Another way is to constantly reinvent the business ideas with an overseas authoritative team. Tell them to share their thoughts about core company policies and client handling. Give your employees the power to think freely, only then you can bring their true potential for the benefit of their respective business.
Last but not the least, employers need to use the most advanced technology available to ensure they are hiring the right person or team over the internet. Good software establishes the credibility of genuine offshore teams. Plus, they can be used to track work progress and also as a secure platform for content sharing.
It is important to know your odds while outsourcing administrative jobs for your potential company. All the businesses are unique and so do the persons’ working on them. Be smart while hiring offshore employees and let your intuition guide you.