Hiring the best people for your business is crucial, whether you find them in your city or outsource jobs to the other side of the world. Either way, you want a team that can give you excellent results.
Business outsourcing has actually been around since the 1980’s. As time went on, more and more companies recognised its benefits and relevance. With the internet helping to make the world more connected than ever, working with a distributed team has never been easier.
You can bet that outsourcing as a trend won’t be going away anytime soon. In 2020 alone, studies showed that the outsourcing market is about to reach the $220 billion mark.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic affected all industries and outsourcing is no exception. Majority of employees are now working from home, so there is a bigger focus on privacy, monitoring, and data protection. Since most businesses are going digital, they all need tools that can enable all remote team players to collaborate virtually and effectively.
Essentially, the global pandemic compelled businesses to embrace digitisation ahead of schedule. Things aren’t likely to go back to the status quo, even after things go back to normal, so to speak. So, what sort of changes can you expect to encounter when you outsource from here on out?
Value Networks
This term refers to the connections established between individuals and/or corporations that can benefit all members. For instance, if you’re part of this network, you can easily buy and sell products and/or services from and to everyone in it.
Value networks are beneficial to the outsourcing industry because they allow two or more firms to collaborate on a solution. Apart from enabling a faster process, it’s also a more cost-effective way for stakeholders to acquire or provide the best services.
These networks also extend to individual stakeholders like remote developers from other service providers who can help other clients meet work demands and deadlines. On the client side, you also have the flexibility to mix and match the people and services as the need arises.
The Rise of Co-Sourcing
Every company is only as good as its people. This is why so many business owners invest in the training and development of their key staff. Of course, this is easier to do with a local team whom you communicate synchronously with on a daily basis.
Doing the same with a distributed team can be more challenging. For one thing, it’ll take a while for them to pick up on the culture you’ve cultivated for your company. It’s also harder to touch base in real time, especially if your remote talent lives on the other side of the world.
Or at least that’s what most employers think.
You see, this isn’t the case anymore. Take co-sourcing, one of the most recent trends in the outsourcing industry. It involves using a hybrid of local and outsourced talent, and having them collaborate together.
Done right, this approach gives you the best of both worlds. A solid core team backed by the best talent in the world means you’re more likely to arrive at the best solutions faster, with input covering a wider range of perspectives otherwise.
Long-term Digital Outsourcing
Some companies outsource a project and then revert to their in-house teams after a few months. This practice is called backsourcing and it emerged at the start of the pandemic.
Some businesses simply struggled to outsource properly and thus scrapped the move prematurely due to the cost.
However, this turned out to be counterproductive. Certainly not with rising labour costs making outsourcing a necessary option for businesses that want to ride out the pandemic.
So, instead of stubbornly sticking to old practices, companies need to find ways to integrate outsourcing into their operations. Their very survival depends on it.
Furthermore, digital systems, platforms, and execution strategies are gradually taking over the outsourcing industry (and beyond). Businesses will need to adapt by learning how to utilise and maximise these innovations if they want to stay relevant.
It’s always a challenge to keep a business running, especially amidst a world that’s constantly and drastically changing. But it’s also great to know that there are industry partners that can show you how it’s done.
Remote Staff has been around for more than 10 years and we’ve weathered a lot of changes in the outsourcing industry. We’ve been partnering AU businesses like yours with talented and multi-faceted Filipino virtual staff for years, so you can count on us to provide constant support and guidance regardless of how the outsourcing industry changes.
Give us a call or schedule a callback so we can get started.
Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home.
