Top 3 Reasons Not To Outsource
In the video below, Yempo’s CEO Michelle Fiegehen shares the top 3 reasons why companies are often reluctant to engage in offshore outsourcing. Many of those are now increasing their profit margins AND keeping their customers happy. Here’s what she has to say.
1.Offshore Outsourcing takes jobs away from my country-folk.
This is the most contentious reason and is a valid concern. If you proudly advertise that your services are 100% home grown, you will likely attract and retain a certain clientele, and those clients are quite possibly prepared to pay the increased cost to support your principle. But many companies are not; they are expecting you to consistently reduce your costs and save them money.
Rather than think about letting local staff go in favour of an overseas hire, there are other options to explore. For example, you might have senior, expensive staff who aren’t delivering what you need them to, because they are bogged down with day-to-day tasks. Instead of hiring a second expensive senior to move your projects forward, you could instead hire a junior person offshore, and have your remote employee take the load off your local senior.
You get your deliverables, your senior is happy, and you’ve saved money. Rather than thinking about the second job that didn’t go to a local, you can pride yourself on providing career growth and satisfaction to one of your country-folk.
And finally, the best way to provide jobs to locals and support your economy, is to stay in business. In order to win business at a lower cost while maintaining quality, your competitors are already offshoring.
2.You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
Yes, this is absolutely true. Which is why you should not select an outsourcing company that seeks the cheapest resources to work on your business. In Yempo, we “right hire”. We focus on finding the absolute best person for your requirements, and for your culture. We might not offer you the lowest cost resource, but you will still save money by hiring the best, and you’ll have a much better experience.
My Filipino workforce are not monkeys and they don’t perform heavily process-oriented tasks. They are talented and professional, curious and ambitious. They are extremely loyal and are looking for long term relationships with interesting clients. And we don’t pay them peanuts. In order to attract the very best talent for my clients, my employees enjoy top salaries relative to the local market, great Health Insurance and other attractive benefits.
3.My customers won’t accept the heavy accents or cultural disconnects.
We’ve all experienced the frustration of call centres, with their heavily scripted support models.
India pioneered the offshore outsourcing industry, and made a few mistakes along the way, which have left some people weary if they even hear an Indian accent. But there is much, much more to offshore outsourcing than call centers, and a range of geographical options too.
Personally, I have lived and worked in both the Philippines and India, and worked with extremely talented staff in both locations. However for my business, I chose the Philippines because of its culturally diverse history. It was colonised or occupied by the Spanish, Americans and Japanese. The population is extremely adaptable and speaks fluent English. While many people have an accent, it’s mostly a gentle American lilt.
Very few of us live and work in a bubble without cultural diversity, and you might be surprised how accepting your clients are.