When it comes to delivering a job, two things often come to mind; delivering the job well and right on time. But then, there is more to job delivery than just ‘how well’ and ‘how soon’ – we sometimes ignore ‘how much’. Industries are constantly looking for more cost-effective ways to achieve their production goals and overall organizational goals, hence, they are beginning to tend towards outsourcing. From service providing industries to manufacturing industries, millions of jobs are shipped via communication channels to ghost workers who deliver from the comfort of their work stations. With outsourcing being the future of work, the total number of ghost workers all over the world keeps rising, as companies are increasingly hiring their services. You might be saying it will cost you more than just money to get someone out there who can actually do the job for you, but wait until you read the benefits of outsourcing highlighted below.
Why you should consider outsourcing rather than having permanent staff.
Outsourcing is more cost-effective
Everyday, companies and individuals are looking for more cost-effective ways to carry out their activities and serve their customers. Outsourcing saves you the cost of using your own resources to deliver a job and it also saves you several of your responsibilities to your employees. Certain overhead costs are cut down and hazards that directly impact personnel and the company are also avoided. You spend less on tax and gratuities, and it allows you focus your internal resources on other more important tasks, making room for optimum utilization of internal resources. With outsourcing, you can effectively reduce and control the operational costs of your organization.
Access to top-rated professionals you don’t have the capacity to employ
If you ask small business owners and entrepreneurs about what their businesses need the most, they’ll tell you they need experienced professionals who will push their businesses up to speed. Unfortunately, they come at a price most small businesses can’t afford, due to their status and level of experience. With outsourcing though, that’s very possible. You can hire them temporarily as ghost workers to do the most important thing – get the job done. Outsourcing makes it possible to push jobs related to bookkeeping, financial analysis, graphics design and branding, content writing, digital marketing, web development, data analysis etc. to professional freelancers waiting at the end of a communication channel for you, and this gives you access to a market basket of creativity which will, in turn, enhances the productivity of your organization.
You achieve more with less
Outsourcing creates an inverse relationship between the number of staff and jobs done. By outsourcing some of your tasks to professional ghost workers, you get the chance to do more with less manpower. This way, your staff strength does not affect the jobs done. You pay less for manpower and get more jobs done faster.
Easy risk management
Because you can change your freelancers after they deliver their jobs, it becomes easy to manage certain risks that can arise from working with the same person all the time. Ghost workers are easily dispensable than just firing your staff. Since freelancers do not operate from within the organization, their knowledge about the organization is restricted to their current work.
Although outsourcing seems to be a bed of roses, it has its challenging sides too. There are quite a number of obstacles to take care of in order to get the best out of outsourcing, and we’ll be highlighting a few below.
Challenges with Outsourcing
Negative impact on employee’s morale
Sometimes, the more jobs you outsource, the more demoralized your employees become. They may begin to feel disposable and less guaranteed job security which could, in turn, affect their work enthusiasm.
Variation in standard and quality
Outsourcing to different freelancers and service providers, when not properly managed could lead to discontinuity which in turn affects variations in standard and quality. Companies with different branches sometimes experience this as a result of them dealing with different vendors.
Security
How discrete can a freelancer be and how well can you trust a freelancer? Some companies strongly kick against outsourcing due to the fear of data security breach. Working with a freelancer might involve releasing login details or some confidential information, and this might harm the organization if not properly handled.
Communication and work progress
Working with a freelancer requires good communication and follow-up. Achieving this effectively sometimes could be a challenging task for the client, and that is why some business owners would rather prefer having employees they can see and monitor by themselves.
These risks or threats can be avoided or managed if the company states its goals and objectives clearly and put some measures that will check against infringements by a freelancer. Proper relationship management with members of staff can assure them and help raise their confidence levels. You can come up with a well-drafted agreement between you and service providers and ensure that they agree to the terms before proceeding with the contract. Keeping an open communication channel with all personnel and freelancers will also help mitigate some of the risks associated with outsourcing.
Conclusion
A viable way to reduce these risks is by outsourcing on a platform like terawork – a platform built around giving buyers the best outsourcing experience possible. It has a buyer-friendly policy that makes it easy for buyers to operate with minimal risk, a customer support team that responds to your concerns immediately, and a messaging channel that enables you communicate with your freelancers in real-time. It also has a work management tool that allows you monitor work progress and collaborate with your freelancer so that they can deliver your job effectively and efficiently.
There’s nothing stopping you now. Jump on the outsourcing train and see your business grow faster.
