We all know the labour market is tight now and finding any staff, be they good or not, is hard. But jobs still need to be done, so it is about finding a way to do it. Outsourcing or contracting the work out is one way to make that problem someone else’s.
There are several business-as-usual tasks that are suitable for outsourcing, with HR, Health & Safety, Bookkeeping, Administration, and IT being the most common. However, you can also outsource your warehousing and sales too, it just depends on how far you want to go, and the type of business you run. Typically many small to medium sized businesses have an office manager who operates as a ‘jack of all trades' to complete these tasks, which is great if you can find someone with the skill to do this. However, and I am not sure if you have noticed, there is growing bureaucratic compliance and business risk around nowadays that can often mean a mistake or lack of knowledge in a specific area can result in fines, ransoms, penalties, or even prosecution! Hence outsourcing to specialists is certainly worth considering.
This process can however require a change in mindset as to how to get things done. Many businesses have been forced to change their mindset with the recent Covid pandemic and working remotely. I do wonder if the recent pandemic has just sped up the process. Regardless, when you are considering outsourcing a task or service that your company needs to be done you want to make sure that service is done correctly! Preferably you want a better service than what you had before and certainly one that complies with regulations and reduces risk! Here are a few things we have found you should look for if you are considering outsourcing an essential business service.
Efficiency – if you are giving someone a specific task and that is their specialist area you should expect that they can get the job done efficiently. Are they looking at processes and asking, ‘can this be done a better way?’ Are they introducing tools that speed up or improve accuracy in a process?
Accuracy – you run your business based on the information you have available, be that your stock on hand, your cash flow situation, job management, profit margins, or health & safety reports. Ideally, a specialist will know what is important or will work with you to ensure the information you require is accurate and up to date so that you can make informed decisions.
Reliability – What is the reputation of the business you are looking to outsource to? Can you get a testimonial from a current client? How credible do you think they are? How did you find them? (a referral from a trusted professional?) How professional and timely are they in the initial stages of meeting with them and seeing a proposal? All of these things will probably be a good indication of the level of service you should expect to get. If they fail to get a proposal to you in the agreed upon time, and don’t respond to your calls or emails then I would suggest you shouldn’t be surprised if this is what their service level is like!
Professionalism – Are they going to give you ‘best practice’ services that comply with the regulatory requirements? This is perhaps the one area where your ‘jack of all trades’ office manager is often unable to comply. Because there is so much regulation and risk in the current business environment, this is where specialists are so valuable. Areas for consideration might include, is your payroll correct and complying with current legislation? Are my health and safety practices complying with current legislation? If your answer is, I have software that deals with all that, unfortunately that is not always the case.
In summary, if you feel the providers can deliver on efficient, accurate, reliable and professional services then it might be worth considering.
