The Truth About Remote Staffing: 5 Outsourcing Myths Debunked
Outsourcing.
It’s one of the most popular business practices today, but also the most controversial. While many recognize its benefits, many are also highly skeptical about its effectiveness and success rate.
Now that more and more companies enter the modern workplace and choose to hire remote staff, outsourcing rumors begin to spread like wildfire.
Much has been said about outsourcing, and it can be hard to weed out the white noise when you’re a business owner seriously considering outsourcing services to scale your business.
In this blog post, we’ll dive into the five biggest myths about outsourcing and finally set the fine line between fact and fiction.
But first…
What is Outsourcing?
Outsourcing is the practice of hiring workers outside the company to perform certain tasks. For example, an employer can outsource a bookkeeper to handle financial records, or an accountant to process receivables. There’s a wide range of roles that businesses outsource today.
But you’re probably wondering, why outsource when you can hire an in-house employee?
For the most part, business owners outsource workers for cost savings. In 2020, 70% of businesses relied on this practice to cut their expenses significantly. That’s because outsourcing allows companies to get the most out of lower labor prices and overhead or equipment costs.
5 Biggest Outsourcing Myths – Debunked
Are all the rumors true? From poor service quality to domestic unemployment issues, here are some tell-tales about outsourcing and why it’s time to stop believing them.
Outsourcing Myth #1: It’s only for big companies
One of the most well-known misconceptions about outsourcing is that it’s only accessible and attainable for big, established businesses. Think corporations, Fortune 500 companies, large enterprises, and so on.
That’s a fallacy!
The truth is, small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) rely on remote talent for technical tasks as much as big corporations do. SMEs partner with Remote Staffing like MultiplyMii to increase their overall efficiency and adopt emerging technologies!
In 2021, the Clutch Small Business Survey revealed that 80% of small businesses planned to hire remote staff to streamline their operations.
Which particular jobs were they outsourcing, you ask? The survey found that small businesses were planning to outsource these functions:
27% - IT roles
- 23% - finance operations
- 21%- legal services
- 20% - digital marketing functions
- 18% - development tasks
- 10% - human resource operations
The survey also found that 26% of smaller companies with less than ten employees used outsourcing as a way to learn from an expert.
That’s right – gone are the days when remote employees lacked expertise in a particular field! They are equipped with specialized skills, but we’ll get to that later.
Outsourcing Myth #2: It makes you lose control of your business
If you think that outsourcing takes away your sight and control over certain projects, think again!
When you hire remote staff through outsourcing partners like MultiplyMii, you can rest assured that tasks are delegated and accomplished properly. Regular check-ins, meetings, and consistent communication ensure that your team understands your vision and goals.
Outsourcing technical tasks to experienced remote professionals allows small businesses to focus on their core processes and strategies. 49% of companies said that freeing up resources to focus on core tasks is one of the key reasons why they take advantage of outsourcing.
From product development to network expansion, business owners can dedicate more time to scaling their businesses!
Outsourcing Myth #3: Huge savings for low-quality work
Many people believe that while outsourcing is cost-effective, it often leads to poor service quality. It’s fueled by the notion that low labor prices = low-quality deliverables, but that’s not the case here!
Deloitte’s 2021 Outsourcing Survey found that 80% of people were satisfied with their outsourcing arrangements.
Now that remote working has become the new workplace norm, businesses can access niche talent and hire remote staff with specialized skills and industry expertise. Most of them even have an extensive corporate background!
You can count on these professionals to execute tasks properly and save your business from costly mistakes.
Outsourcing Myth #4: Cultural differences make work difficult
One of the greatest myths of outsourcing today is the perceived cultural gap between the two parties. Offshoring, in particular, makes employers worry that cross-border challenges like language barriers, among other things, will be an issue.
As the world becomes more globally-connected and integrated, cultural differences are no longer a concern for most businesses that hire remote staff.
Remote work hotspots like the Philippines are also culturally-compatible with foreign employers.
Outsourcing in the Philippines eliminates all possible culture-related problems. For one, Filipino workers have a high proficiency in the English language. They are also culturally aligned with most Western countries, so building a comfortable and healthy remote work environment within your business is more manageable.
On top of that, they can quickly adapt to different time zones and shifting work schedules!
Outsourcing Myth #5: It weakens the economy
Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing doesn’t hurt the economy. Outsourcing strengthens it!
Pairing the cost advantage of hiring a remote staff with increased scaling potential means companies become more productive, efficient, and profitable. A healthy and competitive market that consists of businesses with high productivity and profitability is a key driver of economic development!
It’s also a huge misconception that outsourcing contributes to your home country’s unemployment rate. In fact, outsourcing helps companies cut their costs and expand their business, thus creating more jobs to fill.
3 Tips for Outsourcing Remote Workers Effectively
If you’re planning to hire remote staff to fire up your business efficiency and productivity, there’s a right way to do it! Before you start tapping the services of a remote worker, here are some useful tips for outsourcing success.
Tip #1: Hire specialists, NOT generalists
One of the long-term risks of hiring general VAs is their lack of in-depth expertise. Business owners spend more time and resources training a generalist VA to execute tasks properly and fulfill their responsibilities.
You can cut that cost by outsourcing in the Philippines, where workers have a specific area of specialization. And since they are highly proficient in their expertise, they have excellent problem-solving skills and are capable of advanced solutions!
In MultiplyMii’s Talent Pool, you can browse through profiles of pre-vetted candidates in various fields, making it easier for you to find and recruit a dedicated professional.
Tip #2: Conduct ongoing education
When you have employees who consistently grow their knowledge, skills, and experience, you can rely on them to meet your goals and exceed expectations. Plus, there’s no need to hire extra manpower for certain tasks. That’s less cost on your part!
MultiplyMii helps businesses conduct ongoing education through upskilling sessions, ensuring employees maximize their full potential.
Tip #3: Use productivity and performance management tools
When you hire remote staff, you can unlock maximum efficiency with the help of technology. Start using tools and resources that can increase productivity within your business!
Here are some good examples:
- Productivity Monitoring Tool - Tools like Hubstaff, Timely, and ProofHub can provide you with real-time data, including the efficiency of your staff.
- Project Management Tool - This tool enhances your project planning, scheduling, and execution. It makes it easier for your team to collaborate with members through file sharing, task delegation, prioritization, and more.
Outsource Your Remote Team with MultiplyMii
While outsourcing comes with many benefits for modern businesses, it can be a huge challenge looking for the right employees equipped with the right skillsets.
MultiplyMii can help! We make outsourcing in the Philippines easy and hassle-free, giving you access to the top 1% of Filipino talent to help you scale your business.
We recruit, manage, and retain high-performing remote teams at manageable costs. That way, you can invest more of your resources to your expansion plans, free up your work schedule, and focus on the things that matter!
