I have now been in the Philippines for two weeks, and I am learning so much! Before I came here, I had heard a lot about Outsourcing, Offshoring and how globalisation was making international business cheaper and more accessible for service providers all over the world. It wasn't until I actually landed right in the middle of it, that I actually understood what offshoring (and outsourcing) looked like from the inside.
In a sense, I have been able to see things with new eyes, and have a new understanding about how it all works.
Coming from Australia, I had a preconceived notion that if you need something outsourced, you go online, find a provider, tell them what you want and you receive the end product. Since coming here, and being immersed in the other side of how outsourcing works, I have truly had my eyes opened. Although the mechanics is very similar - scope project, send instructions, receive end product - I have learn't that there is more than one way to get your projects completed overseas. Today I am focusing on offshoring.
Offshoring has been the most popular business model which I have come across so far. There are many different organisations set up here in the Philippines, designed to be your one stop shop for whatever you need, but how does it really work? and what does it mean for you?
The Oxford Dictionary defines offshoring as 'the practice of basing some of a company’s processes or services overseas, so as to take advantage of lower costs.' This sounds fantastic, but there is much more which must go into it if you want to be successful. I would compare building an offshore team as very similar to building a team in Australia, or anywhere else in the world, with the one major difference being that you have an agency who recruits your team and manages all of the human resources administration (payroll) and legalities. With every provider I have visited, the main message has been to treat your offshore team as you would your onshore team, you need to build relationships, clear communication channels and expectations, just like you would with any employee. The one key to success is to make sure your team fully understand your organisational culture, vision and mission, as it will allow them greater understanding, connection and commitment to the tasks they complete day to day.
Without a solid relationship with your offshore team, there is no guarantee you will find success in the BPO industry. It is recommended that you visit the location where your team will be based, for a period of at least a week, for induction and training. The most successful BPO users visit their teams regularly in their offshore location. The onshore support which you receive varies from agency to agency. Some have structures which have supervisors, outside of your organisation, which you can escalate issues to if your team is not performing, and others suggest that you appoint your own trusted team leaders (either from your home country or recruit and select from the local labour market).
As with any team, employees in your offshore location do have certain expectations from their employer as well. One of the most consistent things I have discovered that employers provide for their employees is health care and career progression opportunities (in my experience, promotions occur rapidly and frequently). The workforce in the Philippines are quite young, and many of the people I have met value their employer providing both personal and professional development opportunities for them. I found the culture to be quite similar to Australia in that the younger generation are looking for career pathways and promotions. They are very respectful of their elders and superiors but the like to have their input heard and valued. There are a lot of highly skilled workers in the Philippines, many of which are working in specialised areas, therefore it is important that you are hiring the right people for the right jobs to ensure their is a good person-job fit.
When you are considering which processes you are going to send offshore, it is important to break one job down into multiple tasks. For example, if you want to offshore your 'administration' position, you need to specify what this job entails exactly to ensure their is no miscommunication and differences in expectation. There are so many variables when hiring people within your own culture, so when you are hiring across cultures, it can be even more complicated. This is why it is important to have crystal clear guidelines to what your expectations are for the role.
If you can get all of these factors right, you will not only be reducing your costs by taking advantage of offshoring, but you will also be immersing yourself into a completely different way of life, and giving yourself the opportunity to learn from and experience life from a completely different point of view, which has so far, been the most rewarding part of this trip.
I will be sharing more tomorrow about my experience living with, socialising and working with my filipino counterparts.
Until then,
Sarah Inglis
Coming from Australia, I had a preconceived notion that if you need something outsourced, you go online, find a provider, tell them what you want and you receive the end product. Since coming here, and being immersed in the other side of how outsourcing works, I have truly had my eyes opened. Although the mechanics is very similar - scope project, send instructions, receive end product - I have learn't that there is more than one way to get your projects completed overseas. Today I am focusing on offshoring.
Offshoring has been the most popular business model which I have come across so far. There are many different organisations set up here in the Philippines, designed to be your one stop shop for whatever you need, but how does it really work? and what does it mean for you?
The Oxford Dictionary defines offshoring as 'the practice of basing some of a company’s processes or services overseas, so as to take advantage of lower costs.' This sounds fantastic, but there is much more which must go into it if you want to be successful. I would compare building an offshore team as very similar to building a team in Australia, or anywhere else in the world, with the one major difference being that you have an agency who recruits your team and manages all of the human resources administration (payroll) and legalities. With every provider I have visited, the main message has been to treat your offshore team as you would your onshore team, you need to build relationships, clear communication channels and expectations, just like you would with any employee. The one key to success is to make sure your team fully understand your organisational culture, vision and mission, as it will allow them greater understanding, connection and commitment to the tasks they complete day to day.
Without a solid relationship with your offshore team, there is no guarantee you will find success in the BPO industry. It is recommended that you visit the location where your team will be based, for a period of at least a week, for induction and training. The most successful BPO users visit their teams regularly in their offshore location. The onshore support which you receive varies from agency to agency. Some have structures which have supervisors, outside of your organisation, which you can escalate issues to if your team is not performing, and others suggest that you appoint your own trusted team leaders (either from your home country or recruit and select from the local labour market).
As with any team, employees in your offshore location do have certain expectations from their employer as well. One of the most consistent things I have discovered that employers provide for their employees is health care and career progression opportunities (in my experience, promotions occur rapidly and frequently). The workforce in the Philippines are quite young, and many of the people I have met value their employer providing both personal and professional development opportunities for them. I found the culture to be quite similar to Australia in that the younger generation are looking for career pathways and promotions. They are very respectful of their elders and superiors but the like to have their input heard and valued. There are a lot of highly skilled workers in the Philippines, many of which are working in specialised areas, therefore it is important that you are hiring the right people for the right jobs to ensure their is a good person-job fit.
When you are considering which processes you are going to send offshore, it is important to break one job down into multiple tasks. For example, if you want to offshore your 'administration' position, you need to specify what this job entails exactly to ensure their is no miscommunication and differences in expectation. There are so many variables when hiring people within your own culture, so when you are hiring across cultures, it can be even more complicated. This is why it is important to have crystal clear guidelines to what your expectations are for the role.
If you can get all of these factors right, you will not only be reducing your costs by taking advantage of offshoring, but you will also be immersing yourself into a completely different way of life, and giving yourself the opportunity to learn from and experience life from a completely different point of view, which has so far, been the most rewarding part of this trip.
I will be sharing more tomorrow about my experience living with, socialising and working with my filipino counterparts.
Until then,
Sarah Inglis