Four Common Misconceptions About Outsourcing

In 2016, there is no doubt that the way business gets done today is significantly different than it was when most of us were growing up. Employment opportunities are more fluid today than ever before and offer entrepreneurs and business owners the chance to build their business creatively.

When many people think of the word “outsourcing,” there are likely to be good – and not so good – word associations that come to mind. But for better or for worse, outsourcing now plays a vital role in the greater world economy.

Here are four common misconceptions about outsourcing:

“Outsourced workers provide low-quality work.”

In days past, there may have been some amount of truth to this statement, but this is no longer the case. As the “gig” economy grows as a valid method for people to utilize their talents and passions, more skilled people are entering the marketplace to offer their services, whether they provide web design, accounting services, executive administration, customer support, or thousands of other services.

By appropriately screening and training ideal candidates, employers help assure that your outsourced help meets your quality standards and helps you achieve your business objectives on their assigned tasks. If you connect with talented outsourced contractors who understand your needs, you have the ability to scale your operations exponentially.

“All outsourced workers are from ESL (English as Second Language) Countries.”

Yes, many outsourced workers work from countries where English is their second language. However, a growing number of people from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are joining the legions of individuals who work independently as Freelancers and speak English fluently.

Depending on the needs of your business, using both ESL freelancers and Native English speakers can work to your advantage. Native English speakers can help in roles such as working as a salesperson, updating content, writing marketing material, or working as a customer relationship manager.

Since outsourced ESL workers have a basic comprehension of English, they can be utilized in assignments such as doing internet research, working on custom website coding or programming, data entry tasks, mobile and app development, and other jobs where they can excel.

“It’s too hard to communicate with people who aren’t physically in my office or workspace.”

If you are like many people, there is a degree of ‘connectedness’ that you feel when you work with people on a ‘face-to-face’ basis. When you need to talk to someone, all you need to do is walk to their desk or catch up with them in the breakroom to let them know what you need.

While you might not have this with remote outsourced workers, this doesn’t mean that keeping in communication with them is difficult. In the last few years, significant developments in low-cost – and sometimes even free – technology has opened the lines of communication between remote outsourced employees and employers across the globe.

The use of video web conferencing programs such as Google Hangouts, Skype, Facetime, and others allow company owners to conference remotely with individuals or their entire team to keep in touch regarding important issues. When a face to face interaction isn’t required to convey a message, cloud-based collaboration tools provide a secure online workspace for all outsourced employees to work cooperatively.

Many successful outsourced employees tend to keep their personal lines of communication open because of the nature of their job requirements. They understand the importance of providing their contact information to those they’re working with as a way to streamline projects and meet project deadlines.

“Using outsourced contract workers is too expensive or time-consuming.”

The reality is that this statement couldn’t be further from the truth! If you are willing to spend some time screening potential freelance contractors and make an attractive offer for them to work with you, the chances are good that they will be open to building a long-term working relationship with you.

Think, for a moment, about the traditional hiring process. There are a lot of steps you have to go through to find the right person! First, you have to sort through job applications. Depending on where you conduct business, there might not even be a deep enough talent pool in which to find the best-qualified candidates for your job. It could take hours to qualify a handful of candidates that meet your requirements!

When you work with outsourced freelance contractors, you have the opportunity to hire someone who matches your job profile completely. Even better is that you end up saving time and money on the expenses of hiring a full-time employee when you include expensive benefits packages that include health insurance, paid vacations, and sick leave. As you can imagine, the cost savings in working with an outsourced employee represents a significant amount of money. Especially when these savings are spread out over the expanse of months and years for multiple employees.

Another advantage that helps you and your business is that nearly all outsourced workers have independently pursued ongoing training, certifications, and acquiring specialized knowledge in the services they provide. They also have access to related tools that are critical to the services they provide.

For instance, a graphic designer most likely owns – or has his access to – Adobe Creative Cloud software or another preferred graphic design software suite. In essence, your employee doesn’t need you to buy or supply them with access to the tools necessary to complete their job, which saves you more money on the costs of software and licensing fees.

There is no better time than now to dispel any preconceived notions or misconceptions you may have about hiring outsourced professionals. These experts are there to help you with the jobs and tasks that you don’t have the time or the interest in doing yourself, without all of the hassles that traditional hiring represents.

Working with outsourced contractors is a ‘win-win’ situation that allows you to stay in control without the added risk of hiring full-time workers who may or may not be able to complete the work you need to be done based on a much higher cost basis.