We were looking through the phobia list the other day, which is pretty massive in itself, and decided it was about time that we put a name to the fear of outsourcing.
It’s often been said that half of the journey involves shining a light on the fear, and with understanding comes an ability to work through that fear.
So we’ve decided to put our fears into one blog which we’ve named OutsourcingPhobia, a fear of outsourcing.
Most of the fears can be summarized as follows:
Ethical nature of sending work overseas. How do I tell my clients?
This is the big one. Outsourcing or getting someone else to do your compliance seems to be a cop out. What do I tell my clients? How many clients are going to be upset about sending work overseas. The answer is: surprisingly few. Most of your clients are already sourcing things overseas themselves, they’d be surprised if you weren’t.
Is Outsourcing even legal?
Yes, there are a lot of government bodies that want to regulate what you are doing with client’s data, and other bodies that want to make sure you are doing the right thing. We cover this in our “Full Monty… When others do your compliance work” Blog.
Data and Security?
These concerns relate around lost data, which is a real concern, especially as Australia now has laws about lost data. Apart from the data laws, we now also have the Australian mandatory data breach laws. The cold truth is that a lot of outsourcing operations have better data and security than Australian accounting firms. Mobile phones prohibited, social media sites blocked, security cameras etc. A good due diligence will put this fear to rest.
Quality?
This concern seems to be more given by people trying to stop outsourcing i.e. those who have a vested interest in selling you something. Whether it’s a software house, an employee or someone else – if you look hard enough the argument isn’t about quality, it’s about something else. Odyssey completes over 30,000 jobs annually and has a fantastic reputation for quality.
Cost concern?
How do I know how much it will cost. We find this one interesting. Focus should be on quality and timeliness first. If you are chasing cost then you are taking on board more responsibility for training and review. This isn’t a competitive solution.
Communication: Aren’t there language barriers? Do I have to train the staff?
A good outsourcing company will have thought of this and have procedures and people in place for you to talk to. Staff providing outsourcing services should be fully trained. If you want to go cheaper, then look for leased seat options: cheaper, but you are training employees belonging to someone else. Not a long term solution!
What about the time difference?
This can work both ways. You head home to Australia and your Vietnamese staff still have a couple of hours left in the day to finish off work. You arrive in the morning and have a couple of hours to meet clients and review the work we’ve done. It works well.
Ok, hopefully we’ve nailed this phobia on the head. But feel free to reach out to us if you have any more queries about Odyssey Outsourcing!
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