In my last post, I recommended that clients with deep reservations about the viability of outsourcing overseas for their business should think less and meaningfully engage more with vendors. The best example of the effectiveness of this approach is with respect to candidate assessments.
I have lost track of how many times clients will tentatively approach outsourcing and then do a complete U-turn and pressurize us on having the service start asap, once they have actually spoken to the candidates that we have put forward. This is because, it is when clients speak to our candidates and experience first hand that they, (the candidates we present) possess just the knowledge, skills and experience they have so keenly been searching for, that their fears dissipate.
It is at that moment that clients, who are the most worried, realize that outsourcing can work for them. This is particularly true in technical domains such as software development and engineering – where it is very easy to quickly objectively assess the capabilities of an individual. As soon as clients are presented with a candidate that has the technical ability they have struggled for months to find locally, outsourcing no longer seems like such a risky affair but rather a safe bet. There is no better approach to quashing perceived strong held opinions than first hand experience.
Fear is a very powerful emotion, it can cause you to sorely over-estimate your risk assessment if your fear is founded on personal sentiments rather than conclusive evidence. Both overthinking and feeling overwhelmed leads to inaction and immobilization and thus at this point it becomes easier to walk away from outsourcing rather than authentically assess its potential benefits. This is why so many companies miss out on the truly gigantic benefits of outsourcing.
In short, if you have serious reservations, (and let me emphasis the word ‘serious’, for if you do not then you can take more of a plan first engage later approach. But for those clients who overly panicked about outsourcing, the only way to lower their anxiety level is to for quick meaningful engagement) about the viability of outsourcing overseas, stop overly analyzing – it’s not going to help nor get you any closer to the actual truth. Rather, fairly assess the merits of outsourcing and do this by simply taking small steps evaluating all key factors on step at a time. In the previous blog post, I recommended a step-by-step checklist approach to outsourcing for clients who are overly concerned. Near the top of that checklist should be speaking with actual candidates!
If at any point one of your reservations is not surmountable despite a vendor(s) trying their best to convince you otherwise then don’t outsource. Many clients will however, provided they authentically and fairly evaluate the merits of outsourcing find that by the end of the process their initial fears and concerns have turned into excitement and an eagerness to start. If by the end of the process you do not feel like this then that is how you know you probably should not outsource. Either way, whatever the outcome, the most important point is that you did at least authentically and judiciously evaluate the case for outsourcing which surely is the most prudent approach?
In my next blog post, I share some advice to help you ensure you do just this – 5 Tips to ensure you authentically evaluate the merits of outsourcing despite strong reservations.
