04-06-2013, 12:45 PM
Six Steps to Successful Relationships: The Golden Rules of Outsourcing
Six Steps.pdf (Size: 2 MB / Downloads: 32)
Rule One: Play the Field
Rule Two: Walk Away If It doesn’t Feel Right
Rule Three: The KISS Approach (Keep It Simple)
It is essential to play the outsourcing field a little, and
learn about who is in the market. For example, what
services are on offer, what are their strengths and
weaknesses? Are any of the players ‘your type of
company’, and do they share your corporate culture?
In the process of meeting different outsource service
providers, you will learn about what makes each company
tick. Some providers focus exclusively on call-centre
farms, with low-cost, results-driven staff, while others will
be better at high-end service management for more
complex customer care programmes that can significantly
add value to your business. Additionally, some vendors
genuinely enhance the outsourcing package. You can
discover this during the pre-sales discussions.
Rule Two: Walk Away If It doesn’t Feel Right
Does the service provider’s corporate culture feel right,
and does it fit with your company? Outsourcing is a
particularly close form of business relationship. In effect,
outsourcing means that an internal service division
(customer service, accounts, technical support, logistics)
is being run and managed by another company – and you
will work with and speak with this other company’s teams
on a regular, if not daily, basis.
In many cases, the outsource provider’s staff will be
representing your company to the outside world, and it is
absolutely essential that the two companies’ cultures are a
close match.
If you spend time learning about the various service
provider’s attitudes towards their own staff, well before
any moves towards an RFP (see box) or contract, you will
avoid a great deal of anguish later on in the relationship.
Rule Three: The KISS Approach (Keep It Simple)
In many cases, outsourcing discussions can become
bogged down in the ‘how,’ with endless discussions about
service description, staffing, and remuneration deals.
For example, while it is clearly of interest to understand
how the outsourcing provider handles peak workloads, the
details are ultimately not your concern.
Rule Four: Take It Slowly at the Beginning
Start with a pilot programme for a limited number of
business processes, and build on success. Before moving
complete departments, with complex TUPE (Transfer of
Undertakings - Protection of Employment) requirements,
long lead-times and detailed service level agreements, find
a specific service area that can act as a proof-of-concept.
On the basis that you are trying to develop a new
business model – some elements of your non-core
activities will be handled by a third party – it makes sense
to test the idea step-by-step. Smaller service areas are
easier to define, with identifiable objectives,
measurements and goals, and much easier to manage.
Results are easier to monitor, and – should the worst
come to the worst – the agreement can be concluded
rapidly. (See box on Contracts.)
Rule Five: It Takes Two to Tango!
Outsourcing is not a magic potion that cures business ills.
Transferring service delivery to an outsourcing provider
will bring in expertise and resources, and also solve
pressing challenges of workload and cost.
The responsibility for success is now shared, and it is
important to understand that, like our marriage analogy,
this is a partnership.
There can be a tendency to assume that once the contract
is signed, management is now a question of checking
performance against the service level agreement. Life is
rarely so simple. It pays dividends to understand where
the service provider is excelling, and where performance
can be improved. If the outsourcing relationship is not
working, it reflects poorly on both companies, and exactly
as you would pro-actively assist an internal department to
address weaknesses and improve performance.
Rule Six: Plan for the Future
Future growth of your business should be part of the
outsourcing programme. Even before you sign up with a
provider, it pays to consider and discuss your long-term
objectives. For example, if you plan international
expansion, does your potential outsource partner have
global reach? Does the outsourcer have a choice of low
cost international locations? Can the outsourcer also offer
on-shore or near shore facilities? And what are the
outsourcer’s own plans for growth?