Outsourcing Secret #1: Making Smart Hiring Choices
Outsourcing Secret #1: Making Smart Hiring Choices
By Melanie Benson Strick, StomperNet Faculty Member
"Delegate, outsource, build a team."
It’s the message drilled into so many entrepreneurs who are ready to grow big. But what happens when the team you have is causing you to spend too much time micro-managing – and you’ve literally become an overworked manager?
It’s hard to be the focused on achieving your big vision and making money when you keep getting pulled down into the weeds. Hiring other people to help offset your weaknesses is supposed to help you grow, not make you resent having people to delegate and outsource to.
So what the heck went wrong?
Oftentimes it starts when you are ready to grow. Think about what’s happened at your business over the last few years. You start out, you have a certain goal or mission, and you know you have a certain budget to invest in your growth, so you hire someone who meets your budget and can do a satisfactory job of completing the tasks.
Then it happens.
Woosh!
You take off at lightning speed – orders fly in, new programs are created that serve your high-end marketplace, customer service challenges arise more frequently, the level of detail management required has increased and your expectations have escalated to a whole new level.
You grew…but:
Did your team’s approach change with the evolution of the role?
Did your infrastructure shift to handle the expansion?
Did your systems and procedures progress with the increase in demand and quality?
Well, when I’m working with an entrepreneur’s business as their coach, I evaluate many different parts of the process to uncover the real problem.
Often it boils down to one of four areas (or a combination of them):
1. The skills and competencies of the team don’t match the role as it evolves.
If you experience a lot of breakdowns, miscommunications, or a regular inability to complete the task on time, and as the saying goes, you may be trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip.
You can’t expect someone whose is new to internet marketing to be a whiz at getting savvy squeeze pages up in a day. It’s an unrealistic expectation. Often when we outsource and delegate tasks in the beginning we hire for the current needs versus hiring someone who has the ability to expand and grow as you do.
This issue can be resolved if both parties are willing to identify the gaps and create a plan to increase the team members skills.
ACTION: Educate your team on your new vision and how the role will change in order to achieve new goals. Meet with each team member to decide if they are willing/able to fulfill new role.
2. The systems, procedures and technology necessary to perform at optimum speed are not up to date, creating tension and frustration for the person responsible.
For three years we knew we had a poor system for managing customer purchases and lead follow-up. But the investment and time it would take to fix the problem kept it on the back burner.
This year we knew to make the leap we desired we’d have to bite the bullet and make it happen. The result is less duplication of effort and more marketing efficiency. Not having the ideal CRM system over the years caused so much frustration, angst and breakdown between my fast-paced team that the cost of NOT upgrading the system became too great.
ACTION: Assess areas of breakdown, frustration or inefficiency. Invite your team to share their insights too. Then make a list of what needs to be upgraded and prioritize based on budget, time and cost. Don’t forget to evaluate the cost to NOT upgrade as well…
3. The contractor or employee being delegated to does not have the habits and behaviors necessary to sustain growth with the new role.
A heart-breaking moment is when the entrepreneur recognizes that their breakneck pace cannot be sustained by someone on their team. Or, when after repeated breakdowns, we finally realize the reason why certain tasks are always late is because the person doing them is not a good time manager or is distracted with multiple priorities and can’t focus well.
The good news is that habits can be changed, if the team member is willing. I’ve found that just like us, our support teams are bombarded with requests, changes and conflicting priorities so creating a new system to handle time management can often resolve the problem.
It’s important to create a time frame in which the necessary changes must take place, then be willing to end your working relationship if they can’t make the shift. In order to grow you must have a team that can keep up.
Keep in mind – if one person in the equation is not happy, then it’s not a win-win and neither of you will be happy over the long run.
4. The preferences, needs or attitude of the team member are not aligned with the business today.
A client of mine had a major breakthrough in my Virtual Team Building TeleBootCamp when she recognized that she had hired an online business manager (OBM) whose vision for himself was being a well-known internet marketing super-star.
When she finally realized that, for the level of growth she was experiencing, she needed full-time contractors dedicated to HER vision, she breathed a huge sigh of relief and let the OBM go.
Another client was struggling with an intern straight out of college who was bright and promising but routinely was confused and overwhelmed by trying to take on more responsibility. After probing through the diagnostics, we uncovered the intern really wanted to be on the road in more of a sales job vs. being an admin type person.
You can’t change someone else’s preferences, needs or attitude – and if their focus is not in alignment with yours, then it may be best to let them go. Using this four step diagnostic tool will help you separate your emotions from the facts.
Many of us become friends and grow attached emotionally to our support team (that’s quite natural) but you have to remember – you run a business!
If the team member is not a positive impact to the bottom line, you can’t afford to continue to invest in them. As this excellent unknown contributor has said in this quote, “If you think hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs!”
It’s our job as entrepreneurs to have the best talent we can invest in to propel our mission forward!
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This article is 2nd in a series by Melanie Benson Strick, virtual business building coach and StomperNet Faculty Member. Look for the 3rd installment next week.
One thing people should also know is that, like many other things in life, you many times get what you pay for. Just because you can find someone to do this work for you at a very low cost does not mean they are giving you the best service. It's best to find a true professional that really knows what they're doing, is willing and able to grow with you, and that you connect with personally. Just like in person, it's hard to work with someone who you really don't like — no matter how good their work might be!
One suggestion from my experience: ask someone when you’re thinking of hiring them for a task is what they expect from the customer. This is usually an open door for a negative person to start blasting away at some of their “awful” customers from the past. If you start hearing this kind of negativity from anyone you’re considering hiring, back away quickly.
These are great suggestions. But don't forget about references. As a recruiter, I value references from past managers the most, but references from former customers and coworkers are helpful, too. Many job seekers don't fully understand how important choosing a good reference is, maybe because they don't think we'll call. We always do.
We ran a traditional employment ad on Craigslist this past spring when we started looking to fill a Customer Service position at our software company. I was deluged with hundreds of unqualified applicants. Realizing we needed to screen applicants, I placed another employment ad that included a clear ‘how to apply’ format with 6 questions.
Outsourcing some things probably shouldn't be done. However, there are probably small things that some people could outsource that they simply aren't experts in. A lot of people pigeonhole something into a certain all or nothing role, but the reality is we all need help at things.
Outsourcing is a good idea but making the choose is a difficult process. You find many but the ones with good quality are like pearls in the ocean rare to find. If you find one, try to keep it forever.
Cheers mate!!
I'm on the verge to dive into outsourcing and I'm more that a little reluctant. So many bad stories around. You wonder if its even worth it. I think recommendations from the friends abroad is the best way to go.
great article, easy to read and well laid out and good use of headings.
Melanie,
When you have been in the business a few years, it becomes clear how many mistakes you can make when outsourcing. I have tried everything from low budget outsourcing in India and Philippines to high dollar consulting in UK and US. It is not always that you pay for what you get. I have found many cheaper providers to be good but need more training and lazy high dollar services. So I think for everyone it takes time to build a good outside team.
Cheers
I love that quote at the end. Have to remember that! Though, it's tough when you actually don't have the money to hire someone you'd love to work for you.
It is nice information from your site. Thanks….
Nice post!I certainly agree with your point. I can even relate to this coz I was once a team member of a business venture. Though it failed, at least I've learned a lot of things from that experience. Thanks!
very interesting post it give me very useful knowledge about out sourceing.
Thanks Keep it up
Excellent post. The problem with outsourcing isn't the fact that they are in a different country, but rather that they hire incompetent employees.
I always remember these moments,so my business develops quite well. All the components in your company should work to reach the set goals. This brings really good results.
Great article. I glad to read it. I am going to share it on facebook.
As an online entrepreneur, you will learn how to effectively outsource your business to the right people you can trust without coughing up crazy amounts of money at all!
I like your article..Last days ? can't read like yours…Thanks..
One of the best things you can do is to lay out a blueprint of expectation. Do not just assume that they know how to manage tasks and time.
Interesting article! For over 15 years we have developed work facilities for the disability community that focus on enhancing ones abilities as well as bring ones disabilities up to a competitive level in order to create a level playing field standard.
Nice post. Some very useful advice. Lack of commitment can be a real problem when it comes to outsourcing
well done Melanie, your article has open my mind. very useful for us. good luck!
speeding up the process of going back to work in business and self employment for people with disabilities.One of the best things you can do is to lay out a blueprint of expectation.It's always been so fulfilling to me to be able to help other business owners grow
A very nice article have you written.I really enjoyed reading what you had to say.You have lots of good ideas about outsourcing money.Hope to see such a informative stuff in future!
I have had my problems with outsourcing before. Mostly because of hiring the wrong person. I am now seeing the successes of hiring a good talent in outsourcing. Thanks.
really liked the article. I really liked. I really thank you for sharing. for dividing the information you provide.
It seems the four tips boil down to communicating an evolving marketplace to sustain new needs and challenges. Human resource managers know this type of communication is key to ongoing growth – not that many know about it!
This is a very interesting and awesome article. It's best to find a true professional that really knows what they're doing, is willing and able to grow with you, and that you connect with personally. Thanks for sharing. Looking for more updates on this topic again.
One of the benefits of outsourcing is that you do not have addition set up costs and no unproductive wages. However, I feel a good team is very necessary.
I'm new to outsourcing and I had a bad experience last week, thanks for the infos.
It seems the four tips boil down to communicating an evolving marketplace to sustain new needs and challenges. Human resource managers know this type of communication is key to ongoing growth – not that many know about it! thanks for sharing,
Continuing education is paramount as well as making sure employees understand what is expected out of them. If they do not perfom, there are thousands of willing individuals that would put in 110% six days a week to feed a hungry family. thanks for sharing,
Great article! New businesses (and a lot of established ones too) tend to hire only what they can afford instead of who can help the business move forward. Usually spending less will ultimately cost more…
I believe that the best way to improve the productivity of the company is making a marketing open. interesting article
By following these rules we can do more effectively to run a company.
Anybody who wants to start outsourcing or is already outsourcing work should definitely read this post. You hit the nail on the head when you said that it's a business and you can't let your feelings or emotions get in the way. Your business can only be as good as the people that are working for it.
"ACTION: Assess areas of breakdown, frustration or inefficiency. Invite your team to share their insights too. Then make a list of what needs to be upgraded and prioritize based on budget, time and cost. Don’t forget to evaluate the cost to NOT upgrade as well"
Yes, that's evaluate the opportunity cost of not making the changes to grow. Not really a smart hiring choice, but a great outsourcing secret!
I love that quote at the end. Have to remember that! Though, it's tough when you actually don't have the money to hire someone you'd love to work for you.
It seems the four tips boil down to communicating an evolving marketplace to sustain new needs and challenges. Human resource managers know this type of communication is key to ongoing growth – not that many know about it!
Hi Melanie,
Nice article, it's very important to have your employees on your side when you make such decisions.
Hi
from my point view offshore development is the best option for every one who has limited budget and want unique services. there are so many companies which provides outsourcing services very fast and with high quality.this article explain all point about outsourcing very nicely.
Thanks
Outsourcing effectively is without doubt a talent and sadly I'm yet to get it. I've experimented with with pay rates from absurdly low to absurdly high. I've spent hours detailing the requirements … To date I'm yet to receive a single piece of work that I can use. It's cost me weeks of effort and out of pity I've even paid some of these people.
Outsourcing obviously works so I will persist, but I'm getting the clear impression that one must be a hard *** to get results.
I think it comes rather natural to judge talent, everyone has that special something which comes easy to them. Continuing education is paramount as well as making sure employees understand what is expected out of them. If they do not perfom, there are thousands of willing individuals that would put in 110% six days a week to feed a hungry family.
Just my .02 cents.
Imagine what it would be like if you had a secretary or an assistant that make's sure that all your content is submitted, links placed, social bookmarks created, content generated, websites up and running? Imagine what it would feel like to have those things taken care of for you instead of you having to take care of them yourself.
making big vision while our business haven't grow yet does tempting our patient. for it, we had needed to be very caution trusting view we hired. i guest it also connected to judging personal character too.
One lesson I learned from this article, start using outsourced talent before you have to, test the prospects and tune your system before your workload gets out of hand.
One of the benefits of outsourcing is that you do not have addition set up costs and no unproductive wages. However, I feel a good team is very necessary.
I have had my share of outsourcing headaches. Sometime it seems that it could be better to do that work myself rather than facing the problem. So thanks for the article, it has helped me in a number of ways.
Outsourcing is a great help when you decide to make the double in less time, and you trust the job to another person. This article will help us choosing the best team partners if we are planning to outsource.
Tips are explained very perfectly here, I think every professional SEO should read this post at least once so that they may know what they actually need to do and how to fins skillful persons.
Well, as a businessman these tips are helpful and useful to me. Much appreciated, thanks for sharing.
Oh my gosh have I had the hardest time outsourcing. I've tried using private contractors in the Philippines, elance and getafreelancer. It's so hard to find good writers that don't charge $40.00 per 500 words.
But, what I do have I'm able to get around better with SEOQast!
I am currently looking forward to setting up a small outsourcing biz here in our area. Your article provides me a step toward the right direction. thanks.
I wonder how its possible for you to write such an interesting article. Overall, I liked the secret very much. Ready to implement on.
I agree this is an excellent article,This is really a great article about some hidden secrets.Being strong enough to say goodbye is a huge thing.
I try to outsource everything but the key pieces like design. There is a cauch that you can only get the thing done by someone else if you have done business in the past. Other ways you have no idea what kind of quality they offer.
This is really a great article about some hidden secrets.. Thanks pal
I've been looking at outsourcing to India and this guide has given me some great advice as to how I should go about it.
By following these rules we can do more effectively to run a company.but its not practical to check the rules to take the resources
This is a great article. Often times we discuss what needs to be outsourced, and if it really needs to be outsourced. I liked how you incorporated if it will make your team evolve into what goals you were aiming for.
Find someone or a team who can really meet your requirement. Let them do their own, but be sure that from time to time you monitor them. Then see how's everything going on.
We constantly seek more automated and artificially intelligent answers to control the human element.
Very eloquently stated. I have had multiple business meltdowns due to the lack of commitment of others.
One of the best things you can do is to lay out a blueprint of expectation. Do not just assume that they know how to manage tasks and time.
A really good piece of information! It is absolutely necessary to grow with the changing times. You cannot keep the same structure of the organization when you are on a growing thread.
thanks a lot.I've learned a lot from this article. i agree with the 4th point you made.
Outsourcing is tough for a lot of internet marketers and webmasters. I have had my fair share of pitfalls with outsourcing work, in fact I just had a guy yesterday run off with my money, it happens. Especially when you are dealing with people from other countries.
I am living proof that this is so important for a company. Before my business was shutdown there were too many people trying to do their own thing and not getting on board with the vision of the company. Being strong enough to say goodbye is a huge thing. All my employees were my friends, but sometimes you are doing them a disservice too by keeping them on trying to do something they don't love – something you need done by someone who loves to do it.
This is an excellent post. I have been looking at outsourcing for my business with the goal of growing faster. I know many outsourcers lose money, so I want to learn as much as I can before I begin. More posts on outsourcing please!
Great post. Too much micromanaging and you won't have time to manage other important issues.
Also, keeping everyone happy is so crucial in the team.
Great article very informative. Outsourcing is a money saver for online and offline businesses alike. Ford, Chrysler, and GM, are outsourcing a lot of there work to save a ton of money to recuperate from the global financial crisis.
"Delegate, outsource, build a team."these words say it all……..
I agree this is an excellent article, With excellent points. we as entrepreneurs have to jump through a lot of hurdles to get to where we want to be. This includes decision-making, costs, expenses, etc… good points!
I agree whole-heartedly with the first 2 articles in the series — and not just because I'm an indpendent contractor that provides these services. It's always been so fulfilling to me to be able to help other business owners grow and prosper — many times just from being able to do projects for them that cost them about $100 a month — but increase their profits exponentially.
One thing people should also know is that, like many other things in life, you many times get what you pay for. Just because you can find someone to do this work for you at a very low cost does not mean they are giving you the best service. It's best to find a true professional that really knows what they're doing, is willing and able to grow with you, and that you connect with personally. Just like in person, it's hard to work with someone who you really don't like — no matter how good their work might be!
Interesting article! For over 15 years we have developed work facilities for the disability community that focus on enhancing ones abilities as well as bring ones disabilities up to a competitive level in order to create a level playing field standard. Your observations of the human element inherent in both employees and vendors are the one we are constantly fine tuning. We constantly seek more automated and artificially intelligent answers to control the human element. This seems to be a failure point for entrepreneurs who neglect, trust, do not have time for, fail to motivate and / or lose focus of the tell tale signs that are systemic to business failure.
We are currently working on the development of a virtual business park using currently available and edgy software, firmware and hardware that when finished will sync to a persons inabilities, providing automated components for, retail, wholesale, warehouse, manufacturing, Research, Development and services delivery. We do this piecemeal currently but by converting to a centralized system we believe that we can substantially reduce equipment customization and training costs, thus speeding up the process of going back to work in business and self employment for people with disabilities.
The interesting point is that such an initiative could work equally well for non-disabled entrepreneurs, especially those who distain daily commutes to “the office” and understand the freeing nature of reliable broadband connections on the sunny beaches of Key West and beyond! But one should take heed because we are also working on automating a virtual entrepreneur to reduce the risk of . . . [read the "whole" D&B study on business failure]
Cheers,
Owen Doonan CEO, THE-Group
mentor-one@usa.net
Very eloquently stated. I have had multiple business meltdowns due to the lack of commitment of others.
One of the best things you can do is to lay out a blueprint of expectation. Do not just assume that they know how to manage tasks and time.
Hi Melanie
this is an excellent article. This is probably the biggest hidden hurdle entrepreneurs face and I have lived it personally. you should hook up with my friend Bruce Benoit who does two day intensives called how to be a more effective leader. he shows people how to cure all these problems in advance so they can walk out the door and make it happen. He needs on line experts like you guys to move his programs. it could be a nice profitable marriage. give me ring and I'll hook you up. cheers kevin