In a rapidly changing and dynamic sector that has been disrupted heavily by advances in digital communication, competition has never been so fierce in the fast food industry.
Customers expect excellent service and great value without product quality being compromised.
The fast food franchise engaged an offshore solutions provider to fully review the company structure to identify the key roles which could be offshored effectively. This involved a detailed process and procedure review, position description review and offshore readiness assessment.
The company was concerned about perception and the impact of offshoring on its local workforce, however, realised that they did need to adapt to grow.
As a result, the solutions provider identified key back office services which could be effectively offshored without impacting on local employees.
The tasks identified were process and labour intensive and could be administered efficiently by offshore team members.
Functions that the retailer has successfully offshored include:
- Finance – Accounts Payable, Accountants, Payroll and Business Analysts
- Marketing – Social Media Coordinator, Graphic Designer and Digital Marketing Specialist
- Customer service – Call Centre Operator, Customer Care Moderator
- IT – HelpDesk and Software Development
- Legal – Paralegals
The retailer realised that each operating function within their business could be empowered by offshore team members.
More than 20 roles were offshored across a myriad of functions including marketing, customer service, finance and administration.
No local roles were lost as a result of offshoring – the company simply cost effectively added capability.
By offshoring these functions, local employees were able to focus on the main growth initiatives, providing exceptional customer service and were also able to be upskilled.
The company has seen the benefits that offshoring can deliver in addition to the significant cost savings and increased competitiveness.
Offshoring has given the company the ability to more efficiently allocate costly local employees – as a consequence, they were able to grow their profit margins.
It is important to remember that the success of offshore programs is dependent on the processes and procedures that underpin them. Ensuring whether or not processes are working effectively at a local level is critical; any sub-par processes identified were re-assessed and re-engineered.
HGS works with organisations to ensure they are prepared for an extension of their workforce via offshore teams. This means working with the client to recruit, onboard and implement their offshore programs, and assist with change management.
The client successfully adapted to an offshore model and are now reaping the benefits of a global, highly skilled and digitally enabled workforce. Not only that, local employees are now aware of the value offshore teams can play in enabling and empowering them to do more and be more.
What does this leading retailer see as the biggest success of their offshoring strategy?
– Ability to allocate process and labour intensive tasks to low-cost resources and allocate local (and higher cost) employees to high-value tasks and strategies.
– In many cases, employees who were previously allocated these process-based tasks were provided with access to upskilling and professional development opportunities.
– This fast food franchise can now offer services that they were previously unable to due to cost restraints.
– They were able to add extra capacity to effectively service their customer base.
– Offshoring gave this retailer the ability to focus local resources on strategic initiatives which have allowed them to solidify themselves as one of the biggest players in the market.
What advice would they have for others considering offshoring?
– Most importantly, if you’re looking at offshoring as a vehicle to only cut costs, your business is getting into it for the wrong reasons and you will not realise the full value that offshoring can deliver. Get into it for the right – strategic – reasons!
– It’s important for any business considering offshoring to carefully assess the roles they’re looking to offshore and whether these roles are feasible.
– Communicating the potential change with your local workforce is critical. An offshore approach will not be successful if the change is not managed effectively and there is no buy-in at a local level.
– All processes and procedures associated with the functions being considered for offshoring must be well-mapped out and working at a local level. If they aren’t working for your Australian employees, there is a high chance they won’t work offshore.
Regardless of your industry, HGS can help your business plan a seamless offshoring roll-out. Contact us today if you’re ready to take that next step.
