Offshore Outsourcing: How Cost-Effective Is It?
The BPO industry continues its steady rise with an emphasis towards skill specialisation offered by offshore outsourcing. It continues to position itself as one of the most strategic business decisions through cost-benefits without sacrificing quality output. Offshoring gives your company access to several benefits and opportunities such as reduced operational expenses, increase in productivity, and market expansion.
Through offshore outsourcing, essential business functions don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket. Offshoring connects your business with top-quality talent, especially in the Philippines, a country renowned for its competitive salary rates and vibrant BPO ecosystem. We know that business scaling can be overwhelming as in-house teams grow. But, offshore teams provide the scalability to let you focus on core functions and expand your reach. Consider these examples:
Communicating with the Team is a Breeze
Filipinos are renowned for their strong English communication skills, consistently ranking high in global proficiency. This, combined with their excellent interpersonal skills and cultural awareness, makes collaborating with a Filipino team a seamless experience. Forget communication barriers – you can expect clear updates, timely responses, and a focus on building trusting relationships.
Around The Clock 24/7 Customer Service
Philippine offshore teams can provide 24/7 customer support, ensuring no inquiry goes unanswered for more than 12 hours. The comprehensive coverage lets you retain global clientele and outpace competitors limited to standard business hours.
Increases your Digital Presence
In today’s digital age, a sluggish website is a dealbreaker. But with offshore web developers, you can establish data centres in strategically-located regions, delivering significant cost savings while ensuring blazing-fast performance for users worldwide. The talent pool in the Philippines offers skilled web developers at significantly more competitive rates compared to some established regions.
Unlocking Markets with Cultural Savvy
An experienced Digital Marketer becomes your business’ bridge to unexplored horizons. Their deep understanding of local nuances, preferences, and regulations acts as a cultural compass, guiding your international expansion and helping you connect with new client segments across the globe. While top-tier talent in other countries offers premium rates, you can find equally capable professionals in the Philippines at a competitive cost structure.
Seamlessly Transitions to Digital
Offshore outsourcing allows you to optimise workflows, boost staff morale, and find the perfect skillset, regardless of location. Roles such as Social Media Managers are a good example of optimising a hybrid setup. The Philippines’ Social Media landscape warrants consideration for businesses seeking competitive talent at a good value.
Your Business Thrives with an Offshore Team
Offshore teams provide a strategic mix of cost savings, access to global talent, and 24/7 project support, fueling your business growth without saturating your resources. A trusted offshore provider will help your business thrive through top-notch work. Whether it be in software development, customer service, or data analysis, an offshore team frees up your in-house staff for innovation and growth projects.
HGS boasts a community of talented and driven professionals. Our collective expertise spans across leading companies in a multitude of industries. Feel free to contact us to start your offshoring journey today!
Citations
Business Solutions. “5 Reasons Offshoring in the Philippines Is a Sound Decision.” Outsource Philippines, 11 Oct. 2023, outsource-philippines.com/offshoring-in-the-philippines/.
HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions. “What Makes an Offshoring Strategy Effective.” HGS OSS, 28 Apr. 2024, hgsoss.com/newsroom/what-makes-an-offshoring-strategy-effective/.
Marcelo, Elizabeth. “Philippines Improves in English Proficiency Index.” Philstar.Com, Philstar, 2 Dec. 2023, www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/12/02/2315811/philippines-improves-english-proficiency-index#:~:text=MANILA%2C%20Philippines%20%E2%80%94%20The%20Philippines%20improved,111%20in%20the%202022%20EPI.
Ramotowski, Stephen. “The BPO Industry Is Growing Exponentially Year on Year, Bolstering the Economy, and at Last Count Employed 1.3 Million Filipinos.” Nexford University, 30 July 2024, www.nexford.edu/insights/the-future-of-bpos-in-the-philippines-and-growth-opportunities.
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Outsourcing IT Functions: The Importance of Staying Competitive
When you think of outsourcing functions, those related to IT usually first spring to mind. Some would even say that the BPO industry overall gained traction because of the breadth of outsourced IT functions. In recent years, it has gone beyond just providing in-office support to companies they collaborate with.
Properly fitting your business for IT functions is not an easy task. It is something that must be done regularly, resulting in a costly endeavor. This is often why businesses turn to outsourcing. If no one in locally has the IT expertise a business needs, they are likely to get results through outsourcing. They save money while also meeting their different IT-related needs.
Essential IT Functions to Outsource
Indeed, the IT industry has the biggest range of functions companies can send to outsource. It is also true that the business climate has continued to evolve. What were once perceived as simple tasks can now be called challenging. At the rapid rate businesses work today, it is inevitable for certain functions to be outsourced.
Here are five IT functions that your business should consider sending to an outsourcing provider.
Software Development
Perhaps the most common IT function outsourced is software development. Not only is it a more cost and time saving approach for companies, it allows them to work with experienced professionals while mitigating risks. There may be a lack of local or in-house experience, but outsourcing software development allows flexibility and a focused strategy.
Web Design and Development
We’ve discussed at length before the importance of web development to companies today. In an increasingly online environment, it’s important that companies stand out with their online presence. Companies that do not have a defined presence online and just rely on social media reach are at a major disadvantage. An outsourced web designer not only makes sure you stand out, but can do so at a reduced cost.
However, while a website’s presentation is important, so is the overall functionality. A business’ website may have all the content and branding it needs to win people over. If it is constantly plagued by errors or does not properly display on mobile devices, potential customers and clients will react negatively.
Email management
Managing an entire email account may not be the first role you consider when outsourcing IT functions. As stated earlier however, the rapid rate of operations means a high volume stream of emails daily.
By outsourcing your email management, you not only address this but a well-equipped outsourced IT team offers protection common digital attacks. They can organize cluttered inboxes and can also provide regular reporting of messages that are of high priority.
Managed hosting
Experienced outsourcing providers are able to scale any IT infrastructure required of them. For businesses on the cusp of growing, they may need dedicated servers beyond their local office. As their business grows, so should the IT infrastructure that scales along with them.
Outsourcing IT functions lets companies access dedicated and secure servers.
You can also access and use a shared server in order to exclusively use a protected server of your own. By outsourcing managed hosting functions, your providers can adjust their infrastructure based on particular conditions at any time. You anticipate when massive influxes are coming in to your website, then scaling back to a more manageable approach.
Data center outsourcing
Most third-party outsourcing providers offer data processing and resources for companies. This is often the case when the company’s own IT department is not equipped for it. From data collection to data storage and backup, maintenance and updates, having a trained staff on-hand can help ease the processes that come with data center outsourcing.
Keeping Your Business Competitive
The track record of outsourced IT functions continues to develop as technology gets better. As a cost saving approach, outsourcing is second to none, especially when it comes to IT functions. More than that, companies that outsourced will be collaborating with an experienced provider that can meet their goals.
HGS is fully equipped to handle IT functions ready to be outsourced with teams that can take on these responsibilities. Contact us today to get started.
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How Outsourcing Can Help You Create a Branded Customer Experience
Gone are the days when businesses only competed with other companies across the road. Businesses today are now competing on a global stage as the battle to claim who is better is becoming more and more challenging. However, even though most companies are trying hard to win customer’s hearts, most of them fail to meet the expectations of their clients.
Delivering the brand promise you first introduced to your clients is crucial for you to build a loyal and engaged customer network in the future. It’s important, therefore, to discuss how offshoring can help you in delivering a branded customer experience.
Outsourcing enables you to focus on your core competencies.
The advent of technology is bringing about
Through offshoring specific back-office functions, you may redirect your time and resources in innovating your product and services. Let your audience know how your business is different from your competitors by earning a positive customer review
Improves Customer Retention
Outsourcing your customer service team is more than just helping you address different client concerns. Today,
Having a dedicated offshore team to accommodate all your customer’s concerns will enable your business to fully understand your clients. Being knowledgeable and empathetic towards their situation will also make your customers feel appreciated, driving the chance of converting them into a repeat customer that will, later on, make repeat purchases.
Adapting to a modern offshoring strategy will empower your team to be proactively involved in resolving your client’s concerns. Unlike traditional outsourcing, modern offshoring has a people over process approach strategy that can significantly benefit your business in the future.
More than just customer service
Over the years, outsourcing customer support services have proven to be an efficient way to accommodate customer concerns. However, due to the limitations of the traditional outsourcing model, many businesses look into innovations in outsourcing as a new possibility to have more control and freedom to set their own metrics to achieve a strong and branded relationship with their clients.
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- Outsourcing Marketing: Five Functions to Consider
- Five Finance Functions You Can Effectively Outsource
- How Outsourcing Can Help You Create a Branded Customer Experience
- Manila’s Status as an Outsourcing Destination
- What Business Gain From A Branded Customer Experience
HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions has a very hands-on approach in helping its clients in analyzing what roles they can effectively offshore and will collaborate with you to ensure a smooth offshoring implementation with your current operations, feel free to contact us today.
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The Benefits of A Happy, Motivated Workforce
One of the core values that HGS lives by is “family.” We believe that our success would not be what it is today without the people who come in each day. For that to happen, it means having a work culture that feels like being part of a second family. This creates a happy and motivated workforce.
Most businesses will tell you that a happy workforce lead to better output around the office. While this is true, we want to focus more on the other, not often mentioned benefits of a happy workforce. Yes, when employees are satisfied, the atmosphere becomes more positive and more productive. But there’s absolutely more to it than that.
Developing Creative Energies
When a company’s employees are happy, the creative spirit also flourishes. Cultivating a positive workplace lets people flex their mental muscles more and explore their imagination. This may seem ideal for creative industries, but even the more technical ones can benefit from it as well.
Consider for a moment how creativity helps businesses. By keeping employees motivated and happy, they are able to come up with practical solutions that less positive ones may have thought of. Fostering creative energies also often means thinking outside the box. Doing so allows businesses to stand out in their field by taking a more unique, less-travelled approach fueled by the creative spirit.
The Spirit of Collaboration
One way that employees stay positive and creative is through collaboration. It’s no secret that having a highly collaborative workforce is the goal of many leaders and CEOs. While many leaders look to employee performance management tools to help in this endeavour, the key to effective collaboration might be far simpler than all that.
According to research, having to work towards common goals with colleagues make employees more collaborative and determined. By establishing a solid working relationship, employees can become more sociable, therefore more relaxed around one another. This allows them to share their different ideas and opinions without feeling tense or anxious.
At the same time, positive employees are able to make better decisions. According to Alexander Kjerulf, chief happiness officer for Woohoo Inc., happy employees make better decisions, are better at time management, work better with others, and possess a number of other critical leadership skills.
People are no stranger to difficulties that happen during work that often cause stress and anxiety. However, a positive office environment with happy employees can turn the mood upside down after overcoming some workplace challenges.
Happiness and Loyalty
HGS prides itself with having an attrition rate that is below the industry standard. We want everyone that works for us to love coming in each day, be comfortable with their colleagues and enjoy what they do. We believe in our employees and invest in their career direction and satisfaction with the company. HGS believed this since day one and continues to do so today.
From our own experiences, a happy workforce not only means a lower attrition rate. In an article from the Harvard Business Review, strong work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50%. They saw also that employees who had good friends at work were more likely to engage fully in their work. It also means developing long-term, loyal employees who can showcase their talents to the fullest extent. We want our clients to work with some of the best talents from the Philippines.
Promoting Better Productivity
A company’s employees are its greatest asset. They strive to create an environment that allows its employees to feel accomplished, productive and motivated. You can have the most accomplished team under your belt, but they may not show their full potential in a less than appealing work environment.
It certainly can be said that emotions help influence the workplace, and overall happiness can steer any company in the right direction. This is what we want from our staff here in HGS and why we prioritize developing a positive environment where everyone can flourish.
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Why Offshoring is Like Being in a Long Distance Relationship
Very few people enter into a long-distance relationship on purpose. What ends up typically happening is that partners become victims of circumstance where one finds themselves needing to relocate, whether for a new job or a transition to a new career.
Most people believe that long-distance relationships don’t always work, and one’s friends and family may discourage them from doing it. Most say the extra distance makes many things unachievable. However, the additional effort can also make the simplest things better as well. Similarly, offshoring is not for every business, and it requires a lot of effort for it to work effectively.
Offshore Business Relationships
Today’s interconnected world and the innovations of new markets have transformed the environment where most businesses operate. Companies are frequently forced by intense competitive pressures to overcome challenges to stay relevant.
In situations like this, businesses will opt to offshore some of their current operations, hoping that it will grow their company. This enabled businesses to lower production costs, while at the same time boost their profitability and save costs more aggressively. On the other hand, businesses also have to face a new challenge: how to mitigate the effects of geographical distance.
This Valentine’s season, we’re giving you some tips on how to make offshore business relationships work for you.
Be Completely Honest
If a successful relationship is built on honesty and trust, offshoring is no different. The simplest yet most important tip is to be straight with your offshore team.
When you encourage honesty with your team, it becomes a good habit in the long run. Once you trust your offshore team enough, you can be assured that they will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Promote Effective Communication
Being in a long-distance relationship can often involve a lot of misunderstanding. To avoid this, fostering effective communication is vital. Similarly, in offshoring, failure to communicate issues may further worsen a problem.
Make it a point to set up regular catchups to connect with your offshore team through video conference or phone. If there’s a time difference, set a time that works for both of you and use it to discuss more pressing concerns.
Appreciate and Collaborate
Celebrating small wins can help your team achieve significant goals. For example, when discussing a new project, one of the most significant advantages for your business is to have a team that can inspire each other to further improve on an existing idea.
Showing appreciation will make your team members feel more confident to suggest their ideas in the future. With this strategy, it creates a trusted bond between your team towards a more productive environment.
Making the Right Decision
Long distance relationships might be hard, but it’s possible as long as both parties are willing to put in the effort to make it work. The right offshore provider will not only help your business grow in terms of profit but will also partner and collaborate with you to ensure a smooth and efficient process to reach your long term goals. Choose the right offshore provider who also has a low staff turnover rate, which means they know how to take care of their people and later on, your business.
HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions is currently in partnership with leading companies from Australia, Northern America and Canada by providing them more than 650 staff across all industries. We also have a 97% employee retention rate through the help of our unique employee engagement and retention strategies and by providing them comfortable, modern facilities at Metro Manila in the Philippines. With this, we attract the best people to work with us.
If you wish to make offshor business relationships work for you, feel free to contact us today.
