When you’re busy managing the day-to-day operations of your business and an important job role opens, your first thought is filling the position. The decision about whether to outsource the role or fill the position with a permanent, in-house employee will most likely align with what was done before. But it is beneficial to contemplate which approach is ideal for a specific role, or even for an entire job category.
Both in-house and outsourced labour come with their set of pros and cons. However, what we will be looking at here, is when you should consider each as a small and growing business, so that it works out in the best way for you.
Stay in control of essential business functions
Keep tasks related to your competitive advantage in-house. Otherwise, your business becomes alarmingly reliant on outsourced help, which can rarely be counted on as much as in-house staff.
It is important to take a deep look at what aspects of the business may actually be core areas, especially for small and growing businesses. It may seem simple, but it’s critical to never outsource your company’s competitive advantage. This can be detrimental to your company’s culture and overall health. When you outsource too much of the core processes, what you end up with is a culture of maintenance people. That is, people that are uninspired, that are just keeping things running.
Giving your employees tasks that are critical to the company’s success is generally a good way to keep them engaged and motivated. Employees tend to be more driven when they are working on tasks they find interesting. If you give employees interesting work and show them how their work helps the company, motivation should increase.
Outsource when you lack the skills or expertise
If the employees at your business aren’t experts in technology, but the business has a few important but not critical technological tasks, it’s likely the smart decision to outsource those duties. For example, a small business focused on selling organic vegetables doesn’t necessarily need to run social media accounts, but hiring an outside social media person may boost sales. If you lack knowledge in an area that isn’t crucial to your business’s competitive advantage, outsourcing may be a cheap and easy solution.
Use outsourcing as a way to fill knowledge gaps, rather than outsourcing tasks that align with your company’s area of expertise. This seems obvious, but small businesses make these mistakes daily. It’s best to hire outside parties to handle tasks that aren’t in your area of strength.
You should also consider time constraints. For example, customer service can be a time-consuming task. Using an outsourced call center or live chat solution can save your business time while still tending to customer needs. It’s important to recognize areas of your business where outsourcing can help.
Remember that when deciding whether to hire in-house staff or outsource, you need to look at your business needs, as there are pros and cons to both options. Don’t get too caught up in comparisons to decide what activities your business should and shouldn’t outsource. A business down the street might have a founder with a background in accounting, even though he runs a bakery. That business might not outsource accounting because of its founder’s expertise, but your business might have a deficiency in accounting knowledge and will need to outsource that responsibility. It differs for every organization. It’s also important to see the drawbacks and benefits of both outsourcing and hiring in-house staff members.
Picture courtesy of rawpixel.com – www.freepik.com
Visit our blog for more helpful business tips and tricks to aid you important decisions like whether to outsource or not.
