Why Outsourcing fails and how Virtualemployee.com Overcomes the Pitfalls to make outsourcing a success

Outsourcing can fail for a wide variety of reasons. VirtualEmployee.com is not only acutely aware of the pitfalls of outsourcing but also how to overcome them.

Following are the crucial components VirtualEmployee.com implements to make sure that outsourcing is a success:

Mindset and Approach

When outsourcing work thousands of miles away, even the slightest glitch can have escalating repercussions, resulting in a chain reaction of multiple errors and, ultimately, magnified levels of inefficiency. We believe success when outsourcing can only be achieved by providing quality and efficient results. In turn, quality and efficient results will also result in cost effective results for the client. Therefore, from the very outset, we focus on providing an excellent service as opposed to focusing on cutting corners in an attempt to illegitimately maximize profits. We believe our success as a company will take care of itself provided we remain focused on and take care of our client’s success. This is why we are able to resist the temptation to provide an inadequate service and entice clients with unfeasibly low costs. We believe this would not only result in failure for our clients but also for our organization.

Our strategy and approach to outsourcing is thus based upon the mindset that our client’s success is our success. Hence our primary objective at all times is to achieve quality, efficiency and cost effective results for our clients. Many companies do not understand this mindset or approach; cutting corners is the norm for them. Hence from the very outset failure is inevitable because the wrong approach and strategy to outsourcing has been implemented.

Professionalism

Providing a professional service and ensuring all staff working with the client conduct themselves in a professional manner is a crucial but often discarded prerequisite to making outsourcing a success.

Many outsourcing vendors fail to appreciate that even if their staff are talented and work dedicatedly, if they or the vendor work and conduct themselves in an unprofessional manner not only is this frustrating for the client but also inefficient. Unprofessionalism can quickly result in outsourcing becoming an unnecessarily delayed and time-consuming process.

VirtualEmployee.com upholds professional values at all times. We stress and emphasize the importance of professional conduct for we understand the positive impact this has when outsourcing.  

Hiring the right employee

The most important factor behind successful outsourcing is the obvious one - to hire the right employee. If the employee you hire does not have the right qualifications, experience, motivation, ability, or work ethic, inevitably they will be unable to produce the results you require.

VirtualEmployee.com has devised a very stringent and rigorous dual HR screening process to ensure that you recruit the right employee.

Our recruitment team

A team of individuals work together collectively to recruit and shortlist candidates for a client.

• The senior recruitment manager supervises the TLs and all the recruitment teams.
• Technical project consultants (Engineers/ M.Tech/B.Tech/ BE / Domain Experts) are senior in house employees who have a skill set similar to what the client seeks in an employee. TPCs are thus able to play a key role in assessing the skills and technical ability of candidates. Furthermore, if required, they also possess the technical know-how to liaise with the client if a better understanding of the client's job description or project is required.
• Client account managers co-ordinate between the client and the recruitment team.
• Team leads guide recruiters and are specialists in Human Resource management and have more than 5 years of experience in recruitment.
• Recruiters are MBAs who have specialized in Human Resource management and locate potentially qualified candidates.

VirtualEmployee.com understands your requirements:

Step 1: The initial source of contact between VirtualEmployee.com and the client is with one of our client account managers. Our client account managers communicate with the client to discuss the client’s vacancy and explain our business model to them.

For any position that a client wants to fill we ask for a detailed job description. Such in-depth information from the client is crucial for they are the most informed as to the type of employee they require. Accordingly, more information from the client makes it easier for us to recruit the most qualified candidate as per the client’s wishes.

If there is any missing or insufficient information, a client account manager contacts the client for filling in the gaps.  We do not make any presumptions with respect to the type of employee a client wants to hire. Hence we do not commence our recruitment process until we have all the necessary job description information.

Step 2: Once the client account manager has all the necessary information and has spoken to the client, the job description is passed onto the senior recruitment manger. Prior to commencing the recruitment process, the recruitment department will review the job description passed to them from the client account manager.

Depending on the position for which a candidate will be sourced a meeting between some or the entire recruitment team will take place. If required, technical project consultants will help to explain what skills and experience an individual needs to work on the client’s project. During the meeting the technical project consultant or team lead also assess whether they require more job description related information. If so the client account manager/ team lead / TPC will speak and convey their questions to the client. A recruiter, team lead and technical project consultant may also be involved in any required research into the position. Once the job description is clarified and the recruitment team has discussed the position in detail, the recruitment process then commences in full swing.

VirtualEmployee.com's candidate screening

Step 3: Recruiters, guided by team leads, commence the screening process by scrutinizing candidates’ resumes. The recruiters look for resumes that match the vacant job position in terms of qualifications, experience, and expertise.

Step 4: From the screened resumes, those candidates who match the position undergo a telephonic interview. During the telephonic interview, once again recruiters screen the candidates’ suitability for the said position.

Step 5: Those candidates who pass the telephonic stage of screening are invited to our office for a face to face interview by the recruiter. Candidates may also undergo a second interview with a team lead and be assigned a technical test at this stage. Candidates that pass the recruiter/team lead interview phase are then more rigorously technically assessed with more interviews and tests by technical project consultants. Team leads may also perform preliminary background checks, discuss employment terms and explain our documentation process to any candidates that are approved by the technical project consultants. Following this, the resumes of those candidates who passed our screening process are finally submitted to the client.

Client's candidate screening:

Step 6: Following the face to face interviews conducted by the VirtualEmployee.com recruitment team, the best resumes are then submitted to the client who accordingly reviews them.

Step 7: From the resumes received, the client selects the candidates they would like to interview and/or test, (VirtualEmployee.com advises all clients to interview candidates before they decide to hire an individual). A client can also request to review more resumes at this stage if they wish.

Step 8: Following the interviews and/or test results, the client decides if they would like to hire any of the candidates.

Step 9: When a client confirms they wish to hire a candidate we then submit our contract and invoice. Upon receipt of both, we then complete the documentation process, conduct final background checks and sign our employment contract with the candidate. It is only when things have been finalized at our end that we ask the candidate to serve notice with their present company if they are currently employed. The joining date of the employee will then be confirmed to the client.

Why VirtualEmployee.com’s recruitment process is successful

VirtualEmployee.com enjoys a very high success rate because of the dual nature of our recruitment process. Both the client and VirtualEmployee.com are closely involved in the hiring process and filter through the best candidates. VirtualEmployee.com never assigns to a client an employee that we feel is suitable for the position. Rather, it is the client who gets to select the employee they want to hire.

With VirtualEmployee.com the client has the opportunity to decide if the shortlisted candidates are qualified for the position. We encourage clients to review the resumes, provide tests, and interview the candidates. With VirtualEmployee.com the client is in a position to ask challenging technical questions, assign tests, and review the candidate’s qualifications and experience before deciding if they want to hire an individual.

Ultimately, the client is the best judge of the type of employee they want to hire. And this is why we involve the client in the recruitment process instead of assigning any randomly selected employee to them; this is what significantly increases the success rate. The client only hires an employee once they have confidence in his/her ability. If a client has not been impressed by any candidate there is no commitment to hire, and this is why the client’s risk is minimal. With this layered recruitment process, VirtualEmployee.com ensures you hire the right employee which is fundamental for outsourcing to be a success.

Office infrastructure and hardware — efficiency is the key

Popular outsourcing destinations such as India, China and the Philippines are often crippled by poor infrastructure, frequent electricity cuts and unstable and slow internet access. When working with an employee located thousands of miles away, it is imperative that both parties are equipped with the necessary infrastructure and hardware. If the employee is not, then working remotely with such an individual is likely to be unproductive, if not impossible all together.  Equally, if an employee is not equipped with a powerful PC then close collaboration and interaction with an employer is not possible. Unavailability of software and other computer peripherals such as fax, headset, scanner, web cam, printer, and a telephone with local number from your country can also hinder an employee from completing their work or doing so in an efficient manner.

VirtualEmployee.com’s office is, however, maintained to international standards in every respect. VirtualEmployee.com is dedicated to providing a quality service for our clients; which is why we have several lease line internet connections, technical support 24 hours a day, new Dell PCs, air conditioning, spacious office desks, backup generators, video conferencing rooms etc… Our office is on par with those you would find in the U.S. or Europe. Without all these facilities, it is simply not possible to work closely with an employee remotely. VirtualEmployee.com places a strong emphasis on proper hardware, infrastructure, and a first-class office. This allows us to create a Virtual office environment that makes physical distance irrelevant and, thus, you and your employee can work directly together.

Supervision and management

With VirtualEmployee.com it is the client who supervises and manages the employee’s work. Your employee, however, works from VirtualEmployee.com’s offshore outsourcing office in India where they are physically monitored and supervised by VirtualEmployee.com’s HR department and managers. All aspects of outsourcing and employment that a client cannot control remotely are taken care of by VirtualEmployee.com on the behalf of the client.

Our physical presence is crucial to the success of outsourcing for it enables the following:

• Professional office working environment 
  
• Logistical control of your employee
• Employee accountability
• Regulation of your employee
• Positive psychological impact of working from a controlled office environment

The psychological impact that working from a controlled office environment has on performance and conduct cannot be underestimated. Without adequate supervision and management of your employee, outsourcing becomes undisciplined and deregulated which leads to inefficiency, unprofessionalism, and, thus, ultimately poor results. Many clients experience such difficulties when hiring freelancers in foreign countries who work unsupervised from home.

VirtualEmployee.com’s management structure ensures employees are held accountable for their results and conduct to both the client and VirtualEmployee.com. This is a key contributing factor to performance and ultimately the entire outsourcing process.

Dedicated Customer service, HR department and managers – client support

Many outsourcing vendors fail to uphold their responsibility to provide dedicated client support. Any difficulties or issues a client is experiencing are unlikely to be adequately addressed or resolved. In the case of hiring a freelancer in a foreign country there is almost no client support because there are only two parties - the client and the offshore freelancer. Therefore, should any problems arise there is no third, neutral party to intervene, liaise between the client and employee or contribute to remedying the situation.

VirtualEmployee.com has a high success rate because there are three parties involved in the outsourcing process - the client, the employee and, VirtualEmployee.com. We are committed in our role and responsibility to provide support and help resolve any issues, concerns or problems a client or employee is experiencing. We monitor and oversee the entire outsourcing process at all times and so we are able to identify and resolve potential stumbling blocks before they turn into a problem for the client or employee.   
To achieve this, VirtualEmployee.com’s customer support department is open 24 hours a day. If you have any query or any problem you can, thus, instantly get in touch with us at any time, irrespective of time zone differences. Furthermore, our senior managers are very experienced in working with clients and managing staff in India. Their experience makes them highly qualified in offering effective solutions and resolving any problems a client may be experiencing. In summary, if a client has any difficulties with their employee, work, or any other outsourcing-related problem, VirtualEmployee.com is present to take care of it immediately.

Similarly, the VirtualEmployee.com HR department is present at all times to resolve any issues or problems your employee may be having. Whether their problem is a technical one, is related to their work, or even a personal problem, VirtualEmployee.com is present at all times to provide your employee with assistance.

In summary, we take our responsibility seriously to ensure the client is outsourcing successfully and to remedy any problems as soon as (or even before) they arise. If an outsourcing vendor is not committed to providing effective client support, any problems a client experiences may go ignored and ultimately result in the outsourcing process failing.

Business Model - Client control

Outsourcing often fails when a client hands over control to a third party outsourcing vendor that is incompetent. With VirtualEmployee.com, however, the client is in the driving seat.

Dedicated VEs

A Virtual Employee is a dedicated employee who works directly with and exclusively for the client. And so a VE becomes a remote addition and extension of the client’s local team. The client is always in control, managing and instructing their dedicated Virtual Employee as they wish.

Offshore office

Furthermore, VirtualEmployee.com’s office acts as an extension of the client’s local office; VE managers are the client’s physical representatives in India. And so VE managers supervise and monitor the Virtual Employee in accordance with the client’s instructions. Once more the client is in control of how their VE is managed.  

VirtualEmployee.com’s office becomes an offshore branch and subsidiary of the client’s local office. From this perspective, the client is actually keeping their work ‘in house’ and not outsourcing to an unknown third party outsourcing vendor.

Office norms and customs

VirtualEmployee.com provides induction training to all of our employees on ‘working with Western clients’. Observing and being aware of Western cultural office norms and customs makes outsourcing not only easier but also helps the client and their Virtual Employee build a stronger rapport and working relationship with each other.  

Conclusion

VirtualEmployee.com is consciously aware of why outsourcing fails and what is necessary to make outsourcing a success. This is why we are successful, for by having this awareness at all times we are able avoid the pitfalls of outsourcing and ensure cost effective, quality and productive results for our clients.