These two are viable options for businesses that are looking to reduce costs, scale processes, and expand operations. Ultimately, to save a significant amount of money, your business should be able to combine offshoring and outsourcing strategically: moving your services to a third-party provider in an overseas location.
Offshoring has gained attention in recent months as local businesses in Australia are struggling to find quality talent locally. In this article, we narrow down valuable insights on why your business should consider offshoring and helpful tips on how you can find the right outsourcing partner according to AZ NGA Group CEO and Founder Paul Barrett.
Why Should Your Business Consider Offshoring (and Outsourcing)
1) Reduced labour costs
Hiring Australian talent is expensive, and most of the time, businesses find it challenging to keep up with this cost. According to Robert Half, a global recruitment agency based in California, 93% of Australian business leaders estimate paying a 19 per cent premium on starting salaries to secure talent.
This is the main reason why Australian businesses choose to outsource from developing countries such as India and the Philippines as they can save money and employ quality talents concurrently.
Because other countries have a cheaper cost of living than Australia, it makes sense that wages are also a lot less. Based on recent data, the employee costs in the Philippines are typically 30% of an equivalent role in Australia. This means that the cost of employing three staff members in the Philippines is almost equivalent to the cost of employing one staff member in Australia.
2) Access to well-rounded global talents
Quality education is a top priority in the Philippines. This results in an abundance of ambitious, university-educated, English-speaking talent who are qualified and experienced to perform key support roles.
Offshoring provides Australian financial businesses with access to a global talent pool, enabling them to tap into specialised skills, knowledge, and expertise that may not be readily available locally at a lower cost.
3) Success stories of others
Although some may still have reservations about offshoring and outsourcing, a growing number of Australian advice businesses that employ people in countries like the Philippines in administration, paraplanning, and client service roles have proven to find remarkable success with it in recent years.
According to research by the University of NSW Business School, over 30,000 Australian companies already outsource part of their business functions to other countries and around 70% of leading Australian businesses outsource IT support for their technology needs.
With this upward trend of Australian businesses turning to offshoring and outsourcing to improve the efficiency and marketability of their company, while lowering business process costs, it is time for your business to join the others, learn more about how outsourcing can take your business to the next level, and take advantage of the opportunity.
How to Find the Right Offshore Partner
While offshoring and outsourcing present opportunities, it comes with challenges like cultural differences, language barriers, and managing remote teams. Finding the right offshore partners who can address these challenges can be a potent solution for overcoming the local labour crisis.
Paul, in his article, highlights these 4 key characteristics essential for a reliable outsourcing/offshoring partner:
1) Similar Cultural Values, Language Skills, and Manageable Time Zones: Opt for a partner in a country with cultural values aligning with yours, strong language skills, and manageable time zones for seamless collaboration.
2) Excellent Reputation and Technology Capabilities: Look for a partner with an excellent reputation, a compelling people value proposition, and robust technology capabilities.
3) Quality Assurance and Training Programs: Ensure your partner has quality assurance and training programs in place to continuously enhance each team member’s capabilities.
4) Effective Communication and Client Demonstration: The partner should have the ability to facilitate communication and demonstrate the benefits of outsourcing to clients effectively.
If you’re ready to propel your business forward and invest in a global team of experts, we have the right strategy to guide you. Contact us to kickstart your journey toward business growth.
