Article

Outsourcing relevancy in a post COVID-19 environment

Companies are combating the effects of COVID-19 on their businesses by striving for financial stability through revenue generation and outsourcing of non-core functions

By Kikis Pissarides, Manager, Business Process Solutions

The year 2020 has emerged as one of the most challenging years in recent history, with the whole world responding and looking to recover from the health and economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has impacted every industry, causing businesses to revise budgets, amongst many other operational matters, in order to manage the effects of the pandemic. With the viability of several companies at risk as a result, companies are striving to be in a position of financial stability by focusing on revenue generation and outsourcing non-core functions.

Global competition for most businesses is fierce. Therefore, businesses must take advantage of areas they can leverage to improve efficiency and reduce costs in order to allow more time and human resources to focus on generating revenue activities. Bringing more efficiency to the daily workflow while also scaling productivity, will become the focus of many businesses in the future. Working with an experienced outsourcing provider helps companies overcome productivity challenges, streamline operations and add additional resources that may be lacking in-house. From sales to recruitment to operations, outsourcing provides an unlimited amount of opportunities to help your business work smarter.

Advances in technology have helped forward-looking companies to benefit significantly from outsourcing services for quite some time now. This is particularly relevant for small to medium-size enterprises, who simply lack the space or labour funds for in-house auxiliary departments like finance and payroll.

There are one-time opportunities emerging from the disruption of the pandemic, therefore it is vital for businesses to re assess their strategies and way they operate. Through outsourcing, businesses can create a pool of additional funds, from the elimination of expenses from non-core activities, thus enabling opportunities for growth and innovation. The outsourcing model reduces expenses by eliminating the need to hire or train new employees and/or the support staff (HR, admin, etc.) and increase occupancy costs and investment in additional office space and equipment. Having a large pool of outsourced “on-demand” talent means companies can rapidly scale their workforce without the need to hire additional full-time employees and increase their overheads and their investment in office space and equipment. Using outsourcing creates new opportunities and makes better use of existing talent that helps employers get the most out of their current workforce.

One of the main appeals of using contracted workers is the new opportunities created for existing employees. Not only to improve morale but to promote creativity and enhance their overall value to the organisation. Certain auxiliary tasks that are outsourced, allows in-house  talent to focus on more strategic activities and projects that better leverage their skill sets,  knowledge, and abilities and truly generate results. Similarly, for every employee that is not hired to perform a support function, more budget is available to hire a revenue generating employee.

Further to saving time and money which usually garner all the attention, outsourcing certain operational functions allows access to the latest technology and systems as well as best-practice in certain activities. With technology expected to grow exponentially and disruptively in the coming years, investing in the latest technology may not be an option for most companies but outsourcing will give them access to the latest available technology and therefore allow them to remain competitive and relevant.

Not only due to COVID-19, businesses today are facing a rapidly evolving landscape, including regulatory changes, continuous advances in technology, and the adoption of more sophisticated approaches by authorities. These challenges are causing businesses to rethink the appropriate mix of in-house and external resources in efficiently managing essential operational processes with visibility, flexibility, transparency, and control.

Outsourcing ultimately offers business owners great advantages. The process allows them to build a team of skilled professionals without adding the expense of full-time employees and additional office space and equipment. With outsourcing, business owners and senior management  can focus their time, attention and resources on their company's core competencies and spend their time setting new goals and finding ways to achieve them.

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