I left a voicemail for my son recently. As a student he disregards the vibrating of his phone, and quite often it is days before I can “connect” with him. An hour or so later, he calls me, complaining.
“Mom, do you know how much time it took for me to listen to that voicemail? Don’t voice it. Nobody has time for voicemail, text it.”
Aahhhh…technology. We have become a world of emailing, texting, twittering, instant messaging, the list goes on.
I remember my first answering machine. Could the world get any better, any smarter?
Yes, there are times I feel like a dinosaur. We no longer recognize voices because we never hear them. But as my wise grandmother loved to say, “Bloom where you are planted.” In regard to technology, this would mean, “Thrive in the environment you are given.”
In today’s business arena, outsourcing certain jobs has become a more efficient, less costly, and creative-avenue to bring talent into the workplace without providing a cubicle, 401k, salary, or commitment. As a business owner, you can afford to contract with a person you could not economically keep on the payroll.
In Business 101 we learned from Charles Handy that the future will consist of an organization driven by a core group of employees, a management/customer service group, and the creative group. He likened it to a “shamrock organization.” His prophetic idea is in position today in every top business organization in the world.
Outsourcing allows you to share quality workers for at a significantly less value, giving you the best of both worlds.
It is not a perfect environment and comes with obstacles that must be considered before venturing down this path. First, even if you find the right person for the job, you must consider that they have little or no knowledge of your organizational culture. While the job may be generic in nature, it is important to realize that some form of introduction to what you and your business are about must be in place. If this person is to ingeniously represent your company in advertising, marketing, writing, and/or graphic designing, can they effectively do so without knowing your core values, where you are heading, what you hope to obtain? If a person spends most of his life in a tropical climate, can we really expect him to understand snow?
Such thought leads to another barrier, when you open up to express your vision and dream for your company to a person you’ve only emailed a few times - confidentiality. Can you possibly know how many of your outsourced employees actually work with your competitors as well? As a business owner, you are putting a lot of stake in an employee who does not belong to your team, has little or no allegiance to your company, and can easily pass on trade ideas if the opportunity arises.
So, the question remains… “To outsource or not to outsource?” Here are some guidelines that may enlighten your efforts to “bloom where you are planted”:
- Have a confidentiality clause in place before you hire, exchange trade ideas, or submit company visions. A written commitment serves two purposes: a) it projects seriousness about your desire to maintain a credible relationship and b) it instantaneously places the outsourced employee on your team. (YOU are a part of us. YOU are on OUR team.)
- Look for people you already know or have some form of relationship either through references of current team members or other companies who have used this particular person with success.
- Prepare a list of questions, just as you would when interviewing a person for a job, so that you know with whom you are aligning yourself. While job boards are great opportunities, do not go with the lowest bid, or the person who seemingly has been chosen more often. Such outsourcers usually have a team of individuals working for them, so you really don’t know who is working for you. Require a submission of prior work and request answers to specific question that mark the character and general core of the person.
Technology has opened the flood gates in recent years to an enormous path of possibilities; however, you must find the way to thrive in an environment that wants to weed you out.
by Nora C.Hatchett
