As companies continue to embrace digital transformation, there are significant changes on the horizon. While the term “outsourcing” used to be accredited to relatively menial tasks, business process outsourcing has become an increasingly popular solution for modern organizations. In this blog post, we’ll explain business process outsourcing and why it’s become a go-to answer for growing SMBs and large corporations in the Mid-Atlantic region and across the world.
An Introduction to Business Process Outsourcing
Have you ever wondered how small businesses are able to grow at such rapid rates? Chances are they are relying on business process outsourcing to support them in the background. When it comes to business process outsourcing, think of processes that can be done by a third-party, freeing up your existing staff to handle more critical, strategic tasks. Essentially, business process outsourcing is used to provide an added layer of efficiency and productivity to the company’s objectives without hiring additional staff.
What Type of Business Processes Can Be Outsourced?
Depending on your organizational structure, there is room for business process outsourcing at almost every level. Many companies opt to utilize these services for their human resources, document processing, accounting functions, and even mailroom services. Some companies outsource their sales and fulfillment functions to companies that specialize in these tasks.
Everything depends on what you need, as the costs for outsourcing business processes vary based on the tasks at hand and their level of difficulty. It’s always a good rule of thumb to sit down, go over your internal functions, and determine where you lack support. If there are functions that leave your staff feeling overwhelmed, or if these tasks can be done more efficiently by outsourcing them, it may be time to consider this solution.
Working with A Business Process Outsourcing Provider
The ideal situation would be to work with one business process outsourcing provider that is versatile enough to handle all your processes in one, centralized arrangement. This may or may not be achievable for you, as some providers have strengths in certain areas, while you may find exactly what you need in another. The goal is to ask the right questions and decide how the provider can help your organization moving forward. That will help determine the workflow and their fit.
How Your Company Will Benefit from Outsourcing Its Business Processes
It may be difficult for an organization to see exactly how this solution will help them. Here are a few common benefits that you can expect to reap from one of these partnerships:
- Time – Repetitive tasks can take valuable time away from your best and brightest employees. You can save time by outsourcing some of your business processes, allowing staff members to focus on and implement the skills that inspire them. This also helps pinpoint areas of deficiency that may need to be retooled. Passing on these responsibilities can lead to happy employees, which results in increased productivity and efficiency.
- Money – Who doesn’t want to increase or stabilize their bottom line? Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on hiring, training, and onboarding employees. By utilizing business process outsourcing, these tasks are taken off of your plate and placed into the hands of a capable team that is specifically trained to tackle these responsibilities. This allows your resources to be allocated in other areas that need them the most.
- Competency Care – Each of your employees was hired for their skillset and core competencies. Very often, these skillsets are not utilized properly due to repetitive tasks. By outsourcing these responsibilities, your team will be able to do the jobs they were hired for, helping the company strategically move forward.
- Scalability – When companies can focus on the bigger picture, they are often ready to scale sooner rather than later. Instead of employing new hires for certain tasks, they can use business process outsourcing to accomplish them, thereby saving money while reconfiguring the overall strategy. This also helps companies become more flexible as they pivot and grow.
- Competition – By utilizing business process outsourcing, smaller companies can focus on scaling to compete with larger organizations. This helps reduce the level of competition while providing top-notch services just like their larger counterparts that rely on additional resources.
- Workforce – There are instances when companies have short-term projects that require all hands on deck. These projects can be completed by outsourcing certain business processes without impacting your in-house staff or hiring additional employees. You will essentially increase your workforce without the HR hassles or costs associated with salaries and benefits.
While small- and medium-size companies may consider the cost of using business process outsourcing as an expense they may not have the capacity to handle, it is more likely that it is the most cost-effective solution to scale. Working with a third-party provider ensures that these necessary tasks will be completed while allowing your core team to be strategic in their thoughts and implementation.
Companies who adopt this mindset find they have happier employees, more time to focus on expansion, and more time to groom their teams for success. Do you have an effective growth strategy in place? Wouldn’t you like to tap into employee strengths and utilize your staff the right way? Consider using business process outsourcing to solidify your position in the market.
Is your Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey business considering making a move to business process outsourcing? To learn more about how we can help, contact us today!