Guidelines for Handling BPO Transitions With Minimal Complications
A growing number of companies are discovering the benefits of business process outsourcing. In particular, outsourcing in the Philippines can be very advantageous, since the Philippines has many qualified professionals. One survey from digital learning shows that 57% of businesses outsource various procedures to scale growth and meet other essential goals. Another study by Omnirms shows that 78% of firms have positive experiences with outsourcing partners.
Despite the clear benefits of BPO, there are also some possible complications. Fortunately, companies can mitigate these issues by taking the proper precautions and clearly defining their rules and goals.
Complications to avoid when conducting BPO transitions
Companies that want to ensure their BPO transition goes smoothly must be familiar with the most common pitfalls. Some of the most likely complications outsourcing admin are likely to encounter are summarised below.
Internal staff and outsourcing providers are unclear about their expectations
When roles are unclear, remote staff may need clarification about their responsibilities. This problem leads to task duplication and tasks not being completed.
Costly corrections due to poor handoffs
Essential resources must be transferred to the BPO provider to ensure the outsourced staff can do their job effectively. When resources are not delivered on time or are not complete, costly problems can arise.
The company struggles to objectively measure performance
All organisational goals need to be measurable. Therefore, companies working with BPO providers must have reporting and measurement controls in place to ensure goals are being met.
What measures can companies take to reduce the risk of complications during the BPO transition process?
Fortunately, companies can manage the challenges above with proper planning. Some steps companies can take to reduce these problems include the following.
Develop a governance framework to manage the BPO provider
BPO providers can offer tremendous value to their clients, but they must still be managed effectively. Every organisation working with an outsourced team must set aside sufficient resources to oversee their work. The BPO client must also identify a point person responsible for managing the BPO provider. This employee will need to clarify the expectations for the BPO team, establish performance metrics, outline any restrictions (such as regulatory and compliance limitations) and carefully monitor their performance.
Perform an ongoing cost-benefit analysis of the BPO transition
Every organisation is going to need to justify its decision to implement a BPO transition to defend its reliance on a BPO provider. The company will need to perform a cost-benefit analysis. This assessment will consider the following factors:
- The initial cost of coordinating the transition
- Ongoing costs of outsourcing
- Cost savings associated with outsourcing (i.e. cheaper labour costs, taking advantage of applications the BPO provider owns that the client would otherwise have to pay for)
- Productivity and performance gains or losses
The BPO client will need to identify the metrics needed to measure the ROI carefully.
Work closely with the IT team to avoid any technical snags
Every organisation must make sure that its IT department is on the same page before attempting to coordinate any BPO transitions. The level of resources and preparation work their IT professionals will need to do will vary depending on the scope of the BPO project and the company’s existing infrastructure.
IT departments have their own bureaucracies and bottlenecks. They need an advance warning before carrying out any major project. All stakeholders must communicate their needs and expectations clearly, so the IT staff can adequately handle the project.
After the expectations are communicated, the company needs to ensure that the IT team is responsible for leading the technical aspects of the transition. Companies that try to micromanage their IT department without fully comprehending the IT issues are more likely to run into problems.
Make sure all affected stakeholders agree on the scope of the transition and BPO engagement
Affected personnel at the BPO provider and client organisation will have contrasting interests regarding the scope of engagement. Employees at the client organisation may want to reduce the scope to protect themselves from redundancy. The BPO provider may want to expand the scope to have more autonomy over the projects. If the scope is not clearly defined, all stakeholders will be uncertain about their obligations. This lack of clarity can lead to wasted resources, confusion for project managers, missed deadlines and improper resource allocation.
All stakeholders across all the layers of both organisations need to be clear about the scope. Companies implementing BPO transitions should only change the scope with a clear rationale.
Proper planning and coordination are essential for avoiding problems during a BPO transition
As a growing number of companies rely on remote work, the benefits of outsourcing to a BPO provider become more clear. A BPO transition can be both an exciting and nerve-racking prospect. Although there are many benefits of restructuring a business model to be more dependent on a BPO provider, companies can still run into issues if the process is not handled properly. Fortunately, these problems can be mitigated by taking the right steps to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page and that the proper controls are in place.
