What to outsource vs what not to outsource

Know what to outsource and what to keep in-house?
Photo by Nick Youngson, nyphotographic.com

It is important to understand that outsourcing may imply very different outcomes for different companies. The same does not apply for all in most of the cases. In today’s day and age, it is almost like every single company out there is looking to outsource as much as possible. However one must tread carefully in deciding exactly which factors to outsource and which not to. Here is a list of factors that should not be outsourced :-

  • The development of your employees: Now this is something that you can truly call your very own. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to outsource this part of your company’s operations as you alone will know your employees better than anyone else. Not only will they be an integral part of the overall growth of the company, but you can also help them with their personal growth.

  • Keeping your workers happy: After all, it is much easier to keep your already established workers satisfied than it is to search for new employees in the bargain. Since new jobs are constantly appearing on the horizon, keeping them happy is essential to preventing them from switching to another job.

  • Focus on the overall vision: There are numerous details and things that you will need to focus and keep track of. Stick to the initial roadmap and business plan that you pitched to your investors and you are sure to earn their trust and respect. Hard as this may be to believe, this is exactly what separates successful startups from the failed ones.

Subsequently, there are several factors that need to be outsourced as well. Here are a few of them :-

  • Payroll: This is best kept outside the confines of your office as payroll processing could turn out to be rather complicated to handle in general. Not to mention that the particular information needs to be kept confidential as well. Out of the entire list on things to outsource, this is undoubtedly at the top. There are myriads of dedicated payroll service providers that can work through this part on your behalf.

  • General recruitment: This is one aspect where you tend to lose a great deal of time on hand. After all, it is quite the tiring process and it is ultimately in the best interests of the company itself that you avoid wasting your precious time in weeding out hundreds of candidates. Leave the recruitment work to another company that is solely focused on only that goal and nothing else.

  • The task of performance management: At first glance, this probably doesn’t sound like the most ideal factor to outsource. However, you will certainly need to consider the fact that an alternative (read a third party) perspective on things would end up being a lot more helpful in the long run. Equally distributing the key goals of the company would not end well if done by the company itself. In this regard, a lot of personal judgements do tend to come in the way, thus hindering the overall process in general.

While it is undoubtedly important to keep in mind the various factors that should and should not be outsourced, you will also need to keep those various unique facets and traits of your respective company in mind as well. After all, what can be outsourced by another company need not necessarily be the same in your case. Keeping that fact in mind is ultimately vital.