Pygmalion Effect in Outsourcing

Olga Rotanenko, BizDev Director
05 May 2022

How to get your outsourcing team to perform better than your in-house employees

Nowadays remote work is becoming extremely popular. The pandemic has taught us how to control and monitor people working from home without sacrificing quality and productivity. Moreover, we are happy to reduce costs on office supplies and utilities. We even give up on offices as such – moving from face-to-face meetings to online communication and coworking spaces in case of urgent need. 

Still there are no limits to optimization. And here comes the outsourcing solution.  

It is common knowledge that an outsourced team can save your time and costs on operational routine tasks. You also don’t have to worry any more about arranging workplaces, HR management, payroll services, IT, legal and accounting support for your employees. Your outsourcing partner will do everything for you. 

However, most entrepreneurs are still afraid to delegate their customer service or back-office activities to third parties. 

But just think about  it: if you manage to control your employees working remotely, it should be much easier to control your dedicated outsourcing team.

Here are some tips on how to get your outsourcing team to perform even better than your inhouse employees.

• Finding the right people

Being the end employer, you have the right and you are practically obliged to interview at least the key players of your outsourcing team. No need to be involved in  all of the recruiting process. 

There are only a couple of things you need to doo: 

1. describe the ideal profile to your outsourcing partner 
2. approve\disapprove a candidate. 

• Setting up working processes 

Being the end owner of the process, you either describe the detailed scenario to your outsourced team which they will need to perform, or just set up the final goals & KPIs they need to reach. No matter which option you will choose, it is crucial  to onboard your team at  the  highest level possible. You know and understand your business better than anyone. So, transmit your knowledge to your remote team. Let them feel as a real part of your company and thus become its decent representative. Yes, you need to invest your time and efforts, but you do it once, and then just reap the benefits.

• Quality control

The Quality Assurance Process is key for reaching the set targets. And in this respect, the main responsibility lies with your outsourcing partner. 

Before choosing the most reliable one, you need to clarify and verify how they manage their QA system. 

Determine the required KPIs, SLAs and other Quality parameters such as CSAT, AHT, etc.

The core of the process is the Scorecard (Scale). It is developed based on the Project KPIs and used during  Agent training. All scorecards should be approved by you and can be changed according to your business needs. The evaluation process and categorising mistakes should be in place as well.

• Reporting 

This is my favourite part of the process. In case you’ve chosen the right outsourcing partner for you and set up the process to work smoothly and in alignment with your needs at the very beginning, what you need further is only to check the reports on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. You set up the frequency and the format with your team lead or PM. 

One important recommendation – arrange online meetings with your remote team. Give them feedback on their performance, share your plans or just make  small talk. Video calls will help  make a connection. No matter how good the structure and management of an outsourced team is, it is very important for remote employees to be in touch with their leadership and feel as a part of the company.

• Motivation

Motivation is just as important for your offshore team as it is for your  in-house one. It can be both financial and moral. 

Performing back-office activities for  long periods of time can lead to emotional burn out. 

Bonus-malus-system can help here. People always perform better for an extra reward. So, once it comes, consider the proposal of your project manager to pay bonuses to both Agents and team leads. 

Promotion is a great motivation. Unfortunately, sometimes it can be difficult to promote people with your outsourced team. Still adding more high level and responsible tasks to people’s activities can be motivating.  

And don’t forget that you can just commend people for their achievements during the meeting or over email. Good words are always nice.

   Conclusion

Trust your outsourcing partner, don’t be afraid of delegating your job to  “third parties”. 

Their goal is  to perform your tasks. They strive to deliver the highest results possible and want to give you the best value for the money you spend. At the same time do not leave them unattended.  

Implementing bonus-malus-system and strict KPIs will give you peace of mind. 

But the most important thing is treating your outstaffed agents and team exactly the way you treat your inhouse employees: 

• Interview 
• Onboard
• Control 
• Motivate 
• Fire or promote depending on how they perform 😉 

Believe in your outsourced team, communicate with your remote agent – and they will pay you back with reached KPIs and stunning results.