What is Business Process Outsourcing and How Does It Work?
There are many costs you must consider if you own a business. One of the most significant expenses comes with hiring and keeping your employees.
For companies that want a cost-effective and flexible solution, business process outsourcing, or BPO, is the answer.
What is Business Process Outsourcing?
BPO is a business strategy where a company hires another company to perform tasks. This strategy can also be called labour outsourcing.
Companies choose outsourcing workers from business process outsourcing companies to save money and time performing tasks.
The main benefit of outsourcing work is that you don’t need to spend money, time, and effort searching for the best candidates for the job.
BPO companies have their metrics to hire the most qualified workers.
Aside from that, you can expect the best quality of work promptly.
One of the most significant advantages of working with a BPO company is that the workers will be focused on core activities and, thus, can make the turnaround time faster than hiring in-house employees.
Different Types of BPO
There are three different main types of BPO companies. They are often categorised based on where they are located.
Offshore
Most businesses choose overseas BPO companies for their lower labour costs. This is called offshoring or hiring companies from other countries.
Sometimes, setting up your project across multiple countries would be a better option, especially if you need many workers.
However, there are specific challenges that you might face when dealing with an offshore BPO company.
One of the most common problems is the delay in delivery due to differences in time zones and holidays of the countries.
You might also have problems with security and keeping confidential information safe since you need to rely on the Internet for most transactions.
Onshore
Alternatively, you can hire an onshore BPO company that will give you the same quality without the hassle and challenges that offshore BPO companies present.
While a great solution if you want to outsource work, you might not get the same advantages as an offshore BPO company.
Since the same rules govern them, they will probably have the same wages, and you won’t cut costs.
Onshore business process outsourcing companies shine best if you want to hire employees who will give you quality work. Since they are more focused on their fields, finding talented employees who can work on your project will be easier.
Nearshore
Nearshore is a mix of onshore and offshore. While the company is still outside your country, they are often nearer. Thus, you won’t have the same problems, such as extreme differences in time zones.
Some nearshore companies might even be in the same time zone as yours.
For example, if you are in Europe and want to work with a BPO company based in London, this is called nearshoring instead of offshoring.
Your time zone and culture do not differ, and you might find it easier to work with them.
Nearshore is the best solution if you don’t want to deal with the problems that offshore outsourcing has.
It also benefits from letting you cut costs, primarily if they are located in a country where you can lower employee wages.
How Does BPO Work?
If you’re a company looking to outsource some work to a BPO company, you might be curious about how a BPO company works.
As mentioned before, they prioritise giving the best service to other companies. Here is a quick guide on how BPO companies work.
Hiring and Training Employees
It’s no secret that hiring and training employees cost a lot. This is one of the main problems a BPO company aims to solve for you.
Suppose you’re outsourcing company functions unrelated to your core processes, such as data entry or audio & video transcriptions.
In that case, hiring a BPO company will be more cost-effective. They hire their talents, train them, and prepare for work once they finish their training sessions.
Quality Assurance
Since BPO companies like Oworkers often hire experts in the field, you don’t have to worry about the quality of work you will get.
These companies often have their quality assurance testing and will only provide what passes your standard.
Transparency
Since outsourcing involves entrusting one’s business to another company, BPO companies understand the importance of transparency.
They will often ask about what you need to know about your business.
Managers will often contact you and keep you updated on how the project is going on their side.
They will submit reports about the progress, and you can give feedback or suggestions to improve the transactions further.
Pilot Versions
If you are unsure if you want to outsource, you can contact the BPO company you want to hire and ask if they have pilot versions of their services.
These versions can last a few months, and you can check if they fit your company.
You can get a feel for what you want during these pilot versions. You can ask the manager in charge of your project to change certain things to improve the output further.
Flexibility and Efficiency
BPO companies are known for their flexibility and efficiency. You can still decide the metrics and standards that BPO employees should adhere to as a company. This can make tasks more accessible for you, especially if you want to achieve specific goals.
Aside from that, they also ensure that they have a fast turnaround time. Many businesses hire BPO companies to make specific non-core work get faster results.
Conclusion
Big companies usually partner with BPO to cut costs while still getting quality work.
This is one of the most straightforward and efficient strategies to ensure your business goes smoothly.
