5 min
Yulia Barnatovich
Head of Customer Relations Department, Unicon Outsourcing
Sooner or later, the growth and scaling of business will make the company management think of outsourcing its non-core functions to a contractor. However, collaboration with an outsourcer doesn’t mean you can forget about these processes and do nothing but demand reports from the service provider. Learn why the vertical relationship model between the client and the service provider has lost its efficiency.
ASSISTANT INSTEAD OF PARTNER = EXTRA COSTS
At present, customers are increasingly less interested in the outsourcing companies as a tool to make up for the shortage of resources. Clients are willing to collaborate with experienced advisers who will help upgrade the business processes established in the company on top of calculating the payroll and entering source data into the accounting system.For example, our specialists once kept accounting records for one of our clients. The small company was growing fast: its turnover added 400% within just one year. It invariably led to a larger workload both for us and for the client. We could have chosen to raise our service fee on a regular basis, but instead we invited our client to reconsider the processes of our collaboration.
As a result, we automated a number of functions to reduce the amount of manual work and reallocated the roles between the provider and the corporate client. This made it possible for us to free up some time for strategic issues, reduce the size of the monthly amount by more than 50%, and make the accounting process more transparent. On our part, we acquired an enriching experience instead of having to administer routine operations by closing the client’s gaps so to say.
However, all this would have been impossible without wise change management on the part of the client. The company CEO and the entire team took further training and reallocated the responsibilities in the company. In addition, we held regular strategic sessions in order to upgrade the business processes. In the end, such form of partnership has afforded an opportunity to improve the efficacy of our joint efforts and of the project.
NO TRUST, NO EFFECTIVE WORK
At times, the client requests a specific service, but once we start discussing the potential tasks, it becomes clear that the proposed format will not make it possible to accomplish the customer’s goals. This is the reason why we start any project by conducting an audit that helps identify whether the company’s processes are efficient enough, whether the departments’ or employees’ functions are duplicated, whether the software has become obsolete, and what could potentially be automated.At this point, it is crucial to build a proper communication process and make sure that the client and the service provider exchange information on a regular basis. For instance, the customer needs to have a number of business processes automated. If it tells this to the provider, the latter will propose ready-made solutions to that end, and the client will not have to spend its money on the development and implementation of expensive software. In
addition, the users of outsourcing oftentimes get access to the provider’s knowledge base and digital tools: chat bots, self-service tools for employees to apply for a leave or order the necessary statements (Employee self-service), RPA and OCR systems.
However, in order to select the appropriate solutions, the provider needs to understand the customer’s goals, tasks, and challenges. Otherwise, there will be no effective collaboration. For instance, construction companies are usually offered to subscribe for module “1C: Construction Contractor Management” straight away. Afterwards, however, the client ultimately fails to use the functions of the system despite the fact that the money has already been spent.
For example, one of our customers insisted on the implementation of an expensive accounting system. We tried to talk the customer out of that idea as we saw that certain processes had not been structured properly enough in the company, which would complicate the use of the solutions significantly. Unfortunately, we proved unable to change our customer’s mind, and the system was effectively launched. However, as we expected, the company does not use this system at present.
CONTROLLING RISKS
Major providers would normally take over the customer’s risks. For instance, a service provider that renders accounting or payroll calculation services will be responsible for the entire process: timely payment of taxes, reporting, correct transmission of data. In this situation, the provider will have to pay the fine (if any) imposed on the customer by regulatory authorities.However, the customers may fail to furnish the required documents at times, which will hamper the whole process. The list of most common reasons includes the responsible manager’s workload or failure to realize the importance of deadlines. In these situations, we try to explain to the client that any established deadline is an objective necessity rather than the provider employee’s preference. Otherwise, the outsourcer will be unable to perform its obligations and the risks will stay with the client.
For instance, one of our customers failed to provide us with the information on the civil law contracts made thereby in a timely manner. As a result, these data were not included in the report on insured persons (Form СЗВ-М), and the client had to pay a fine of RUB 500 per each employee disregarded in the report. Another case in point: the customer failed to inform us on the change of the company’s legal address, which caused our employees to submit the statements to the wrong agencies. As a result, all documents had to be resubmitted after the deadlines, which resulted in fines.
Communication with the service provider should not be limited to the delegation of the task. It is important to keep in touch with the service provider on a regular basis by holding meetings, exchanging phone calls, and checking the project status as necessary. Communication with the outsourcer will help identify the deficiencies in the operating processes and fix them.
Источник:
Subscribe to our publications
We write only about the most important. You will be the first to know about economic events that affect your business, how to reduce costs, optimize the company's operations and make the right management decisions without immersion in operational processes.
Subscribed
