A lot has been said lately about the advantages of using outsourced freelance staff. Many freelancers are located in places like India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. But their offers of very cheap rates are not necessarily everything they seem to be!
Offshoring as an opportunity
Offshoring many of the processes in your business offers one of the most exciting opportunities for a business to diversify its staff base and increase profits without any requirement to increase turnover.
The ability to reclassify skilled resources to income-earning functions is an added benefit for a Western-style management strategy that demands higher profits and lower costs while maintaining positive work ethics with improved resource capability.
Employers need to be wary of seemingly endless offers around the internet where staff can be engaged for impossibly low rates.
Often these arrangements end in tears.
Complications of Outsourcing Freelancers
Many employers fail to understand the complexities of dealing with people in other countries where culture and work conditions and legal systems are very different to what they are used to in their home country.
When you engage a freelancer, you have no idea about the background of the person you are entrusting your work to.
No protection of data and information
There is no protection for the data that you send, there is no guarantee of the quality of work, and there is no security that your data will be protected from use by authorised parties.
Freelancers are usually working in their homes where working conditions are very different from what can be expected from the home country.
For example, the property they are working on may not be secure which means that the equipment being used by the freelancer is available from theft.
No guarantee of safety
This means that there is no guarantee for the data that belongs to you is safe. In many countries, a reliable power supply and a reliable internet connection are a luxury available to very few.
This means that there is no certainty of power and internet meaning that a freelancer can at times be unavailable for lengthy periods.
A freelancer is sometimes forced to work as a freelancer because they have been unable to secure a position with one of the reputable offshoring companies.
This brings into question the quality of their work and the quality of the person being employed.
It also means that the freelancer is required to discount their rates to a level where they are not receiving the appropriate wages for the work being done.
For example, are they receiving all the entitlements that they would have received if they were employed under the labour laws of the country in which they work?
No management
Usually, there is no HR management of the freelancer. This means that they can stop work at any time of their choosing.
Sometimes they can leave the employer in a difficult position where they have been relying on the freelancer to complete work at a certain time and then unable to contact that person and unable to cover the work.
Profitmaster as an Outsourcing choice
Compare this to working with a professional business process offshoring facility such as Profitmaster BPO, Inc. based in Clark, Philippines.
Profitmaster offers professional expertise in the areas of Accounting and bookkeeping, Loan processing, Administration support, and Sales and Marketing. Here are some key factors why Profitmaster will fill the missing holes in freelancing
Full Management
We run a full management team including a full-time IT Manager and recruitment team.
Our staff are supervised by our management team at all times and our clients have access to 24hrs CCTV cameras to observe the work of their staff members.
Consistent workflow
Our office is in a 5-star banking area with dedicated IT services and backup generators.
Our staff are required to log on and log off at the commencement and end of work.
Latest Equipment
We provide commercial-grade VoIP telephone facilities so that our clients can communicate with their staff very easily.
Reasonable pricing
Of course, these all come at a very reasonable cost. When comparing the cost of offshore staff to local staff, the cost saving including wages and cost as well as office facilities is around 55–75% cheaper than the cost of engaging similar staff in the home country.
Assurance
When you hire with a professional organisation, you can be assured have been properly recruited and are being properly paid.
Candidates attend interviews and undertake compulsory skills assessments in language and computer literacy.
Proficiency in field
They also go through job-specific proficiency tests designed in the home country to evaluate their capability.
These add up to an exciting opportunity. Lower cost with amplified productivity! Offshoring is not always just about the lowest price.
Outsourcing must provide value, you need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of your company’s culture, service needs, staff skills and resources.
It is almost impossible to make this evaluation when your staff member is a freelancer.
When stepping up to a 21st-century Philippines BPO like Profitmaster, our technology infrastructure fully integrated your offshore lower-cost resources with your onshore technical and management resources to create an almost seamless work environment with reduced overhead such as rent, office equipment and IT.
How much of this integration you incorporate into your operations is up to you, but employers need to understand that this is best achieved when working with a full-service organisation rather than a freelancer.
If you are keen on working with a full-service BPO that offers, security, process, organisational structure, latest technology and a professional office culture, then please call one of our experienced account managers on 07 5680 7878 today.