One of a company’s most important assets is its employees. Quality workers can make or break a business’ success. Sometimes, however, there simply aren’t enough people to get the job done. When your company faces the need to complete tasks but doesn’t have enough employees or employees with the necessary skill set, you may want to outsource staffing to help you get the job done. Let’s take a look at the difference between outsourcing and staffing.
What Is the Difference Between Outsourcing and Staffing?
What Is Outsourcing?
Some companies have resources available to cover every aspect of running their business, from operations to outreach to maintenance. Other businesses, particularly smaller organizations, may not have the personnel available to manage every business requirement. That’s where outsourcing comes into play. Outsourcing is when an organization hires an outside company to meet a certain need the hiring company cannot meet effectively in-house.
What Are the Benefits of Outsourcing?
Expertise
Outsourcing can help you get tasks done well that might otherwise place a burden on your business. If there is an area where you or your employees lack expertise, outsourcing means you’ll be able to have your needs met properly. If, for example, your company needs a web presence or a mobile application, but you lack someone on staff with computer design skills, it just makes sense to outsource the task so that you gain a high-quality website or app.
Efficiency
If you run a business, you’re bound to be busy! Outsourcing can relieve the pressure to get it all done when you’re faced with many time-consuming tasks. Consider outsourcing when you need expert assistance to get things done in a timely fashion. Outsourcing allows you to focus on your customers and what you do best while making sure all your other important business needs are met. A quality outsourcing firm saves you time.
What Is Staffing?
Staffing is when you have personnel employed by you alone. Your staff are those you have interviewed, hired, and tasked with completing specific jobs. Staffing is a critical piece of running any business because it is your staff who carry out the most important functions of your company to make your work successful and your business profitable. Hiring the best staff to meet your core needs is one of the best ways to invest in great outcomes.
What Are the Benefits of Staffing?
Institutional Knowledge
When you hire staff to work for your company alone, you have personnel that will see a project through from start to finish. Your employees have intimate knowledge of the company’s goals and culture and can keep that at the forefront of their minds throughout a project. They are knowledgeable about what has and has not been effective in the past. Employees develop, execute, and follow up on plans because they know best what the business needs.
Cohesion
There may well be a sense of pride when a company’s employees build something together. Knowing they can depend on each other to move the business forward may lead to a stronger community and better relationships among your staff. Trust is built when employees rely on each others’ strengths and skills to get projects done well. Feeling as though they are part of an effective team inspires employee loyalty and dedication.
Should I Outsource Staffing?
What Can I Outsource?
These days companies may outsource just about anything from inventory to accounting, support staff to custodial needs. A common modern outsourcing skill area is technology. Most business leaders today recognize the need for current, well-built websites, mobile applications, SEO optimization, and other modern technological innovations. Unless you run a tech company, outsourcing those technology requirements can be an effective and cost-saving business move.
Will Outsourcing Save Me Time and Money?
Time
Unless you have skilled people on staff, outsourcing is likely going to save you time. It takes time, for example, to manage a company’s social media accounts. Outsourcing that task means it will be done quickly and in line with current best practices. It also takes a great deal of time to interview and onboard a quality hire. Outsourcing provides people who are immediately ready to get to work for you without the need to train or bring them up to speed.
Expense
It is expensive to train personnel in new skill sets. Training an employee in full-site web design, for instance, can take many months and cost quite a lot in course fees, materials, and equipment, and it takes an employee’s time away from their primary job. Outsourcing such needs to a skilled technology design company can save money due to their much greater task efficiency. Engaging someone who is already up to speed is an effective use of resources.
Does Outsourcing Give Me a Competitive Advantage?
Nearly every business has competitors. In today’s market, it’s critical to stay at the front of the pack by using resources wisely and leveraging experts. Outsourcing can help! An effective outsourcing company works on your behalf to efficiently and effectively meet the needs that are not available to you in-house. Having someone skilled on your side when it comes to technology, for example, ensures visibility and currency when trends and markets change.
Can I Combine Outsourcing and Staffing?
Yes! Using your in-house staff to do what they do best while using outsourced staff to manage other tasks is called hybrid staffing. Hybrid staffing can be the best of both worlds because your employees are able to focus on doing their job responsibilities well while your outsourced needs are being met by experts in their field. Your hired staff works at their peak performance, and your outsourced needs are met quickly and efficiently.
Will Outsourcing Allow My Business to Grow?
Outsourcing allows your business to experiment with new strategies for growth. Your employed staff, of course, can provide growth opportunities when allowed to achieve in their areas of expertise. Outsourcing, however, allows growth because it is a safe way to test the waters without the risk associated with asking employees to stretch beyond their comfort levels. Outsourcing gives your business more opportunities to grow.
Will Outsourcing Improve Staffing?
It very well may! Outsourcing business demands that your employees cannot meet effectively or comfortably allows them–and you–to focus on the core needs of your organization. When you allow your employees to work to their strengths, they are apt to show appreciation with dedication and loyalty to your company. When employees see that you’re willing to hire experts to meet expectations that would otherwise make their lives difficult, they’ll know you care about them.
Take a bird’s eye look at your company to see if all your business needs are being met. When you decide outsourcing would be beneficial to you, contact AgencyHub today to talk with us about what we can do for you. We will meet all your technology needs and give you time back to focus on what matters most–growing your business.
