Partners

Across many hundreds of staff, we have had plenty of experience with what works well and what doesn’t. We can work with you to help institute the right mechanisms to maximise the quality of the output from your offshore staff. The key to getting quality work is getting the right staff onboard. In the same way that if you’re hiring locally, this comes down to good recruitment. We have years of experience recruiting in offshore markets and we work with you to help find the right fit in terms of skills and culture.

We have a range of processes and systems that we implement to minimise the risks of this occurring and if it does occur, for it to be identified and dealt with quickly and effectively.

We have a comprehensive array of mechanisms and processes that can be implemented depending on your specific confidentiality and security requirements.

Each month we report on the reworking of your cost model and the results that have been achieved to date.

Freelancers are more expensive, not as integrated and embedded into your team and company culture, and there is a significantly smaller pool of people who want to be freelancers. Freelancers also tend to have a far shorter tenure. Accessing employed staff through Outrun is more cost-effective. You can deeply integrate Outrun staff into your team and company culture. You can train them to be more effective within their role specific to your business. You can generally access a much bigger pool of talent for the roles that you require via Outrun, too.

Offshoring is not easy. We know because we have made numerous mistakes on our own journey, and our clients now benefit from our learning. If you get offshoring right, the positive impacts are significant. If you get it wrong, it can be painful. A brief summary of the types of things that you will need to navigate while offshoring is sourcing the right staff, navigating cultural dynamics, ensuring relational trust and transparency, managing performance and quality, handling security and confidentiality requirements, maintaining good communication, integrating offshore staff with onshore staff and meeting all compliance and legal requirements. To do all this from day one, on a Do-It-Yourself basis is a tough ask; and it can also be a distraction from other business goals and initiatives.

This is another area where we provide significant support. We have New Zealand-based Customer Success Managers and in-market (local to offshore staff) HR Managers who, working in conjunction with your team, assist them to navigate the language barriers and cultural differences and develop a strong working relationship with your Outrun staff. We train and educate all our Outrun staff on key cultural differences also.

When it doesn’t work, it is usually due to attempting to offshore something that probably shouldn’t have been offshored in the first place, or it’s due to not offshoring to a high standard. Key mistakes include: not sourcing the right staff; not having the right systems and processes for managing performance and quality; poor communication and understanding of cultural sensitivities and dynamics; not integrating staff with the wider company and its values and culture; not providing appropriate remuneration and incentive packages; not complying with local laws; etc. If the right roles are offshored and it is done well, then it’s rare for offshoring not to work.

When offshoring is done poorly, it can damage a brand. However, if the right staff are sourced; if they are trained and inducted correctly; if the right systems and processes are implemented to manage performance and quality; if they are well directed and managed; and if your customer perceptions are well managed; then adding an offshore resource should enhance your business and contribute to its success. Most businesses employ and engage local onshore, immigrant staff successfully by doing the things listed above - utilising offshore staff is no different. In addition to the above, offshoring successfully tends to free up resources, enabling the business to improve and trade more competitively.

You get to choose how much you pay your offshore staff. We will advise you of the current market rates in the relevant region - as these differ - but ultimately you decide how much you pay. Some clients choose to pay above market rate, some choose to pay at market rate. In our experience, when offshore staff are paid at market rate, are well resourced, supported and treated well, the staff member is grateful for the work and comfortable in their employment. This also has a significant positive impact on their life and on their wider family. In addition, while the New Zealand government is currently drafting up its modern slavery legislation, Outrun has developed its own modern slavery policy to ensure no form of exploitation exists in our supply chain. We are committed to ensuring that human rights and ethical practices are upheld in our business operations and that dealings with our offshore staff are carried out with the highest level of integrity and respect.

No. Every major change in the last fifty years (the computer, internet, ecommerce, smartphones, social media etc) has resulted in more opportunity rather than less. However, the reality is that we now operate within a more globalised market. This means that the skills and expertise that we offer as individuals, at the price we offer it, needs to be competitive with what else is on offer in a global market. If a job or part of a job can be easily sourced more cost-effectively offshore, or it can be streamlined or automated with tech and AI, then it’s only a matter of time before that will play out. As individuals, we should be considering how we can adapt and upskill in this changing environment, exploring an AI-integrated mindset, so that we can provide skills and expertise that can’t be more cost-effectively sourced offshore or automated with tech and AI. As employers, we should consider how we can provide development pathways to assist our staff to adapt and upskill.

There have been numerous studies on offshoring that outline many positives: a significant worker shift towards higher skilled jobs, an increase in the competitiveness of companies within developed economies that are offshoring, and a modest net positive effect on domestic employment (see here and here for examples).

Yes

The remuneration paid to each offshore staff member is recharged by Outrun, with no mark-up, to the client. Instead, and for transparency, Outrun charges a monthly management fee per offshore staff member it provides. In addition to these charges, Outrun charges fees for the recruitment of staff and implementing specific workflow improvements to increase productivity and efficiency, as well as other charges for various equipment and services that might be requested by the client.

Using an offshore facility and integrating offshore staff into local operations is becoming more commonplace in business. To support it, good communication and change management with existing staff is key. We encourage all clients to take their people on the journey with them. If a staff member is going to be affected by the proposed changes then, where possible, we recommend providing upskilling and cross-skilling pathways for them to develop in their existing roles, or move into new roles (either internal or external) that won’t be as affected by offshoring, technology and/or AI. Supported staff are often keen to understand business growth and development plans, and how they can find their place and become more valuable within an evolving environment.