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Are you a candidate for outsourcing?

by JUDIT PRICE
Sun Correspondent
Lowell Sun

As companies look to expand and remain competitive, the specter of having your job outsourced is a constant concern. Most companies understand the imperatives of growing to survive, cutting costs wherever possible, looking for new markets for products and looking for new business partners to help leverage growth. For the employee all of these factors can contribute to having your job outsourced as each of these goals are aggressively pursued.

However, although outsourcing has not resulted in wholesale unemployment, except for a few industries such as textiles and automotive, and in high volume manufacturing, companies are not shutting down their offices and transferring everything overseas or outsourcing to local service providers. On the contrary, there is plenty of evidence that companies that take aggressive action to outsource, whether locally or offshore, do maintain or even grow their local workforces, only not at the pace they might have done in the past.

What that means, however, is the pressure on the local employees to ramp up and maintain a high level of efficiency and effectiveness is far greater than in the past. It also means that for firms, especially those that have established an outsourced foothold, the threshold of any loss of in-house productivity with a particular department or function becomes much lower regarding transferring those functions off shore.

That means internal competition is much greater and each employee is challenged to figure out ways to ensure performance is leveraged as favorably as possible. How do you do that?

Step back, look at the big picture and try to understand the value you are personally adding. Remember, if the company can readily outsource what you do, you are vulnerable. That means it is essential to demonstrate on a daily basis that only you can provide the quality service, productivity, efficiency, customer satisfaction and more that the company requires. Clearly, the better you do this the more valuable you become and the more cost-effective your function serves as an in-house position.

I do not say this lightly. This can be done, but it requires looking in a broader context and thinking through why your job is important. Remember, you were hired for a reason and as long as that reason exists, giving your all makes sense. Do not simply think what you do is not important, and therefore there is nothing you can do. Find new and better ways to satisfy those whose service you provide.

This is also not a time to be modest. Make sure others know how your contributions make sense, and dollars for the firm. Use email to inquire if your actions have helped because you want to continue and extend your services to others. Email is a wonderful way of letting others know what you are doing by sharing information and asking questions from those whose work is enhanced by your efforts.

Before there are signals that someone is thinking your services could be provided more cheaply by an outsider, raise the issue. If management is determined to have an outsider perform your function, perhaps you can be that outsider. However, even if that is not possible, waiting is the worst strategy because decisions will be made without your input. Many employees think they will be asked to provide input or respond to an outside proposal, but that is unlikely. Unless you are part of the process early, the most likely outcome is you will be informed of the decision, rather than be asked for input.

In many cases there may be no recourse. The company has made a firm decision to outsource. But for an employee that understands that nothing is forever, the job search network must be alive and well. Even if your job appears to be secure and your boss loves you, it is impossible to see what decisions are being made at a senior level. An all out job search may not be necessary, but keeping track of potential job leads is essential.

No one can predict what will happen to an individual but it is fairly easy to discern the trends and prepare. Nevertheless, unless you are prepared to justify your existence, continue to improve your performance, and develop ways to do what you do more efficiently, you are not promoting your best interests.

Outsourcing is part of our work life, an imperative for a company to maintain an edge and stay competitive. If you have not considered the possibilities, it is your fault. It is not the fault of the company.

For further Information email: Judit Price or call: 978-256-0482