A familiar comment made by many businesses is that someone is wearing “too many hats.” As an organization you may have limited resources, or a small staff, or a tight timeframe for non-core responsibilities like mail, copy, reception, records, IT, etc. that takes attention away from core business responsibilities. However, by working with an onsite outsourcing firm, your business can focus on its key priorities first. Here are several questions you might ask when considering partnering with an onsite outsourcing company.

Why Outsource?

The objectives of onsite outsourcing will vary across different organizations and industries. Nevertheless, there are several consistent values an onsite outsourcing company offers an organization.

Benefits include:

  • Saving money on labor and operational costs, which can mean increased profits
  • Free up your essential resources to focus on core functions
  • Gaining talented, professional, and trained staff that has been pre-vetted
  • Efficiency — a good onsite outsourcing firm has the resources to quickly provide the needed support
  • Improved service due to having an efficient, productive team with the required expertise

Questions to Ask

1. What are your goals?

It will help both you and the onsite outsourcing company if you first have clear objectives in mind. Determine what the situation is now and what the ideal state would look like for the business. This analysis can help you work together to explore ways to achieve your goals efficiently and cost-effectively.

2. What are the one-time and recurring costs?

Be sure the company you select has outlined one-time and recurring costs the contract will incur. Understanding all of the fees for onsite outsourcing components is critical to your organization’s ability to understand and control costs.

Look carefully at the figures the company generates to spot any assumptions or over-simplifications that could lead to overspending or underachieving.

3. Can you provide information on previous projects related to mine?

Knowledge and experience in your particular industry matter. Learn if the onsite outsourcing company’s previous clients were satisfied customers or are long-time, loyal ones. Reviewing project results relating to your scope of work is an excellent way to evaluate different companies.

4. How do you manage sourcing, screening, and selection?

Get a better idea of what to expect from the people joining your organization. You might ask:

  • How strong or large the company’s available talent pool is to meet your needs?
  • What education requirements do you have and what training does the company offer?
  • What are your employee retention practices?

5. How will the project be managed?

For one thing, you’ll want to determine if you can count on one point of contact at the company to communicate with consistently. Working with a rotating cast of characters can add time and effort on your end as you constantly have to catch people up on your business objectives.

In conversation with the company, find out the details of how the person or company works, how the work process will align with your own, and how the company will convey or define ROI to you.

Forrest Solutions is an industry leader in onsite outsourcing. We provide talented professionals who are passionate about making a positive impact in front/back office, hospitality, facilities management, IT support, copy center management, mail and messenger services, document scanning and capture and more. Learn about our onsite service offerings today.