Read Time: 13 minutes
What is outsourced workforce management?
Outsourced workforce management is the practice of contracting with an outside party to manage all workforce needs, from scheduling to recruiting, hiring, and training. Outsourced workforce management utilizes expert talent in nearshore, onshore, or offshore locations and advanced technology to streamline operations and improve profitability.
Table of Contents
Introduction
As businesses strive to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market, many are rethinking how they manage their workforce. Workforce management outsourcing has emerged as a powerful strategy helping companies reduce costs, boost efficiency, and meet rising customer expectations.
This guide explores why mid-market firms are leading the shift to outsourcing their workforce management, scaling teams, mitigating rising costs, and enhancing forecasting abilities. Discover how outsourcing can deliver scalable, tech-enabled solutions to modern workforce challenges.
Key takeaways
- Mid-market firms are increasingly outsourcing WFM to compete with larger players.
- Outsourcing provides scalability, tech access, and strategic forecasting.
- Hybrid models can help firms test outsourcing without losing control.
- The right WFM partner mitigates risk and improves ROI.
The shift toward workforce management outsourcing
Efficient workforce management is crucial for businesses seeking profitability, longevity, and customer loyalty. As more businesses are turning to third-party providers for enhanced customer support, industry leaders are learning how workforce management powers scalable solutions and responsive, proactive customer care.
Discover how workforce management outsourcing can revolutionize operations of your mid-market company. See how outsourcing is not just a must for enterprises, but is also a powerful workforce management solution for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Why mid-market companies are leading the trend
With success already under their belt and more within reach, mid-size companies face increased pressure to continue their growth trajectory. Executives expect you to do more work with fewer internal resources to reduce costs and maximize profit, and thankfully, a solution is tailor-made for the task.
Outsourcing drives efficiency for mid-market businesses by offering them an affordable solution for scaling operations. Medium-sized businesses have just the right amount of support demand to necessitate dedicated agents, making outsourcing the ideal solution for businesses hoping to reduce costs while maximizing efficiency.
It’s already making waves in the market.
- Time Doctor reports that 66% of businesses with more than 50 employees outsource their work.
- In Deloitte’s Global Outsourcing Survey, 65% of respondents said outsourcing helps them focus on core functions, and 63% mentioned cost-cutting as a key benefit of outsourcing.
Not only a lucrative business decision, outsourcing also allows businesses to meet rising customer expectations with comprehensive omnichannel support.
Challenges of in-house workforce management
Managing your workforce internally requires high levels of investment that some companies simply can’t afford. Even if it seems manageable, it may prove an unsustainable solution for medium-sized companies. Before you decide outsourcing isn’t for you, consider these challenges to internal workforce management.
- Distraction from core activities: Internal workforce management requires manual oversight for even the simplest of tasks, taking up too much of your managers’ time to maximize efficiency in daily operations.
- Less efficiency: Your team can’t optimize operations without the proper tools. Not only will they struggle to handle the workload, but management will miss opportunities to streamline operations and efficiently handle support requests.
- Limited forecasting: Experience may be enough to know general busy and slow seasons, but lack of specific data introduces ambiguity and makes justifying your hiring needs difficult.
- Costly internal hiring: Expanding your internal team—even management—requires significant costs, and the recruiting and hiring process is long and expensive.
- Limited flexibility: What your team can accomplish is directly tied to the tools they have and the scalability of your workforce. Overworking employees never works and leads to higher attrition and more resources wasted attempting to recover.
- Lack of insights: Low accountability introduces errors and leads to the inaccurate management of your team.
The hidden costs and complexities
Managing your workforce internally also brings a host of upfront and ongoing expenses. Be aware of these hidden costs of in-house workforce management to anticipate if it’s truly in your budget to keep it internal:
- Software implementation and support costs
- High costs of accessing workforce management talent among shortages
- Tech implementation issues
- Time spent scheduling, forecasting, and analyzing performance analytics
- Overhead costs
- Compliance risks, breaches, fees, and corrective action
Strategic advantages of WFM outsourcing for mid-market firms
Outsourcing helps companies take hold of their operations, empowering them to address their challenges with data-driven insights in an organized strategy. Target the hurdles you want to overcome while achieving measurable growth with an outsourced partner.
Cost efficiency without compromise
Reduce costs without sacrificing quality by working with an expert, scalable BPO provider. Mid-market firms will love these cost benefits of outsourcing workforce management:
- Lower overhead
- Our tip: Strategically source by location and skill for maximum cost-effectiveness.
- Flexible staffing models
- Our tip: Implement real-time AI technology in training and throughout the partnership to increase speed to proficiency and performance.
- Technology integrations
- Our tip: Ask about discounts available through your partnership.
- Operational efficiency
- Our tip: Utilize data insights to understand customers and align them with the best agents.
As your business sees the cost benefits of workforce management outsourcing, you can more powerfully allocate resources to the tools you need for proactive customer support.
Access to advanced technology and WFM expertise
Artificial intelligence is transforming customer support and workforce management. Access the minds learning and using these tools by partnering with an outsourced contact center. The right partner will come to the table with these vital services to your mid-size business:
- AI-driven forecasting
- 24/7 coverage
- Industry benchmarking
- Better performance and reduced errors
- High-quality management skills that drive results and employee satisfaction
Cultivating a partnership of enhanced communication and proper tools will bring immediate results. Never underestimate the value of an expert partner capable of owning management operations with security and vision.
READ MORE: Call Center Workforce Management Metrics
Better forecasting and scheduling accuracy
Outsourcing ensures your company understands customer demand trends and has the capability to meet them. This insight will help you discover and accommodate even the slightest changes, helping you achieve peak efficiency year round.
Look for these workforce scheduling and forecasting solutions in a BPO provider for the results and sustainable growth you seek:
- Reduced overstaffing and understaffing strategies
- Automated interaction tracking
- Automated data analytics
- Resource allocation planning
- Labor demand forecasting
- Customer-agent matching
Better scheduling properly allocates your resources, enhancing employee satisfaction, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
Scalability without operational strain
You may struggle to increase your team when you try it alone, but outsourcing experts have the industry connections and workforce agreements to provide flexible scaling and dedicated support. Expert workforce management BPO providers achieve scalability without straining your resources or operations with these key strategies:
- Seasonal demand forecasting: Adapting team size to match demand surges.
- Multi-channel workforce: Expanding your reach without necessarily growing the team through omnichannel support.
- Remote team expansion: Reducing overhead costs by sourcing an expert team from a global agent pool ready to work.
- Streamlined training: Reducing hiring costs and time to proficiency through skill-based hiring, AI strategies, and hands-on learning.
Our tip: Try these high-touch CXM strategies to understand how to outsource workforce management for a remote team while improving the customer experience.
READ MORE: 5 Workforce Management Benefits for Contact Centers
What a hybrid WFM model looks like
A hybrid workforce management outsourcing model is a flexible approach that utilizes on-site teams and outsourced remote workers. Hybrid workforce management allows companies to achieve the best of both worlds through a dual approach:
- Retaining or minimally reducing internal teams, saving money and retaining valuable employees and group knowledge.
- Delegating tactical tasks to outsourced experts, improving efficiency and allowing internal staff to focus on core competencies.
Ideal for: Mid-size companies with complex tasks, strict permission limitations, a strong company culture, strategic roles, overwhelming demand, and employee burnout.
How to choose the right WFM outsourcing partner
BPO providers are not created equally. With different experiences, values, and strategies, outsourcing companies provide different solutions and results.
Sifting through the host of options takes time and energy, so we’re here to help you find the best workforce management outsourcing companies for mid-market firms.
READ MORE: What Is Workforce Management in a Call Center?
Key criteria for mid-market decision makers
The first step to choosing a workforce management outsourcing partner is to determine your must-have features in a partner. Be sure to include these key criteria on your list for efficient, secure, and results-driven partners.
- Custom service offerings
- Do they understand your tasks and access experts to handle them?
- How do they tailor solutions to your needs?
- Industry experience
- How do they manage workforces similar in size and type to yours?
- What are their methods for making operations scalable?
- Tech stack compatibility
- What tools do they use?
- How do their tools integrate with your existing systems?
- Data security
- What compliance regulations do they follow, and how?
- How do they reduce errors and mitigate risks?
Want to scale your business?
Global Response has a long track record of success in outsourcing customer service and call center operations. See what our team can do for you!
Common concerns: Risks and how to mitigate them
As lucrative as outsourcing is on paper, it’s natural and normal to have some reservations. Understanding and addressing concerns is a crucial step for establishing a relationship built on trust and productivity, and it starts with understanding outsourcing challenges yourself.
Learn how the outsourcing industry works and addresses its own hurdles to better assess its place in your business.
Losing control
Problem:
Outsourcing means handing the reins over to an outsourced team, and some companies struggle with that adjustment. Little insight into the management of a new team can scare some executives, bringing doubt as to the efficiency and effectiveness of operations you can’t see.
Solution:
Set up communication workflows including which tools the team will use to increase transparency. Discuss and set up a service level agreement, with clear expectations for performance laid out. Communicate what you need to establish trust but remember that ultimately, outsourcing is meant to decrease stress and increase your ability to focus on core business functions.
Ensuring compliance
Problem:
Compliance regulations may limit what actions you can let an outsourced team handle. Even when these strict rules don’t apply, companies should hold utmost concern for the security of customer information.
Finding a culture fit
Problem:
Culture influences not only how your workforce operates but also how you improve morale and ensure consistent brand communication with customers. Entrusting unknown agents to handle customer support and new management to communicate what makes you stand out is a daunting task.
Solution:
Interview various BPO providers and ask about their company values, including how they manifest in agents’ work. Ask about brand immersion for agents. Discuss communication styles, decision-making processes, and problem-solving and conflict resolution strategies for management.
Conclusion
Outsourcing can give mid-market firms a competitive advantage in their industries. Whether through phasing support or crafting a hybrid approach, outsourcing workforce management streamlines business operations at affordable costs.
Enhanced security, customer and employee satisfaction, and access to specialized skills and advanced technology empower your team to do more at reduced costs.
See how Global Response’s multilingual support can be the right fit for your company.
Workforce Management Outsourcing FAQs
Workforce management outsourcing is when a company contracts a third-party provider to handle the management of their customer support operations. Outsourced workforce management utilizes advanced technology and industry best practices to streamline processes, enhance compliance, align customers with appropriate agents, and enhance customer experiences through data-driven insights.
WFM outsourcing is ideal for mid-sized companies because it empowers them to provide custom scalable support at reduced costs. WFM outsourcing optimizes operations of mid-size companies, accessing expert management talent for proactive strategy implementation.
The cost of outsourcing workforce management depends on the services included, technologies implemented, team size, and location sources. WFM outsourcing costs can range from $22 per agent per month to $28,000 annual subscription fees.
Workforce management outsourcing typically includes payroll processing, benefits administration, compliance adherence, recruitment, hiring, training, agent scheduling, and optimizing processes for improved customer and employee experience.
Yes, you can customize your workforce management functions with a flexible outsourcing partner. You can pilot a specific program and tailor services to your needs, scaling them to your needs as your business grows.
When selecting a WFM outsourcing partner, define your needs and goals. Research and interview potential partners to align values. Evaluate their experience in similar industries and set measurable goals. Understand their working model and accreditations for a right fit.
The risks of workforce management outsourcing include less control over operations, compliance and security risks, hidden costs, and cultural misalignment.
