BPO Partnership: A Viable Change Management Strategy

How do you transform an ailing company? In the reports made by TPI Prevalence Database, about a hundred firms have set up multidimensional Human Resources to establish strong outsourcing connections. The said database purports to trace how big organizations experiencing difficulties utilize different HR functions to forge outsourcing partnerships and cut on costs and retain quality service.

Researcher Scott Gilder has endeavored to unearth the key ingredients of a successful client-service provider relationship, and its corresponding anti-thesis, by immersing thoroughly in the service provider community and engaging in a sequence of discussions. He discovered one of the ingredients for success that has made itself evident during his immersion in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry: change management.

In simpler terms, change management refers to the carefully laid out plans designed to achieve particular desired outcomes so as to pull persons, situations, circumstances, or the firm as a whole, out of their present state. Change management is very important in forging long-term relationships between BPO organizations and clients because it facilitates in bringing about innovative outsourcing models, which have the potential to propel firms into unparalleled progress despite the lack of face-to-face interactions.

BPO service providers have unanimously identified that transforming areas of human resource can critically make or break client-provider relationships. In order to acquire this desired transformation, it is important and necessary that firms espouse a hands-on change management style. In line with this, organizations have to ask themselves: how do we instigate change for the benefit of the common good? They also need to know how to go about transforming the present HR structure without impairing the rights of their workforce.

Companies that have failed to vigilantly watch over internal relationship as they institute changes within now suffer the ramifications of their not carefully thought out actions. They quite of a sudden are unable to meet their objectives owing to the fact that much of the work still needs restructuring, and they still do things that their service providers also do. In a way, it totally defeats the purpose of BPO because client companies and providers’ roles are redundant and overlapping. So point is, if as an organization you join the BPO bandwagon, learn how to delegate all the work and trust the provider through which you delegated the work. Doing so will make adjusting to changes much easier.

Effective change management therefore entails the following:

• Every stakeholder in the organization, from the organic, ordinary employees to the HR to executive positions, should espouse a broad communication strategy that enables them to communicate in a free-flowing manner;
• The communication strategy must be reinforced with a good staff transition strategy that allows the redeployment, retention and severance of employees without any untoward damage on both ends;
• The organization must also be designed in flexible way so that both new and retained practices are not affected in a negative way whenever roles and responsibilities shift because of BPO alternatives;
• HR has the subsequent role of mediating employees with employer and making the entire organization is receptive to and accepts the changes being imposed in view of BPO strategies;
• Last but not the least, there must be a viable training program to forge an understanding between workforce and management so they can work closely with providers after BPO strategies have already been put in place;

Although they say “change is the only constant thing in the world,” it is not easy to make people come to terms with change and sometimes communication is not enough. Thus, it is necessary to transform HR first to facilitate the new relationship between organization and BPO provider. Consequently, programs supporting change management are implemented early on before the BPO voyage reaches its climax. HR also has to ensure that outsourcing is compatible with the company’s structure, internal culture and external needs. Educating people about BPO is a continuous learning process.

For change management to have favorable results, client and service provider should ensure that there is mutual cooperation as they embark on outsourcing together. Both parties should adopt a set of common goals and frequently communicate with each other to strengthen their mutual goals and reap mutual benefits.

Whether you are going to move your organization forward into the BPO-driven future or leave it as it is, the choice ultimately lies in you. Changing with the changing times may indeed be very daunting, but those who decide to stay where they are will likely go nowhere. If your company is really in grave danger, there is certainly no harm in resorting to BPO outsourcing and transforming your HR to serve as intermediary. In fact, the usual scenario with other employers is that they borrow money to buffer their ailing organization. As a result, they tend to reduce their workforce contrary to intentions and experience losses in productivity. This is a very bad change management approach and can have deep-seated impact on the organization. However, if the management simply switches to BPO services, then they need not be bothered with debts nor do they need to sacrifice productivity. With the outpouring of BPO companies in the Third World, they can still achieve the same level of efficiency and sales volume, while spending less on labor. This is a much more efficient option than simply imitating what most of their fellow organizations did in times of crisis.

So basically, it’s all up to the organization what sort of change management strategy it wants: transform HR and start outsourcing to a reliable BPO partner who you can communicate with on a regular basis or do it the way the others do which is to mass retrench and borrow huge sums of money from a creditor. Remember that a successful and vigorous outsourcing relationship is all in your hands. The cards are already laid out for you above, but what you play and how you play are choices that only you as a manager, on behalf of your organization, can decide to undertake.

So, are you ready for change?