Does outsourcing to the Philippines lead to loss of managerial control?

If you ask if outsourcing to the Philippines or any other offshoring location leads to loss of managerial control, the answer depends on the type of contract you sign, the kinds of services you outsource, and ultimately, the level of dedication you apply on the undertaking.

Having this fear is understandable, especially if you plan on delegating critical functions to an offshore hub miles and oceans away from your mother company. You would be focusing on your main processes, while your outsourcing partner would do its part by focusing on the tasks you sent out.

What’s truly happening is that you put the duties that you can’t handle on the hands of someone more fit to accomplish those tasks.So in a sense, outsourcing does entail losing certain aspects of your operations. This, however doesn’t mean that you would sever any involvement you used to have when the outsourced tasks were done in-house.

That’s why when you outsource, you should only send out minor activities while you continue doing what you do best. Before you embark on this venture, you should first define your business’ weak spots and field of expertise. For instance, your sales are skyrocketing but you also see a drastic increase in customer complaints caused by your team’s mishandling of the sudden success. If this is the case, then it is advisable to hire a contact center to answer queries and manage orders, but don t let go of your current sales force. This way, you retain control of your strong fields while you gain power in the area where you lack expertise.

Since these two processes—sales and customer service—go hand in hand, you still maintain supervision of your outsourced call center staff even if they are directly managed by a separate entity.

Outsourcing to the Philippines may mean that the people handling your customers are some of the best in the industry, but your input should still be at the core of your outsourced staff’s actions. Yes, the strategy may be formulated by your outsourcing partner, but nothing should be formulated or implemented without your approval. This is especially true in smaller outsourcing firms where you have the last say on any business decision, unlike in massive vendors where service packages are not always customizable or easily accessible.

Summing up, outsourcing doesn’t exactly lead to loss of managerial control. It does, however, involve letting your outsourcing service provider take over certain management aspects, not because you need to let go of those aspects but rather because you need to improve them. Remember that none of your outsourced services would be carried out without your go signal, so in a way, you still maintain managerial control over them even though they are not handled in-house.