Hiring Additional Staff vs Outsourcing

There are certain situations where hiring additional staff is the best choice for your business. If you need help in an area of core competencies then you should hire additional staff. Hire people who can help your company grow and expand. However, if you are looking for help in areas of your business that are outside of its core competencies then outsourcing is a great option. You can hand over those tasks to someone who is trained to complete them and devote your time elsewhere. Choosing outsourcing whenever possible will minimize your financial obligations and the impact growth has on your current personnel.

Financial obligations

Hiring additional staff for your business comes with a number of financial obligations. Salary is clearly the first big obligation. Not only do staff members expect to get paid, they expect to be paid a competitive rate. For the core competencies within your business it makes financial sense to pay a competitive rate in order to attract top talent. But, using this same philosophy for areas of your business outside of its core components can become inordinately expensive. Does it make sense to pay a premium for someone doing administrative work? If you can get the same quality of work for less, then the answer is no. The other types of financial obligations that come with hiring additional staff are employee benefits and overhead. Both can add up and significantly increase what it costs you to bring on a new employee.

Outsourcing can minimize some of your financial obligations. You will pay less and still get high quality work when you choose outsourcing. In addition, you will have no overhead or employee benefit costs if you work with an outsourcing agency. Instead, your costs are purely for work completed.

Impact on current personnel

Hiring additional staff can lead to more work for current personnel. For example, you will likely need someone who can train and supervise the additional staff you bring on. Whether that person is you or one of your current employees, the additional responsibilities could negatively impact the areas that really need attention. When you consider the potential impact of hiring additional staff on your current personnel, the cost goes up exponentially.

The team approach of outsourcing has a built-in hierarchy. They provide the necessary supervision to their team and are results driven. The quality of work they produce provides you with a barometer to measure their effectiveness so you do not feel the need to spend a lot of your time supervising.

The choice between hiring additional staff and outsourcing is going to be significantly impacted by your labor needs. What type of help do you need? What area of the business do you need additional help in? What resources do you have to devote to the additional help? The answers to these questions can aid you in getting started on the decision making process of choosing to hire additional staff or go with outsourcing. If you are still unsure about which option is best for you, keep exploring and asking questions.

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