One of the biggest changes in all business in recent years has been the ability for organisations to outsource work to overseas contractors. Whilst big corporations have been doing this for quite a few years now, it is certainly become more prevalent in the Internet Marketing space.
So, if it is now becoming so popular, why are so many people have difficulty hiring others to work for them?
I constantly hear stories about how difficult it is to find good workers, that they are unreliable, they don’t turn up when they should or they don’t know what they’re doing.
After listening carefully to these complaints I thought I would share what I believe to be common mistakes that people are making.
1. Thinking it will be easy
The biggest issue I find with those that struggle with hiring people is that they think they can just get someone and there problems will be over.
This could not be further from the truth – you must be prepared to help your people and have the mindset that you will train them and upskill them. You have to be prepared to work with them and put some effort in.
Nobody will fix your problems!!
2. Hiring simply on price
This is also a common one – hiring someone simply because it is cheaper.
Invariably if this is your reason, you probably wont respect the people you hire – and in turn they will not respect you.
3. Not doing what you say
If you are going to have rules and expectations for your workers then you must also adhere to them – Too many times I see people demanding things from others but then not leading by example – if you don’t care about your business why should they??
4. Not agreeing on basic requirements – including pay amounts
Have some basic guidelines in place. Document expected hours of work, payment amounts, do you expect them to work for you only, should they be contactable during working hours, should they fill out a daily report for you. We will all have different requirements – decide on yours and make sure they know what you expect.
5. Blaming others when things go wrong.
A mentor of mine taught me to question myself when others got it wrong.
Did I explain it correctly, did I check that they understood, could I have taught them a better way?
Don’t blame others – let them know its OK to make mistakes – encourage them to try new things. You need to encourage their input – if you are angry every time something goes wrong they will become scared to take risks
6. Have Tools and Systems in Place
Make sure you have a project management tool so that you can monitor all tasks. This is far easier to control than multiple emails. We currently use TeamworkPM.
Make sure you have your tasks documented and you have things systemized as best as possible – If it is a new task, work with your team and get them to document the process for you.
7. Build a relationship with them
Be prepared to build some rapport and a long term relationship with them. Once they know you are serious and can offer job security they will work to grow your business with you. Get to know them, understand them and care about them.
We recently sent flowers and a free massage to one of our team members for her birthday. Her response was to post on facebook and express her gratitude to her “Special Family”
This is the type of culture you should be trying to build.
Of course one of the first things you need to decide when first looking to get some hired help is to decide whether to simply get individual people on a task by task basis, or to start building your own team and hire people on a full time basis. The comments above generally relate to building your own team but some of the basic philosophies relate to task sourcing as well.
Feel free to comment below and tell us of any of the other obstacles you have found when outsourcing and don’t forget to share this with anyone else you know that may be looking at building their own team.
No comments yet.