Outsourcing is one of the most popular trends today when it comes to company operations and productivity. As more advanced technologies are developed, businesses gain more avenues to outsource their services to other companies, most of which are located overseas. In fact, the need for particular responsibilities to be outsourced soared in the United States, reaching almost $76.9 billion in 2016.

Communication and project management between clients and outsourcing partners have also improved in recent years, allowing for a more seamless operation. Outsourcing is also becoming a great help even to smaller businesses. Some outsourcing companies are now even offering virtual offices to startups.

Here are some other popular benefits of outsourcing:

• It can save resources. Outsourcing companies can provide the same expertise but with a fraction of the cost.
• It offers flexibility to employees. In-house employees would have more time to focus on tasks and responsibilities that have a direct impact on how the company progresses.
• It promotes efficiency at work. Both in-house and outsourced functions are done easily andpromptly.
• It allows access to a diverse field of multinational, skilled talent. Outsourcing will enable companies to tap talents by working with people who specialize in specific tasks.

But with all of the advantages that outsourcing brings to the table, is it advisable to outsource everything? Here you’ll find that there are specific projects and campaigns that your company should take on and complete by yourself.

Not Just About Results

Sometimes, businesses outsource their tasks because they want to focus on getting things done. Though it’s certainly not a problem to be results-driven, it’s always a must to understand the whole process of the operation or project. That way, the companies’ in-house employees would become more skilled and experienced in handling similar tasks in the future.

Here are six jobs you definitely should not place on contractors:

1. Executive and Administrative Leadership Roles – Never outsource roles that have a direct impact on the company’s path to success. The vision and objectives should come from its own executives. If there are people who know the basic principles that keep the business moving, then it should be these people.Most companies appear to have a good understanding of this, as 89% of companies do not plan to outsource any of their strategic planning and executive functions, while 80% are not outsourcing marketing-related responsibilities.
2. Employee Training and Development – The company management should be the one responsible in training and advancing the skills of its employees. It’s not right to assign a third-party service provider to guide employees—you should have control over how you lead your members to become better professionals in the future.
3. Termination Management – Similar to previous points, the on-site human resources department should be the one responsible for terminating and retaining employees. It should always be prepared to deliver both good and bad news to employees.
4. Core Business Competencies – If your business is selling a particular product or service, then your team should have expert knowledge about them. Don’t expect an outsourcing company to be experts at what you sell or do because they focus mainly on their outsourcing skills.
5. Risk Management and Problem Solving Tasks – The idea is not just to solve a particular problem or achieve a goal. The most critical factor in a growing company is gaining enough knowledge on how it’s done.When problems arise, it’s better to have your own team of problem solvers who can get the job done. The ability to solve problems also has another positive result—it prevents these issues from happening in the future.
6. Company Financing – The finance department has the responsibility to decide how much budget is given to particular projects and departments. Financial decisions, investments, and other expenses should not be outsourced because in-house financial managers have a clearer picture of the status of the company.

Outsourcing is Here to Stay

Outsourcing is indeed becoming a staple portion of any successful company, and it’s happening outside the US. In the past, outsourcing partnerships materialized because of phone calls and meetings over coffee.

But today, any business can acquire outsourcing services through the Internet. They can draft contracts with foreign Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies without the need to actually see each other face-to-face.

There are a ton of options in outsourcing. The top two countries that offer outsourcing services worldwide are the Philippines and India. The Philippines currently employs more than a million employees in the BPO industry, and that’s expected to increase to 1.3 or 1.5 million professionals in the next three years. It is the top destination of voice BPO, while it is second to India in non-voice services.

Meanwhile, India holds more than 65% of all IT-related outsourced jobs worldwide. The country boasts high-level competency in computer-related responsibilities and specialization, such as scala programmer,as well as a good grasp of the English language.

Outsourcing and Automation

In the years to come, there will be more outsourcing options, one of which is automation. Some businesses are beginning to rely on AI and modern technology to automate specific procedures without the need for human intervention. Outsourcing to automation is also becoming popular nowadays, and interestingly, there are also tasks that should not be automated—but that’s a topic for another day.