Getting ready to offshore

Offshoring works best when it is treated as a capability-building decision, not simply a cheaper way to fill a seat. Before recruiting, be clear about the business outcome, who will lead the team and whether the work is ready to transfer.

Lower employment costs may be part of the case, but they should not be the whole case. Stronger reasons include adding capacity that is difficult to recruit locally, extending service hours, freeing local specialists for higher-value work and improving consistency through documented processes.

Write down what the additional capacity will allow the business to do. Use those outcomes to choose roles, allocate management time and measure success. If the only objective is cost reduction, pause and define what operational improvement the saving is intended to create.

Give one person clear accountability for the offshore team’s output and experience. They need the authority to set priorities and make decisions, along with enough time to answer questions, review work and remove blockers.

During the early months, protect time in the owner’s schedule rather than adding the responsibility on top of an already full workload. If ownership changes, use a documented handover covering priorities, measures, current issues and team development.

Start with work that is repeatable, teachable, measurable and location-independent. Good first roles usually have a regular workflow, identifiable inputs and outputs, and a clear quality standard.

Avoid beginning with a loosely defined collection of unwanted tasks. Roles that depend heavily on physical presence, unresolved local judgement or broad spending authority may be better introduced after the operating model has matured.

Map where work begins, each major step, the systems used, decision points, escalation paths, outputs and quality checks. The first version can be simple; its purpose is to expose gaps before a new employee encounters them.

Use the map to shape the position description, recruitment brief, training plan and first standard operating procedures. Short screen recordings can support the written process, but should not replace it.

Recruitment and training take time, particularly for specialist or senior positions. Agree a realistic timetable with your partner and allow for onboarding, supervised practice and progressive independence.

Create a calendar from the recruitment brief through to the end of probation. Set expectations with the local team so the new hire is not expected to deliver full relief immediately.

Include the partner fee, internal management time, recruitment lead time, training effort, systems and the productivity ramp. Then quantify the expected value: local hours released, additional work accepted, service coverage improved, turnaround shortened or error reduced.

Set measurable targets for the first 90 days and the first year. Use realistic assumptions and test what happens if recruitment or ramp-up takes longer than planned.