How to get your staff to embrace outsourcing

This may not be one of your primary concerns if you’re considering to outsource accounting services. However, it’s actually one of the most commonly asked questions when an owner is thinking about implementing outsourcing as a part of their growth strategy.

First and foremost, before we even get into the nitty gritty of how to handle this concern, it’s crucial to recognise that you (the practice owner) have every right to run your practice the way you see fit.

It’s already understood that your clients and staff will be affected by any major decisions you make in regards to your practice, however, always be confident in your decisions and know that at the end of the day you need to do what you feel is right.

Some of your staff may not know what outsourcing is, and others may have misconceptions so it’s important to address how your staff feels about it.

Below are some of the things your staff might feel about outsourcing:

1. Fear of losing their jobs: this feeling stems from what they hear in the media and also from ignorance. Most people tend to fear what they don’t know.
2. Apprehension to change: whenever we experience change we also experience some type of apprehension regardless of it being a positive or negative change.
3. Excited about getting help from India: being interested in the change is a common reaction and hopefully, one that your team members also feel.
4. Fear of change: A change to their regular routine is going to spark some fear
5. Cultural incompatibility: They’ll most likely be uncomfortable with the idea of conversing with someone from a different country. They probably feel there will be a language or cultural barrier.

Regardless of the reaction you receive from the existing staff you need to make sure you engage with them and communicate in an honest manner. If you don’t get their buy-in, their non-cooperation might cause the outsourcing operation to fail.

Be clear and let them know why you want to outsource accounting functions and how it will affect them. You don’t need to get into too many details but at least address the elephant in the room.

If they fear losing their jobs, you can assure them that that won’t be the case. Over 290+ accountants that outsource their accounting services to us did so because they wanted to grow their practice. No one lost a job because of outsourcing to QXAS in India.

Let your existing staff know that you still require their knowledge and expertise and, in fact, want them to be more involved in the growth of the practice. Your current staff may need to learn new software or upskill themselves which are things they can get excited about. Whatever your reasons are for implementing outsourcing be honest and clear with your team.

How QXAS can help

At QXAS we’ve combined our customised and flexible approach, outstanding service delivery, specialist knowledge and experience to become a trusted service provider for our clients. To know more about outsourcing get in touch with us today for a no-obligation consultation and see if outsourcing can benefit your accounting practice.