From Accenture to Zurich, why top organisations are turning to outsourcing

This article is brought to you in association with GP Strategies

In recent months, large well-known organisations have publicly credited outsourcing for boosting their success. They have thrown a spotlight on there being more than one way to improve a company, with profit not always being the sole intention.

Outsourcing may have once seemed like a dirty word, conjuring images of International call centres taking profits from the UK.  The reality, however, is that outsourcing can take on many forms, helping businesses grow across the UK and helping the economy bounce back. There are a number of ways that companies can use outsourcing to benefit both their profits and their employees.

The Procurement Director for the BBC, Jim Hemmington, spoke at the ProcureCon Indirect 2013 conference about the firm’s strategy. Hemmington attributed experience for helping define a winning approach and described the use of outsourcing as best practice in a variety of activities from HR to finance.

At the same event, the Head of Procurement for Zurich, Simon Ellis, announced a similar strategy by outsourcing purchasing to advance delivery and help save millions. Ellis revealed “The sign off from the global executive that we were going to outsource [means] we are taken seriously now within the organisation because we have met the challenge and we have also signed a long-term partnership deal with this provider. So it is really being taken seriously at a global and local level.”

HfS Research and Accenture released a report in April investigating business needs from outsourcing. The research entitled, ‘Is good enough really good enough?’ discovered that 83% of the 282 responding companies rated other objectives more important than cost cutting. The paper also highlighted that a lack of training in relationship management meant that many businesses struggled to achieve the complete value from strategic outsourcing.

Accenture’s Group Chief Executive of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Mike Salvino, explained, “If outsourcing is to deliver on its full potential, buyers as well as providers need to invest in developing the skills and talent to capture the greater levels of value available from fourth and fifth generation BPO solutions. The [study] highlights the growing talent gap between what the industry and its clients aspire to achieve and the lack of sufficient investment in people to make it happen.”

Organisations, including the BBC and Zurich, recognise their areas of weakness and target help from other companies. The businesses utilise providers’ skills to improve themselves via contracts including training outsourcing and procurement assistance. External businesses such as GP Strategies are able to operate globally and offer expert assistance at the fraction of the cost compared to keeping the work internally, allowing firms to thrive.