The term "best practices" is in danger of becoming like so many other popular phrases of the last 20 years. Think about contingency planning, paradigm shifts, thinking outside the box, scalability, the paperless office, etc. I could go on an on becasue I do strive to be buzzword compliant. The thing all these have in common are that they are great concepts and everybody talked about them, but did they actually get implemented and if they did are they still in place?
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Back in 2005 a famous (or infamous depending on your view) article appeared in "Fast Company" magazine called Why We Hate HR and, understandably, it caused quite an uproar. The premise was that HR professionals were neither leaders nor strategic. Don't shoot me, I didn't write it. Now, five years later, one of the co-founders of Fast Company has written a blog article for the Harvard Business Review called Why We (Shouldn't) Hate HR. So what has changed?
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In my previous post I attempted to remove the negative connotation associated with the term "Outsourcing". I am still on that soapbox because it bothers me that something so common, based on the way most of us live our lives, has come to be viewed as such a bad thing. OK, sure there are extreme examples where I would agree that certain types of outsourcing don't seem right. But, by and large, outsourcing is a perfectly normal way to conduct business. I suppose redefining the word may be more than I can accomplish so I'll just try to break down some of the myths associated with outsourcing so that it may be viewed in a more rational light.
Here is one of my favorites: "If you outsource that, you will lose control over it..."
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If you just mention the word 'outsource' in a conversation, chances are someone will look at you as if you just called their baby ugly. It conjures up images of factories in the US closing down and sweatshops in third world countires. In the business context people equate 'outsourcing' something with 'losing control' over it. I even avoid using the term because I don't want people thinking we are something that we aren't. OK, yes, there are certainly bad examples of outsourcing, but it is not a bad word or even a bad concept. In fact, most of us outsource things all the time and don't think twice about it.
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Why are we here? No, this isn't some philosophical question of existence. I mean - why are we here here talking about temporary labor or staffing?
If you you have work that needs to be done there is certainly no shortage of staffing companies around; just look online (Or in a phone book. Yes, many people still use those). You can buy hours and hours of labor from any number of sources and, by and large, they will do a good job of providing a body. Before I go any farther, please understand that I believe there will always be a need for that type of basic buyer-supplier service, it is just that sometimes you need more...
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I am writing today to review the new book by Kate Vitasek, Mike Ledyard and Karl Manrodt. The book is titled Vested Outsouring. This book explores the process leading companies go through to establish a relationship with their service partners that vests each party in the other's success. Kate is no stranger to this topic. I have known her for over 15 years while employed with one of the companies mentioned in her book, Stream International. Commissioned by the University of Tennessee to explore this topic, Kate and her team provide the 10 things that can go wrong with outsourcing and then offer the prescription to get it right. It is an excellent book for anyone who uses outsourced, or insourced, service providers and looking to improve their results.
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The new website is up and running after much hard work by a lot of people, and we have created this great new brand image to help us tell our story. We have developed case studies, like the ones listed below and, and will be featuring them prominantly on the site. So what else is there to do?
Distribution Services Case Study
Insource helps client cut defects by 73% in just over two months.
Order Picking Services Case Study
Insource engineers a 48% accuracy improvement and a 57% productivity improvement.
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