Australian Work-force Challenge
The Australian workforce is experiencing one of the largest labor shortages in the past few years. The Australian Bureau of statistics reports over 400,000 available vacancies which many businesses are struggling a great deal to fill up.
There are many ways that businesses are resorting to tackle this unprecedented challenge. Corporates are now seeking staffing solutions from third parties both locally and beyond the borders. This blog is an analysis of the benefits of sourcing beyond the locale.
The Big Question
One of the most affected services struggling with workforce challenges are the finance and accounting solutions. These services are considered to be the ‘blood in the veins’ of any business and must be deeply considered with regard to staffing. The complexities involved in accounting and finance require a high level of expertise, and any kind of discrepancies whether big or small would cause a huge problem for the business.
Before considering staffing solutions any business needs to analyse the experience/quality, control, reporting, and cost. This then informs the big question for every firm to make a decision on which solution works, to source locally or globally?
Sourcing in the Locale
It is considerably easier to source for staffing solutions within the locale, as there are a couple of advantages to it.
Accessibility of Talent
Local talent is accessible and easy to work with for many businesses. It’s so easy to gel in with the business locally as the company culture is not too far fetched from what is acceptable within the local culture, making it easy for them to fit in. They are also familiar with laws and regulations, something that is beneficial to any business and its ethics.
Cost
The cost of hiring locally can help the business to reduce the cost of labor as it is considerably low. To save on cost and acquire great talent businesses can seek the help of recruitment and staffing agencies.
Fasten hiring
The recruitment agencies within the locale have a vast network of experienced candidates that are easy to select from, thus hastening the hiring process. It is quite easy and quick to acquire candidates with required expertise, which is crucial for businesses that are looking to fill up positions immediately.
Flexibility
Local staff sourcing makes it quite flexible to adjust accordingly with the needs of the firm. Firms can choose whether to hire temporarily, permanently, or have a contract.
Despite the pros of sourcing locally, there are a few issues arising: –
Cost
Cost may also be considered as a con especially when recruitment agencies are involved. Some of them charge exorbitant amounts for their recruiting services, which may take a toll on the overall cost of hiring for the business.
Staff quality
The candidates recruited may not always meet the business standards required by the business. Some agencies may concentrate more on filling positions rather than providing quality candidates. As in the Australian context there being a shortage of workforce, it is easy to just select to fill up with the ‘bare minimum’ kind of candidates.
Control
When recruitment and staffing agencies are given the mandate to take over the hiring process, it takes away the control of the business. These agencies may not have a clear picture of the business needs, culture, and company values, which may result in a high level of mismatches between the selected candidates and the business needs and requirements.
Turnover
With regard to temporary and contractual hiring, there may be a higher turnover resulting from this. When individuals have a short assignment, they are more likely to be less invested in the company as they are seeking for better opportunities
Is Global Sourcing a Solution?
Globalisation is becoming quite dynamic every other day, with more businesses choosing to go beyond the borders and time zones to seek staffing solutions. Businesses are seeking to establish their presence in international ‘hotspots’ in order to attract top talent, retaining the talent, building a power-house and if possible, cut costs while at it.
Talented employee pool
There is so much talent an organisation is able to attract by seeking staffing solutions globally. Many businesses in Australia are currently struggling to fill up roles locally, making seeking this talent beyond borders quite viable. A team with multi-national experience brings about diversity and therefore enhances the companies’ capabilities.
Diversity
With talent from a different setting and environment the business is able to enhance business activities. Different backgrounds enable people to have different views towards certain issues, which in the end boosts creativity. So much knowledge is exchanged and shared amongst the different backgrounds, to the benefit of the business.
Cost
The cost of labour in some Asian and African countries is quite low. Businesses can leverage this to ensure they get experienced workers at a lesser cost, thus saving significantly.
Improved efficiency
Businesses can leverage on the different time zones where the staff are located to provide 24/7 coverage on a couple of business functions. With this there will be better production and faster turnaround time in the business.
Outsourcing Operators with know-how
Most of the staffing solutions providers have a lot of expertise and years of experience in working with different clientele within the same industries. This therefore gives them an upper hand on handling business operations. For instance Brisca has had expertise in taxation and financial accounting solutions over the years in Australia, thus having a significant knowledge of the operations and systems of different businesses and what is required for them.
Sourcing globally is quite ideal for businesses that are looking to grow and thrive in the world today. There are however, some risks that may arise: –
Cultural barriers
The different cultures represented may not gel quite well, thus bringing about a communication barrier which has a direct influence on the quality of work and productivity. Due to this, companies will require to invest in training and equipping the staff and management on the language and cultural sensitivity so as to do away with this issue.
Legal and regulatory compliance
When sourcing for a team it is important to be up to date with the legal and regulatory requirements of the countries involved. This is to avoid any legal or financial consequences that may occur if they are not well followed.
Data security and confidentiality
Having to share information across the different channels across the border may lead to a breach of confidentiality. This may cause a huge threat to the security of the organisation. It is therefore important to ensure data is well protected especially for information that is sensitive.
Deal or No Deal?
With the challenges that businesses are facing in finding the right match in Australia, then the best, if not the only way is to seek staffing solutions beyond the locality. Despite the risks businesses are exposed to, it is an efficient staff sourcing option. More businesses are exploiting this diversity and are inadvertently thriving. It is however essential for any business to check their staffing needs and capacity before investing beyond their borders for staffing solutions.
It may not be so easy to find the best and right match for your business as many are not quite conversant on how to go about this. That is why Brisca is here to help with these kinds of staffing solutions, send us your inquiry and this will be your first step to exploring the great unchartered waters to make your business excel.