According to a Forbes report, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) dominate the U.S. economy, making up 99.9% of all companies, and 33.3 million qualify as small enterprises.
However, over 80% of these businesses operate without staff and are run solely by their owners. Why is that?
First, some industries are recovering from losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Second, they exhibit self-reliance and independence.
Lastly, SMBs today have unprecedented access to global talent and need more resources to hire employees.
Whether you own a growing startup or an established SMB, tapping into resources like virtual assistants (VAs), remote staff augmentation, and offshore talent solutions can help you scale cost-effectively.
If you want to leverage staff augmentation or small teams of global offshore talent but don’t know how to start, we’ve got you covered.
We wrote this guide to help you build a global workforce for your small business. We’ll provide insights on hiring offshore talent, managing remote teams, and implementing outsourcing strategies like staff augmentation for SMBs.
Staff Augmentation for SMBs: 6 Steps To Hiring Global Talent
Here are six steps to maximizing global talent for your small or medium-sized business.
Step 1: Understand the Benefits of Global Talent.
Global talent brings fresh ideas and unique skills to your team, helping your business stay ahead.
Knowing the following benefits can help you make choices for your team’s growth:
Cost Savings
Global hiring often provides access to high-quality talent at a fraction of local costs.
For instance, cost-effective virtual assistant services can take over time-consuming tasks, saving money and allowing you to focus on more important matters for your business.
Diverse Expertise
Do you need an accountant, bookkeeper, web developer, or 24/7 customer support?
Hiring offshore talent gives you access to specialists with the skills you need.
Scalability
Tools like remote staff augmentation allow you to scale up or down quickly. The right BPO partner has agile and flexible operations and can adjust your staffing needs to meet your business goals.
Global Team Building
Hiring people worldwide diversifies your workforce and brings fresh viewpoints and innovative ideas.
These people are dependable, trustworthy, and skilled, helping you manage your business and support its growth.
Step 2: Define Your Needs.
Understand your business requirements by asking yourself these questions:
1. What Tasks Can I Outsource?
Administrative work, data entry, customer service, and digital marketing are great places to start with virtual assistants. You can also add bookkeeping, accounting, full-stack development, legal support, and engineering, as most VAs are well-known for those.
2. How Much Flexibility Do I Need?
If your workload fluctuates, remote staff augmentation can help you manage seasonal or project-based needs without committing to permanent hires.
Without full-time, permanent teams, you can cut the cost and effort you’ll exert and focus on other important matters for your business.
3. What’s My Budget?
As I mentioned above, hiring VAs can boost your budget so you can allocate it to other matters for your business. You can use a VA cost calculator to estimate expenses and ensure you make a financially sound decision.
Step 3: Hire Offshore Talent.
Once you know what you need, follow these steps to hire global talent correctly. These steps are crucial since they begin the business talk with your partner.
Here are some tips for hiring offshore talent:
1. Choose the Right Hiring Model.
Two suitable hiring models for SMBs include 1) staff augmentation for SMBs and 2) dedicated remote teams.
These models are ideal for short-term needs, recruitment, onboarding, HR, and long-term roles requiring ongoing collaboration.
2. Select a Trusted Platform or Partner.
Partnering with trusted outsourcing companies or platforms ensures you get meticulously screened candidates.
Find a BPO provider with a proven track record in offshore talent solutions.
3. Conduct Thorough Interviews.
Even for remote roles, interviews are critical.
Check candidates’ skills, work ethic, and time flexibility because hiring offshore means getting talent from different time zones. Usually, VAs are from Asian countries like the Philippines.
4. Start With a Trial Period.
Before making a long-term commitment, test your new hire with a trial project to ensure a good fit.
Step 4: Master Remote Team Management.
Building a global team is one thing, but managing it well is another.
Good planning and regular communication are usually needed to manage a small business’s global workforce.
Best Practices for Remote Team Management
Follow these best practices for managing small remote teams:
Leverage Communication Technology.
Use Slack, Asana, Zoom, and other communication tools that foster seamless communication and collaboration, regardless of the distance between team members.
Set Clear Expectations.
Provide detailed job descriptions and timelines for each team member.
Conduct Regular Check-Ins.
Weekly or bi-weekly virtual meetings help align everyone’s priorities and address challenges promptly.
Encourage Cultural Awareness.
With a global team, understanding cultural differences fosters stronger relationships and teamwork.
Measure Performance.
Track progress using KPIs and celebrate achievements to keep your team motivated. Good management does that out of care.
Step 5: Integrate BPO for SMBs into Your Strategy.
If you’re new to global hiring, outsourcing through BPO for SMBs is a smart first step.
BPO companies with small teams handle recruitment, payroll, and compliance, giving you access to top-notch talent without the admin hassle.
They can also hire talents according to your business needs, which separates them from the large operating BPOs.
Benefits of BPO for SMBs
Partnering with the right BPO provider can give you access to the following benefits:
Effortless Hiring
Skip the headache of sourcing and vetting candidates yourself.
Cost-Efficiency
Reduce overhead expenses with managed services. You’ll spend less money and eliminate significant stress—it’s a win-win situation!
Expertise at Scale
Gain access to teams with specialized training and experience and ramp up or down rapidly according to your needs and budget.
Step 6: Overcome Outsourcing Challenges.
Hiring global talent isn’t without its challenges—here’s how to address them:
Language Barriers
Partner with providers who specialize in hiring English-speaking professionals.
Time Zone Differences
Use staggered shifts or assign tasks that don’t require real-time collaboration. Find a BPO partner that hires teams capable of working in different time zones.
Performance Monitoring
Don’t Start small and monitor the performance of your team closely.
ClearSource: Your Partner in Finding Exceptional Global Talent
Ready to leap into the world of global hiring? At ClearSource, we make it easy for SMBs to unlock the maximum potential of international talent.
We can provide your business with the following:
Top-Tier Virtual Assistants
We carefully select teams of professionals with the skills and experience to boost your business efficiency.
Expert Remote Staff Augmentation
You can customize your preferred staff augmentation solutions to fit your needs and budget, scaling up or down based on your goals without sacrificing service quality or operational efficiency.
Simple, Quick, Effective Hiring Processes for SMBs
We’ve streamlined our staff augmentation hiring process to ensure rapid yet effective hiring of skilled professionals with capabilities that suit your needs.
Our proven experience in offshore talent solutions and seamless integration of global team-building strategies will ensure success for your SMB.
Contact ClearSource to discover how we can connect you with world-class professionals while simplifying your hiring process. Together, we’ll create a thriving global workforce for your business.
