A Successful Outsourcing Engagement, Step-by-Step

To conduct a successful outsourcing engagement, learning organizations must devote considerable time and energy to pre- and post-planning. Jim Hanlin, Ph.D, chief operating officer of TrainingOutsourcing.com, describes the relationship between the learning organization and its outsourcing provider like dating. “You’re learning about each other through examination, questioning, documentation, further clarification. You need to get that dating out of the way before you get married,” he said.

TrainingOutsourcing.com’s process has seven steps. Step one is an internal assessment, where the learning organization looking to outsource takes a hard look at its own business and chooses what function has the greatest potential to create organizational value if outsourced. Hanlin said that many organizations find this first step to be the most important. “If you don’t get that part correct, the following steps are all going to be focused in the wrong areas,” he said. “It’s a critical path analysis to any project management—every step is the most important step after the previous step. The internal assessment can be done with an outside partner that is very objective, but we recommend that the internal assessment be done by people within the organization because they’re the ones who are going to look objectively at the situation.”

Step two is the RFP or proposal phase, where the learning organization defines what its vendor or outsourcing provider relationship and responsibilities will entail. “Depending on the complexity of it, you may need to involve financial people, line management, legal and human resources, particularly if the RFP involves a transfer of employees,” Hanlin said. “I think financial and procurement people always have to be involved in the team that puts together the RFP. Vendors need to respond in a manner that indicates their capabilities, obviously. It needs to be short, to the point and really involve solutions. In some cases, it may involve some cost estimates, although cost is typically not the number-one reason a vendor is selected. It’s not even a number one reason why companies decide to outsource. They are looking to enhance the value of their learning organization to the business. In outsourcing you’re looking for a partner who can improve your practices and your learning organization for the company.”