Your bookkeeper of the past 16 years just left your office leaving you holding her resignation.  She is moving and in 2 weeks she will be gone.  She did everything, payroll, purchasing, paid the bills, invoiced your clients, collected and deposited the money, prepared your financials, took care of your insurance and benefits, picked up your laundry.  You need to replace her, but how can you replace her and get the new person trained in two weeks?  Especially if you want to make sure to replace her with an A-Player.

Last time, we discussed the importance of hiring A-Players, along with the challenges in finding them and then convincing them to join your team. The example above demonstrates that time is often against you when hiring especially when you have either lost a key employee or when your current team is stretched to the limit.  Factor into that the costs for recruiting these hard to find  A-Players as well as the costs associated with benefits, payroll expenses, and training once you’ve hired them. On top of that, you also encounter the additional expense of the on-boarding and learning curve to get them acclimated to your company culture and style. Knowing these facts, it is no wonder most businesses say hiring is the biggest challenge they face today.

The truth is, depending on your company’s needs, there is an easier way to find the A-Players your company needs without the expense of recruiting, hiring, and benefits costs. Outsourcing is the answer to the headaches of hiring. You’ve heard of it, sure, but outsourcing is the hiring of an outside party that specializes in performing specific tasks within your organization. Outsourcing offers a number of advantages for your business, including helping you get the A-Players you need, when you need them, at a fraction of the cost, with no waiting for the learning curve to kick in and deliver the productivity you desire. In addition, outsourcing offers other advantages such as the implementation of better processes, procedures, systems, documentation while at the same time reducing your overall costs.

Knowing the A-Players you want to hire are, in most cases, already employed, we once again called on the expertise of Dr. Sabrina Starling, The Business Psychologist™, the author of How to Hire the Best and the founder of Tap the Potential, to uncover the solution to the hiring versus outsourcing conundrum. Dr. Starling’s response, “I recommend outsourcing over hiring.” Dr. Starling went on to explain, when you are hiring, you are looking for an employee who is reliable and competent with a particular specialized skill set – the hard to find A-Player. With outsourcing, you seek that expertise from an external team that already has the skillset mastered; therefore, you don’t have to pay for the learning curve to get the results you need right away. Understanding that payroll is a company’s largest expense, outsourcing allows you to fill the role needed, without paying another employee (or multiple employees). Dr. Starling added, “Outsourcing is simply less costly, and allows your company to expand and contract as needed to achieve success.”

Dr. Starling’s response might surprise you, at least for a moment, but when you consider the wisdom in her words, you’ll likely agree. Here at Virtual Partner Advantage (VPA) we pride ourselves in being the “A-Players” you are looking for – ethical, committed to service and excellence, accountable, and ready to act on your behalf. At VPA, outsourcing is what we do – from financials to processes, systems to resources – we are the experts, promising your company increased productivity and profitability.

With VPA resources performing outsourcing, you’ll find the partner you need to help you meet your goals with a scalable, customized, cost-effective advantage in these areas and more:

• Financials – From financial statement analytics, to profitability studies, to financial and management reporting, VPA’s experts work smart and deliver results.
• Processes – VPA’s team will optimize your processes and deliver reduced cost, improved customer service, and higher profits.
• Systems – From accounting to marketing to billing and payroll, outsourcing with VPA means added functionality, scalability, and profitability through optimized applications tailored to your business.
• Resources – Having A-Players on your team is critical to your success, and our A-Players are ready to help you meet your goals from controller to A/R to systemizing and more.