{"id":1311,"date":"2012-11-13T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-13T08:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/kops_onshore_talent_111312\/"},"modified":"2012-11-13T08:56:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T08:56:00","slug":"kops_onshore_talent_111312","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/kops_onshore_talent_111312\/","title":{"rendered":"Losing the war for talent: Why offshore providers come up short onshore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There is an exclusive club developing in the Western World… “onshore” people who have experienced working for an offshore-centric provider, where all roads lead to Mumbai, or Delhi, or Chennai, or Bangalore…<\/strong> These folks quickly realized that this execu-life is an acquired taste – and either adapted or quickly bailed… or got fired. \u00a0I personally know a multitude of executives now on their second, third, or even fourth (yes, fourth) offshore-centric firm.<\/p>\n

What’s abundantly clear is the need to hire and develop quality onshore account management and delivery personnel is becoming the crucial differentiator\u00a0in today’s ever-tightening outsourcing marketplace. \u00a0Those that can win this talent war will be the ones who can truly move beyond yesterday’s flagging outsourcing model.<\/p>\n

So who better than Deborah Kops<\/a>, the doyenne of disruptive dialog herself, to expand on this topic in a way that,\u00a0quite\u00a0frankly, noone has dared put into print before…<\/p>\n

Why offshore providers come up short onshore<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks, I must have had at least 10 calls from outsourcing talent currently looking \u2013or being recruited for new positions–many of them by offshore providers. And that\u2019s not counting the calls from search consultants, desperate to locate that buried diamond of a sales-accounts-or-solutions guy who can be persuaded to jump ship.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Deborah Kops, Research Fellow at HfS (click for bio)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comparing their stories with my own recruitment experiences, it struck me that I\u2019d been listening to a broken record. The tales were so very similar\u2014even across a number of providers\u2014that perhaps it\u2019s time that someone called attention to the fact that in a war for onshore talent, offshore providers can unwittingly come up short. And that\u2019s not good for the provider, for the talent, and certainly not for clients who increasingly demand that their providers become more globally and culturally adept.<\/em><\/p>\n

Last week, yet another resume showed up in my email. Now, convinced that you can\u2019t know too many smart people, I spent a few minutes with Mr. X, going over a very impressive list of qualifications: both buy-and-sell-side experience; a real track record in sales and operations; \u00a0good communication skills and a great educational pedigree. When the conversation got to the stage where I was convinced that any number of providers would love to have him as part of the team, I started my usual \u2018what about x? Or y?\u2019 And then I got an emphatic \u201cI won\u2019t work for an offshore-legacy firm.\u201d \u201cWhy,\u201d I asked. \u201cYou\u2019ve never worked for one. How do you know you can\u2019t have a great career?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cDeborah,\u201d he said, \u201cWhy would I work for a firm where the power structure is all overseas and doesn\u2019t include me?\u00a0 And every time I\u2019ve been recruited by an offshore firm, it\u2019s been a waste of my time. They don\u2019t seem to know how to run a good process. I am underwhelmed, and since recruitment is seduction, I\u2019m not falling into bed with a firm that doesn\u2019t know how to sell me on working with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offshore providers, please take note. With fewer and fewer good onshore sales\/account management\/solutions\/operations guys and gals willing to switch horses, putting your best foot forward in the recruiting cycle is no different than courting a client. In fact, without the ability to attract the right onshore talent, it\u2019s arguably impossible to grow and prosper.<\/p>\n

What parts of the plot are offshore providers seemingly missing when they attempt to recruit onshore talent?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n