Outsource Magazine Issue 24 - (Page 114)
THE BACK END THE LAST WORD
without fear of upsetting too many viewers and/or readers, or lucrative commercial clients. Those companies I’ve helped stay afloat however really don’t want to make a big deal out of it (“yeah we nearly went bust-o but we outsourced our way out of trouble” doesn’t look too hot in the annual report…). So the content determining the public perception of outsourcing is one-way traffic in the wrong direction – and I’m public enemy number one for “sending all our jobs to China”. Is there anything we can do to combat this misrepresentation? Probably not. But I’ve decided I’m going to try anyhow. And I’m going to start at the grassroots: myself. From now on if anyone asks me what I do I’m going to tell them straight up: “I’m in outsourcing”. Then if they recoil or bare their teeth I’m going to explain to them why it’s actually an indispensable business tool that’s keeping a lot of organisations from going out of business altogether and preserving millions of jobs right here in the USA. Like I said, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. And I’m not going to keep quiet about it anymore.
A Call to Arms
I don’t tell people I’m in outsourcing. “Business transformation”, “activity migration” – you name it, I use it. ABO: Anything But “Outsourcing”. It’s not that I’m not proud of what I’ve achieved in my career – I am – but there are only so many short accusatory pauses or bursts of invective you can take before you come to believe that in this case silence is golden. Here’s an example: some weeks ago I went out for a few drinks with some buddies, one of whom was accompanied by a colleague I hadn’t met previously. We were introduced and he asked what I did for a living, so I mumbled something about organisational change and resource allocation and tried steering the conversation into less perilous waters. However my friend had other ideas: “Oh, _____ works in outsourcing.” At this point his colleague stepped back a pace and regarded me with a significant and overt degree of suspicion for a moment before saying “Right… So you’re the one sending all our jobs to China.” I should have known better than to take this personally, but there was such an undertone of contempt in the guy’s voice that I couldn’t help getting a little riled. So then we had twenty minutes on the difference between offshoring and outsourcing, technology improvements, the skills deficit in the US, and a whole lot more. Which considering we were supposed to be out having a good time really stuck in my craw. (Afterwards my buddy had the good grace to apologise – he knows not to make that mistake again!) There aren’t too many careers – legitimate ones at least – that come attached with such baggage that it’s often better to pretend you do something else. Anyone at the IRS; an abortionist, maybe; porn “actor”; a few others. And “outsourcing professional” (not my title but I’ve seen it in this magazine, so…). Now I’ve saved a lot of money for a lot of companies in my time – maybe saved a few companies themselves. I’ve boosted bottom lines and I’ve made some crucial changes to organisations that might not have made it this far otherwise. But to a lot of people I’m little short of criminal – because of a real lack of understanding about what outsourcing actually is and how it impacts upon the economy. And also because the media knows it can demonise “outsourcing”
OPINION
“Captain America”
Would you like to contribute an interesting, provocative – and, if you wish, anonymous – piece to The Last Word? Or would you like to respond to this particular column? Why not drop a line to the editor at jamie.liddell@ outsourcemagazine.co.uk to discuss your thoughts?
Consendre mod eugait alit luptati sisisisit augait & billionaires have ipsumsan el eraestrud exerat ad onulla cor ing eumsandre ex elit @hippinator13: Millionaires num iusti facidunt gotten every break they want for 30 yrs & still atetue tet ulla feu feum niamconEm ea commodiam ad temjobs, when will it end??? et, quissi.Volobore m iurero dolobore. outsourcing American dolortio Utat lum quisim
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Magazine Issue 24
Editor's letter
News & comments
Seeing through the cloud
Steve Forbes
Embracing a lean culture in recruitment
The roar of the crowd
Andrew De Cleyn
Greening the chain
Private properties
NOA round-up
PR Chandrasekar
Ten ways to shake your world
Matt Barrie
Roundtable: an excellent process
Talentspotting
The talent question
Transition and change
Never the twain
Setting the standard
Touching base
Head-to-Head
Top ten
The legal view
HfS research
Online round-up
Sourcebites
Inside source
The last word
Outsource Magazine Issue 24
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