When you outsource work to the Philippines there are number of issues that you will need to address that you are not familiar with. After helping clients build countless offshore teams here are a list of the most common mistakes.

1. Not paying enough. The world is experiencing a global talent shortage. Whilst the Philippines has an abundance of talent available it’s still a highly competitive job market. If you think you can build and sustain team by paying below market pay rates or even market pay rates you are sadly mistaken. If you flex your financial muscle and pay marginally above the market rate, when your remote employee shops themselves around in the marketplace, you will not lose them. Bear in mind that you can lose a Filipino employee to an employer paying as little as an extra 5,000 PHP per month or $139 AUD per month. By paying slightly above market rates you can take your employee off the market for at least the next 12 to 24 months. This makes even more sense if you invest a considerable amount of time of working your new remote employee(s) into your business. It’s an investment that you want a solid return on.
2. Not understanding the local talent market. There is an abundance of talent available, but the talent market make-up is different from Australia. For instance, in the Philippines there is a there is a huge supply of Accountants and Nurses. You need to match your job brief with the talent that’s readily available in the local talent market.
3. Expecting your candidates to complete an assessment of skills which is too long to complete. When you build your recruitment strategy for your remote team this could include candidates to complete an online assessment for example, a typing test or technical test particularly for technical roles. You need to make sure the additional tests only take 30 to 45 minutes tops, otherwise you will alienate candidates from the role. In a super competitive job market, you need to limit the number of interviews and assessment in your hiring process, otherwise you won’t have a competitive hiring process and will lose good candidates.
4. Not communicating properly when tasking your remote team. When tasking your remote team, you need to confirm your team’s understanding of the work to be undertaken. You can do this by having your remote team confirm their understand of the task at hand, in their own words. If there is a gap in their understanding you can close the gap accordingly. You also need to set expectations of a timeframe to complete the said task. And, you need to confirm when you expect an update on the said task, too.