Don’t think outsourcing is a sexy career? Think again, says D. Zachary Misko. Outsourcing can be adventurous, high-level and rewarding.

In his new role as global director for Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group (OCG), Misko has the opportunity to travel to Australia, London and Asia Pacific, and immerse himself in different cultures and geographies around the world.

He’s also viewed as an important team player in the C-suite. “Outsourcing is a customer-client relationship where you have a seat at the table” because companies are increasingly recognizing it as a strategic practice to add value, he says.

After a 15-year career in human resources, Misko moved to the outsourcing service side and has worked with Fortune 500 companies throughout the world to develop and implement processes that improve and drive HR and workforce solutions for the past nine years.

Julia Santos, Head of Global Business Optimization for Johnson & Johnson’s Group of Consumer Companies, took a different route into her outsourcing career. She was tapped from the pharmaceutical side of the business to set up an outsourcing organization in the consumer sector to help leadership achieve the greater value they were seeking.

Over the past six years at the job, the results she has achieved speak for themselves and she is slowly changing the mindsets about outsourcing and influencing the culture at a traditional organization rooted in 125-years of history.

While there are many different paths to achieve outsourcing success, these two executives are among many who have found rewarding careers in the profession. Globalization Today asked experts from provider, customer and advisor organizations for their advice on how to go far in outsourcing. Also weighing in was: LeAnne Andersen, Vice President, Global HR Services of Best Buy; Jacqueline Canney, Global HR director for Accenture’s BPO business; and Erica Volini, Principal, Human Capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Here are their top 12 tips for moving up in the field.

1. Be Influential and Innovative

What does it take to excel in outsourcing? The skills, knowledge, experience and capabilities for the job are extensive, making candidates who have them all in demand.

Here are some of the things Santos says are required for the job. Candidates should be skilled in communications, business process analysis, strategic business analysis, financial analysis and negotiation. They should be experienced in team leadership, program management, global delivery, relationship management and change management; and capable at leading service teams across cultures. Plus, you should be flexible, adaptable, influential and have an innovative spirit.

“Your influencing capabilities have to be the best because there are so many channels and people you have to bring on board,” says Santos, who is chair of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ (IAOP) Global Human Capital chapter and an IAOP board member. “And you need to have an innovative spirit. You have to have the mentality of ‘what is the next best thing out there? What is better than what I am doing today?’ Individuals looking to go into outsourcing have to have all those pieces working for them.”

Having the total package will make you a stand-out, says Andersen, who also is chair of Human Resource Outsource Association (HROA).

Individuals working in outsourcing should have deep experience in continuous improvement, including lean Six Sigma, and attention to detail, as well as abilities in the areas of systemic thinking, building cross-functional relationships and a business acumen, according to Andersen.

“The best individuals have a natural discontent and desire to create a better tomorrow,” she says. “Not everyone can run an outsourcing relationship. It requires a broad range of skills from the tactical service review to the ability to develop long-term strategic plans. Too often you still see individuals that can drive one end of that spectrum but not the full range.

“A great outsourcing professional can demonstrate how their approach to the business has lead to differentiated outcomes, most often in areas of enterprise growth, financial management and service quality.”

2. Understand Outsourcing is More than Negotiating Price

The outsourcing department in an organization typically has a much different focus than procurement with the main differentiator being that outsourcing contributes to both the top and bottom-line growth of a company, Santos of J&J says.

While skilled at negotiating deals and pricing, individuals working in procurement don’t necessarily have the expertise in specific business areas – such as research and development, IT and sales and marketing – and skill sets required to succeed in an outsourcing role. An outsourcing professional knows the business first and then procurement second; a procurement professional knows procurement first and the business second, she noted.

“The focus for outsourcing and procurement is two different tracks but a lot of companies fail to recognize that,” Santos says. “Outsourcing is a business strategy that companies can not do without. It’s not about negotiating best price. It’s about bringing total value to the company and that includes efficiencies and effectiveness, quality, business innovation, sustainability and cost reductions from our service providers. It’s about managing the strategic relationships or alliances to contribute to bottom- and top-line growth. Outsourcing is more holistic in its approach while procurement primarily focuses on the bottom line.”

3. Take the Best of the Best and Make Yourself Better

Outsourcing service providers working with multiple clients are exposed to a lot of different experiences that you wouldn’t get working with just a single customer, which is a career advantage.

Companies are increasingly focused on establishing and spreading best practices through their organizations. If you only work with a single customer for your entire career, you won’t have the broad base of experiences needed to benchmark best practices, says Volini, who recommends rotations across clients for career development, particularly for operations professionals.

“Take the best of what you learn and see and put it into your skill sets to make yourself more marketable in the future,” says Misko of Kelly OCG.

Pursue leadership and other training programs both inside and outside your organization to advance yourself, experts says. Accenture, for example, offers an initiative called “Grow BPO” that’s aimed at helping its people develop successful relationships, grow their own careers and work together to grow the company’s BPO business.

4. See the Big Picture

Stay relevant to your client – not only in terms of the process or technology – but in how you can add value beyond what you do on a day-to-day basis, advises Canney.

“Outsourcing professionals have the privilege of being on the inside of the client’s business,” Canney says. “Therefore, there’s an opportunity to look deeper at the information and glean valuable insights that may not be evident from just the process itself.”

For example, Canney says, processing payroll can reveal a trend of high employee turnover that could lead the Chief HR Officer to take action to reduce attrition, potentially contributing to bottom- or top-line growth.

5. Choose Your Partners Wisely

Make sure the partners you select are the ones you can live with over the long haul.

“It is incredibly important to select your partners, your team and define your own leadership style consistent with the partnership culture you aspire to have,” says Andersen of Best Buy.

“Like any team, engagement is the key to success,” she says. “Leading an outsourcing relationships requires you to be at your best within your own organization and within your outsource provider’s organization too. Getting ahead has a ton to do with your outcomes and your references, regardless of what role you play in an outsourcing relationship.”

There are key factors to consider when choosing a strategic partner. If there are many providers to choose from, one must identify their key differentiators and evaluate them. If there are few providers, the sponsor may have to invest more resources in time and money to get the provider to the appropriate level.

Santos says, “Expertise and quality are of utmost importance. In order to fully understand the provider’s capabilities and differentiators it is critical to evaluate the provider’s performance and build a strong working relationship. This is especially important in offshore projects. The right location and the right partner must be chosen. This is not a simple task. There are always risks associated with offshore locations. The risks may include geopolitical issues, skill competencies, local labor laws, legal and intellectual property issues, wage and currency fluctuations, etc. To fully understand the impact of any of these risks, a location analysis should be performed to determine if the benefits outweigh the risks. Outsourcing professionals are skilled in undertaking these evaluations to determine the provider’s strengths and weaknesses, support you in the selection process, and maintain the relationship.”

6. Certify your Expertise

Getting certified as an outsourcing professional will demonstrate to current and future employers as well as clients and colleagues that you are truly an expert. Since IAOP established the Certified Outsourcing Professional® (COP) designation in 2006, nearly 300 outsourcing customers, providers and advisors from around the globe in a diverse range of industries have achieved the recognition.

Not only do professionals gaining certifications typically receive higher recognition, they also can command higher compensation and companies can expect consistent, higher-quality results by working with these certified individuals.

“Professional certification, like any personal development, strongly hinges on the learner to maximize its full potential,” Andersen says. “It demonstrates an individual’s commitment to their career, humility to admit they look outside of their own organization for guidance, and generally acknowledges that they have driven a significant project as the basis of their certification.”

Recently, IAOP and HROA joined forces to develop a new advanced COP®-HR designation that will enable individuals who are outsourcing customers, providers or advisers to demonstrate their HR outsourcing expertise.
“A certification program that builds the necessary skills is a huge advantage for any HR professional embarking on a serious HR outsourcing program,” says Andersen. “Having participated in IAOP’s COP program, I can attest to its value.”

Companies as well as entire countries are backing COP programs. Misko will be among 25 professionals at Kelly OCG taking the COP certification exam this summer. And the program has received the endorsement from the government of Malaysia as an approved training program to build the nation’s ranks of knowledge-enabled professionals.

Work in your career for awhile to find your niche and then get certified in that specialty area, recommends Misko, who has earned a number of professional certifications, including Certified Diversity Recruiter (CDR), Certified Internet Recruiter (CIR) and Professional in Human Resources (PHR), as well as advanced certification from the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.

7. Understand the Specialized Trends

As most companies have already outsourced their core functions, having an expertise in specialized areas that will be part of the next generation of solutions will help you get ahead in your long-term outsourcing career, experts say.

“Understand the trends of what is being outsourced and develop depth in those areas,” says Volini of Deloitte, which co-chairs IAOP’s Global Human Capital chapter.

For example in HR outsourcing, companies are now looking to providers for help with such specialized areas as workforce planning, recruitment and performance management.

“The healthcare industry has been affected by the outsourcing prospect, just like any other major industry, because the cost savings and talent advantage is so compelling to a global company’s competitiveness,” Santos says. “Although cost savings are still a major factor in the outsourcing business model, we are seeing the transition from low-cost and market penetration objectives to development of high-end technical and Research & Development (R&D) excellence. Our providers must be highly skilled and experienced without sacrificing the low cost benefit.”

8. Sit in Someone Else’s Chair

Get deep and broad in your outsourcing expertise and understand how the process you work in is connected to the business as whole, advises Volini of Deloitte. “It’s all about achieving business transformation,” she says.

If you work in operations, sit with the IT side of the business and better understand the technology and what it offers. And the techies should get to know what the operations folks deal with better by spending some time in a call center.

“They do not operate in silos,” Volini says. “The biggest gaps we see is that technical doesn’t understand the impact it has on operations.”

Santos agrees, saying: “In order for outsourcing to be effective, the outsourcing professional must understand the business. We must walk in the business’ shoes. We must speak the same language and feel their pain.”

9. Get into the Geography

To truly expand the breadth of your outsourcing career, you have to spend a significant amount of time in different geographies and gain a deep understanding of the cultures, the executives say.

Says Voini: “If you want to say you implement outsourcing globally, you have to do it in a region or country outside the U.S. with a significant population.”

“Offshore outsourcing arrangements have many challenges, from culture differences to regulatory or tax concerns, but if handled properly, the rewards are immense,” Santos says. “By far, the most difficult element in managing offshore outsourcing arrangements is the culture challenge. Due to the cross-cultural differences in mindset, values and approach to business interactions, issues are certain to exist. This is why effective communication must be primary and at the forefront of any offshore deal. An effective communication plan is critical. It will not eliminate the cultural challenges but it will minimize the negative impact it may have on the final result or outcome.”

10. Let Technology Bring you Closer

Discovering ways to effectively link together virtual client teams is critical and the use of technology is paramount, says Canney, who notes that Accenture uses high-definition video conferencing to connect teams across multiple countries, making them more ‘real’ to each other and clients.

“The way we do business in five years or sooner will be very different from the way we have done business,” Santos says. “We will rely heavily on technology to drive relationships. We will go from Supplier Managed Relationships to Network Managed Relationships or Open Book Network Partnering where resources, capital equipment, compounds and services are shared.”

11. Network and Connect

Get involved with an industry association and serve on a committee or board of directors.

Not only will networking at a high-level connect you with the right people, it also will be rewarding personally, says Misko, who is involved with a number of organizations, including the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM), the Employers Management Association (EMA), the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS), Best Practice Institute (BPI) and HROA.

“Know what you want to achieve in your career and make your goals known,” says Accenture’s Canney. “Build a strong network of colleagues and leverage mentors to provide career advice and guidance.”

12. Have Stick-to-itiveness

In many organizations, outsourcing still is not easily understood. Recognize the culture within the organization you are working for and don’t expect immediate success or easily acceptance from all.

Santos has achieved positive results at J&J by having a team of outsourcing professionals embedded in the organization with the needed influence and negotiating skills that can get things done following the processes and governance established by her organization.

“If you are working in a traditional organization with a more conservative approach, you need a lot of drive and passion,” Santos said. “The hard core professionals will keep sticking at it. You can’t defy the results. If the results are positive and there’s a lot of value for the company, then people will look at it differently.”

And lastly, put your career in the right perspective. “In this industry it’s important to maintain a good work-life balance in order to stay inspired,” Canney says.

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