Nearshore Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Firm or Nearshore “Staffing” Agency?

When looking to outsource back office administrative functions, you may be faced with deciding between going with a full-service Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm or a staffing agency that requires you to co-hire, train, and co-manage the employees.

To help differentiate between the two, Synter Resource Group wanted to provide a comparison of the differences so you can make the best decision for your business.

BPO		Staffing Agency
The BPO interviews and hires the employees.		You participate in the interview and hiring/firing processes.
The BPO manages the processes and employees.		You manage the process and co-manage the employees.
The BPO ensures that production is covered if an employee is out sick or on vacation.		You are responsible for covering the production if the employee is out sick or on vacation.
The BPO incorporates a “Train the Trainer” model, so you only need to train them on the process once.		You are responsible for training each and every employee that is associated with your project.
The BPO has multiple cross-trained employees that can quickly take over should an employee quit or be terminated.		You will need to interview and hire another employee, which means you will have to cover the production until a new employee is hired and trained.
The BPO provides transactional pricing, which means you only pay for the work being done, and the BPO decides when additional staff is necessary. Your costs will be exactly in line with volume of work.		You pay for a full-time employee (FTE) whether the employee has enough business to fill their day or not. You will need to determine the appropriate FTE levels are based on volume fluctuations.
The BPO takes on the cost of hiring, training, and managing employees.		You maintain the cost of co-hiring, training, and co-managing employees.
The BPO does not charge for computer equipment needed to do the work.		Most staffing agencies require you to pay for the employees’ computer equipment.
BPO’s transaction fees are all-inclusive.		Staffing agency fees are salaries, you must calculate & add-in your costs to co-hire, train, co-manage, coverage costs, lost production cost & equipment.

We hope that we have been able to clarify the differences so you can make an informed choice when it comes to placing your back office administrative duties nearshore.

If you have any questions or would like to talk to Synter Resource Group about how we can help you, please reach out to our Marketing representative at info@synter.com, or you can call us at 843.746.2200.