The Honest Truth About Outsourcing – with Russell Meiselman of Clark Staff

In this week’s episode of the Outsource Accelerator Podcast, Derek speaks with Russell Meiselman, the President and Co-founder of Clark Staff. 

They talk about Clark Staff’s unique office setup, current struggles in the Western economy, and expectations when it comes to outsourcing. 

Clark Staff’s office culture

The two catch up on how Clark Staff is currently doing. Russell confirms that the company is doing well, with plans on building a new facility. 

“The reason we built the office was to be the center of conversation. [And] we’re building a new facility just outside of Clark, the air force base north of Manila. 

We’re struggling with the debate of whether or not we continue with the same theme or go a little more modern, but still including the industrial aspects of our current office space.” 

He then describes how they converted an old warehouse in a business park into the office space that Clark Staff uses today. 

Russell claims that their unique office has been a focal point for building company culture. 

“The work environment [is] obviously a big piece of it. 

The building is one thing, and we love it, and it’s a centerpiece of who we are, and it helps everybody sort of visualize what we mean by this cool culture that we try to embody and all the good stuff.” 

Tough economic times in the West

Russell agrees that the Western economy is currently struggling. However, he also chooses to examine its impact on outsourcing. 

“There’s obviously pros to the West having hard economic times, but there’s also cons. I’d like to focus on that and how it hurts the outsourcing industry and what we need to take a look at. 

And the reason for that is the challenges in the West, [like] rising labor costs. Well, that makes it a great opportunity for us to utilize our services to lower that cost.” 

He points out the effects of inflation and how expensive it is for companies to find workers. 

“So all of those things make it a prime position for outsourcing companies to jump in.” 

However, he also highlights challenges that make it difficult for outsourcing. 

“[There’s] an increasing percentage of weak managers because of the aging workforce, [and] it’s hard to retain people for more than a year or two in the West, [and] the labor costs are going up and down. 

It actually hurts the churn for outsourcing. [With] all of that, it makes our jobs in the outsourcing space that much harder.”       

Managing expectations and realities in outsourcing

Still, Russell says that it’s not all doom and gloom. 

“If you look at it from the upper management perspective, the idea of outsourcing, it’s a really powerful leverage.

Not only for cost saving measures, but there’s so many benefits to outsourcing certain business processes [and] tasks.”

He then discusses the expectations some managers have towards outsourcing, with many blaming their partners for being unable to fulfill difficult tasks. 

“It’s a scapegoat. If they’re doing poorly or if their department is performing poorly, the excuse always lands on the outsourced partner.” 

He agrees with the notion that it takes time to truly find compatibility with employees, outsourced or not. 

“If you were to ask your Western customers or managers, if you were to onboard a new employee, how long does it take until that person is producing at a level in which you’re satisfied?

Most of the time, the answer is going to be months. It could take a year.

But then it’s like you’ve turned it back and say, well then what makes you think that outsourcing this particular job is [easier]?” 

He comments that there are many unrealistic expectations when it comes to outsourcing. 

“It’s the folks that are looking for a quick turn [or] easy fix. I would say that’s where most of the negativeness around outsourcing stems from.” 

Russell says this about his outsourcing journey so far. 

“You can’t put your best resources towards only fixing problems. They need to be put towards leveraging opportunities.”

You may visit Clark Staff’s website here. The company is also very active on its Facebook page. You may reach Russell via his LinkedIn profile.