Working for an outsourcing company is often associated
with a lack of support, career prospects, and a sense of belonging. Many IT professionals fear becoming mere “temporary resources,” uninvolved in corporate life. Is it possible to build a real team in such an environment?
Ekaterina Nazarova, руководитель направления аутсорсинга,
and her team They explained how they build a system in which external specialists receive not only support but also real opportunities for development and, most importantly, a sense of value. The article describes an approach that helps build a cohesive community around the company and shares insights from IT specialists.
The Three Horsemen of Disengagement
Over the past year, we’ve been actively working to improve employee engagement. Initially, we conducted a series of surveys and organized several focus groups. Analyzing the data we received allowed us to identify three key challenges our colleagues face.:
1. Distribution
Most employees work in different cities and even countries. Traditional team building activities don’t work—people work in different time zones and can’t always attend common events. This makes it difficult to create a unified work rhythm and hinders the development of a sense of community.
2. Information overload
IT work schedules are difficult to predict: projects can be intense and deadlines are tight. After a busy day, employees lack the energy and desire to contribute to community events, even if they’re interested.
3. Different interests and expectations
An IT specialist isn’t a composite image of a single individual.
Everyone has their own professional and personal background, as well as communication preferences. And as a team grows, finding a universal format for collaboration becomes more difficult.
We are faced with a challenge: how to not just hear, but really understand the needs of our colleagues and give them exactly what they need. Instead of long thoughts, we launched live feedback: regular surveys and open dialogues. And most importantly, we have strengthened the team of coordinators who maintain personal contact with each employee and respond to any changes on time.As a result, we have formed an engagement system of several levels, each of which takes into account the preferences of the people we work with.
Not just a job, but a comfortable space.
In order for a person to truly feel like part of a team, it is important for them to know that they are appreciated, heard, and supported. Therefore, first of all, we immerse a person in a comfortable environment and take into account every detail: from modern convenient equipment to an atmosphere of care.
It is important for us to build a system and corporate culture where every colleague feels important and belongs, which is energizing and motivating.
A key role for the coordinators
Our engagement system is based on HR coordinators.
We have assembled a team of empathic and human-oriented specialists who are ready to help colleagues with any issues. Each external employee is assigned a coordinator who is in constant contact with him: he finds out how things are going, whether he is comfortable with the current project, and what his opinion is about the changes being introduced.
Any misunderstanding is an excuse to call and discuss the difficulties that have arisen.
“We communicate a lot with our colleagues, not only on work, but also on personal issues. We act as a liaison on all issues: updating equipment, completing business trips, and even unexpected salary delays of 2 hours.
Our coordinators are able to melt the heart of even the most introverted guys. It is thanks to them that colleagues feel important and involved in the life of the company.”
Adaptability versus routine
To simplify the bureaucratic formalities of filling in working hours, we have created a special bot within our eSense: Development platform — it sends reminders and helps to automatically collect the necessary data.
Colleagues note that with the bot, routine processes have become really easier:
“A very convenient bot has appeared. Previously, I constantly had to manually ask everything, but now a message just arrives. You come in, you answer, and you immediately see the previous answers”
“Previously, it was necessary not to forget about working hours yourself, not to forget the manager, to fill the calendar with reminders about it. It’s much easier now — the bot writes that it’s time to fill out timesheets and sends a link. In your free time, you click on it and in most cases just click the “send” button — the link opens a pre-filled timesheet for a month.
Working days and hours per month should be counted only in cases of vacation, overwork, or sick leave. But even here everything is convenient and clear: you can use the button to select and mark the desired dates.”
“A bot for automating timeshare filling makes my life easier. Now everything happens automatically, I spend literally 15 seconds on it.
It not only saves time, but also eliminates the need to constantly remember to fill out timesheets. It’s really cool and very convenient.”
Another project is currently under development — personal accounts on the corporate portal. You can leave feedback, participate in surveys, and quickly resolve other organizational issues.
Career conflicts or “we don’t leave our own”
Outsourcing is an interaction with several teams at once. Sometimes this leads to conflicts. In controversial situations on projects, we act as a mediator between the employee and the customer.
Our task is to listen, find out all the details, understand the reasons for the disagreement and move on to a more rational course.
And then calm down, look at the facts and find a compromise solution. This is how we deal with staff turnover, because sometimes it’s enough to listen to a person and give them space to vent their emotions so that they don’t update their resume.
«The employee was uncomfortable interacting with the supervisor and wanted to change the team.
On a personal call, I saw that emotions were running high: there were fears that at any moment he was ready to update his resume and leave us. To prevent this, I started a confidential dialogue, where I gave the person space to “let off steam” and was able to find out the details of the situation.
As a result, we helped him look at the problem from the other side and suggested possible solutions. He discussed his concerns with the supervisor, as a result of which the situation improved, and the person remained in the team.»
Growth, recognition, motivation: how we support our employees
The successes of our employees are also our victories. ПTherefore, it is important for us to notice important and inspiring moments. We always congratulate our colleagues on important career events, such as the end of a probation period with a customer. And for those who have been with us for a long time, we have developed a series of merch, which we are now sending along with small gifts for family members for the year of the employee’s work.
We do not forget to additionally thank those who support us in our activities: we presented one of our colleagues with a cake from our team.
Professional development assistance is a separate item in the company’s budget. We pay for training, advanced training, participation in conferences and meetings. And now we are launching a corporate blog on Habré so that the experience and expertise of our colleagues can become visible in the IT community.
«We encourage staff development and build a transparent growth process within the company. Each colleague understands exactly what awaits him if he performs his duties with dignity.»
Employees note that development support motivates
them to reach new heights:
«I’ve wanted to attend the Aha conference for product analysts for a long time, but the ticket price was quite high».
I remembered that SENSE has a budget for employee development, and decided to take advantage of its capabilities..
After a short consultation, I was able to purchase tickets. It’s cool when a company supports growth not in words, but in deeds.»
«When I had an idea for professional development, the HR coordinator not only supported it, but took over the entire process: he helped coordinate the formats, selected the sites for implementation, removed bureaucratic barriers and helped to launch the project quickly. The local idea turned into expertise, which boosted my skills and helped me grow in my position..
Real involvement became a particularly valuable moment for me: the coordinator delved into details, offered non-obvious solutions, and built a career trajectory to suit my strengths.»
Instead of the conclusion: why
We have chosen an individual approach.
We are sure that engagement is not just a KPI, but a real concern for people. At the beginning of our journey, we spent a lot of time getting to know the coordinators and external staff better. Now it is important for us to move in the format and pace that will be comfortable for our colleagues, so we:
- Let’s find out how often employees feel comfortable communicating.;
- We don’t overload with surveys, but rather collect feedback natively, through personal communication.;
- We support everyone both professionally and as a human being.
As a result, our external employees do not just perform tasks, but feel like part of the team. For us, in turn, this is an opportunity to build a strong HR brand and gradually dispel the myths that outsourcing companies are “galleys”.
