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using subs is blasphemy


Not using any subs, WOW, come on man.  Our future will continue to move towards a blended workforce, those internal to our organization and those external. Trust, visibility of subcontractor individuals, and clarity of work scope are the three primary elements that prevent most contractors from leveraging subcontractor labor with any regularity. Certainly I would be remiss by not adding our "ego" to that list, those service organizations that are still hung up on "I must self-perform everything". Times are definitely changing and if your organization is not prepared to deal with external labor then you will be left behind.



Let's define for a moment what we mean by subcontractor: most of the time we refer to an organization as well as one-person companies.  Consider some of these concerns and potential remedies:

  • Trust:  how many times has a sub poached our customers and / or employees?  Or, as you ask for help they go around you and squeeze you out of the bid?  You can't spend enough time working on your support eco-system, always recruit and work on your subcontractor and vendor relationships.
  • Visibility:  in many cases our relationship with the subcontractor is business-to-business. What we really need is the ability to see the skills and experience of their workforce. We can then choose the appropriate resource to work for us on our jobs. Software does exist that helps add clarity add visibility to your subcontractors workforce, seek it out!
  • Clarity:  you would think if you're sending a worker to do a job that you would be crystal-clear to make the most of that valuable resource.  However, this is often not the case and subcontractors fail in many instances simply due to the level of instruction, or assumptions of knowledge or job awareness, that the contractor believes they should already possess.  Keep in mind that my belief and your belief are different and if not communicated are simply called confusion.



Your ecosystem of trusted partners will only increase the value for your clients and build your bottom line.  Make a concerted effort to "ready" your organization for our ever-evolving workforces of the future.



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Next post:  what is the perfect service call from a client's perspective?

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