We’ve talked about the surprising history of remote work in a previous article, and now we decided to look at the business side of things. Unsurprisingly, remote outsourcing isn’t that new a phenomenon either. As early as the 2000s, many companies have been sending out talent to countries on different continents.
It Began in the Open Seas
Arguably one of the first truly international enterprises in human history was to be found in the age of sail. Advances in shipbuilding opened up a whole world of commercial possibilities to the Imperial nations of Europe in that age. These early global voyages were fraught with danger and many a captain lost half his crew to disease and the elements long before the voyage came to a successful end. This necessitated taking on sailors at different ports of call to fill up the ranks–effectively outsourcing due to necessity.
Peter the Great Outsourcer
The next great milestone in the story of remote outsourcing happened during the reign of Peter the Great of Russia. Renowned for steering his country into new heights of prosperity in the 1670s and onwards, Peter himself was outsourced by his country to the Netherlands as a shipbuilder. From there he discovered the skills and capabilities of craftsmen which were simply absent in his native Russia. Rather than take the long way of sending people out to train, he simply brought those craftsmen back home with him.
Again, it’s interesting to note that outsourcing wasn’t seen primarily as a means by which one could get cheap labor. Quite the contrary, a lot of the people that Peter outsourced were the best in their fields–and with a matching price tag. The whole point was that Peter saw a need that could be filled by skilled talent beyond his nation’s borders, and saw taking them in as a means to realize his own vision in the most expedient way possible.
Outsourcing to Power
Peter the Great was one man who leveraged outsourcing to success in his time, Japan as a nation undertook to outsource to find success and power through many decades. This began in the reign of the Meiji Emperor. Prior to his push for restoration, Japan was entrenched deeply in its isolationist policy. This meant that it was relatively left behind by the rest of the world in terms of technology.
Outsourcing Today
With technology today making it easier for people to connect and communicate over longer distances, it’s funny that fewer people leverage remote outsourcing for their own success stories. It’s even funnier than the examples of history have shown that gravitation towards this practice was actually very natural and, in some cases, necessary to the achievement of desired growth goals. But that’s most likely due to a lack of understanding at what great outsourcing is all about.
Changing the Game With CrewBloom
At CrewBloom, not only do we provide our clients with the top 2% of talent in customer service, lead generation, sales, and business development, and even administrative support, we also ensure that you have control over who you choose to work for you. Because there’s no contract binding this setup, you can readily change anyone who isn’t delivering the best work. It never needs to reach that point, however, monitoring software and a dedicated success manager will help you keep tabs on the progress of your chosen talent.
Have history on your side and achieve your growth goals today. Talk to us, and we’ll make sure you have the very best talent working for you today.