Satellite Office

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the COO of an advertising and marketing technology business for the automotive industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Satellite Office?

We were looking to offshore our digital media workforce, so we hired Satellite Office to help us out. Our goal was to reallocate our costs and create some efficiencies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Satellite Office provides us with recruitment, HR management, and employee management services. Basically, they offer us an external workforce to complement our team. We initially started our engagement with a couple of employees. However, we're now working with over two dozen of their employees.

We work very closely with Satellite Office to discuss the types of candidates we're looking for. Their team is in charge of finding the best candidates to fit our needs. Therefore, we work with their recruitment officer to find candidates that meet our criteria before getting into the actual recruitment process. Once we hire a new candidate, Satellite Office manages that person throughout the duration of their employment with us.

As part of that management work, Satellite Office helps with the entire onboarding process, which includes looking after the new employee's training. The team also works very closely with us to ensure that they're providing the right solution for our employees in the market. Moreover, they manage all the legal compliance and payroll work related to those resources.

What is the team composition?

Over the last six years, we've worked with around 15 teammates from Satellite Office. Satellite Office's team includes the COO, the head of client management, some HR recruitment managers, client success managers, and overall, a whole range of different staff members. Currently, some of their senior HR teammates work with us on ongoing staffing disciplinary issues, for which they've been very helpful.

How did you come to work with Satellite Office?

We had an existing relationship with one of their senior executives, so we decided to go through this path with them. At the time, we felt like they were staff offshoring exceptionally well. They had a lot of good reviews, and the whole onboarding process and the facilitation of what we needed were quite exceptional.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent roughly $500,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since around Q1 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Satellite Office has given us the means to reallocate our costs and create some efficiencies easily. Thanks to them, we've reduced our overheads by a considerable amount, and we've been able to upscale our team from two teammates to 16. As a result, we've had an internal focus shift, so we now have a new perspective for greater tech development.

We've been able to utilize the cost savings in different areas, allowing us to focus on other local-based roles we probably wouldn't have been able to focus on otherwise. That's been a big win for us. On top of that, we've improved our efficiency, especially in how we recruit new staff.

How did Satellite Office perform from a project management standpoint?

Satellite Office's project management is very good, so we haven't had issues at all. New staff members have come on board within a suitable time, and any issues have always been raised effectively and dealt with quite quickly. Overall, it has been a great process.

A lot of our communication is via email. Satellite Office has an internal job platform, but we don't necessarily have access to it. In addition to email, we communicate via phone calls. I also spend a lot of time in the Philippines, so we engage in face-to-face meetings as well.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I would like to give a shout-out to Jeff (COO) and Jeffrey (Global Client Services Director).

What did you find most impressive about them?

Satellite Office's transparency around costs is impressive. Communication has always been one of their main skills as well, as they're very open and clear with the direction that they're going in. On top of that, their attention to detail is great. They always have our best interests in mind, so they've become a proper partner rather than an offshore workforce provider.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything Satellite Office could improve on.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It's important to be very present and spend time in their country. Nowadays, it's very easy to do business over the phone, but nothing beats walking into their offices and sitting down with them to have in-person meetings. Without those in-person meetings, we probably wouldn't have the success we now have. Still, Satellite Office has been very receptive and helped me whenever I've worked with them remotely.