The never-outsource test: five questions for any process

Key takeaways

The never-outsource test, the GBL Never-Outsource Test, asks five questions of each step in a process: is the business Accountable for it, is it an Advantage, does it carry Authority, does it hold Access, and does it build an Asset? Score each 0, 1 or 2. Any 2 means that step stays with a named person in the business.

• Score each step, not the whole process.
• Any 2 on the five A's means keep that step in-house.
• A total of 0 to 2 with no 2 means a normal outsourcing candidate.
• Anything else is a split: keep the scoring step, move the rest.

Why test steps instead of whole processes?

Because almost no process is all decision or all admin. Payroll, recruitment, customer service and purchasing all contain a few steps that carry the risk and many that do not. Testing the whole process forces a yes or no that wastes either control or capacity. Testing each step shows exactly where the line sits.

• Which business processes should you never outsource?
• Keep the decision, outsource the admin around it

What are the five questions?

Each question looks for a different reason a step must stay. Score 0 if it does not apply, 1 if it partly applies and 2 if it clearly applies.

• Accountable: would a regulator, court or HMRC hold the business or a director responsible?
• Advantage: do customers choose you because of how this step is done?
• Authority: does this step commit money, people, prices or the company?
• Access: does it need the keys to bank accounts, admin logins or the whole customer list?
• Asset: does it build know-how, IP or relationships you would lose with the provider?

• You can outsource the work, never the accountability
• Does this process win you customers? The differentiation test

How do you read the scores?

One 2 is enough to keep a step, whatever the total, because a single exposure can outweigh every saving. A step with no 2 and a total of 0 to 2 is safe to hand over. A step with no 2 and a total of 3 or more needs a control around it, such as an approval, a sample check or restricted access, before it moves.

• Any 2: keep the step, name an owner.
• No 2, total 0 to 2: outsource.
• No 2, total 3 or more: outsource with a control.

• Outsource, split, fix or keep: four process verdicts
• The four eyes principle for small businesses

How does this test differ from the process selection score?

The process selection score asks whether a whole process is a good candidate to outsource: repeatable, defined, separable, controllable and non-differentiating. The never-outsource test runs first and finds the steps that must stay whatever that score says. Use them together: protect the kept steps, then score what remains.

• The process selection score: outsource, split or keep?
• Which business processes should you outsource?

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: an owner tests 'supplier payments' as a whole and decides it must stay. Scored step by step, only two steps score a 2: approving the payment run (authority) and changing supplier bank details (access). The remaining steps, such as matching invoices, chasing approvals and reconciling, score low and move.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Never-outsource test checklist

• Break the process into its steps.
• Score every step on the five A's.
• Mark every 2 as 'keep' with a named owner.
• Add a control to steps totalling 3 or more.
• Move the rest and record the result.

• A 60-day plan: set your red lines, then outsource the rest
• Keep the decision, outsource the admin around it

Next step

Pick one process that you believe must stay in-house and score its steps. You will usually find one or two steps that truly must stay, and several that do not.