Extreme Outsourcing - The Navy Seal Strategy

My partner and I have spent $1,130,430 USD on Upwork, at an average hourly rate of around ten bucks.

What's the biggest lesson learned for hiring great overseas talent?

We call it the "Navy SEAL strategy"

Let me explain...

Back in the day, the Navy commissioned a huge & expensive study to try to identify and onboard more SEALs.

They studied everything - applicant physiology, psychology, athletic background - all in search of one goal, identify those people most likely to pass training.

It's expensive to put people through training, so being more efficient is "mission critical".

After millions of dollars spent, and countless hours of research - what did the Navy learn?

The best way to find one SEAL is to start with 10.

Other than a few basic screenings, the most advanced analytics in the world, can't predict consistently predict success.

How does this apply to hiring wonderful overseas talent?

First - it takes the pressure off. No amount of "upfront" analysis is the magic pill.

Second - Think about long term, overseas talent as a "funnel".

We don't expect to make one hire for one position.

We expect to make several for one position.

Now the good news - After the "early churn" of overseas talent, they tend to stay put & thrive!

I believe effective identification, onboarding, training, and retention of high quality overseas talent will be an SMB game changer in the next few years.

SMBs that don't rapidly leverage overseas talent will get their lunch eaten by those that do.