Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to HigherRing’s FAQ! We’re here to answer your questions about how we work, who we support, and what makes us the ethical outsourcing partner for socially responsible companies. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, feel free to reach out—we’re always happy to help!
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Operations
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We know that outsourcing is often synonymous with unethical labor practices. Most outsourcing agencies do not pay their team members a fair wage or offer benefits, team members often pay for their own training and equipment, and clients are falsely promised dedicated support. There are even countries so focused on outsourcing, that their governments restrict fair labor practices so that wages stay low while also operating as an oligarchy, with huge wealth disparities funded by this type of work. We’re so passionate about the topic we wrote a blog about it.
HigherRing was founded with the intention of being the opposite. We hire all our team members with at least a living wage for their region, plus benefits like medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with match, paid holidays, paid volunteer time, and employee ownership. Year over year we aim to increase our benefits offerings for our team based on the benefits they are most interested in. We perform an annual survey to get their feedback so that we remain in touch with the evolving needs of our workforce.
In addition to our labor practices, we also refer to ourselves as an ethical business because of our investment in our environmental impact and the climate crisis. We are a certified B Corp and certified climate neutral as well as a 1% for the Planet member.
Learn more about how HigherRing does outsourcing differently.
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Typically a recruiter or staffing agency will simply supply you with applicants, and their work is complete once they’ve filled the role.
At HigherRing we do things differently. We are a partner to your business. We recruit talented team members, hire them as HigherRing employees, and then assign them in their work with you.
Yet, this is not where our work stops. As an ongoing extension of your team HigherRing supports you in all of the ongoing management of your team members. We ensure ethical employment practices, foster paths for career growth, and troubleshoot challenges so you don't have to. We also provide robust security training and hardware support.
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At HigherRing, we may recommend that you contract two team members who are trained to work in the same role, which we refer to as redundancy. There are many benefits to redundancy including:
Prevents disruption of service if a team member is sick or taking vacation
Staggered hours allows for more coverage
Team members can troubleshoot with each other before disturbing you
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After the contract is signed, it can take us as little as two weeks to begin working with you.
Please be advised that your specific start times will vary if we recruit someone new for your specific role.
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Not at all! Your contract is inclusive of standard computer hardware, equipment accessories, and our security system. Any disruptions or damages to our hardware will be handled by HigherRing. That’s just one of the many perks of outsourcing with us!
Any additional hardware or software needs are handled on a case by case basis.
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While we are happy to customize a package for your specific business needs, it is true that we recommend that you contract for a minimum of 10 hours/week for most of our service offerings.
We have tested smaller increments in the past and have found that 10+ hours are usually the most successful in allowing us to think creatively and respond thoroughly to your needs. We want to ensure that our team members have enough time to become integrated with your brand so they can perform your work at their highest capabilities.
As always, please chat with us so we can customize your engagement.
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Fractional work allows you to work with an experienced team member without the commitment of full-time employment.
We offer increments of 10, 20, 30, or 40 hours/week. You can easily scale your contract up or down to match evolving business needs in real time. You’ll have a designated time slot, so our team members remain focused and dedicated to your work at the agreed-upon time.
**Our bookkeeping services can be contracted in smaller increments.
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We currently support clients in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Spain and Italy and we can support you anywhere you are!
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Many business process outsourcing companies cut costs by underpaying workers, offering minimal training, and bypassing labor laws — as exposed by a recent bombshell ProPublica article.
HigherRing was founded to be the opposite.
We pay living wages, provide benefits, offer paid training, and hire all team members as employees (not contractors) with access to healthcare, company ownership, and paid time off.
These three pillars are how we define ethical BPO outsourcing at HigherRing:
We’re Client Mission Aligned
We’re Impact Driven
We’re Employee Centric
Our Team Members
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Unfortunately, we are not able to offer in-person team members. We are proud to be a remote-only team to remain aligned with our goals for operating with a low carbon footprint.
Maintaining a fully remote team allows us the opportunity to find great candidates from a broad applicant pool across the US and nearshore in Mexico.
That being said, many team members are excited to participate in in-person events or conferences with our clients.
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We’d love to support the community that you're in! We can accommodate this so long as your preferred state is one that we employ from. We may need extra time to find the right person in your desired area.
HigherRing will always remain committed to offering a living wage for our team members based on their region. Naturally, that means that some regions have higher living wage requirements than others. Please be aware that hiring in your preferred state might not be as cost-effective for this reason. Additionally, our work will remain 100% remote even if your HigherRing team member is local to your operation.
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We are proud to say that HigherRing team members are actual employees, not contractors.
Our founder, Michelle, saw from her experience in big retail and SaaS tech companies that customer support team members who were doing the hard work of keeping customers happy, were often hired as contractors and not given the same benefits and perks that in-house team members received. This led to constant turnover which was expensive and nonproductive.
We know that happy, intrinsically motivated team members add significant value to a business. That’s why HigherRing will always prioritize at least living wages and robust benefits for our team members. Employees are also offered the opportunity to become owners in HigherRing through our employee stock incentive plan. We are serious about spreading the benefits of our hard work to the people actually doing the work.
*Sometimes project based opportunities arise which allow us to partner with team members on a short term basis and in this case we would consider a contractor model. Of course, we would try to integrate short term team members to our ongoing team if work is available.
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Our team members are human just like you! They take vacations and will require sick time. We recognize that each of our clients has different needs for coverage, so we will collaborate with you in advance to make a plan for vacations. Team member redundancy is something we can arrange depending on the coverage you require.
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HigherRing team members are lifelong learners! We provide learning journeys for each of our service areas in a dedicated training platform for team members to access.
Our bootcamp trainings cover customer support, supply chain operations, executive assistance, marketing + sales support and more.
In our financial and bookkeeping operations areas we focus on new systems features, innovations, and automations.
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HigherRing team members are highly proactive individuals and will always aim to solve challenges quickly by reviewing training documentation, checking with their manager and/or crowdsourcing with other HigherRing specialists. We will always aim to find the solution before taking up your time, and better yet, we'll record the information in our SOPs so it's easy to find for next time.
Security
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Our team members receive thorough training in overall security awareness, the importance of strong passwords, 2FA, and password vaults.
We also coordinate monthly and ad hoc trainings on the latest social engineering threats including phishing tricks, data breaches, and system update vulnerabilities.
We share our knowledge with clients to ensure that our entire community remains vigilant and aware.
HigherRing is PCI compliant and relevant teams are HIPAA compliant.
Our Services
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Yes, our skill sets are comprehensive and can easily transfer from one service area to another.
Please contact us directly so we can learn more about your needs and customize a package for you!
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We are systems ninjas and master generalists!
Chances are we will already have experience with your preferred systems, however, if we don’t we can get up to speed quickly AND document our learnings so that the education is easily available for any future needs. Each of our service pages includes a snapshot of our favorite systems. Even if you don’t see yours listed, that doesn’t mean we aren’t familiar with it.
Connect with us directly so we can learn more about your needs and customize a package for you.
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HigherRing is a collaborative team and therefore we love to crowdsource solutions to any challenge that may arise. We have a dedicated internal Slack channel for team members to share the challenges they’re running into so that we can help and support one another to find resolution quickly.
Our clients love that they are able to benefit from the expertise of our entire team, working across a variety of industries and other mission-driven organizations.
Don't worry, we know that your information needs to be secure. While we do crowdsource solutions to support one another, we will never share your proprietary data with other clients or team members.
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Starting pricing is available on each service page, and reflects the ongoing monthly costs of our services. However, please note that setup fees, which cover onboarding and tool configuration, are not included in these rates. We’re also proud to offer a discount to our sibling B Corps as part of our commitment to supporting the impact-driven community. For more details, contact us—we’d be happy to provide a customized package tailored to your needs!
Our Certifications
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A Public Benefit Corporation is a legal structure that gives a company the right to pursue bottom-line outcomes of social and environmental impact alongside financial profitability. It also requires companies to pursue and deliver a “public benefit,” which in most states requires the company to use a third-party standard to measure its public benefit and publish an annual benefit report, aka an “impact report.” You can learn more about benefit corporations in this blog published by Unit of Impact.
A B Corp is a third-party certification that essentially proves we walk the talk and live up to all the great impact that we claim. B Lab, the umbrella organization that awards B Corp certification, defines B Corps as “leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Unlike other certifications for businesses, B Lab is unique in our ability to measure a company’s entire social and environmental impact.”
Check out HigherRing’s B Corp profilefor more details.
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We have chosen to authenticate our commitment to environmental impact even further by becoming certified as a Climate Neutral brand. Through this certification with The Change Climate Project, we measure and record our carbon emissions associated with all business operations. We then offset 100% of those emissions through vetted carbon offset organizations. We will continue to reduce our footprint year over year in all areas where we can and offset where we can’t. For more details about our Climate Neutral certification, check out our company profile.
To learn more about our overall impact,check out our impact page, including our most recent impact report.
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1% for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual revenue (meaning total sales not just profit) to environmental causes to protect the environment.
Our CEO Michelle has said that this donation is essentially our tax for doing business on this planet we all share. We believe that businesses should operate in a way that adds value to people AND the planet rather than in a way that is extractive and harmful.
To learn more about our overall impact, check out our impact page,including our most recent impact report.
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People and Planet First is a global collective and verification system dedicated to transforming the economy by prioritizing social and environmental well-being over private profit. This movement encompasses enterprises such as social businesses, cooperatives, and fair trade organizations that address social and environmental challenges, reinvesting the majority of their profits for the benefit of all. Through a network of trusted partners, People and Planet First offers resources, collective advocacy, and a verification badge to enterprises committed to these principles, fostering a sustainable and equitable global economy.