COVID was boomtime for some business sectors, resulting in mass hiring to meet service demand.

On the face of it, the assumption appeared to be that the pandemic would permanently change the way business was conducted. It also presumed that business would continue to grow at the Pandemic Pace.

Hence, a hiring spree to service pandemic-level, and possible post-pandemic demand. But now that the dust has settled and a new rhythm and balance has set in, we see the aftermath: The Great Firing.
So, it begs the question – were those hiring decisions presumptuous or preemptive?

So what went wrong?

Mass firings are happening across business sectors, even those that did well during the pandemic or that continue to do well even now. The justifications appear just as fast as the firings themselves: the great firing phenomenon is being explained as a shift in post-pandemic business priorities – trimming the fat to direct investment away from unproductive resources, and towards strengthening innovation, or, supporting activities that will make management smarter, or ,investing in knowledge and technology that will help the business stay ahead of the curve. Regardless of reason, undoubtedly, resource redirection will impact employment as much as other spending. The result: a freeze on hiring and an increase in firing, as we have witnessed over the last few weeks. Needless to add, the responsibility of forward-thinking workforce planning strategy to curtail en mass firing rested then, and as it does now, with business and HR managers.

As providers of talent solutions on an AI talent marketplace platform, we see things from the outside in. So our understanding of what went wrong on the people front relates to an imbalance in business needs and talent hiring strategy: while technological innovation and adoption has grown by leaps and bounds, and while the mindsets on what ‘valuable’ products and services are has changed drastically in the past three years, strategic workforce planning has, for the most part, not kept pace. The creativity needed to meet business demand during a pandemic required a change not just in the working process, but also in workforce planning itself.
The exception is those companies who adopted an integrated workforce strategy.

Would an integrated workforce strategy have prevented The Great Firing?

Firstly, what is an integrated workforce strategy? In the past five years we have seen a huge push for the demand in cost-effective workforce planning from our clients. And with the support of our marketplace platform, one of the ways we protected them from the ups and downs of business was through strategic resource allocation – accounting for the longevity of business planning by employing a hiring mix of permanent, short term, fulltime and part time talent resources rather than merely reacting to market demands; and, balancing people costs in tandem with business development and strategy rather than simply giving in to current market scenarios.
So would an integrated workforce strategy have prevented The Great Firing? The answer is a resounding yes!
Simply put, integrated workforces are agile, prudent and keep pace with current business needs as well as future strategy. This is primarily because an integrated workforce strategy is founded on the principle of “fix the core and flex the non-core”. With a core set of permanent employees that represent the strategy, governance and overall business continuity, the more flexible or less regular tasks are done with a set of non-core specialists who have the talent, expertise and experience to take the business forward, but are not (or may not be) required on a permanent basis. Simple examples of this strategy include annual financial reporting, or payroll accounting: tasks that are fundamental to business but do not require a permanent employee. When applied across functions and across the board, to roles like Part-time CFO for a growth stage company; an interim CHRO to design and implement a people strategy over a 12 month period; Recruiter on Demand rather than on a permanent role to support surges in hiring. By its very nature, an integrated workforce strategy gives organizations the space to test the waters, challenge needs versus wants, and decide whether they are ready to commit to permanent employment in the space.

Why will an integrated workforce strategy work?

Arguably, the practice of integrated workforces is not new. The hospitality, IT, healthcare sectors, and to an extent, the HR and marketing functions have been using it successfully for a long time under the label of outsourcing. But integrated workforce strategy is about expanding this thinking to technologists, strategists, expensive domain expert managers and cyclical management activities to all functions within an organization. It takes into consideration the growth stage of an organization, including unexpected circumstances and growth spurts.
The key to a successful integrated workforce strategy is to identify what the core and non-core activities are. Essentially, distinguishing between what a business needs from what it wants, and taking a calculated risk on the people front.

From an organizations point of view, it is a cost-effective way to manage talent resources. From an employee’s perspective there is a clear indication of what to expect from the type of employment being offered.
For both, it provides a strong sense of security and protection: loyalty is harder to question when you know you are in something together. Indeed, perhaps what integrated workforce strategy brings is a more sensitive way to manage employee expectations and morale. And, perhaps our next people management phase will be a Great Redress instead.

Get in touch with our team at SolveCube now to learn more.

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Deepa Chandrasekhar,

Deepa Chandrasekhar has been a health care entrepreneur for over 13 years. Currently she is part of the leadership team heading Products & Communication at Solvecube Pte. Ltd. She works closely with the team on SolveCube’s flagship Global AI Talent Marketplace Platform for Integrated Talent Solutions.
Connect with Deepa on LinkedIn

What is on-demand recruiting and how can businesses benefit from it?

Regardless of the industry one operates in, every business is bound to undergo fluctuations in hiring. With the impact of the pandemic subsiding and life returning to its normal pace, you may find your internal resources stretched out. In such a time, leveraging on-demand talent could help improve hiring outcomes for the short term.

However, to benefit from this HR solution, knowing about it and how one can use it to advantage is crucial. So, without further ado, let’s dive deeper into -what on-demand recruiting is and how companies can use it to their advantage.

On-Demand Recruiting in a nutshell

On-demand recruiting is a hiring service providing talent on an hourly or per-project basis to meet a firm’s existing talent requirements. The talent resource can either work on-site or remotely based on the job requirement without the need for a long-term contract or a traditional fee structure.

Essentially, the on-demand recruitment model is driven by need or demand. This process is especially beneficial when businesses go through spikes in hiring or face short staffing issues. The on-demand hiring process lets the HR team and business owners reach their goals of acquiring talent without hampering productivity or time.

The most successful on-demand hiring models are designed to be flexible and can be customized as per varying needs and requirements— benefitting both the company adopting the model and the service provider.

What makes on-demand recruitment effective?

The existence of marketplaces and developments in the digital work environment has enabled businesses to meet the immediate demand of customers by providing goods and services faster than ever, making the need for agile business and talent solutions more pronounced.

As more businesses look for immediate staffing solutions for permanent or short-term assignments, the HR team looks for cost-effective, scalable, and quick solutions to address the business’s talent needs. This has in fact, triggered an entire industry of on-demand-centric companies seeking to connect employers to an otherwise hidden talent pool. This industry not only has the ability to satiate the on-time demand of businesses but helps independent experts find suitable work opportunities. A true win-win situation for all!

Components of the on-demand recruitment process

On-demand recruitment services improve the speed and flexibility of hiring and offer better access to talent pools specific to an industry. Some companies consider leasing a recruitment team to power their in-house talent acquisition ability.

The process typically includes these steps:

• A quick meeting to discuss the recruitment challenges.
• Assigning a team of on-demand recruiters to source, find, and hire the required talent pool.
• Engaging the hiring team for a few weeks or months, depending on the hiring requirements on the contract.

This team works closely with existing HR managers during the tenure.
On-demand recruiters help scale up or down the talent pool per business and bring cutting-edge tech and processes to the recruiting program.

When to opt for on-demand recruitment for your business

Businesses of all sizes and operating in different industries can benefit from the flexibility, speed, and scalability of on-demand recruitment.

The best time to reach out to a provider of on-demand recruitment service is when you face any of these HR management challenges:

• Going through a rapid hiring spurt, swamping the internal recruitment team
• An unexpected surge in talent turnover that requires backfilling roles
• Inconsistent and unpredictable hiring needs
• The need to source talent to fill positions with qualified talent

Besides these, if your firm needs a full-cycle hiring outsourcing solution, then on-demand recruitment could be suitable for you. The process is adept at offering a limited-time pilot program with minimal risk to assess whether outsourcing talent acquisition will help meet your hiring requirements.

Key benefits of on-demand recruitment strategy

On-demand, recruitment proves beneficial for businesses regardless of their size or scale. These are among the top benefits of the recruitment process for businesses:

• Greater cost flexibility

  One of the top benefits of on-demand recruitment is that it lets businesses calibrate the costs they incur. Businesses pay as per their requirements and choose as per their budget, ensuring they do not over-stretch themselves financially.

• Offers greater flexibility

  Hiring managers must comply with several laws when hiring a full-time employee, limiting the scope of flexibility in the process. On the other hand, on-demand recruitment offers greater flexibility as recruiters join the team as needed and let them retain or cut off the on-demand workforce as deemed necessary.

• Enhances resilience during disruption

  On-demand recruiting helps meet unpredictable obstacles in the employment market. This offers a level of comfort by allowing businesses to adjust their recruiting efforts as and when required without stretching out available resources.

Why appoint a professional on-demand recruitment service provider?

Qualified on-demand recruiting service providers understand the need of niche industries, allowing them to customize hiring strategies accordingly.

Typically, in a highly competitive industry, on-demand recruitment comes in
handy for:

• Hiring a specific job role
• Extending candidate sourcing and recruitment support
• Keeping candidate hunting confidential
• Supporting in-house recruiting team
• Keeping talent acquisition costs low

Needless to say, on-demand recruiting is a differentiating factor that sets a business apart from its contemporaries. Additionally, the recruitment process helps companies to grow exponentially – a good reason for entrepreneurs to leverage the on-demand recruitment strategy to scale their workforce per requirement without loss of time and speed.

For a hassle-free recruiting experience, pick a professional and qualified talent solution provider, with the ability to blend expertise with technology for quality, uninterrupted talent supply, speed, and scale. SolveCube’s Recruiter On Demand service is a disruptive solution that can instantly provide dedicated talent acquisition experts to your company from their verified pool of 1400+ recruiters on an AI talent marketplace platform. Their flexible hiring model (with a fixed monthly fee and small success fee) has saved their clients 50%+ of talent acquisition costs.

Further, the recruiter-on-demand has access to 480+M talent profiles across 15 domains on the SolveCube platform delivering outstanding results whether you have temporary or long-term staffing needs.

Get in touch with our team at SolveCube now to learn more.

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Chandrasekhar Pingali,

Chandrasekhar Pingali, Founder, and MD of SolveCube, Singapore, is an established and well-known HR and business leader.
SolveCube is an award-winning AI talent marketplace platform for short-term, full-time contingent, permanent and integrated talent solutions.

A Process to apply The RICAP Framework to build a resilient and thriving organization

 

In Part One of this series we shared a process to reduce some costs immediately and others permanently (without laying off people). In this blog, we share a framework we created based on our readings and observations about organizations that have lived through several economic downturns and have not just survived, but continue to thrive by simply applying certain principles intuitively. We have now codified these principles and developed The RICAP Framework for organisations to create a blueprint to resilience and execute.

The RICAP Framework and the process to create and implement a blueprint for business resilience

 

The RICAP Framework (©iCube Consortium April 2020) is an approach to embedding resilience into the very core of a company’s way of thinking and functioning. Central to the understanding of resilient organizations are 5 principles that influence the way an organization functions through the 5 pillars.

So how does this work?

We take a 5 step process approach to apply the 5 principles to the 5 pillars of the framework.

Step 1: Understand the 5 principles

Relationship: Connectedness built on mutuality, reliability and predictability.
Mutuality is about how two parties stand to gain when they agree to come together. Partnerships become predictable and reliable when they are built on strong foundations of aligning each other’s business purpose. 

Innovation: Creative use of resources to generate new or alternate solutions.
Whether it is people, infrastructure, machinery, real estate or other assets, how can you use these resources to create something new or figure out alternate solutions to solve a problem?

Collaboration: Sharing resources to generate efficiency.
Achieving collective results whether internal or external. The support that you provide other team/enterprise for them to succeed is the true essence of collaboration. 

Agility: Maintaining balance while adapting or responding to change with speed and flexibility.
Being nimble and alert to changing business environment, thinking through quickly to alter course that will continue to build the business is the essence of this principle. What should you do to review or reimagine your business & execute, playing to the core strengths of the enterprise?

Prudence: Relentless balancing between needs and wants.
This is a ruthless evaluation of what you really need for the business and what your wish list of wants could be. It is not just about reducing costs but also in assessing strategy, technology, people or structure. How will you distinguish between the two to eliminate inefficiency?

In general, no single principle is more important than others. However, in a given situation, one or two principles may take prominence over the others.

Step 2: Understand the stated definitions of the 5 pillars of a business

The pillars are Structure, People, Strategy, Process and Technology. Each of these are critical to run the business and are closely interrelated with each other. In other words, a cause and effect relationship exists between each of the pillars. For example if you add or reduce people, it will impact the Structure or the Process pillar.

Step 3: Assemble leadership team to study the 5×5 RICAP matrix and brainstorm

There are two ways of applying the 5×5 matrix. One way is to take one principle and review the matrix across 5 pillars. For example, take Prudence and review what it means across the 5 pillars of your business. The second way is to choose one pillar and review across all 5 principles. For example, choose Strategy and brainstorm how it pans out across the five principles.

Once in a year, at the point of goal setting for the new financial year, a review of all five pillars and five principles helps in sharpening the business goals. On the other hand, the matrix can also be used to review one pillar at a point in time, for the enterprise or its smaller units. The framework acts as a powerful tool with built-in statements that trigger ideation process. Teams will quickly get into the rhythm of brainstorming and it saves time and resources.

A full review takes up to 10-12 hours for quality discussions and outputs. If you don’t have time then prioritize the pillar to focus on, and apply the 5 principles for an action plan. 

Step 4: Create a blue print, build a consensus and finalize next steps

Once the brainstorming is done, create a roadmap for all five pillars. Prioritize and agree a set of actions with the top team. Agree on the resources needed, get a buy-in, finalize the roles and responsibilities and measures of success. The process will include clear plans to engage key influencers in the enterprise, allocate resources, detail the plan, form a program governance team, engage the larger organization, communicate and manage change, amongst other things.

Step 5: Execute the plan, ensure governance and conduct post implementation reviews

Sustained sponsorship of the program and adopting feedback with speed and agility is key to embedding the change. Conducting post implementation reviews on every major initiative will ensure continuous improvement and point out the mindset change needed in people, if required.

As research shows, any change is as good as the commitment of the leaders and the mindset change driven across the enterprise.

A note in conclusion

None of this is rocket science or fundamentally something new to experienced business leaders. However, our reason for creating The RICAP Framework is intended to bring together a structured approach and a process to continuously assess and build resilience in the organisations to thrive, not just survive!

Go ahead and Download the RICAP Framework Poster here

 

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Chandrasekhar Pingali

Chandrasekhar Pingali, Founder, and MD of SolveCube, Singapore, is an established and well-known HR and business leader. SolveCube is an award-winning AI talent marketplace platform for short-term, full-time contingent, permanent and integrated talent solutions. Connect with him on LinkedIn

A process to reduce some costs immediately and others permanently (without laying off people).

 

When you review your cost lines threadbare every month, you can eliminate at least 15% of wastage permanently. Yet, research reveals that only 15% of CEOs do so as a matter of routine!

With the COVID-19 crisis looming large, our company – an SME in Asia- recently reviewed our cost lines threadbare. We managed to temporarily park 22% of costs until normalcy returns; identified 28% that can be further reduced if the situation worsens; and as an added bonus, eliminated 15% of wastage permanently!

In Part 1 of this series, we share with you a step wise process to analyse the major cost lines typical for most enterprises. Viz. people; premises & infrastructure; technology; marketing & sales; travel; entertainment; and telecom.

Step 1

• Engage leadership team to analyse all cost lines and discuss possible solutions  

 

Step 2 

• Focus on cost drivers that represent 80-90% of costs to run the business. 
  1. Use company bank statements, credit card statements all accounting systems
  2. Examine auto debits in detail
  3. Look at payroll and benefits
  4. Examine cost patterns for the last 12 months 
• Understand which costs are disproportionately growing compared to the revenue lines by business or product. 
  1. Analyse costs vs revenue trajectory 
  2. Ask the question “have the costs grown at the same pace as revenue? Are they higher or lower?” 
• Review the costs of all support functions in greater depth
  1. Identify support cost silos that exist between businesses/products
  2. Ask the question “can they be hubbed?” 

 

Step 3

• Identify immediate costs that can be saved from all of the above. Divide into: 

1. Stop now 
2. Stop permanently

• Set cost reduction targets based on Severity of impact on business ratings – high, medium, low

 

Step 4

• Sign off and Communicate the decisions across the team

 

Step 5 

• Set up / change process of approvals across the company

 

Why it works…

In a business as usual scenario most CEOs believe some costs do not exist, or more accurately should not exist, because there are processes and people to manage them, but in reality they do. Here’s a list of typical expense cutting hotspots

• Technology infrastructure:

Cloud storage, unused licences, storage of archived files, auto debits for tech solutions etc. It’s amazing how these costs can creep without us realizing it. Cut them off ruthlessly! If paid in another currency sometimes just the exchange rates are a big saving. 

• Technology resources: 

Take a closer look at all outsourced services, resources from vendor partners, internal resources who can be redeployed for product development or improvements.

• Telecommunication costs:

Hang on! Technology has actually brought a dramatic reduction in our personal telecom bills. So, have the company’s bills reduced too? Now is the time to cast a critical eye on the details in the bills! Watch out for Data plan creep, mobile usage reimbursements, use of direct calls vs internet calls; review the number of people who need to be given company mobiles.

• Travel, stay and entertainment: 

This cost line could represent almost 30% of a company’s costs. They should be zero now during COVID. More importantly, rethink and prepare for new ways of working. Take advantage of the paradigm shift in work culture. Do you really have to travel to meet people or clients or events? Which ones are really essential? Do open up this expense tab and look at policy change for the future. There is potential for a more permanent reduction 

• Premises: 

Consolidate premises costs

1. Evaluate seat utilisation rate (normally ~1.3-1.5 per seat);
2. Hand over premises not required based on potential new ways of working arrangements; 
3. Explore the possibility of working in shifts permanently

 

• Benefits: 

Many employee benefit policies do not get reviewed once activated.  Review the policies and ROI on benefits. By simply changing the nature of benefits, and withdrawing those that don’t provide any real benefit, it is possible to generate real savings without affecting employee morale. 

• Marketing and sales: 

Often the least tampered with of all costs because of the fear of impact on revenue. But, a change in tactic may be more relevant for the moment, cost less and prepare you for the upturn. So, take a peep, don’t be shy, the possibilities may surprise you! 

• People: 

Trust the assumption that in a downturn people would rather have the safety of a job, than be laid off. Besides, when you are back on the upturn you need to be prepared to go full steam ahead. Some best practices that we have observed in Asia are: 

1. Stop promotions and increments for 6 months
2. Reduce pay starting at the top with lower reductions at lower levels
3. Consider paying 50% of salary for next few months and then ramp up after
4. If you must lay off people, you still have to bear the costs of notice pay and redundancy. Agree to pay in installments every month. It helps in financial planning.

At a point of crisis all enterprises embark on a cost reconciliation exercise to survive.  However, every crisis changes the way work is done, what is relevant and important, and provides opportunity not merely to survive but thrive!

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Chandrasekhar Pingali,

Chandrasekhar Pingali, Founder, and MD of SolveCube, Singapore, is an established and well-known HR and business leader. SolveCube is an award-winning AI talent marketplace platform for short-term, full-time contingent, permanent and integrated talent solutions. Connect with him on LinkedIn

 

Technology brought speed and cost efficiency into work life, changing the focus of our attention.

Economic crises drilled into us the importance of agile and prudent management when the going is good.

But, medical emergencies like COVID-19 underscore the plethora of work engagements we have in the market. The highlight of so many conversations has been people costs versus output. For many companies, the COVID-19 crisis has presented an opportunity to change how we work – a way to manage costs without compromising on effectiveness.

It’s natural that those functions that obviously fall on the side of cost rather than revenue are the first to be targeted for cost management considerations. Minimum Full Time Employee (FTE) headcount has always been the easiest way to control cost. But the question is, is that the most efficient way of doing business. A lower headcount doesn’t mean that key business functions or services won’t suffer for it.

In my experience of running primary and secondary healthcare business, the solution is obvious – a combination of FTE, outsourcing and freelancing. They were the norm. In a business as socially integral as healthcare, FTEs provide necessary continuity, consistency, culture and brand building; but freelancers and outsourcing provided continuity, cost efficiency and convenience. Together they form the people strategy for business efficiency.

So having understood the value of FTEs, the real debate for me has been between outsourcing and engaging freelancers. From a cost perspective, outsourcing is often a matter of convenience rather than real savings. Legal compliance, cost of management time and effort, and convenience considerations generally tipped the balance towards outsourcing for me. Outsourcing offers continuity without the cost and hassle of attrition and re-hiring. On the other hand, it entails employing the outsource provider’s ‘person’ so it doesn’t necessarily provide the same flexibility as a freelancer.

Then, at some point, it becomes a challenge to distinguish between an outsourced contractor and an FTE. Simply because of daily proximity in the workplace, and the sense of belonging achieved, managing human expectations of reward and inclusion becomes difficult. It’s one thing to invite the contractor to a team dinner, it’s quite another to deal with the disappointment of not receiving a special holiday or gift granted to an FTE but not a contractor just by virtue of the ‘company’ being on the payroll not the person. And terminating the services of an outsourced consultant group or technical services company can have an impact similar to the retrenchment of your FTE!

Instead, freelancers are independent contractors – entrepreneurs, beholden only to themselves. Though not without its concerns, freelancing permits flexibility and the freedom to choose what you need done, when, and by whom, without commitments or remunerations outside of that job. The advantage of hiring freelancers for those functions where investment can in fact be scaled down is obvious – domain specialists, accountants, legal, finance and HR specialists are not always roles that require permanent resources.

Larger organizations and the healthcare industry have practiced this for so long that there are now systems in place, and processes to contract, manage, govern, and measure effective freelance performance and delivery.

With more and more members of the workforce, from Boomers to Gen Z, opting to contribute to the economy through freelance consulting and flexi-work, either out of choice or necessity, even small enterprises are able to utilize the available skills and talent freely. To harness this, the employment eco-system has intelligent deep technology platforms whose matchmaking abilities go beyond simply listing, allowing even SMEs to access valuable talent in a structured and trusting way.

COVID-19 has shown that working from home no longer needs to be an afterthought option for employees – in fact it has the potential to be of strategic advantage to business. So much so that with a combination of offsite-onsite working, it’s clear that freelance hiring is here to stay.

And let’s face it, the enterprises that have stood the test of time are those who have demonstrated prudence and adaptability in their business strategy. It’s time for Start Ups and SMEs to emulate them, build new ways of working into their business and people strategy, and benefit from the changing employment landscape.

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Deepa Chandrasekhar

Deepa Chandrasekhar has been a health care entrepreneur for over 13 years. Currently she is part of the leadership team heading Products & Communication at Solvecube Pte. Ltd. She works closely with the team on SolveCube’s flagship Global AI Talent Marketplace Platform for Integrated Talent Solutions.
Connect with Deepa on LinkedIn