Fighting The Recession - Increasing Power without Headcount

Being lean, mean, flexible and adaptable are all admirable qualities to have during a recession - but how can you achieve it on limited resources and headcount?

One of the problems of any business in tough times is that the market, and how to service it, is a moving target. Putting resources where they are required and when become crucial decisions to take advantage of opportunities or even shoring up existing business.

How can you be both adaptable and resourceful without an increase headcount?

Professional For Hire

There has never been a bigger pool of available, experienced, skilled and very willing sales and marketing people who are willing to contract and deliver results.

It is commonplace to hire in or outsource skills to do specific jobs whether that be temping at administration or finance, outsourcing payroll or accounting, IT, project work, cleaning, Management Information, web management, Telecoms or other functions. But it has never been vogue to hire in sales or marketing people to do specific jobs or for specific campaigns or projects.

But markets are changing. I have had the privilege to work with innovative skills companies like Theorem (www.theoreminc.net) who help companies who do digital online marketing to flex and scale their organisations on demand by having a vast pool of multi-skilled resource available.

The trick is to put the power where you need it and when you need - and pay for what you need.

The Issues

In tougher times, headcount is a heavy load. Further, flexing it is not easy. For every new head you need to make a leap of faith in terms of the role to fulfill even though the market may change rapidly or the opportunity is transient. There are associated recruitment costs, management time consumed in the selection process, potential guarantees of commissions for significant periods, employer taxes and then the potential back end costs if the individual does not perform or perhaps the opportunity passes by and you have to scale back. The responsibilities in law are rightly onerous and each new headcount is a heavy cost and responsibility. For small to medium sized companies, each new headcount or backfill is a considerable risk.

And what if the market changes and the resource you have just punted on is not actually what you need? Suppose you take on a Field salesperson and in 6 months you actually need a Telesalesperson instead? The cost of change is huge plus the time lag in the process for due procedure.

The concept of Professionals For Hire is having access to a significant pool of experienced people with a variety of skills and seniority to fit your requirements - as and when you need them.

Imagine having such resources available at short notice, pre-vetted for experience, skills and suitability, and willing to work on daily, weekly, monthly or specific duration projects and assignments. Not Interims but flexible professionals for specific tasks.

Advantages

• 'Pay As You Go' - only pay for as much resource as you need when you need it in a flexible way.
• Multi-skill availability - Have access to a wide variety of skills to pick which you need for specific tasks and when.
• 'Pay For Results' - It is easier to gear payment to success as these resources are far more orientated to reward for success.
• Mitigate costly guarantees and get access to highly motivated, results-orientated people who have everything to prove and much to lose.
• Mitigate onerous employee related costs such as tax, holiday pay, sick pay etc. Professionals For Hire are independent business people measured only on the time they work and the results they deliver.
• Decrease management time - these professionals are given specific tasks and require less management.
• Mitigate recruitment costs - screening has been done in advance and there is no cost for recruiting just time consumed in post.
• Decrease recruitment time - Professionals For Hire are available at short notice, it's their profession.
• Put the Power where it's needed and when. If you require Telesales first followed by Field Sales visits, get access to two specifically skilled and costed professionals to maximise results rather than hiring one person and trying to fit square pegs in round holes.
• Only use the resource you need for as long as needed - why hold onto resource beyond their period of worth? Conserve cash and costs by applying resource when you need it for the specific duration of the requirement only.
• Make your workforce more adaptable, flexible and powerful without all the associated employment costs.
• Be able to scale up your organisation quickly and efficiently to take advantage of market opportunities without the normal time lags.
• Be able to scale back your organisation when times are not so good without onerous employment responsibilities and costs.
• Put the Power exactly WHERE you need it - if your requirement is in Scotland or Germany and not the UK, have the ability to not only access resource quickly and easily when you need it but where you need it.
• Get market experience and knowhow fast and easily - Professionals For Hire gives access to a wide range of skills and market knowledge.
• 'Try Before You Buy' - one of the great advantages of having flexible, hired resource is that you can evaluate their skills and suitability at first hand and in the job. When you are ready to make the investment with better knowledge of the market opportunity, you will have 'field-tested' potential candidates

Beat The Recession And Be Ready For The Upswing

The economic news is not good with Mervyn King telling us the obvious and worse today. Many businesses are 'Hitting The Wall' and having seen their markets collapse in a matter of weeks not months. Think ahead to how you can conserve cash, cut costs but be able to pick off the opportunities in the market when they arise by scaling your organisation up and down as you need to. Be ready for the upswing which will come as we emerge at the other side and scale up to meet the new opportunities, faster and more efficiently than your competitors. Above all, make sure you take this recession in your stride rather than Hit The Wall and struggle, making hard decisions too late and after the worst of it.

Professionals For Hire is a reality. Call me for more details on +44 (0)207 193 2356.