Can online, real-time engines ensure rapid but temporary manpower provisioning for today’s uncertain times?
Downsizing. Right-sizing. Up-sizing. Human capital planning swings between these three points, without ever finding a balance at any point of time. It is amongst the most challenging and demanding business problems of our times. In his book, Talent on Demand, Peter Cappelli, professor of management, Wharton School, argues for using the principles of supply chain management, suggesting that the fundamentals of just-in-time manufacturing can be applied to talent management.
In other words, talent management could boil down to a few basic questions: When do we need a particular talent or skill set? Where do we find it? For how long will we need it? Will the talent arrive just in time to manage the requirements? What is the right price for the talent?
It does sound like asking for the parts of a product, but that is exactly what it is: A solution to manpower provisioning meant for today’s uncertain times where managers find it impossible to forecast their business needs and their requirements for specific talent and skills.
Flexible consulting
But a bunch of innovative online companies are coming up with solutions to the growing demand for consultants. Says Ashok Shastry, CEO of ConsultGenie (www.consultgenie.com), an online service that helps businesses match their needs with the on-time availability of consultants, “We’ve already seen how the consulting industry, in the form of ‘temping’ in the junior segments, swept India in the last few years. It was a mature industry in the West and has picked up only recently in India, triggered by cost pressures and the need for flexibility. Today it’s a Rs 4,000-crore-plus industry and growing 15-20 per cent a year.”
Like others, ConsultGenie works on a simple principle: People looking for consulting assignments pitch for the several tasks and requirements posted by companies like MeritTrac and Religare. When the skill-sets, experience and price points match, the portal issues an automatic alert and the consultant can be hired for the temporary assignment. “Consultants are in demand in today’s business environment where there is a squeeze on headcount. But the two most important factors in getting a consultant onboard is on-time availability and cost,” says Sanjay Shelvankar, vice-president and head (talent acquisition), MindTree Consulting.
Online services like ConsultGenie, FlexiMoms (www.fleximoms.in) and JobsOnTemp (www.jobsontemp.com) are booming. “We had over a thousand sign-ups in the first few weeks of launch and our conversations across the stakeholder groups make us very confident moving forward,” says Sairee Chahal who launched FlexiMoms in May 2009 (see interview).
Temping on the rise
N R Aravamudhan, senior faculty, Suverna International Institute of Management Studies, noted in his paper, Temping — Redefining the Indian Job Market: “The growing clamour for temporary workers is driven by companies looking for workforce flexibility, faced as they are with the daunting task of managing constantly churning markets, demanding customers and shrinking product lifecycles. Another reason why temping is gaining currency is the changing attitude of employees entering the job market today.”
According to a survey conducted by the ministry of labour and employment, during the three months from October to December 2008, there was a decline in employment of about half-a-million workers. ConsultGenie’s Shastry says that these numbers have helped swell the available consulting workforce and stabilise consulting fees.
Clearly, several forces are driving the future of just-in-time consulting — and online portals that rapidly match business needs using real-time technology are a segment worth watching.
| ‘New resource-engagement models are needed’ Sairee Chahal, founder, Fleximoms, talks about her unique online venture that assists moms master consulting What was the inspiration for Fleximoms? |
You also do coaching, mentoring, workshops and training programmes. How has the ‘service’ aspect of the business done so far?
The service aspect of the business was part of the plan and it was meant to enhance the ‘flexibility quotient’ for women professionals and corporations. These services are driven by a keen sense that there lies a possibility of working more efficiently, creating more flexible organisations that can respond to business situations faster, especially the vagaries of external demand and billing cycles.
Why should people come to your site and not go to somethinglike “e-lance”?
I think the key difference is between seeking a career versus seeking a project. Fleximoms is aimed at creating flexible careers.
Arun Katiyar is a content and communications consultant
