Hitting Reset with a flexible workforce

As nations begin to win the fight against COVID-19 and the economy starts to clamber to its feet, small businesses, solopreneurs and young companies will have to pivot to deal with the new normal after the pandemic.

Yet, clearly these are not normal times and therefore, the “normal” means, previously used to acquire the talent and skills needed to build and grow a successful business, now can’t be relied upon.

Why traditional hiring methods won't cut the mustard.

We need to face facts, traditional hiring methods for employees, physically sitting in an office, will not work for small businesses for five key reasons:

 

1. It’s too slow

In a post-Covid world, companies need to ramp up extremely quickly to stay competitive and speed to acquire will be of increasing importance. The tools currently at our disposal LinkedIn, Indeed, and Monster, take on average 38 days to hire and given the ramp up of the economy as businesses reopen, that’s just too long to be competitive. Not to mention we are all fishing from the same talent pool.

 

2. It’s too rigid

 

With revenue dropping for many SMBs, managing cash flow has never been more of a concern. While the small business loans made available through the ,stimulus package can certainly help, large fixed overheads like employee salaries, just don’t provide the financial flexibility to cope with the revenue fluctuations that will undoubtedly be a result of the uncertain times ahead.

 

3. It’s too expensive

 

In the last number of months many companies have been forced to layoff huge amounts of their workforce. When the economy starts to reopen, employers will need to consider rehiring or hiring workers with a different mix of skills and the cost of this replacement is high – sometimes as much as 20% of yearly salary

 

4. It’s too generic

 

Often the generic online jobs platforms used are an exercise in imprecise drop-down menus and trial-and-error search terms. These platforms offer a broad look at everything you might want, but don’t do any one thing particularly well. They capture a candidate pool that everyone has access to and often we don’t want. They require too much work to separate the signal from the noise, impacting both the speed and quality of the process.

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Why flexible Virtual Business Support is a golden opportunity.

For small businesses, solopreneurs and young companies who are forward-thinking, dynamic and ready to give something a shot, virtual business support, now provides unique opportunities to acquire the talent and skills in a more future-focused way.

 

Outsourcing provides those who can hand over the reins, the perfect skill acquisition model for a volatile economy.


It’s flexible

 

When costs flex in response to expansion or contraction of revenue, they are variable. Variable costs are more easily manoeuvred. Talent is not historically considered a variable cost, however tapping into a deep pool of Freelance talent allows you to tailor the level of support you need to the amount of business you are attracting.


It’s cost effective

 

59% of companies that outsource do so as a cost-cutting measure, and is it any wonder? No office space, no desk, no hardware, no software – just the support you need, when you need it.


It’s specialist

 

Post-pandemic you have to be focusing on lean operations and the tasks that you do best. Everything else should go to specialists who know the day-to-day functions and latest updates in their field. That allows you to focus on the most important revenue-generating activities: research and development, sales and the core of what you create.


It’s Quick

 

At Houston & Ko we have a whole team of Virtual Assistants who are professional, pre-vetted and ready to get to work. On average it takes only 7 seven days to pair our clients with their VA, a whole 31 days less than traditional methods.

 

What to take away

While typical avenues might suffice in a regular economy, they can’t hit the scale or speed needed to meet the challenge now ahead of us as organisations look to recover and focus on business critical hires. Like race car drivers restarting after a caution flag, the companies that can accelerate the fastest out of this forced slowdown will have a lasting advantage.

 

Get in touch with us at www.houstonandko.com to find out how we can help you with the great rehiring!

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