Getting Familiar With The Five Most Important Aspects Of Strategy Execution Process

For most businesses today, devising the right strategies and executing them in a successful manner, defines the level of their success in the highly competitive market. While most organizations employ qualified professionals to develop the most beneficial business strategies, they generally overlook the importance of so for the execution process. This is one of the major reasons why such business organizations falter in successful implementation of even the best of these plans. This problem can be easily overcome by hiring the services of renowned strategy execution consulting firms, which can help with the successful implementation of plans to ensure maximum benefits for the business.

In order for affirm to be capable of handling the various challenges of strategy execution, it should be aware of the following five important aspects of the process.

Identify And Align Strategy Projects: Each business organization has several projects going on at a single point of time. As such it is important for the strategy execution consultants to be capable of identifying the projects that can directly impact the success or failure of the plans and then align them with the policies that need to be executed. Each such project needs to be monitored for progress and performance and necessary modifications must be made to ensure that they help with successful execution of strategies.

Make Proper Execution Decisions: Executing a strategy involves taking countless decisions on a daily basis in accordance with information obtained from various sources. As such the business excellence consultants responsible for making these decisions should be able to analyze the information in the right manner and understand its impact on execution policies. They also need to access the present business mood, general market scenario as well as the results expected after the execution of the specific plans. This information plays a vital role in ensuring that they make the correct execution decisions.

Communicate Strategy Objectives: It is important for the strategy execution executives to not only have a clear understanding of the objectives intended to be achieved by specific plans, but also to be able to communicate the same to the business workforce. This helps the executives in extracting the performance level required for ensuring the successful implementation of plans and getting the desired results. Unless the workers involved in strategy execution clearly understand what needs to be done and why it needs to be done, executing it successfully is not possible.

Reward Exceptional Performance: Like with any other aspect of a business, identifying and rewarding exceptional performers is an integral part of strategy execution. Such recognition helps in motivating the workers to perform and behave in a manner which is consistent with the execution process. In addition it keeps them focused about the objectives of the plan and drives them to improve their performance, which can help is better execution and enhancing overall business growth.

4 Things You Can Do To Increase Employee Engagement

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek

No workplace can ever succeed if its employees are working solely for money. Till the time they do not get emotionally attached to their work, the efficiency would be less that 100% no matter what. Bonuses and increments are not enough to engage your employees all year round.

Employee management is a crucial part of the company strategy and many companies nowadays are hiring Employee engagement consultants to do this job for them. As People Management Consultants, we have worked in wide number of situations. Today, we would like to share some of our experiences with you. We have come up with 4 things you should do in order to gain employee engagement in your company.

1.   Assigning Work In Innovative Ways - Many people says, just assign interesting work to all your employees and they will be very happy. So, I want to ask a simple question to such souls. Should we eliminate the repetitive and boring work altogether? Anybody who owns a company knows very well, this is not possible. So I would say, you should rather assign a mix of work that is redundant and boring work sandwiched in two interesting tasks. This could help increase employee engagement without compromising on any work at all.

2.      Lunch-ons - This time could help you connect with your team/employees in an informal way. You can talk about their hobbies, what they do in their free time, what other skills they possess. This would help you create a personal connection and also you can use this informal knowledge in deciding the work for a particular individual.

3.      Walk-Around In Your Office - Like it is your living room (literally). Anybody would be more comfortable in an environment which feels like home. If you will be away from employees in your glassed cage, how will you ever be able to pose yourself as a role model and thus motivating them to be like you one day. Our surveys have proven that this small exercise helps a lot in increasing employee engagement.

4.      A Thank You Can Go A Long Way - Whenever you ask an employee to do some work for you, even though he is being paid to work for you, a thank you with a smile can go a long way in boosting his morale and his respect towards you. He/She will feel important and hence would work with a great enthusiasm.

5 Reasons Organisation Structure Can Help Companies Grow

Organizational structure is the set of policies and procedures that companies follow in order to ensure continuous growth of the company. Small companies usually do not need any structuring as the business owner is the one handling multiple tasks at a time. However in large organisations, proper structuring is very important in order to ensure smooth workflow and timely achievement of goals. Many companies nowadays hire Organization Development Advisors also.

The type of organisation structure may depend upon various factors such as company policies, size, type of operations etc. Being one of the Organizational Development Consultants, we can say with certainty that organisational structure is a must and here is why:

Reason 1 : In order to Streamline Operations

Small companies have lesser number of tasks and hence everything can be done parallel with a little effort in lesser time. As the company grows in size, the number of operations increases and hence it is very important to prioritize and distribute each task in a right manner. A proper organisation structure ensures that the work is distributed among various departments under the supervision of business owners, directors and managers.

Reason 2 : In order to improve Decision Making

Companies can use organization structure in order to improve the decision making process. A good organisation structure can ensure a streamlined flow of information right from the lower level to higher level and hence the decisions would be made keeping in mind the ground realities rather than assuming an ideal situation in mind.

Reason 3 : In order to operate in multiple locations

When the company expands and grows, it opens up in different locations. Visiting all the locations seem next to impossible for the business owner. In such situations, a proper organisation structure could help ensure that all the branches are run as per company standards and no compromise is being made in utilising the full potential of that location.

Reason 4 : In order to improve Employee Performance

A proper organisation structure is a must in improving the performance of employees. As far as an employee is not clear about his task, he won’t be able to give his 100% to it. Moreover, he needs continuous guidance from his seniors. A good organisational structure not only ensures all this but also makes sure that the decision making is participatory and inclusive.

Reason 5 : In order to improve Customer Sales and Increase Sales

A company that uses a well-defined organization structure remains more focused towards customer service rather than wasting their time on petty operational issues. When responsibilities are clearly defined and identified, the chance of errors reduces and hence customer satisfaction increases and a satisfied customer would ultimately lead to increased sales.

A Look At The Employee Engagement Strategies

The employees who are fully engaged with the organisation generates on an average one third of the companies profit in one quarter. But the main question that gives sleepless night to the entrepreneurs is whether their employees are really engaged or not? According to the employee engagement consultants, almost 66% of the employees are seen as disengaged and as much as 60% are always looking for job opportunities outside the present organisation. How can the employee engaged be increased? Here are a couple of strategies which can effectively increase the employee engagement in an organisation. Take a look:

1.      Be A Dream Company Where Everyone Wants To Work

Old yet simple, but one of the most effective strategies! The people look for better job opportunities outside when they are not satisfied with the current one and have a dream in their mind. If your company can elevate itself to a level and become the dream destination of every professional, there will nothing like employee disengagement?

2.      Employee Involvement

Employee engagement and employee involvement are closely linked to each other. The people management consultants believe that the employees feel connected and involved with the company only when they are given with opportunities which increases their efficiency and productivity. When the employees get to do good things, they will become happy and work more towards the success of the organisation.

3.      Listen To Them

Often the employees start getting disengaged from the organisation because of the absence of the right ears who can hear what they have to say. Often the employers feel that everything is going smooth in their organisation and the employees are happy, but the things can surely be the other way round. Thus, without giving the employees the autonomy to speak what is there in their mind, the employers should not judge their employees as truly engaged.

4.      Persistent Efforts

It is often seen, that the employers believe that employee engagement is a one time thing. But, the things are the other way round. Employee engagement is something which is required to be done on a continuous basis and the employers should consider this activity as an essential and enticing one, instead of considering it as a daunting task.

5.      Irresistible Work Culture

To make the employees feel engaged to their job profile, it is necessary that they feel passionate about their work. To give them that passion, the employers should make sure that the employees get an irresistible work culture that keeps them on the track of achieving their career goals and the goals defined by the organisation. With a motivated work culture, the employers can achieve more and thus will not look for work opportunities outside their organisation.

Why Should You Hire Organisation Development Consultants?

An organisation which is fully organised can see its potential to reap profits in a well-laid manner. The process of developing an organisation is a complex one and comprises of changes in attitudes, beliefs, cultures, values and the overall structure of the organisation to enable them to adapt better to the upcoming technologies and other market-related challenges. The organisation development methods which are used by the various organisation development consultants basically help in enhancing the organisational effectiveness.

We tell how the consultants can help in keeping pace with the development of the organisation. Read more:

1.      Increases Expertise

The organisations usually have a limited set of resources when it comes to expertise in a particular field. Each and every organisation can never be a master of every field; thus, they need a guiding source that can help them in different fields such as new product development or customer satisfaction program. Thus, with the aid of these consultants, the expertise level can be significantly increased.

2.      Chance To Gain Better Communication Skills

A good set of communication skills can give wings to your career's flight. Communication is one skill which is required throughout the organisational career. If an employee is unable to get his/her words out, they will never be able to convey what they want and thus will land into trouble. The organisation restructuring consultants will give these individuals a professional help and a chance to make them learn about the key aspects of the communication skills which they were missing throughout their career.

3.      Managing The Organisational Conflicts

Any conflict that arises in the organisation needs to be managed in an effective and a time-bound manner. These consultants work for the employer as well as the employees in order to formulate the conflict resolution plan which is not only functional but also effective. The consultants help in building a stronger bond between the employer and the employees in order to run on the success path.

4.      Change Management

The change management doesn't mean that there would be a change of the personnel. The consultants are required to work closely with the management in order to plan and execute the changes in the work practices as well as the environment of the workplace. The consultants propose changes such as personnel changes, new hires, change in job descriptions and job duties and other policies for value addition of the employees.

5.      Structure Of Meetings

Often the organisational meetings turn up into failure because of the lack of right direction. The meetings just keep the employees away from their jobs but never come out with a conclusion. The consultants help in monitoring the meetings and work out the plan by setting an agenda for the meetings and keeping the meeting on the right track.

5 Things An Executive Search Firms In India Should Do To Stay Ahead

The executive search firms in India are entrusted with the task of finding the right candidates for their clients. However, the task of finding the talented candidates is equally challenging and tiring. Here are the top strategies that the Executive search firm implements for the purpose of attracting the right talent and stay competitive. Read further:

1.      Innovative Ways To Find New Talent

The executive recruiters make it a point to identify at least one new and creative way for finding candidates on a quarterly basis. This can be done by probing the candidates on the avenues they search at the time of seeking a job opportunity. This way the new talent gets recognised and the hiring panel doesn't get to see the same set of candidates. For this purpose, use your networking skills to build the top talent.

2.      Learn What The Candidates Have In Their Mind

Read the publications, social media posts and blogs which are frequently read by the candidates seeking a job opportunity. This way you can learn a lot of industry and the candidates that are present for that niche. If possible, consider taking opportunities for interaction with the candidates to learn what they want and how you can find a good job position for them.

3.      Arrange More Than 1 Interview

With the advent of technology, scheduling interviews between the client company and the candidate has become easy. Make efforts to send one candidate to more than two job interviews at one go. For this purpose, take a feedback from the candidates about the companies they wish to go for and arrange interviews with 2-3 such companies as per their preference and job requirement of the client. This way, you can give a spectrum of choices to the candidates.

 

4.      Make Calls To The Past Employers Of The Candidates

If a company replaces an employee or an employee quits an organisation, the company seeks to hire an individual who has the same set of skills, expertise and experience. The recruiter company can help finding the right talent for the company and the right organisation for the candidate. This is the sure shot way to increase the flow of candidates and the client companies.

5.      Use Referral Program

The word of mouth publicity is considered as the best. When it comes to placing the right candidates in the right job positions, the referrals from the candidates and the clients can play wonder for the executive search company. Over the span of time, more than 50% of the company's business will be on account of referrals, such is the power of the referral program.

Is This The Right Time To Hire Hr Consulting Firms In India?

The leadership consulting companies indeed help in sparing out the time of the business owner in formulating strategies and focusing upon revenue generation instead of thinking how to hire the right person at the right place. The activities related to human resource management, payroll and compensation are significant, but they come under the category of non revenue generating ones. These activities can suck as much as 40% of the entrepreneur's time in a day. The ray of hope comes in the form of the HR consulting firms in India which effectively handles the payroll activities and the other HR functions. But not all organisations hire the HR firms, the key question is when to hire a Human resource consulting firm? What key considerations a company should make? Take a look:

 

§  The Size Of The Company

The time when the administrative process starts coming in the way of the firm's productivity, it is the right time to hire a leadership consultant. For companies working with 10-20 employees, hiring a consultant is a better option rather than engaging a few people only in the task of managing people. For big companies, an in-house HR vertical seems to be a better way out.

§  Cost Of The Consultant

Nothing comes for free! Like every other professional, the HR consultants also charge their fees depending upon the employee size and the services expected from them. For a few employees, the consultant firms usually charge a flat fee, but for a bigger number of employees, the charges are applicable on per employee basis. It is thus of great significance to estimate the total cost of the HR functions you intend to get done from the consultant and then make a cost benefit analysis.

 

§  Services You Need

Hiring the right HR firm is of great importance. It is of great significance to make sure to hire the companies that come with the right certification, have an experience in the client's industry and works in the location where the client's head office is present. Some consultant firms work with a web based support while some focus on the face to face consultations.

§  Control Over The Hr Functions

The HR consultants act as a partner for the client company. If the business organisation has no inclination towards listening to the suggestions or recommendations made by the consultant firms and wants to have a full control over the business organisation, then hiring a consultant makes no sense. If the company is flexible enough to allow a consultant to dig deep into the company, then hiring the HR firms can bring good benefits.

Trust – The Most Important Aspect For Building A Strong Team

There is no denying the fact that the success of modern business organizations is based on the kind of workforce they have.  Depending on the size and type of organization, the workforce might comprise of a single team of 10-12 (or even lesser) employees, or multiple teams managed by individual managers and team leaders. However, irrespective of the size of the teams, the one thing that plays the most critical role in making it truly strong and highly productive is the mutual trust between its members.

Most professional executive search firms make it a point to constantly remind that client organizations about the significance of creating a work environment, which promotes the sense of trust between employees to get the following benefits.

Greater Trust Ensures Better Co-ordination

When the people working within a team enjoy a high level of trust amongst each other, they are able to work towards the achievement of organizational goals in a more coordinated manner. This directly impacts the productivity of the not only the group but also the business organizations, which tends to progress at a far greater pace than expected. The organization tends to gain a strong position in the market and also attain better financial results.

Minimizes Discord Between Employees

With the employees sharing a relationship of trust, the chances of conflict and discord between them are minimized. This helps the managers along with the team to focus on more important tasks and processes necessary for organizational growth. It also helps, save the time and money of the management that might otherwise be spent in settling the disputes between employees or worse replacing them with new ones.

Creates An Effective Communication Channel

 The leading companies, offering executive search India service, stress on the importance of candidates having efficient communication skills. However, it is important to understand that these skills work fine only when the candidates are able to win the trust of their co-workers. In an environment, where people don’t trust one-another, it becomes nearly impossible for individuals with even the best skills to establish an open and frank channel of communication. However, if the team members have faith in each, other open communication becomes a norm and does not need to be established.

Develops A Sense Of Collective Responsibility

It has been observed that teams where the members believe in each other tend to be more responsible and less prone to failure. This is because the members have complete faith in the skills and abilities of other members and hence if something does not go right they are willing to take a collective responsibility for the same. This is the most essential aspect towards building a strong and united team that works as single entity.

Reduces The Risk Of Failure

One of the most important benefits of developing a sense of trust between team members is that it reduces the risk of failure by a significant margin. This is because each member puts in his or her best effort to ensure the success of the team, even at the cost of putting their own growth and success in the sideline at least until the time the team objective is achieved.

Getting Value For Talent In The Millennial Era

Work performance is what firms are interested in, and a fair amount of research has been done to answer the question, “How to get the best out of people?” Other issues that firms grapple with are,” How do investments in people affect work performance?” “Who are our star performers?” “How to get people to give their best shot to work?”

Human Capital-Centric firms always keep people interests as their priority. Managing Human Capital is an elective course at the Harvard Business School and stresses on optimising the Human Capital lever to achieve high performance. In the words of Peter Drucker, “Every existing society, even the most individualistic one, takes two things for granted, if only subconsciously: that organisations outlive workers, and that most people stay put. But today the opposite is true. Knowledge workers outlive organisations, and they are mobile. The need to manage oneself is, therefore, creating a revolution in human affairs.“

Managing human resources in the 21st century with the millennial workforce is a far cry from days of transaction based Human Resources. Employees actively manage their careers and are far more aware due to the impact of digitisation and information availability. There is a global increase in the mobility of talent and job searches are not made while in between jobs rather while still holding a job; this is where Executive Search firms play an increasingly active role.

How should firms manage Human Capital in this Changing arena? Top firms are already using sophisticated ways to analyse employee data to bolster their competitive advantage. Organisations like Starbucks are using metrics (analytics) over gut instincts to understand shifts in employee engagement. Google & AT&T  use quantitative analysis to establish that a demonstrated ability to take initiative is a better predictor of on the job performance. A common occurrence of employee attrition can be seen approaching through data analysis again.  An employee whose compensation plan does not reflect long-term or deferred gains may not be in for a long tenure.

Analytical HR comes here to help firms. Human Capital facts, Workforce Forecasts, Talent Supply Chain and Human Capital Investment Analysis help answer the toughest questions about handing people that matter.  Significant issues like leading indicators of organisational health, attention requiring departments and positions and staffing could be addressed by taking care through HR analytics.

Building Talent analytics requires data, enterprise orientation, support from leadership and of course analysts. HR systems can provide reliable data for analysis. An initiative like analytics approach requires organisational, and leadership support to culminate into productive action. Firms like Intel and Royal Bank of Scotland have HR analyst groups to facilitate talent analytics. As organisational performance is linked to its people’s  abilities and motivation, talent analytics would be of great service.

Hiring The Unbeatable Workforce

The staffing philosophy and decisions of an organisation deliver an undisputable fillip to its performance. Hiring is considered more an art than a science and most hiring managers are likely to err while taking staffing decisions due to poor preparation.

Preparation for the interview and following a uniform program across the firm makes the process more precise. The whole procedure begins with resume reviews followed by first-round interviews. The second round of interviews are more conclusive and are often followed by reference checks and hiring offers if a  job fit occurs.

 

The success rate is more optimistic when firms follow standardised “correct ”way of hiring rather than no standard procedure allowing employees to make their personal“ hit and trial journeys. Standardising eliminates the risk of errors and provides a loopback mechanism to review hiring “rights” and “wrongs”. It all boils down to firms ensuring that every interview is done in a uniform way, organisation wide.

The team approach for the hiring process also has numerous benefits. Firstly and very simply it saves time as it translates into two managers interviewing the prospect together rather than separately for an hour each. It promotes better listening for the interviewer and also makes way for the wise philosophy that two heads are better than one.

 

Reviewing the resume with precision is a rewarding exercise and if done well eliminates the risk of errors. The job application, cover letter, email conversation all should be taken into account while reviewing. While reviewing, the hiring manager should make note of the employment gaps and trajectory paths shown by the applicant. Even simple tasks such as interview logistics involving venue and ambience have a telling effect.

Stepping into the interview, the interviewer should avoid forming quick “First Impressions”. These can be wrong and biased and thus best avoided objectively. Communicate the interview format and schedule to the interviewee and then start with queries. Queries should focus on resume gaps, education, professional experience, competencies, and compensation. The second interview invitation has to be communicated if the first round goes well. This one paves the way for a deeper, more focused questioning on determining the fit between the position the prospect. The hiring decision is usually made here and should be guided by facts, keep aside personal predilections. In his book “ performance based Hiring”, Lou Adler has quoted, “To me, the worst is to hire people with the same kind of experience and the same kind of job in the same industry. While this story is easy to do and logical, you will continue to under hire. People who are willing to do the same old things over and over again are just cruising along. They are not top performers.” A well-performed reference checking both reinforces the interviewing verdict and acts as a safeguard.

The First Day Showing Them How We Do It!

“Welcome on board!” is a common exclamation uttered by supervisors, reporting managers and HR managers across the world while inducting new hires o the job. The first day at job is usually spent well in meeting colleagues and getting a feel of the organisational climate. Observation and interaction are very crucial during the first few days as they generate valuable information about the new workplace and help the new hire find his / her way through the challenge of being a “new joiner”.  Wading through numerous form fillings and handshakes the new employee starts to get a flavour of the new workplace. Learning about founding fathers and on what does the organisation pride itself are crucial pieces of information that acclimatise and bond people to their firms.

This seemingly common “Onboarding” process is crucial; not only does it ease and facilitate the newcomers entry, it also helps the older employees accept the new team member without any discomfort. Traditional onboarding relies a lot on information relay and teaching of company’s values. This may at times create a tension as newcomers are “treated” to accept an organization’s identity. A tussle between individual identity and firm’s identity create a strain. Organisational performance in the long run depends on the strengths of its human capital and subordination of individual identities will not yield optimal results. Also, new employees may not internalize the organizational values even if they appear to comply through external behaviours. Engagement scores over compliance and has to be generated through trust and autonomy. Employee socialisation practices that get newcomers to behave insincerely might not be workable because they do not fully engage the employee and they do not address larger issues concerning emotional exhaustion and work dissatisfaction. Organisations today are conscious of the impact effective socialisation makes and many adopt a Level-3 Onboarding process which is exhaustive and well-planned.

An effective onboarding experience involves encouraging newcomers to express their own distinct perspectives and strengths on the job from the very beginning and inviting them to frame their work as a platform for doing what they do best. For an illustration, a restaurant cook who is a natural social charmer could use his natural connectivity by visiting with guests and making them feel at home. Likewise, a consultant with artistic talents could design arresting templates for presentations and develop more influential ways to capture data.  In India, Wipro is touted to celebrate and encourage the individuality and energy employees bring to the table. Global beauty company L’Oreal says, “Our aim is to develop successful, committed and mutually beneficial relationships with each of our employees.” It backs onboarding with a two-year, six-part integration program known as “L’Oreal Fit.” Onboarding is considered as more crucial for key leadership positions than for routine or entry level employees as workers as direction is crucial to any organisation. Executive Search firms are frequently hired to handle the complexity and significance of Executive Onboarding. It remains a vital process ever-evolving to fit organisational goals and optimising employee performance.

Top 3 Challenges The Entrepreneurial Leader Faces And How They Overcome

For the entrepreneurs out there, the first and the foremost challenge comes in the form of thinking ways and means of taking the business towards expansion and growth and hiring the chunk of individuals who can work towards making the organisation more and more enriching. These challenges seem to be equally exciting as well as ripe as a single mistake is bound to bring a lot of consequences. Here, we bring to you a dose of the challenges you ought to face as soon as you slip into the shoes of an entrepreneur. We do not believe in leaving our readers in the dark, thus we also bring to you the ray of hope in the form of practical ways to deal with them. Read through:

 

1.      Hiring As Well As Keeping The Right People

As per the researchers, the entrepreneurs make a number of regretful appointments in the early phase. They commit the mistake of hiring those who are alike them, instead of adding a different mindset to the organisation who can complement to the entrepreneur's mind. There are a number of leading recruitment firms in India who are adept in doing thoughtful hiring. Thus, the best solution is to trust the executive search firms in India. The next big task comes in the form of keeping the workforce motivated to work for the benefit of the organisation. This can be done by giving them incentives, motivation and word of appreciation.

 

2.      Managing The Change

The entrepreneurs often face the problems of changing the corporate culture in accordance with the growth or the turmoil of the organisation. Time, always changes, sometimes it is bad while sometimes it is good. The company and its leader are required to give a serious thought when the question is about layoffs or lesser packages. These changes are hard in terms of acceptance, but are required to be done when the situation demands and the position of the business seems quite unfavorable. When the situation turns positive and growth is proposed, it will bring positive changes to the entire organization in terms of more revenue, promotions for staff members and good salary packages.

 

3.      Expansion Should Be Done Prudently And Certainly Not Prematurely

When an organization starts on the path of expansion, the charm of growth of the business on the basis of the opportunities present here and there tempts the leader to go for reckless expansion which is not prudent, but a premature decision. This premature expansion causes a number of wrong hiring which acts a reason for the fall in the revenue of the business and the growth of the business going haywire. 

Top Reasons Big Firms Are Hiring Human Resource Consulting Firms Today

The consulting gigs are amongst the hot things, which are happening in the business world these days. The era that started in early 1980s acted as a perfect incubator for surfacing of a number of HR consulting firms in India. By positing themselves as an expert in the field of human resource hiring, these Human resource consulting firms have created a great demand for themselves. These consultants proved to be the biggest asset for those firms who require an expert service of human resources, but have no intention of increasing the size of their payroll.

Mentioned below are some of the top reasons because of which the big firms are eyeing the HR consultants in today's world:

Q      To Get The Needed Hr Expertise

The prime purpose, the big firms get fulfilled from the consultants is to gain the necessary expertise and skills from the consultant which their own staff lacks. These consultants provide the right candidate with the right set of skills for the right position in an organization.

Q      Identify The Problem Areas

Each and every organization has certain problems. These problems may appear too close to the employees, yet they are unable to identify and rectify the same. This is when the consultant firms come to the rescue and identify the problem areas in order to rectify the same.

 

Q      Cost Saving

There are a number of expenses which are incurred in a business on an ongoing basis. The business can save nearly thousands of their hard earned dollars by hiring consultants instead of hiring the full time employees and creating a department for them. The additional amount of money is also saved as the consultants don't ask for benefits as are applicable to the full time employees. So, even when the fees charged by the consultant are more than what you will give to your regular employee, overall the cost of hiring consultants for the purpose of hiring human resource for the organisation is comparatively less.

Q      To Bring About The Change

Bringing a change is always a difficult task. No one if fond of changes. The changes are usually opposed by the employees at large. When an organisation requires making a change, the consultant plays a key role. This is because the consultant is not required to worry about the corporate culture followed in the organisation. They are not that inclined about the morale of the employees. Thus, the consultant firms are usually less inclined towards the issues which tend to elicit the high emotions amongst the staff. This is the reason they can easily bring about the change by acting as the catalyst for the change.

Hiring Trends And CXO Hiring

The Indian market evolved as it liberalised in the 90s and multinationals marked their strong presence.  Back then, retained executive search was still in its infancy in India; since then, senior level hiring has grown significantly and so has the executive search profession itself. The profession has become challenging in the fast paced multilevel expressway of hiring. The years since then to now have been marked with big changes and a retrospective enquiry confirms the fact.  The face of both hiring in general and leadership hiring stands altered today. Those days (90s to millennium) most 'CXO' jobs were advertised in the media. Organisations selected available people as opposed to launching an extensive search for the right people. Also several accomplished candidates did respond / apply to job advertisements.

 

Today, most CXO level roles are filled through executive search firms or through references and much less through advertisements in print media. Most global executive search firms have a firm foothold in the Indian talent market. Now Executive Search is synonymous with finding top notch talent. Firms such as Egon Zhender and Kornferry Internationalhave made sure that a career in executive search is very strongly mainstream and no longer 'off-beat'.

Another influencing catalyst has been that of the booming digital media, search engines, social and professional networks, powered by the internet. Job searches are atheists in terms of location as companies vie for the best fit for the position. Access to potential candidates has become easier but fitment remains the key parameter.  Box files full of CVs are a bygone feature as electronic database and communication clears the way. Skype, Whatsapp and professional social media has some features of the 90s; such as staying up late to get hold of candidates on their landlines; a long extinct exercise. The seasoned Indian talent today is in no way in a beeline for multinationals only and many prefer working for Indian origin corporate houses. The structured and rigid career path has given way to a radically fired culture where longevity is no longer the sole sacred virtue. In short, 'Cradle to Grave' company careers are passé.

 

The total rewards system is another influencing factor for change. Compensation is not limited only to monetary gains as talented individuals seek out firms which provide learning opportunities and innovative cultures. As per general estimates, average compensation has grown by about 1500 per cent in the last 15 years across most sectors. Negotiations are protracted and not straight-forward like in the past and typically people were selected for jobs. Today, people are sought out for jobs and compensation is structured to attract and retain people. Senior level hires’ reward plans often include stock plans, long term incentives, profit share plans and commissions as firms prepare to 'golden cages' their talent.

Reports and studies suggest an upward swing in hiring. Many organizations are poised to increase hiring across levels, thanks to a stable political environment and macro-economic conditions. As talent becomes a true differentiator for organisations the opportunities for executive search industry become more lucrative to command a higher stake in the talent market.