Workforce on demand

Yet as the importance of workforce capability builds among corporate leaders, organisations’ readiness to address it has slipped with a pronounced capability gap being reported in Southeast Asia.

Additionally, due to the extremely tight labour market in Thailand and high employee mobility, most employers do find themselves dealing with some level of unanticipated staff turnover on a frequent basis. 

In addition to staff attrition, employers may need additional resources for maternity leave cover or to deal with higher seasonal workloads and special projects. 

Companies are being forced to take a more sophisticated approach to managing all aspects of their workforce, including contingent, part-time, remote and contract workers. 

One on-demand model to deal with temporary staffing needs is to consider a contract worker from a reputable professional services firm. 

These firms can provide highly trained, versatile professionals with a wide range of capabilities and industry exposure, who are highly adaptable to complex work environments. 

These individuals will be accustomed to working under time pressures and managing project deadlines, as well as being quite comfortable interacting with both local and expatriate co-workers.

One of the pitfalls many companies fall into when considering entering into this type of contract personnel arrangement is solely looking at the professional service fees, which oftentimes will be a multiple of the monthly salary that would be paid to an employee for the given position. 

While costs should never be overlooked, it is important to recognise that all the human resource-related costs for the contract worker – such as salaries, bonuses, training, professional certifications, medical and other benefits – will be borne by the professional services firm. Companies will also be gaining access to the professional service firm’s entire expertise and resources. 

In addition, these types of arrangements generally will provide companies with a greater level of flexibility, as the services can be structured to suit the needs of the organisation and can be renewed or terminated with relatively little effort. 

This can allow employers to invest the time that is needed to identify the best person to hire as a permanent replacement. 

These are all additional benefits that should be factored in when considering a short-term contract hire. 

Another more remote on-demand model to consider is to completely outsource some or all back office functions. 

Outsourcing is a highly efficient way to deal with non-core activities, particularly when the skilled resources needed are in short supply. 

Outsourcing can serve as a “one-stop shop” for business support needs, helping to relieve common burdens and saving companies time and money. 

Effective support in handling functions such as financial accounting, statutory and management reporting, tax compliance, payroll processing and other advisory requirements can allow companies to focus energy on their core operations to improve business results.

As outsourcing vendors have deep experience in their areas of operations, they should be able to use this experience to implement measurable improvements and business process acceleration. 

Entering into larger, more comprehensive relationships with an outsourcing vendor, rather than outsourcing only part of a complete business process, oftentimes will be more cost effective, as it allows the vendor to use its complete portfolio of skills and knowledge efficiently.

The on-demand workforce offers companies the ability to tap into extensive networks of innovators, technical experts and seasoned professionals. 

The on-demand workforce should be a critical part of virtually every company’s talent pool going forward.

 

The writer Michael Fiore is Partner, Business Process Solutions services, Deloitte Thailand