Riding the Credit Crunch Rollercoaster; Outsourcing

• Need to reduce costs to ride out the coming recession.
• Headcount is frozen and the remaining staff have to take on the additional work left by their redundant colleagues.
• Skills and knowledge are lost as staff are made redundant or not replaced when they leave.

Yet business has to continue. This is when outsourcing becomes an attractive solution: it can be turned on and off like a tap and interims can be onboard within a week or two. This is quite a “normal” thing to some industries.

For example in the pharmaceutical industry mergers, acquisitions, lay-offs and redundancies have always been quite commonplace with 'gaps' being filled by interim professionals who bring specialist skills with them.

A wider range of industries are now going through considerable changes and could use the same strategy.

2 What aspects of business are good to out-source?
Essentially focus on where you need temporary or infrequent highly qualified professional help.
For example professionals specifically to help them through these changes by offering strategic advice as well as hands-on support. This is particularly relevant to regulatory affairs, which deals with all the rules and regulations surrounding the development and licensing of medicines. Not only are there economic factors to consider but also regulatory and legal ones.

• Today, with the aid of modern technology, remote working is easy and secure. As interims don't have to work in-house they won't take up valuable space or require expensive IT equipment.
• Their hourly rate may be more than that of a full-time employee, however, companies don't have to pay for their holidays, sickness, PAYE or benefits. The only cost is their fee for actual hours worked (so no paying for tea breaks or chats around the water cooler!). This can often mean that they end up being more cost effective than an employee.
• If and when a company decides to recruit in-house staff again, the interim professional can also be involved in the handover, transferring their knowledge and skills to the new recruit(s) as well as existing employees thereby leaving a legacy behind them.

4 Apart from skills what should you look for in an interim?
You should look to hire a "super-interim". Someone who can demonstrate that they:

• have the capacity to learn and adapt
• have possession of insight, intuition and sharp judgement
• are concerned for both task and people
• are politically aware but not inclined to politicking
• are action-oriented and restless
• are tough and resilient
• are true to themselves
• are able to think and act fast¹

In the past companies would outsource to 'plug a gap' reacting to a crisis situation. Thought wasn't given to the added value these experienced personnel could bring to their business and it was rare for a company to consider outsourcing as a strategic move.

Times are changing: by choosing to outsource to experienced and skilled interim professionals, it is possible to ride this Credit Crunch rollercoaster without feeling your stomach isn't your own. If interims are used wisely and strategically you could even find that you're well ahead of the competition!

¹Source: Alium Partners (as published in PM Guide to Interim Management September 2008)