Picture this scenario. The core management team of a top-tier organization has assembled with the intent of plotting the future course for their business due to this unprecedented economic downturn faced by all companies. The agenda to achieve this objective? A rigorous internal review of key business parameters, from performance and growth to balance-sheets, risks, threats and opportunities.
As the senior executives wade through heaps of data, analysing every detail, a short-list of make-or-break steps for the business to survive and succeed in the current environment takes shape. At the top of the list, the executives agree, is the need for a CXO who could navigate the organisation through the turbulence and into the high-seas of opportunity beyond the pandemic.
“But in these stressed times with our finances stretched to limit, can we really afford to hire such a resource?” asks the finance director. The question is followed by several seemingly unending seconds of silence as the directors look at the grim numbers on their laptop screens. Then suddenly, Ankur Sengupta, the youngest member of the board, chimes in: “I think we can indeed get a top-notch CXO on board at a cost our finances allow and that too within a week, which is what we need!” His words elicit a collective gasp of disbelief. “And how, young man, do you propose to make this miracle happen?” asks the chairman.
“By co-hiring,” sir says Ankur, unfazed. “It’s as much a game-changing business model as Co-Work was a few years ago. By being open to sharing a top-notch C-Level manager with another non-conflicting company any start-up can now onboard a CXO of its choice at a cost it can afford and what’s more it can get him on board fast with no recruitment cost.” “And is there any entity you know of that does this?” “Sure, sir. A Bangalore-based new-age company called COHIRE does exactly this.”
By now young Ankur has the ear of all his colleagues who are now eager to know more about CoHire. “Sirs, we obviously need to vet their credentials, but on the face of it they seem to be an excellent fit for our needs.” Now, why do you say that? As an answer Ankur points to a page on the COHIRE website, which lists 10 conditions that make co-hiring suitable for a business. “In their view if we check at least five of these boxes then CoHire would work well for us,” says Ankur. That’s good. “So shall we check them for ourselves?,” asks the Chairman.
At the end of the exercise, it is clear that the business fulfils 6 of the 10 conditions on the list, which is:
- Cost-cutting is a burning priority for you in these tough business times but so is getting on board an experienced C-Level manager
- You need a C-Level strategic business leader to drive your business but cannot find, afford or retain one full-time
- You want to throw crack domain experts at specific problems in your business for varying periods of time, on a fix-and-leave basis
- You are facing the “scale-up or fold-up gun” but don’t have stacks of cash to burn on leadership resources
- You want to progress efficiently towards your next round of funding but don’t know how to get there or connects to access the funds when you get there
- Your organization needs a C-Level manager to innovate, implement and drive a recently completed process
- You are looking to hire a C-Level specialist to address a critical business need like process implementation or setting up a robust cyber security ecosystem
- You are looking for experienced C level professionals to build world class internal capabilities and processes that become a part of your organisational DNA for the long term
- You would like a C level professional who, unlike a consultant, works for you exactly like a full-time employee but at a much lower cost
- You are looking to engage C level professionals on flexible pay & engagement terms rather than having them on your payroll
The board meeting ends with a proposal by the Finance Director to engage with COHIRE and explore the possibility of co-hiring a CXO, which meets with the agreement of all the members.
New economy business was any way pretty disruptive. The Corona outbreak has simply thrown it all into a mixie jar and given it a nice long whip. One way of looking at the result is: we are in a soup with no way out. The other, the one all smart companies will embrace, is: “Let us reinvent ourselves all over again.” For doing this they would need to be more open, alert and accepting of previously unheard of ideas…ideas like CoHire designed for a new world!
