CONSULTING AND CONTRACTING

Consulting and Contracting

Two of the line items that come in for close examination are:

1. Headcount and salaries
2. Outsourced intellectual horsepower ie consultants and contractors

While prudent examination of expenses is prudent in these challenging times, we do need to be careful not to allow a 'slash and burn' mentality to set in. It is important that we continue to invest in the business to maintain momentum, build share and prepare the organization and business for the eventual upswing. The risk of not doing so is the prolonging of the negative cycle while our competitors shift into higher gear and pull away from us in the race for new business. The items we mustn't allow to stay on the backburner too long include priorities such as:

1. New Product (and service) Development initiatives
2. Customer Engagement, Satisfaction and Development plans
3. Medium Term Planning ie business plans addressing the next one to three years
4. Development of Top Talent and New High Potential Talent
5. Brand Preference building strategies

Neglect of any one or more of the above will open the door for competitors to exploit your emerging weakness and build revenue, share and market participation or dominance.

We're mostly familiar with the current tension between short term performance challenges and short term cost management pressures. We must also be conscious and responsive to the longer term dynamics and building and protecting future business.

This is the domain typically inhabited by consultants and other people like me.

While the current environment isn't particularly 'consulting friendly', another equally useful approach is that of contractors. What's the difference?

Typically contractors are brought in to fill a short term need such as a special project requiring specific skills for a set period or to fill in for someone while away. Maternity leave is a common driver for contract employees today. Contractors are normally located on the premises and funded from the salaries budget. They cost approximately the same as an employee plus a margin.

Consultants are typically specialists and are an adjunct to the existing staff. They normally report through to a senior functional manager or CEO on a specific project and operate as an advisor to the manager. They come and go doing work on the premises, in the field and in their own office. They are normally funded from a special project budget or the training budget. They tend to charge a higher hourly rate reflective of their specialty area, the overheads associated with their business and, as with most outsourced services, are not engaged for a full working week.

The Marketing Guy Ltd is consultancy offering a range of strategic and marketing advisory and management services. We also can address your needs on a contracting basis if required. If you need:

1. to fill a gap left by a senior team member taking leave
2. to establish a new position to address a temporary or developmental need eg a special project
3. to bring on extra resource required for a period due to structural or personnel changes
4. extra senior horsepower for any period from a few weeks or several months

…then please contact me with some indication of your needs and your budget and I'll put a proposal together for you typically within one working day.

Just because times are a bit tight, you needn't put off doing the stuff that still needs to get done.

I look forward to hearing from you. And please feel free to forward this email to other colleagues who you think might need some extra resource.

Cheers!

Rob Bree