A couple of months ago, we at Flexing It asked about forty startups this question in a survey “When you worked with a freelancer, what advantage did s/he bring to your company”?
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI : Rohtash Mal, former CEO of Escorts and Bharti Airtel, is four weeks away from launching his startup, EM3 Agri Services, which would look at providing technology services for small and medium farmers. He likens a startup to a sapling and says that while one would need high quality talent to kick-start it, one cannot pay well enough and one would not have enough work to occupy the resource on a full-time basis.
He has hired 20 people till now, of which 11 are permanent employees. He has hired senior level talent on a part-time basis for product development, HR, finance and funding and even roped in his secretary from his Bharti Airtel days, who works part time. Mal does not rule out the possibility of hiring CXOs like a part-time chief marketing officer in future. "Getting a permanent chief marketing officer would set me back by about Rs 1 crore a year. It makes much more sense to get niche high quality part-time talent," he adds.
The need to attract skilled and experienced talent to help in overhauling or streamlining existing strategies and different operations is driving even established startups to the flexi route. TaxiForSure hired a VP and director for the first time this year on a part-time basis, who comes in four days a week. "It gives access to very high quality people and leaders who do not want to restrict themselves to working for just one firm. A lot of high quality talent is keen on making an impact across multiple firms," says co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna. Not just senior talent, about 10-15% of their 200 call centre employees are part-timers.
"Flexible staff has designations identical to our full-time employees. This ensures they and the people they work with feel they are part of the firm with more than a passing interest," he added.
At Flexing It, a platform launched by ex-McKinsey consultant Chandrika Pasricha for companies and individual professionals seeking flexible opportunities, startups account for close to half the companies posting needs for short-term resources. Flexing It has a database of 380 clients with startups ranging from the Internet/technology space to energy to education.
"There is a lot of demand for content writers/editors, graphic and logo designers on the creative side. In addition to the need for web developers/designers in technology, we are seeing demand for senior talent such as part-time chief technology officers, chief marketing officers and chief financial officers," says Pasricha. "Startups are also seeking part-time consultants for landscaping new segments, refining business strategies, and fund raising strategy and support."
Aditya Narayan Mishra, president, staffing and director, marketing, Randstad India, says the firm helps hire experts in financial areas, procurement, quality control and compensation on a flexible basis for startups. TeamLease helped hire talent familiar with ASP.Net, Java and Android for startups.
info@flexingit.com |
Terms of use | Privacy policy | Contact us
©2018 Flexing It® Services Private Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Background Verification is an important tool for professionals to strengthen their skill profile and for organizations to have greater comfort and confidence in hiring the right people as recent surveys have found that one in three resumes in India is falsified.
