Viewpoint: Preparing for the future

Covid and the acceleration of change

As one would expect, Covid-19 has had a very significant impact on the staffing industry as clients have looked to manage the impact on their own businesses through reductions in external staffing spend and hiring freezes. At Empresaria, while our focus over the past months has been to protect our teams, our clients and our candidates, and ensuring business continuity, the pandemic has been a trigger for the acceleration of a number of initiatives that will ensure the Group is better positioned for the future, as we taken the opportunity to accelerate the pace of change within the Group, and to evolve and improve our operating practices.

Our Stronger Together initiative, launched in May 2019, has proved invaluable in the current pandemic. With a more unified Group there has been greater collaboration and support between businesses, and this culture has helped us respond more quickly and more effectively than we might have been able to in the past.

The pandemic has also stress-tested our ability to deliver effectively under adverse circumstances. We managed the move to remote working without any significant issues or any adverse impact to our service and delivery, including in our Offshore Recruitment Services sector where we moved hundreds of staff in India from office to home working over a very short space of time. This stands us in good stead for the future and gives us flexibility in managing the return to offices.

We have used the time to focus on improving our operating practices. For example, in a number of our temp recruitment-focused businesses we have evolved our operations to a more sales and delivery-centric model, also known as the 180 model. This will enable our team members to be more focused on developing deeper strategic client relationships and candidate engagement and create greater ability to scale than in the traditional 360 model.

Additionally, we’ve protected our investments in technology, including in our front office system. The use of a common platform will increase our ability to drive cross-selling and to generate meaningful business intelligence from across the Group while providing a robust global candidate database to deliver quality talent to our clients quickly and effectively.  

This pandemic has created professional and personal challenges for everyone. I would like to thank all of our Empresaria team for their unity and perseverance during these unprecedented times. I am confident that the changes we have implemented will result in a business that is more agile, resilient and prepared for the future. 

Rhona Driggs is CEO, Empresaria Group

Image credit | iStock

Soundbites Jan/Feb 2021

25 January 2021

Letters: Jan/Feb 2021

IR35 changes need to keep recruiters relevant

In response to your story

25 January 2021

Profile: Signifying success

As this year’s recipient of the Recruiter Awards ‘Agency Recruitment Leader of the Year’

IT/Telecoms 25 January 2021

HOT 100: 'Class' is permanent

In 2020, adaptability has been key to survival and for some, the key to success.

25 January 2021
Top