It’s a friction-ridden era. Markets are staring at a slowdown and layoffs could be rampant. In fact, pink slips are already around. Startups like OYO and WeWork have already laid off thousands of their employees. According to a New York Times estimate, over 30 global Startups have fired more than 8,000 professionals in the last few months owning to a downturn in business.

It’s sort of a norm with today’s employers to fire during slowdowns and hire again during an uptake. But this hire-and-fire policy does not bode well for Startups, SMEs and upcoming ventures that need talent, especially at the C-level, in quick succession to churn out compelling results. Startups need experienced hands to steer their fledgling ship through a choppy ocean. From Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Sales Officers, Chief Sustainability Officers to Chief Data, Information, Technology and Executive Officers; C-suite titleholders strategize, manage revenues and operations, and ensure the organisation thrives. They free up founder/promoter time, which can later get channelized towards growth and expansion.

Meanwhile, hire-and-fire entails huge costs, more so at the CXO level. Consider this...it takes approximately 8-12 weeks to replace a position and another month or two for the new hire to get productive. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), costs associated with individual employee turnovers can range from 90-200% of an employee’s annual salary. This translates to severe cash burns for a Startup.

Isn’t it then time to take a re-look at this conventional technique? How about adopting a fresh approach more in line with the dynamics of today’s job market and workplace culture?

Talent acquisition is undergoing a paradigm shift with novel methodologies cushioning ventures against volatility. Take co-hiring for instance. Co-hiring lets you have the right talent at the right time and in the most cost-efficient manner. Your venture needs a CXO just-in-time, one who is productive from Day One. The CXO may be needed just for a project, or a quarter, or for longer durations. Irrespective of this, co-hiring gives you the talent. Just like co-working lets you access workplace infrastructure, while co-living welcomes you into a shared living space. With the sharing economy slated to cross a staggering $ 335 billion by 2025 (as per PwC estimates), the need for co-hiring, like co-working and co-living, is now monumental.

Here are the key benefits that co-hiring brings to your venture:

Accelerated Induction and Enhanced Output

Scouting, screening, inducting and on-boarding a new CXO often takes months of precious time. Something that no business can afford in these demanding times when work requirements warrant immediate attention. Moreover, a new hire often takes a while to acclimatize to the work culture before turning productive. Co-hiring supersedes this all. You need talent, you get it right away. On-boarding is quick and easy, while the new hire is ready to deliver within a week of sign-off.

Optimal Costs

A CXO brings not only experience and expertise, but a bulky CTC. Having a CXO is a drain on the feather-light budgets of SMEs and startups. Thus, startups often overlook the need for a C-suite candidate and end up with a business that lacks direction. Through co-hiring, you can have a CXO as per the requirement and at zero costs pertaining to recruitment and retention. While the exit terms for a co-hire are streamlined, replacement for an exited CXO happens free of cost. Thus, the overall cost benefits associated with co-hiring could be about 40-50%!

An experienced hand in-house

Co-hired CXOs are your in-house talent powerhouses who fully believe in your vision, mission, work culture and operate to attain your business goals. They strategize, collaborate with partners, vendors and stakeholders, and steer your venture towards newer benchmarks.

Talent On-Demand

You have a new product to be released in the market. And you possibly need a Chief Marketing Officer only for a duration of 6 months to ensure the product release is seamless and there is enough noise generated to garner traction. Co-hiring again works best here. In the most convenient way, you can have your resource attain the company objective and then move on without disturbing the HR equilibrium.

With benefits galore, what’s still stopping you from leveraging the co-hire model ?