Talent Availability: how does this module revolutionize talent deployment and profitability?

In April, we’re focusing on talent deployment through the lens of talent availability. While we’ve already discussed the strategy to be employed, it’s crucial to address the functional side. Getting down to the nitty-gritty helps illustrate the power of such a strategy. A good availability management goes hand in hand with an adapted technological stack. For the Whoz solution, this module has a name: Talent Availability. Let’s explore it to fully understand the benefits that come with it.

Availability management: what are we talking about?

For a service company, availability is a strategic operational data to assign talents to missions. The more an ESN grows, the more its projects pile up and the more the number of talents increases. Assigning them to missions blindly is no longer an option. And this is where technology comes in, to simplify this management and optimize the occupation rate of its consultants.

Thanks to a dedicated vertical solution, the manager has the ability to know the end date of all his missions, and therefore anticipate the return of consultants. Knowing who is available and when is imperative to avoid inter-contract periods, and therefore reduce profitability leakage.

In short, the more you optimize talent availability management, the more your TACE increases. And, by extension, we see a net increase in revenue and margin. This creates a virtuous circle that allows managers to better manage their consultants’ time, further develop their skills, and increase new opportunities tenfold.

Talent Availability: What is this module for?

Let’s dive into the heart of the Whoz solution. Our technology stack has several modules, all designed to meet specific challenges. The main objective of Talent Availability is to optimize the TACE, the indicator measuring the level of billable activity of a consultant. TACE is important for a service company as it allows the monitoring of the activity and the performance of the organization.

TACE = Number of billable days / Number of workable days
On average, a good TACE reaches 85%.

By optimizing the activity of the talent, the manager can identify in advance which profiles are available and for how long. The idea is to be able to anticipate the end of missions, and thus to detect periods of inter-contract and/or availability leaks.

For the Whoz solution, the Talent Availability module is divided into three parts:

• The Staffing board: the entry dashboard that shows the available talents at the top of the list. Over a period predefined by the user (eight weeks by default), the Staffing board highlights consultants to be staffed quickly. Whether they are available at the moment or soon, the manager can see at a glance those who are waiting to be assigned to a new mission.
  
• The Master Schedule: over a period extended to three months, the objective is to have a finer breakdown of the availability of each consultant, but above all to highlight profitability leaks. The manager can deepen his assignment work by identifying, optimizing and completing the periods without mission. This quarterly projection gives more details to keep the consultants busy, and thus improve the TACE.
  
• KPIs monitoring: all data related to staffing are listed. Decision-makers have the opportunity to visualize the entire scope of the company, the availability rate, consult the consistency of the TACE, availability leaks, etc.

How does good availability management change the game?

If the Whoz solution has put at its heart the optimization of the occupancy rate, it is because it is the major challenge of service companies. It is well known that inter-contract periods are the Achilles heel of organizations. Their priority is to reduce it as much as possible in order to constantly optimize the TACE, and therefore the final profitability.

Anticipation + time saving = winning combo

Of all the benefits offered by the Talent Availability module, anticipation and time savings are the most important. Indeed, the manager can have a constant and real time view of the occupation of his talents and their associated skills. He can then project, in the short and medium term, the assignments and availability of an entire ecosystem, beyond his own entity. And yes, this centralization of information can be shared at will. If a consultant is unavailable, the manager can in fact find an equally qualified consultant in another agency.

Towards a better engagement of talent

On the talent side, the benefits of anticipation are also notable. The inter-contract period is far from being a serene period for the consultant. Choosing to evolve in an ESN goes hand in hand with improving one’s expertise. Being on the bench, waiting for a rewarding mission taints this rise in skills. A service company that offers quality projects in line with the aspirations of each individual is a company that gives the best to engage its talents.

Micro-availability, a hell for managers

For a service company, micro-availability management can quickly become an ordeal. Whether he is engaged in a part-time or even an 80% assignment, the consultant may have some time available. This is time that is not billed and that costs the company. Thanks to a module such as Talent Availability, the manager can detect the holes in his caneva. He can then occupy this available time in the best possible way; consulting on Fridays, taking leave on this day off, assigning a small complementary mission, etc. The idea is to be able to manage in a simple, fluid and anticipated way all the micro-availabilities that appear on the dashboard. Thanks to this activity projection, the manager can reduce this empty time by half. He then makes better decisions and engages his consultant in the long term.

Before and after Talent Availability management

For example, let’s imagine that an employee finishes his mission in 4 days. Knowing that it takes an average of 15 days to re-staff a consultant, the manager will suffer an unavoidable 11-day inter-contract period. The consultant is on the bench and the organization loses unrecoverable money. If this same manager is aware for two weeks that his consultant finishes his mission such day, he has the time to anticipate and to find him a new mission. In the end, he saves time and money. As for the talent, it is reassured and feels valued.