Contracting used to be career option for either the daring or the desperate – its lack of security and fluctuating demand meant it was not for the faint-hearted or financially insecure.
While it still lacks the protection of permanent employ, changing socio-economic conditions as well as the much wider range of contract work available have helped change the character of the executive lessee.
Some responsibility for that has to go to one of the tightest labour markets New Zealand has experienced. For the past couple of years, an unemployment rate of 3.4 percent has put this country at the top end of OECD rankings – first place in 2004, second this year. The downside is that skills shortages are now regarded by many local companies as major constraint on growth.
In its latest look at the skills situation, the Department of Labour reports that the difficulty of finding skilled staff has stabilised at near record high after one percent drop from last year’s first quarter. High labour force participation, low unemployment and falling underemployment have all combined to shrink the pool of labour, and turnover (mainly of the voluntary kind) is at 20-year high.
It’s an environment where demand for skilled staff inevitably flows through from the permanent to the leased market. Employers are using leased executives to fill in until they can find someone for the position on permanent basis, or to top up headcounts.
Where contracting was once confined to few specific industries, it’s now used across the board – in pretty much every industry and in large corporations through to small or medium-sized firms.
One result is that the line between contract and permanent staff is becoming increasingly blurred – contract can often segue into permanent work, while someone chasing their ideal longterm role may pick up series of contracts en route.
There is not only lot more employer acceptance of the value contractors can add to their organisation but in some cases positive embrace of the attributes that tend to come bundled in the contractor package.
So just what are these and why are they welcome?
The contractor psyche
It’s not just the skills – there’s an attitude that helps make the difference between those who are going to be top-rate contractors and those who aren’t, says Emergent’s consultant director Carmen Bailey. After nine years in the leasing industry, she reckons her instinct for identifying successful candidates has been well honed.
“Those who are more successful have more open mind to the expectations around deliverables. Where people aren’t suited to contracting is when they’re more rigid in their thought processes – they like structured environment and you don’t always get that with leasing.”
The reality is there’s seldom perfect match between what employers say they want and what contractors can offer or expect – it’s moveable feast. Flexibility on both sides is important. For the contractor that could relate to starting on lesser hourly rate than anticipated, says Bailey.
“Or it could involve taking job that’s perhaps little left of field but has the potential to grow into other opportunities. It’s matter of trusting the consultancy that they have enough to deliver on the framework of the project because very rarely do you get contract with 10 bullet points and contractor with the 10 bullet points that match. It’s about being flexible – and about an individual’s ability to confidently throw themselves into multitude of different roles.”
Personal confidence is vital part of the makeup.
“You don’t want people who over-promise and under-deliver but you do want someone who is not easily phased,” explains Gillian Dennis, Drake’s team leader for executive contracting in Auckland.
They’re the people who are keen to stretch beyond their comfort zone and are clear about their own ability to do that.
“That gives clients confidence – wishy-washy nervous person isn’t going to cut it with the client,” says Dennis.
She reckons experience is big factor because contractors are expected to hit the ground running with minimal handholding.
“It needs to be someone with the confidence to do that, which normally stems from experience, to be honest. Generally speaking the most successful contractors are those who are experts in their field – that might be their technical skills or length of experience. But it needs to be someone you can put into range of different situations.”
Being your own brand
A sense of security is also important – contractors do have to fend for themselves and, in sense, build their own work brand.
Contractors have to think of themselves as business, says Rob Bloom who moved from permanent to contract employment after coming to New Zealand six years ago.
“It’s much more like working for customer. You’re part of the work team but not necessarily on equal footing. I’m not there to make the decisions unless I’m empowered to do that.”
While it’s fine distinction, his loyalty is more to the job in hand rather than to the company.
“That’s because the reputation of contractor is only as good as the last job they did.”
And where the next job comes from is something that contractors have to think about on much more regular basis than permanent employees. How to keep things going over the Christmas break can be source of nervousness in New Zealand because the country does close down then, says Bloom. Although backfilling for permanent who’s away is an option, new projects don’t tend to kick off till later in the new year.
Not that 40-year-old Bloom has ever been short of work. Trained as chartered accountant, he now works mainly in the area of business process re-engineering and gets plenty of repeat work from the same clients. Any downtime has been downtime of choice – either between contracts or depending on client relations, within the course of the contract.
“Holidays can be hard – I stay in touch with the agency as to how the market is going – whether you’re in position of control. I’ve never had trouble finding work but I ensure I have enough to carry me through.”
An ability to handle the light patches is very much part of contracting, says CEO for hire, Bruce Young. At 55, he has solid career base in permanent leadership roles (including 15-year stint as CEO at Moana Pacific Fisheries) and in his two years of contracting has usually had one or two projects on the go at any one time to provide continuity.
“You do have to be reasonably confident, have the ability to handle risk and you need to be financially stable enough to go through any light patches,” says Young.
He personally doesn’t find too much difference between the world of contracting and permanent work.
“All my working life I’ve had new situations, new challenges thrust on me. It’s the same in contracting – you move in and deal with it. But you have to be confident dealing with people. Even if you’re with them only short time, they have to respect your ability and you have to respect theirs.”
In some ways, interim appointments are easier because people are less inclined to play politics.
“If you take on acting CEO roles, people are pretty forthcoming. They know the contract is limited and you need to get up to speed quickly. You rarely get people clamming up on you because you’re not involved with the politics or relationships.”
A changing landscape
With executive leasing becoming much more of mainstream game – the rules of play are changing, along with the contractor profile. It ain’t what it used to be, says Hudson’s manager of accounting/finance contracting, Rowan Larsen.
“In my six years in the industry, I’ve seen it change quite radically. People contract for different reasons and there’s much greater diversity in the age, qualification and skill levels of people doing it.”
There’s much more of permanent/contracting dualism – people may be looking for permanent work but are also open to contracting options.
“That’s predominant feature of the
