There is no doubt that emerging from COVID-19 will accelerate changes in many areas of business, one of which will be how multi-disciplinary services are procured and ultimately delivered in the infrastructure and energy sectors.

All of us are familiar with, or have been part of, the on-going rally of verbal tennis searching for the answers to “Why is the headcount so high?” or “What value am I receiving in return for all of this expenditure?” or “What is all this headcount doing when my project is still slipping to the right all the time?” In fact, even the headcount that is deemed to be a necessary project requirement is often on-boarded poorly which then only further adds to the overall ineffectiveness of the organisation.

The incumbent service providers have actually become expert at returning your volleys and remain more than happy to consistently tell you that it can only be done one way. Trading headcount for pound signs and telling you that a different approach is almost impossible to deliver. But the truth is we all know that they are simply just not in the mood or have no incentive to change, because in the end it is just not in their interest to do so!

We see it differently though… we support you to put ‘value’ before ‘headcount’… because that game of verbal tennis has had play suspended and it’s time for new balls please…

Whether its transformational change or other professional services it is absolutely possible to provide something different as a credible alternative to time and resource. So lets start to re-think the requirement; define the performance criteria; and move to purchasing defined outcomes in place of spiralling headcount.

With a partner that is skilled enough to deliver quality over quantity, it can actually be done…