by Julie Rose

Did somebody say recession? Unfortunately, recessions are a normal part of the business cycle. There are periods of economic growth and periods of economic slowdown. During a recession, the economy slows, companies struggle with sales, people lose their jobs, and the stock market suffers. The point where the economy officially falls into a recession depends on multiple factors, but many experts indicate that two consecutive quarters of decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a sign of recession. The recession in 2020 occurred when the pandemic impacted our economy. The Great Recession in 2008 was caused by the collapse of the housing market. We are seeing signs for the next recession too, with some experts predicting late 2022 or early 2023. According to the Washington Post, the economy contracted in the first three months of 2022, by shrinking at a 1.4 percent pace.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/05/19/recession-economy-markets/

One common result of recession is that unemployment rises. Companies sometimes employ “hiring freezes” to maintain profits, while they wait for the economy to stabilize.  This puts stress on the rest of the workforce so companies must look for ways to protect their current employees from burnout while also ensuring the most critical work gets done.

It’s common for businesses today to look for creative ways to expand their bandwidth to continue to achieve short and long-term goals. For companies that don’t want to make the long-term commitment of hiring full-time employees or are trying to conserve budgets, hiring temporary or “on demand” professionals is a low-risk, cost-effective option.  

Recession-Proof Insights Talent from SIVO On Demand Talent

SIVO On Demand Talent can help with skilled Consumer Insight and Market Research Professionals that ease your team’s workload and help you achieve your business goals while also relieving you of the financial risk that is common during a recession. 

We offer flexible solutions, like short or long-term assignments for fill-in roles or finite projects. Additionally, we can serve as an extension of your internal Consumer Insights Team, what we like to call your “back-pocket” consultants. For some clients, our talent serves as the virtual CI team, supporting initiatives in a cost-effective way while also ensuring high quality insights. 

SIVO On Demand Talent offers far more flexibility than full-time employee expansion. Plus, you don’t have to spend your valuable time searching for, hiring, and training talent. We take care of it all for you, freeing you from the burden of a lengthy process.

Let SIVO help you manage through the ‘hiring freeze” by temporarily meeting your Insights, Analytics or Market Research talent needs.

Reach out to ondemandtalent@sivoinsights.com for a consultation. 

By Kerry Juhl

Managing a business is non-stop, full-time leadership. Typically, 90% of a leader's workday is focused on the daily needs of employees, customers, supply chain, marketing, sales, financials... and the list goes on.  However, it is also a leader's job to present their team with a vision for the future, a "north star" that provides direction and goals for the organization, allowing them to compete effectively and transform opportunities into growth.

Category Vision: Assessing Your Market and Consumer

A great step in looking toward the future is to take stock of the landscape that you operate within, especially when there are changing dynamics in the external environment. The future growth of your business requires you to have a point of view on how your business will be impacted by changing consumer behaviors and preferences, the actions of your competitive set and external partners, and possibly the impact of new technologies. In other words, you need to have a vision of what your category/industry will look like in 5+ years to remain relevant in that future state and capitalize on future growth opportunities.

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Do customers want to ‘hire’ your product?

Our team at SIVO has experience with helping clients build their category vision of the future.  In fact, we have developed a step-by-step process that results in a defined Future-State Category Map to inform the Category Vision and Key Strategies for growth.  A Category Vision not only demonstrates category leadership and anticipates the future, but it allows clients to take control and literally create their own destiny…a future where the business can thrive.

The High-Level Process for Developing a Category Vision:

• Define Current State
• Incorporate Data/Trends Signaling Future State 
• Articulate Future State
• Create a Vision & Strategies to Build Future State

Define Current State: 

Clients need to define the space that they currently play in.  For some it might be narrow, for example, Skin Care.  For others it might be broad, for example, Beauty Products.  (There are pros and cons for how narrow or broad your category definition is and SIVO can guide your team to get to a definition that is relevant and actionable through our consumer insights solutions).

Incorporate Data/Trends Signaling Future State 

This step requires the gathering of category, competitive and consumer intelligence from a variety of sources, to answer questions, like:

• What is happening in the industry or category that my business competes in?
• What segments are growing or declining?
• What are the signs or hints of new segments emerging?
• Are there new consumer behaviors that signal the need to operate differently in the future to remain competitive in this category/industry?

Articulate Future State:

SIVO facilitates the client team through a small series of assignments and working sessions to envision the Future State of the category and to prioritize where to “place bets” within the category to maximize growth.

Create a Vision & Strategies to build Future State:

With the future state of the category defined, SIVO facilitates client teams through the creation of a Category Vision that serves as the "North Star", and Growth Strategies that the organization can put into action to drive category and brand growth for years to come.

Schedule a Discovery Call Today for Strategic Category Vision Consulting

A solid process with proven success. Are you ready to help your business create a category vision for the future?  Schedule a discovery call today or reach out at Contact@SIVOInsights.com to develop strategies and plans that not only anticipate the future but create it!

by Kerry Juhl and Julie Rose

SIVO’s Organizational Intelligence (OI) solution offers leader development and coaching to our clients.  Our OI team has many years of experience with one-on-one coaching engagements and group development sessions.  We are also skilled at identifying employee insights, both through quantitative engagement surveys and in-depth employee discussions.  As we have looked at leadership from both perspectives, we see 5 leadership traits that employees are looking for.   

The Authentic Communicator

This trait is displayed in a leader who communicates well in one-on-one situations because they: 

• Listen to understand - communication is a two-way dialogue

• Are empathetic - can put themselves in their employees’ shoes 

• Share truth responsibly – even hard truths are delivered in a courageous and respectful way 

• Are direct – messages are clear and concise to maximize understanding 

This is also true for group communication because the communication is transparent, honest, and the leader can read the audience.  Authentic communication can be delivered in multiple ways – written, verbal, in video, newsletters, etc. 

The Learner Mindset

Everyone will make a mistake or fall short of a goal and when a leader reframes to a learner mindset from a failure mindset, employees gain confidence to take some risks, learn and grow. A leader with this trait might also choose to share a personal experience of failure and how there is growth from making mistakes. Through this humble approach, the leader is helping the team develop grit – that combination of taking measured risks, perseverance and resilience. 

The Big Picture Thinker

Leaders who keep a greater purpose in mind, for themselves as well as for the company, and cultivate a sense of purpose on their team tend to have a more positive culture and better results.  Employees need to understand how their work fits into the “bigger picture” so that all are making decisions with the same end goals in mind.  Vision and purpose also give employees a sense that the work they do matters and that is critical in cultivating their engagement and enthusiasm.   

The Reflector

Some of us have worked for a manager that is scattered and acts like everything is a fire drill.  It’s exhausting!  However, leaders that take even a quick pause to reflect on a project, on a day, or even a fiscal quarter are better equipped to provide thoughtful feedback and then tackle the next challenge.  Gathering the necessary data, consulting with key stakeholders and team members before rushing off to the next thing can demonstrate a willingness to grow and learn from the past.  It can also instill confidence in the team, knowing that all angles have been considered before taking the next step.  Leading a team through an exercise of assessing what went well and what did not go well, and considering the potential for future obstacles can also be a particularly effective way to advance the team forward.  

The Goal Setter

Leaders who continually set short-term and mid-term goals toward achieving the longer vision are much more effective leaders.  Employees are seeking clear direction from their leader and while having a long-term vision is inspiring, without short-term goals, teams often find themselves churning with indecision, not knowing what their immediate next step should be.  A great leadership tool is the SMART goal setting framework.  Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-oriented. Having SMART goals also makes it possible to pause and celebrate when the team achieves the goals as it happens! 

Do you possess these 5 traits?  As it turns out, all leaders are working to achieve excellence in leadership and in business impact.  Shoring up your skills and taking action to develop these 5 traits will make you a more effective leader on both fronts.   

To talk more about leadership development, leader coaching engagements, or employee insights, please contact the SIVO Organizational Intelligence team at LeaderInsights@SIVOInsights.com 

By Julie Rose

Whether in need of C-Suite leadership, mid-level managers or junior-level analysts, many companies are turning to fractional talent to fill temporarily open roles, expand their team bandwidth or bring new or specialized skillsets to meet business needs. SIVO, Inc. has worked with many companies to place fractional Consumer Insights Professionals (fCIPs) across all levels of the Insights function. Through this work, we have established a few guidelines for a positive outcome to make your outsourcing experiences successful.

To prepare for the fCIP to join your team and set everyone up for success, you should: 

1. Clearly outline your talent needs 

2. Interview contractor candidates 

3. Set up regular updates 

4. Provide timely feedback 

5. Show appreciation

Clearly Outline Your Fractional Talent Needs

It is important to be clear on the work that requires the expertise of fractional insights professionals. We’ve helped our best clients with this critical first step and it has had a huge impact on their ability to get the help they need.

Each quarter, I outline the prioritized initiatives for my team and in that process, I identify the critical work for my SIVO On Demand Talent resource. This practice provides both clear direction for the fractional talent and it also helps me estimate the hours needed and budget appropriately. Continually getting clear on priorities has led to a successful outcome for both Perdue and SIVO.  

     – Tara Campbell, Sr. Director, Insights, Analytics & Sensory, Perdue Farms

For one week, you should log all the work that you wish you had someone available to delegate to. When something comes up that you think, “wow, if only I had a resource to help,” write down the task and the skills you believe are needed. At the end of the week, you are well-equipped for a scope of work plan that can be short-term, long-term, for a fill-in role or a finite project. Your log of the work that needs to get done will help you identify a fCIP with the appropriate skillset to accomplish the work effectively and efficiently.

Interview Candidates

Once you are clear on what you are looking for in terms of skills, expertise, and know-how, it is a good idea to interview 2 to 3 candidates for the temporary role. It may seem like “overkill” when the role is temporary but in the end, finding a person that fits your team will make your work-life a lot easier. This is an opportunity to evaluate organizational fit, establish rapport and set expectations. During the interview, you will ask about previous experience the candidates will bring to the role, what expectations the candidates have, and gauge how the candidates will approach your specific role.

We looked at resumes for a few candidates for the role we had on our team.  On paper, all three looked equally suited to the role however after interviewing the candidates we realized the best cultural fit with our team and organization. I appreciated the opportunity SIVO provided to meet with more than one candidate for the role.

     – Marnie Pfeifer, VP Customer Experience Leader

Set Up Regular Updates

Once you’ve chosen the fCIP for your role, it’s important to establish a clear work plan and a good working relationship. Through regular check-ins and updates, you will be able to align on objectives, stay informed on progress, and understand any barriers that might need to be addressed. Regular updates allow the insights professional to meet smaller deadlines throughout the project while keeping the overall timeline and success metrics front and center. 

Provide Timely Feedback

The regular updates will also facilitate the ability to provide timely feedback throughout the project. It is critical to invest some of your time to monitor progress and be actively engaged in the work of your new resource. This professional comes with experience and expertise, but may need guidance to navigate the organization, such as recognizing unwritten rules or norms that are tied to the organizational culture. There might be a need to provide constructive feedback, that if given early, will set the fCIP up for success. Feedback will provide clarity and optimize the experience for both parties – you and your contract talent. 

Show Appreciation

Once you’ve built a good working relationship with your fCIP, you will likely want to tap into this resource again in the future, when the need arises. Providing positive feedback and showing appreciation for the contributions this person is making to your organization will increase satisfaction in doing the current role and increase the likelihood of taking on future assignments. Appreciation can be shown with a simple thank you or by recommending this talent to others in the industry who may also need this type of resource. 

Following these steps will help you find the right fCIP and make the entire process easier for you and your team.  

For fractional Consumer Insights Professionals, you can lean on SIVO’s On Demand Talent team to walk you through the process and provide you with the support you need to get the right talent working on your behalf. We are passionate about matching our clients’ needs with our fCIP’s experience and skills. 

Reach out today to learn more about SIVO On Demand Talent. Contact@SIVOInsights.com