A Perfect Match

The employment marketplace has undergone huge transformations in recent years. Many people in business today survived the financial crisis in 2008 and overcame significant challenges brought on by disruptions in technology in recent years. Likewise, the current health crisis has sent the economy into turmoil, leaving companies fighting for survival, leaders without a go-to blueprint and employees facing unique and complex challenges. The problem of managing skills and allocation has always been present in knowledge intensive industries, but against the daunting backdrop of uncertain economic indicators, it is particularly important for businesses to equip themselves with suitable expertise to help endure the unendurable. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered the consultancy landscape, with many companies experiencing up to 60% loss in revenue and millions of Europeans either temporarily or permanently out of work. Every employee offers a unique strength, but staff skill sets are only of any use if business leaders know how to identify abilities in the first place. Success relies on pairing the right person to the right job. How can the right employee with suitable skills be matched to the right project or how can appropriate external skills be directed into the business? Cinode, the market-leading Saas platform in competence and seamless sourcing, with their leading Skills Management Platform, enables companies and people to connect their skills. This pioneering platform will demystify the full value of employee skills and eliminate the old fashioned email-based management of freelancers and subcontractors. This unified ecosystem of partners allows companies to look to different business strategies to unlock a new era of growth. With the launch of Cinode Market, Cinode is looking to become the global leader in skills management. Currently, the company counts more than half of the Swedish listed consulting companies as customers and is also growing in other segments, including retail and telecom. Already boasting tens of thousands of users in 20 countries across four continents, this platform is one to watch. The UK needs a reskilling revolution. A CBI & McKinsey report highlighted that nine out of 10 employees in the UK will need some form of reskilling by 2030, requiring £130bn of investment. Professionals operating in the arena of employee development and wellbeing have always had a challenging task, and with the rise in outsourcing and training employees in a remote working environment, it will only get trickier. Cinode helps businesses find the right skills and streamline staffing, combining project management, CV database, CRM system, recruitment module, assignment planning into one smart and scalable programme. This will not be a typical economic recovery. Organisations must plan for multiple scenarios and timelines as they shift from crisis response to recovery. The resilience and success of companies will be measured by the talents they attract and retain, and by creating an infrastructure that supports employee mobility. A common

challenge for many companies is the lack of an effective way of matching employees and their skills to shortterm projects or creating development opportunities beyond their current capacity. Cinode makes it easier to find the right skills and streamline staffing, increasing the possibility of working between units and geographies, shortening the sales cycle for consultants and improving forecasts. Offering professional development opportunities enhances employee engagement and appeals to external talent, and the platform allows staff to present their skills transparently, so consultants can drive sales by recommending suitable colleagues for projects. Prioritising employee development within business culture also ensures that staff remain updated on industry trends and best practices. Leaders face daily hurdles such as character conflicts, disciplining uninterested workers and working with a limited budget. Task managers can reduce these barriers by accessing interested parties at the outset, helping them make the right strategic decisions. Access to the right skills at the right time is more crucial than ever, and businesses cannot afford to miss profitable opportunities because they failed to identify their collective knowledge. Cinode is the market-leading platform for competence management and seamless sourcing in the consulting industry. With growth of over 40% (ARR) for the past nine months, Cinode continues to grow rapidly as the leading platform in Skills Management, and Cinode Market makes it even easier for consultants and consulting companies to find assignments. It has exciting plans and is expanding into other segments such as retail and telecommunications. Available talents can often be lost or overlooked, but with a platform like Cinode, businesses can identify, visualise and match skills. Understanding staff plays a decisive role in motivating them to deliver their best and can harness the power of their proficiencies. While keeping track of employees, their abilities and ambitions, businesses that provide a platform where they can showcase their competences, the skills they want to develop and their dream assignments, will only grow more robust in the post pandemic period. Motivating employees is a core component in reducing turnover and valuable platform tools help with employee engagement and business growth. The rise of remote working creates overwhelming challenges for companies. Business models need to shift, and innovation cannot take a back seat. As the landscape changes, particularly for white-collar staff, it is not only the workplace itself that will look different, but potentially the way in which work itself is done, organised and overseen. Platforms like those offered at Cinode help businesses simplify the matching of available internal and external competence and create better conditions for collaboration and growth within network-oriented organisations. Find the right talent whether they are employees, subcontractors, candidates or partners, and expert skills management will help match projects against available skills and personal ambition. Matching talents with the right task, both within and between companies, where everyone gets the same opportunities to make their knowledge and ambitions visible, is the key to success. The world is changing, workplaces will never be the same and the last year has taught us that we need to future proof our businesses. Let the teamwork, collaboration and growth begin!