THE VALUE - PAGE AGREEMENT
(DRAFT)
Submitted By
CODE Services
A-604, Lok Darshan, Military Road, Marol, Bombay 400 059
April 24, 1998
📑 INDEX
- COVERING LETTER
- PARTIES
- RECITAL / OBJECTIVES
- CONFIDENTIALITY
- EXCLUSIVITY
- UNDERTAKING / OBLIGATIONS
- DURATION / TERMINATION / EXTENSION
- MOBILIZATION - PERIOD / COMMITMENT CHARGE
- TENTATIVE TIME FRAME OF ACTIVITIES
- FEES AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE
- PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY
- DEFINITIONS
- STATISTICAL DATA THAT COULD BE GIVE TO IE
- ANNEXURES
📬 COVERING LETTER
3P CONSULTANTS
(People → Productivity → Profitability)
April 23, 1998
Mr. Santosh Goenka
Executive Publisher
Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Business Publications Division
D-2, Mathuradas Mill Compound,
Ideal Ind Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400 013
Dear Mr. Goenka,
Value Added Page
Value Added Service
Many thanks for visiting our
office on Monday, April 20, along with your colleague Mr. Rajiv Tewari.
I hope you liked our website and
would give it appropriate coverage in your various publications. I enclose a
tabulation showing how our site is “ranked” by various Search-engines.
We also talked about some kind of
strategic Alliance between our two firms which would be mutually beneficial. In
this connection, I enclose a concept of Indian Express Group of publications
creating & marketing (as a product) a “Value Added Page” of Recruitment
advertisements. After you have had an opportunity to study this, I would be
happy to come over to your office for a personal discussion.
With kind regards,
(Signature)
H.C. Parekh
Principal Consultant
Address:
B-1, Lok Bharati Complex, Marol Maroshi Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai – 400 059,
India
Phone: (91-22) 850 5800 / 5748, 850 6268 / 2269 / 2270
Fax: (91-22) 850 6663
This agreement is entered into
between the following parties:
- Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd., who
are the owners and publishers of newspapers & magazines such as:
Indian Express, Express Computers, Web Vision, etc. etc.
and have their head-office at:
D-2, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Ideal Ind Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400 013.
(hereinafter referred to as
IE)
- CODE Services, having their office at:
A-604, Lok Darshan, Military Road, Marol, Andheri (E), Mumbai – 400 059.
(hereinafter referred to as
CODE)
On behalf of Times of India
(handwritten / circled note)
Signature:
______________________________
Name: Mr. Santosh Goenka
On behalf of CODE Services
Signature:
______________________________
Name: Mr. Nirmit Parekh
Date: __________
📄 RECITAL / OBJECTIVES
- IE are in the business of publication and marketing
of newspapers / magazines and enjoy a prominent position amongst the
newspapers published in India.
- Advertisements, including recruitment
advertisements (whether “classified” or “appointment”), constitute a major
source of income to IE.
- IE would like to enhance client satisfaction and
advertisement income by offering a “value-added-service” to the
recruitment advertisers. This value-added-service will be as follows:
- on behalf of the advertiser, receiving all
applications directly.
- entering salient information of each candidate
(applicant) into computer and creating databases against each
advertisement.
- offering these databases to the respective
advertiser-client, in a structured format (hard copy and a floppy) along
with the original applications.
- To economise on its own resources, IE would like to
give-out the work of computer-entry and database creation to an outside
vendor.
- CODE are a data-entry services firm engaged in
computerisation of document-data for their client companies.
- IE, having examined the facilities of CODE and
having held extensive discussions on the matter, have approached CODE to
create databases as mentioned above.
- In light of the foregoing IE and CODE are entering
into this agreement, upon terms and conditions set-out in this agreement.
📄 CONFIDENTIALITY
- Neither IE nor CODE will reveal, directly or
indirectly, to any third party the nature of this agreement.
- CODE undertake not to reveal to any applicant /
candidate the source of the database.
EXCLUSIVITY
It is clearly understood and
agreed upon by and between the parties that this is an exclusive agreement,
implying that, during the pendency of this agreement:
- IE will not enter into a similar agreement with any
other party.
- CODE will not enter into a similar agreement with
any other newspaper / publication / media etc., except in South India and
East India, where IE do not have a strong presence.
Both the parties further declare
that on the date of signing of this agreement, they have not entered into
similar agreement with any other party nor made a commitment to enter into such
an agreement.
📄 UNDERTAKING /
OBLIGATIONS
Under this agreement IE
undertake:
- To promote / market this value-added-service to its
advertisers of recruitment advertisements in the “classified” as well as
“appointment columns”, in the following publications:
- Indian Express (All editions)
- IT People
- Web Vision
- To widely publicize this service and bear all
publicity / promotional expenses connected with the same.
- Full responsibility for all interfacing /
interaction with their advertisers and not require CODE to undertake any
client-servicing as far as this value-added-service is concerned.
- All liabilities to its advertiser-clients as far as
this value-added-service is concerned and absolve CODE from any litigation
arising thereof.
Under this agreement CODE
undertake:
- To carefully, diligently, meticulously and
accurately process all applications / biodatas received from IE for
creation of desired databases.
- To create separate and distinct databases (to the
extent of availability of such data in applications) of all applications
received against each advertisement appearing under the
value-added-service and for which it has received applications / biodatas
from IE.
- To print-out (hard-copy) in agreed-upon structured
format, each database, client-wise, advertisement-wise and advertised
position-wise, as also create on a floppy, a print file of the same.
- To handover to IE at the end of predetermined
period, the print-out, the floppy and the original applications against
each advertisement, for onward despatch to the client.
- To retain separately and client-wise, advertisement
& position-wise, each such database on a hard-disk for delivery to a
client against his specific written request to IE, within 6 months of the
advertisement.
- Not to utilize any part or whole of any so created
databases for its own business-purpose for a period of 6 months from the
date of the relevant advertisement.
- Not to part with these databases or permit access
to the same to any third party, within the aforementioned “lock-in” period
of 6 months, for any purpose whatsoever.
- To ensure protection of databases from viruses and
to deliver virus-free floppies to IE.
- To sympathetically consider any request received
from IE for modifications in database structure, hard copy or floppy which
will enhance the value-added-service to their clients.
DURATION
This agreement is valid for a
period of 15 months from the date of commencement. The date of
commencement will be the date of signing of this agreement.
TERMINATION
Subject to the following proviso,
either party will have the right to terminate the agreement, by giving to the
other party a notice to this effect in writing as follows:
|
Period |
From commencement |
Notice Period |
|
I |
up to 90 days |
cannot be terminated |
|
II |
91st to 180th day |
7 days |
|
III |
181st day onward |
30 days |
PROVISO
In case IE terminates the
agreement, it shall first pay to CODE, the FIXED COMMITMENT CHARGE of Rs.
40,000 per month (as outlined in MOBILIZATION PERIOD / COMMITMENT CHARGES)
for the entire 15-month period of the agreement less such charge already paid
to CODE up to the date of the notice.
MOBILIZATION
The first period (up to 90th day
from the date of commencement) will be termed as MOBILIZATION PERIOD,
during which the agreement cannot be terminated by either party. The purpose of
this period is explained under clause (Mobilization – Period).
EXTENSION
If both parties are satisfied
with each other’s performance, they agree to extend the agreement for such
period and on such terms as are mutually agreed upon.
MOBILIZATION – PERIOD /
COMMITMENT CHARGE
IE envisages that the number of
applications / biodatas that will be required to be processed by CODE under
this agreement could be as follows:
|
Period |
Month |
Expected Volume |
|
Mobilization Period |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
- |
|
|
3 |
- |
|
|
Execution Period |
4 |
3,000 |
|
5 |
5,000 |
|
|
6 |
7,000 |
|
|
7 |
10,000 |
|
|
8 |
12,000 |
|
|
9 |
15,000 |
|
|
10 |
20,000 |
|
|
11 |
22,000 |
|
|
12 |
25,000 |
|
|
13 |
27,000 |
|
|
14 |
30,000 |
|
|
15 |
35,000 |
Although above-mentioned figures
are not to be taken as a guaranteed or assured work-load, the same are
estimated by IE based on:
- the current volume (numbers) of recruitment
advertisements appearing in both, the classified and the appointment
pages.
- The number of advertisers who could be expected to
switch over to the VALUE-PAGE (value-added-service) as a result of initial
promotional campaign.
- Expected receipt of approximately 200
applications per position / post advertised (average of the responses
for classified & appointment pages).
- Increased overall market-share by luring away (to
VALUE PAGE mode), clients who are currently advertising in other
newspapers / magazines / media.
These estimates are being
furnished to CODE to mobilize its resources during the mobilization-period.
These resources will comprise of (but not limited to):
- Acquisition of computers / printers etc.
- Developing of special software
- Recruitment of database administrators, clerks,
supervisors, managers etc. to work during the second and third shifts
CODE considers above-mentioned
mobilization absolutely essential, in order to execute this assignment
flawlessly, accurately and on time, realizing too well that any failure on its
part to deliver a high quality and timely performance could affect the image of
IE and the resultant loss of clientele / revenue, something which IE cannot
afford under any circumstances.
On the other hand, for CODE, the
mobilization of above mentioned resources is not only a time-consuming task but
it also involves firm commitment of funds under a situation of considerable
“risk”, in case the volume of workload falls far short of the estimates
made above, or fluctuates very widely from month-to-month. This could lead to
alternating situations of “overload” and “underload”, which, besides affecting
its performance, could also bring severe financial loss to CODE.
MOBILIZATION – PERIOD (JUNE –
JULY – AUG. 1998)
TENTATIVE TIME FRAME OF
ACTIVITIES
|
Event to be accomplished by
CODE |
Target Event Date (TED) |
Event to be accomplished by
IE |
|
Submit to TOI draft agreement |
April 24, 1998 |
|
|
Sign Agreement |
May 15, 1998 |
Sign Agreement |
|
Advertise for Manpower |
June 1, 1998 |
- Pay Fixed Commitment charges
for June 1998 - Internal circulation of scheme highlights |
|
Invite HW quotes |
||
|
Interviews for staff |
June 15, 1998 |
Finalize promotion campaign
& keep ready brochure / mailer / target client list / scheme operational
details |
|
Negotiate for HW |
||
|
Release appointment letters to
staff |
June 27, 1998 |
- Release mailers - Follow up
& get feedback - Internal coordination conference with staff from other
cities |
|
Place orders for HW |
||
|
Start SW design |
||
|
Complete SW design &
handover to IE along with demo copies |
July 20, 1998 |
- O & M department to
release Operating Procedure Manual with flowcharts & responsibility
statements - Nominate coordinator |
|
Receive HW & Test |
||
|
Manpower joins – Orientation |
Aug. 1, 1998 |
Product launch conference for
select clients with live demo of search/query software |
|
Staff Training |
Aug. 10–20, 1998 |
Staff Training |
|
Ready for processing |
Sept. 1, 1998 |
“Value-Page” appears |
FEES & PAYMENT SCHEDULE
For creation of databases and
supplying the same to IE on computer print-out and floppy, IE shall pay to
CODE, a
“VARIABLE SERVICE FEE”
as shown in Annex: G
The Variable Service Fee will be
based on the total volume (number) of applications “processed” by CODE during a
given month.
The total volume (number)
processed will be arrived at by adding up the numbers (processed) mentioned on
each individual invoice raised by CODE during the given month.
e.g.
Say during the month of May 1999, CODE have raised 8 invoices totaling 26845
applications processed. Then the Variable Service Fee will be computed as
follows:
Computation Table
|
Volume Slab (No. of
Applications/month) |
Service Fee Rate
(Rs./Application) |
No. of Applications in this
slab |
Total Variable Service Fee
(Rs.) |
|
0 – 5000 |
15 |
5000 |
75,000 |
|
5001 – 10000 |
14 |
5000 |
70,000 |
|
10001 – 15000 |
13 |
5000 |
65,000 |
|
15001 – 20000 |
12 |
5000 |
60,000 |
|
20001 – 25000 |
11 |
5000 |
55,000 |
|
25001 – 30000 |
10 |
1845 |
18,450 |
|
GRAND TOTAL |
26,845 |
3,43,450 |
Payment Schedule:
The variable service fee amounts
will be payable within 7 days of each individual invoice date.
Each individual invoice, to the
extent possible, will cover the service fee for ONE advertisement only
and will be prepared at the “Service Fee Rate” for the lowest volume slab i.e. @
Rs. 15/- per application processed.
If an advertisement has many
positions with a large response received from different editions, CODE may
prepare and submit individual invoice for each POSITION.
By 5th of each month, CODE
will prepare a consolidated statement of all the individual invoices raised
during the preceding month and based on the total volume processed during the
month, prepare and send to IE, a
MONTHLY CREDIT NOTE
(see Annex H)
PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY
To each advertisement appearing
on the VALUE - PAGE (Value-added-service), IE will allot an “Advertisement
serial no.” and a “Post box no.” and ask candidates to superscribe
these on the application as well as on the envelope, in addition to mentioning
the “post / position” for which he is applying.
IE shall also explicitly mention,
on each advertisement (or on top of the VALUE - PAGE in bold letters), that no
applications received after the expiry of 15 days period (from the date of
publication) will be considered.
IE will encourage applicants to
send in their applications through a COURIER-SERVICE or through SPEED-POST
or drop box at their offices / collection centres.
Upon receipt of the applications,
IE will arrange to open the same, and on each application put a rubber-stamp as
shown below and fill in the same.
IE VALUE - PAGE (Rubber Stamp
Format)
- Date of Publication :
- Edition :
- Client :
- Post / Position : (To be filled-in by IE)
- Advt. Serial No. :
- Post Box No. :
- Date Received :
- Application Serial No. :
- Database Created Date : (To be filled-in by
CODE)
Having filled-in the
rubber-stamped data as shown above, IE will file all such applications in
box-files:
- Advertisement-wise
- Position-wise
- Application Serial No.-wise
PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY
(Continued)
• Once the stipulated 15 days
period gets over, IE will arrange to send the relevant box-files to CODE
under a covering letter as per specimen shown in Annex-A. CODE will sign
a duplicate copy of this covering letter and return to IE by way of
acknowledgement of receipt.
• CODE will enter into a computer
database, position-wise and advertisement-wise, salient data for each
application/bio-data received, to the extent such data is furnished by an
applicant. The salient-data to be so entered is shown in:
Annex - B
• In the rubber-stamp, CODE will
enter the “date” on which the salient data has been entered in computer.
Once the data has been entered, a
sample audit-check will be carried-out by the supervisor to verify the
accuracy of the data entered.
After the audit-check, the data
will be processed to create a print-image file and transferred from
hard-disk to a floppy. The floppy will also contain “software” which
will enable the advertiser-client to “search/query/add” to the database.
What a client can “search/query/add” is shown in:
Annex - C
• After creation of “print-image
file” on a floppy, the database will be printed out on continuous computer
stationary (supplied by IE) in a structured format. This format is shown
in:
Annex - D
• The floppy, the hard-copy
(structured print-out) and the box files containing original applications will
be returned to IE, with a covering letter shown in:
Annex - E
• IE will sign and return to CODE
the duplicate copy of the covering letter by way of acknowledgement of receipt.
Simultaneously, CODE will also
send to IE its invoice for “Variable Service - Fees” pertaining to the
creation of database against a specific advertisement. The specimen invoice is
shown in:
Annex - F
• Advertiser - Client
Person / firm who opts to release his recruitment advertisement on the VALUE
- PAGE of IE under IE’s “Value-added Service” scheme.
• Value - Added - Service
This is a service under which, IE will provide to an advertiser-client, a
database of the responses/applications received against the advertisement, on a
floppy and a hardcopy. The floppy will also contain special software as
mentioned in Annex - C.
• Data-base
This will comprise of data outlined in Annex - B and arranged on a
print-out according to Annex - D, [to the extent given by a candidate in
his application/bio-data.]
• Publications
- Indian Express (all editions)
- IT People
- Web Vision
• Date of commencement
The date of signing of this agreement.
STATISTICAL DATA THAT COULD BE
GIVEN TO IE
• No. of Applications Received
- per month (for each month)
- cumulative
- average/month
- advertisement-wise (position-wise)
- average/advertisement
- average/positions advertised
• No. of Advertisements
- per month
- average/month
- cumulative
- client-wise
- average revenue/advt.
• Cost / Benefit Analysis for
Client
• Designation-wise Analysis
How many times advertised:
- V.P.
- G.M.
- … etc.
• Number of Applications
Received Level-wise
(i.e. V.P. / G.M.)
ANNEXURE INDEX
- Annex - A .................................
Covering letter from IE
- Annex - B .................................
Salient Data to be captured
- Annex - C .................................
Special Software Features
- Annex - D .................................
Computer Printout Specimen
- Annex - E .................................
Covering letter from CODE
- Annex - F .................................
Invoice
- Annex - G .................................
Service Fee Rates
- Annex - H .................................
Credit Note
- Annex - I .................................
Apprehensions
Annex - A
CODE Services
Bombay 400 059
Dear Sir,
With this letter, I am sending
for database creation, files as per following details:
Table Format
|
Publication / Editions /
Client Name |
Post-Position or Code |
No. of Files |
No. of Applications |
Advertisement Details (Sr.
No. & Date) |
Cost of Advt. |
|
Total |
Please acknowledge receipt on
duplicate of this letter and arrange to process the data at your earliest.
Manager
Value - Page – Project
Indian Express
ANNEXURES (Continued)
Annex - B
Salient Data from each
application to be entered into computer for creation of database:
- Name of Executive
- Unique applicant No.
- Residential Address & Phone No.
First preference will always
be residential address of a candidate.
Second preference will be “communication/correspondence/permanent” address
- Birth-date / Age
In respect of an applicant,
the age will be computed from birth-date given in his bio-data, as completed
number of years on the date of application.
- Educational Qualifications (graduate / upwards)
- Name of current employer & current designation
- No. of years with current employer
- Current salary
- Past Employers (Names)
- No. of years worked with each of past employers
Annex - C
Using the special software
embedded in the floppy, an advertiser-client can process the database in the
following manner:
Search / Query
List all applicants:
- in descending order of “age” (already
prearranged)
- by specific age-group (say > 30 yrs but
< 40 yrs)
- by city location
- by specific Educational Qualification
- by name of a specified current employer
- by a given salary range
- who meet:
- “Age” criteria
- “Age + Experience” criteria
- “Age + Experience + Educational Qualification”
criteria
Print
- Print-out results of any of the above-mentioned
search/query
- Print-out labels of residential addresses of those
candidates selected for interview
- Print-out “standardized” interview-call letters by
inserting names and addresses of short-listed candidates (mail-merge) [to
be designed by Advertiser]
Annex - C (Continued)
- Print-out “standardized” appointment-letters to
selected candidates [to be designed by Advertiser]
Own Additional Database
(Value-Added Layer)
Create a “Value-Added”
database by subsequently adding in the floppy, the following information
about one/more candidates:
- Candidate Application Rating [A/B/C/R]
- Candidate Interview Rating [A/B/C/R]
- Number of candidates under each “rating” at
“application” and “interview” stages
- Evaluation / Assessment remarks of the
interview-panel (structured or unstructured)
- Medical examination result
- Negotiated details:
- salary
- perks
- designation
- grade
- Agreed date of joining
Verification of Documents
- Birth date
- Educational Qualification
- Salary Slip, etc.
Additional HR Details
- Antecedent check (reports sent in by previous
employers)
- Department / Division / Group / Region / City of
joining
- Reporting manager (person to whom candidate
reports)
- Pay sheet No.
Rating Legend
- A = Excellent
- B = Good
- C = Acceptable
- R = Reject
Annex - D
Computer Print-out Specimen
Client :
Advt. No. :
Post :
Data Fields Layout
- Appl. Sr. No.
- Unique Applicant Code
Personal Details
- Name
- Birth Date
- Educational Qualification
Contact Details
- Residential Address
- Phone No.
Employment History
- Current Employer / Years of Experience /
Designation
- Past Employer / Years of Experience / Designation
- … (multiple entries as required)
Annex - E
Indian Express
Mumbai - 400 013
Dear Sir,
Having created the databases, I
return herewith the following:
Table Format
|
Advt. Serial No. |
Post / Position |
No. of Files
(Recd./Returned) |
No. of (Floppies /
Printout) |
Invoice Details (Invoice
No. / Amount Rs.) |
|
Date |
||||
|
Client |
||||
|
TOTAL |
The relevant invoices are
enclosed. Please arrange to send your cheque within 7 days.
With regards,
Manager
CODE Services
Annex - F
INVOICE FOR VARIABLE SERVICE
FEES
Mr. ____________________
Indian Express
Mumbai – 400 013
Date: ____________________
Invoice Details
|
Client |
Invoice No. |
|
Invoice Date |
Invoice Amount (Rs.) |
|
(Total No. of Applications ×
Rs. 15) |
Nature of Service Rendered
Creation of Database
Details
- Advertiser Name
- Advt. Serial No.
- Publication
- Editions
Positions Advertised vs
Applications Received
|
Positions Advertised |
No. of Applications
Received |
|
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
Total |
Manager
CODE Services
|
Monthly Volume |
Rate (₹ / application) |
|
0 – 5,000 |
15 |
|
5,001 – 10,000 |
14 |
|
10,001 – 15,000 |
13 |
|
15,001 – 20,000 |
12 |
|
20,001 – 25,000 |
11 |
|
25,001 – 30,000 |
10 |
|
30,001 – 35,000 |
9 |
|
> 35,000 |
8 |
Annex : H
Mr. Santosh Goenka
Indian Express
Mumbai - 400 013
June 1, 1999
Dear Mr. Goenka,
Credit Note
For Month of May, 1999
During the month of May, we have
processed and returned to you databases for a total of 26845 applications.
However, based on the total
volume processed during May 99, as shown above, we have recalculated total
amount payable by you and enclose our Credit Note No. ______ for Rs.
59,225=00 as per calculations shown thereon.
With kind regards,
Manager
CODE Services
Annex H
CREDIT NOTE
Mr. __________
Indian Express
Mumbai - 400 013
Client : Indian Express
Credit Note No. :
__________ +Amount (Rs.) : 59,225=00
This Credit Note covers
following Invoices
Invoice Details
|
For Advt. Serial No. |
For No. of Appli. |
Invoice No. |
Invoice Date |
Amount (Rs.) |
|
26845 |
Total (A) |
402,675 |
Credit Amount (Volume Rebate
Calculations)
|
Slab |
Applications falling in
this slab |
Rate Applicable (Rs.) |
Fees to be charged (Rs.) |
|
0–5000 |
5000 |
15 |
75,000 |
|
5001–10000 |
5000 |
14 |
70,000 |
|
10001–15000 |
5000 |
13 |
65,000 |
|
15001–20000 |
5000 |
12 |
60,000 |
|
20001–25000 |
5000 |
11 |
55,000 |
|
25001–30000 |
1845 |
10 |
18,450 |
|
30001–35000 |
– |
9 |
– |
|
>35000 |
– |
8 |
– |
Total Applications: 26845 Total
(B): 3,43,450
Net (A – B): + 59,225.00
APPREHENSIONS
Annex : I
Q. Would this
(value-added-service) be perceived by the leading Placement Agencies of the
country as a "Threat/Competition", resulting in loss of the advt.
revenue (for recruitment advts) which may get diverted to IE’s competitor’s
such as TOI/HINDU etc.?
A. 1) By offering this
Value-Added-Service, IE is NOT entering into the RECRUITMENT /
PLACEMENT business!
It is quite clear that by
offering this very useful (but limited-in-scope) service, IE is not going to
perform/undertake the most crucial aspects of an executive
search/selection activity viz:
a) Value judgment on the
"quality" of the applicants and establishing their "prima-facie
suitability" for the position advertised. IE is NOT going to
"Rate" the applications, nor prepare a "short-list" of the
candidates to be interviewed.
b) IE is NOT going
to "Conduct the interviews" of the short-listed candidates, to assess
their "suitability". From the view-point of the advertiser, this is a
"Key-task" to be performed by the Placement Agency. This process of
"elimination" (of unsuitable candidates) drastically prunes down the
list [of the candidates whom the advertiser, himself, must meet for a final
interview/salary negotiations], to not more than 2/3 candidates for a given
position. It is for this enormous saving of "managerial-time" that a
client "pays" the recruiting-agency their professional fees.
c) Quite often, a
recruiting-agency joins the client for the final interview/salary negotiation.
d) Very often, a
recruiting-agency conducts "Reference-checks" (antecedent checking)
on the short-listed candidates.
Annex : I
e) A recruiting agency
provides very useful "inputs" to the client in the matter of
compensation - structuring.
2) IE would offer this
"Value-Added-Service" to any Recruiting Agency also, if it so
desires! Hence there is no discrimination amongst "Advertisers". Even
the recruiting-agencies would stand to gain considerably by making use of this
value-added-service, as it would speed-up their own work, thereby enabling them
to offer a better/faster service to their clients. In turn, this would help
them get more business. IE has a very large circulation, especially in West.
Any advertiser (whether a public/private limited company or a Recruiting
Agency) wanting to reach the "Executives" located in this region, has
to select IE as the media for publication. Even other publications (e.g.
Magazines) do advertise in IE, to increase their own circulation!
Q. Why cannot IE create
the database on its own, by employing its own resources?
A. If IE is willing to
employ/deploy the necessary resources, there is no "technical" hitch
why IE cannot create the database on its own. However the questions that need
to be answered beforehand are:
- what resources will IE need to set aside to do this
job "in-house"? Resources to be considered are:
- Manpower
- Office Space
- Computer Hardware
- Development of Special software
- Working Capital
Annex : I
- Managerial Supervision
If these resources are not
available, TIME & COST OF ACQUISITION would also have to be
considered in addition to the recurring operating costs.
If these resources are already
available, then their "Opportunity-Cost" should be considered,
keeping in mind the CORE-BUSINESS of the IE. Is this the best way of
leveraging these resources? Could these be put to a more profitable use? And
most importantly
Why should any organisation
undertake to do something on its own (as an inhouse business process) which an
outside "Speciality Vendor" can do better/faster/cheaper?
I enclose a write-up on
"Strategic Alliance" which would make my point clear (Annex A)
Q. Why cannot IE create
such database by sub-contracting to a data-entry firm, in preference to getting
it done from 3P Consultants? Would that not be Cheaper?
A. Perhaps a mere
data-entry company (such as an R&T agency doing share-transfer work) could
do this "type" of work cheaper (as compared to 3P Consultants), if
the job-content was of very low order and does not require use of "discriminatory
faculty". Informations to be captured from a job application/bio-data
do not appear in any given set manner or pattern (as in case of a share
transfer application form). This will vary from biodata to biodata, and can be
"spotted" after careful scrutiny of hundreds of words
APPREHENSIONS (Continued)
Annex : I
contained in each bio-data. Only
an experienced manager can "Spot" it accurately and "high
light" it to facilitate subsequent data entry.
And since these informations
appear (in a given biodata) in any one of the thousands of RANDOM OCCURRENCE
POSITIONS, even the data-entry operator has to be very very careful to
ensure that it is entered in the RELEVANT & CORRECT FIELD. Any lapse
in these business-processes (Data spotting / Data Capturing) can result into an
output which is garbage!
Next there is the question of
specialised SOFTWARE.
The special purpose software that
we propose to develop for this application will allow us to capture the data,
create a database & process the data to create a print-out (See Annex B)
which, each advertiser will receive along with the box-file containing original
applications/biodatas.
The print-out will enable the
advertiser to mentally compare all applicants at a glance and quickly zero-in
on 10%–15% of the applicants whose detailed bio-datas he need to
scrutinize individually. This will mean an enormous saving of time.
But this is only a small part
of the benefit to the advertiser.
Along with a hard-copy print-out,
(one for each advertisement), we will send to you a floppy containing not only
the database but also the Special Software.
Using the special software
embedded in the floppy, an advertiser-client can process the database in
following manner:
Annex : I
Search / Query
List all applicants
- in descending order of "age" (already
prearranged)
- by specific age-group (say > 30 yr but < 40
yrs.)
- by city location
- by specific Edu. Qualification
- by "name" of a specific
"current-employer"
- by a given "salary-range"
- who meet,
- "Age" criteria
- "Age + Exp" criteria
- "Age + Exp + Edu. Quali" - criteria
Print
- Print-out results of any of the above-mentioned
search/query
- Print-out labels of residential addresses of those
candidates selected for interview
- Print-out "Standardized" interview-call
letters by inserting names and addresses of short-listed candidates
(mail-merge) [to be designed by Advertiser]
- Print-out "Value-Added" database, by
subsequently adding in the floppy, following information about one/more
candidates:
- Candidate Application Rating [A/B/C/R/]
- Candidate Interview Rating [A/B/C/R/]
- Number of candidates under each "rating
at" "application" and "interview" stages
APPREHENSIONS (Continued)
Annex : I
- Evaluation / Assessment remarks of the
interview-panel [in structured or unstructured manner]
- Medical examination result
- What salary / perk / designation / grade has been
negotiated with selected candidates
- Agreed upon date of joining
- Verification of documents pertaining to
- Birth date
- Edu. Qualification
- Salary-Slip etc.
- Antecedent check (reports sent-in by previous
employers)
- Department / Division / group / Region / city of
joining
- Person to whom he has to report
- Pay sheet No.
A = Excellent B = Good C =
Acceptable R = Reject
I do not think IE can get this
"Value-Addition" from any company which is merely in the data-entry
business. What we are offering is a "Value-Added-Service" to
your advertiser-client and not mere 5000 KDPH (key-depression per hour)!
And to improve IE’s own
marketing-intelligence, we would be in a position to periodically supply to
you, following statistical data:
- No of Application Received
- per month (for each month)
- cumulative
- Average/month
Annex : I
- Advertisement-wise (position-wise)
- Average/advertisement
- Average/positions advertised
No. of Advertisements
- per month
- average/month
- cumulative
- client wise
- average revenue/advt.
Cost/Benefit Analysis for
Client
= No. of Applications received
against a given advt.
Cost of Advertisement (As shown in last column of Annex-A)
= No. of applications received No.
of positions
----------------------------------- ----------------------
Position X Cost of Advt.
Designation-wise Analysis
How many times advertised
- V. P.
- G. M. ........ etc. etc.
- Number of applications received levelwise (i.e.
V.P./G.M.)
Annex : I
Q. What kind of threat
will 3P database pose to IE’s recruitment advertisement revenue, say, after 5
years? Will advertisers stop releasing recruitment advertisements because they
will find it faster & cheaper to source their manpower needs from 3P database?
A. Let us consider
following scenario.
- Some 1000 companies (advertiser clients)
release recruitment advt. in IE each year.
- Between them, they release say, 4000
advertisements each year
(10 advt./page x 400 pages/year). - On an average, an advt. has 2 positions
advertised, making a total of 8000 advertised positions per year.
Important "Criteria"
in each advt. are:
- Edu. Qualifications (20 possibilities)
- Age-group (20)
- Exp. year groups (20)
- Designation-levels (20)
- Industry-background desired (100)
- Function-background desired (30)
- The above mentioned criteria could result into 48
million "unique combinations" that could possibly occur in
these 8000 advertisements!
- Even if we were to build up a database of 100,000
executives in 5 years, this would still mean that there is only one
(1) chance in 4800, that we could find an "ideal" man for
your client!
Annex : I
- Bio-datas have a habit of becoming obsolete very
fast. An executive’s age / experience / salary / designation etc. are
changing continuously. As a result, we would be happy, if we succeed in
keeping "up-to-date/alive", even 20,000 biodatas at any
given point of time and succeed in placing 200 executives in a year.
- Given your own advertised 8000 positions each
year, our placement of 200 executives is "peanuts" and
cannot pose any threat to you – now or in future.
Annex : I
ANNEX : A
HOW TO BUILD & SUSTAIN A
COMPETITIVE ORGANISATION ?
- Integrate operations with multiple Organisations to
deliver the highest quality product or service.
i.e. Become a NETWORKED ORGANISATION.
- Concentrate on
- Core competencies
- Core processes
- Core skills
to be able to harness own management resources to continually improve what one does best.
- Ask,
- What is our core competency?
- What is truly important?
- Explore alternative ways of getting the work done,
including outsourcing to outside enterprises,
- What is "non-core" process for you
but - a "core-process" for that company.
- Today 60% of "Value-added" comes from
sourcing relationships.
- More than 500 of the largest American companies
have sourced at least one major business process since 1988.
Tactical Outsourcing vs
Strategic Sourcing Alliance
Tactical Outsourcing
- Customer – Vendor paradigm
- Vendor selling "commodities"
- Tactical Outsourcing
- Adversarial Relationship
- Rigid adherence to contract
- Fragmented view of respective contributions
- Price driven value perspective
- Secretive
- Narrow process or product
Strategic Sourcing Alliance
- Integrated business partners
- Partner producing "Customised products"
- Both partners constantly searching for new ways to
position each other for long-term gain
- Shared risks and shared rewards
- High level of flexibility inspired by cooperation
& creativity
- Larger perspective that encompasses entire
processes
- Time competitive advantage in which
- Quality
- Speed
- Innovation
are considered along with price - Open, honest communication
- Powerful generator of new value for customers which
enable them to achieve their business objectives
