Business Worldwide Magazine

Align- Igniting Talent, Creating Solutions and Delivering Value

Align On-Demand Labor Services is a premier staffing company based in Dubai, UAE. The company’s Co-founder & CEO, Atul Sinha, has been named Best CEO in the Staffing and Recruiting Industry – UAE in the 2020 Business Worldwide CEO Awards. 

Since its inception in 2017, Align  has grown from strength to strength and is actively supporting its clients by providing on-demand workforces to supplement their business management efforts. The company’s approach is to provide manpower with the right task and cultural competencies, so that employees are able to engage and perform at a similar level of performance as  – and in some cases better than –  the FTEs. 

Align is growing at a very rapid pace. The company can proudly boast of employing about 3000 full time employees, deployed in more than 10 diverse secs across hundreds of companies, with a high ratio of client retention. Whether it is on-boarding new clients or supporting existing partners with a fresh demand, the team of seasoned industry experts are always quick to respond and deliver. 

As a case in point, Align was recently asked to deploy additional manpower to support a surge in demand in a client’s e-commerce business. This was already a challenging request because the lead time was only about a week, but what made it an almost impossible task was that the deployment was expected to be done in the middle of a global pandemic. Align was quick to respond by pooling in all its resources and rapidly hired, trained and deployed hundreds of staff at the Client’s site within the deadline. In the words of the CEO, Atul Sinha, “This was a special project that gives immense satisfaction when one realizes that it was delivered during the most severe lockdowns across all our sourcing destinations, besides the visa and movement restrictions within the country. I am immensely proud of my team who look at every challenge as an opportunity”.

Atul has spent almost 20 years in the staffing and facility management sectors in the GCC region and has seen the sector grow from strength to strength. Having worked with global staffing firms himself, he brings to table a thought leadership that has earned him the respect and recognition from both industry veterans and clients alike. He is often credited as a leader who handpicks talents from within his organizations, helps incubate ideas and nurtures them during the start-up phase, resulting in the majority of these start-ups evolving into successful organisations. 

Atul has also set up recruitment hubs, operated by partner consultants, in South East Asia and the Indian sub-continent to help Align source and hire skilled manpower. He clearly believes in creating ecosystems that are synergetic and in full alignment with the larger vision of the company; an ethos that naturally lends itself  to the company name – Align. 

The company is thought to be the only business in its field  to have been awarded the status of Dubai SME organization, enabling Align to achieve  a preference in Govt. & Semi-Government bids. This opens up many opportunities, in turn bringing up many more responsibilities. Align has also bagged some very prestigious clients including the EXPO 2020, Emirates Group and big name accounts Dubai Holding, Marriott, Coca Cola etc. 

As it expands its user base, Align is developing a portfolio of other business activities in the domains of Facility Management, HR Outsourcing, Recruitment, Compliance, Training and Consulting etc.  The objective is to ensure its clients benefit from a bouquet of tailored services with a high level of reliability and a sense of purpose. 

In order to significantly contribute to the market and maintain a competitive edge, Align operates with a simple value proposition at its core – Ignite talent, create solutions, and deliver value.

The Current State Of The Staffing Industry, And The Need For Change

We spoke to Atul about how the staffing industry needs to become more agile, in response to a changing world.  

Can you tell us about how the staffing sector has evolved, what still needs to change, and the challenges that can be expected in the coming years?

“As it exists today in most markets across the globe, the staffing industry has to wake up to a new normal;  a new reality if you may. The need to staff services has typically been presented as a cost benefit alternative, and perceived as a solution to fill the most menial and unskilled layers of the organization by staff available from a third-party staffing company. 

Organizations with seasonal businesses in the short and medium term were happy to have this alternative of engaging outsourced manpower for short term deployment. This helped them manage the unpredictability in business and save on costs. However, lack of best practices and international benchmarks has allowed the staffing industry to operate as a tactical service provider, rather than behave like a strategic partner. 

Over the last few years, the manpower outsourcing industry has been going through some very radical changes. These changes have been the result of various factors ranging from high cost of manpower, seasonality of business and infusion of technology that has initiated newer ways of doing business in organizations world over. 

Moving forward, we are likely to see major transformations in the way things get done. Future of work reports are constantly reminding us that many of the jobs may not even exist in a few years’ time. These concerns have been further exacerbated since the pandemic struck as more and more realize that tech adoption is a forward-looking strategy.”

How is Align helping to lead the way? 

We have to really be seen as an industry that is at the forefront of this new work order. The manpower outsourcing sector has to quickly mature into a service provider that could read the internal ecosystem of client organizations and influence the external dynamics to some extent to stay relevant. With businesses trying to make sense of a very disruptive and ambiguous market, companies are looking for flexible, agile and effective solutions and this is where as a community, we can make the biggest impact and contribute positive value to our clients. 

While there has been progress in how the staffing industry is responding to the above expectations, it is believed that more needs to be done if the staffing industry has to win the confidence of its clients as a progressive, capable and value adding partner. Companies like Align are slowly taking center stage as Staffing clients are reeling under disruptive changes and densely loaded manpower costs.”

Capacity Development 

How do you expect the markets to respond and recover following the Pandemic?

“Post Pandemic, the markets will see a resurgence of demand, and this trend will amplify the need to engage with staffing solution vendors. The demand will move away from a specific number of headcount to be delivered by a specific date, with  demand specs that will be for very specialized skilled manpower with a high degree of digital skills. 

There is a  likelihood of higher regulations and more intense audits on performance of these temp staffing. The requirements will also move up vertically across the organization hierarchies, and companies will not hesitate to seek support in deploying contract staff for mid-senior positions in certain industries.”

Is the Staffing Industry ready?

“Align has mapped the entire value chain of the staffing business and has ensured that each critical point is carefully calibrated to offer optimum outcomes. For example, we do not only offer on-demand or temp staffing, but instead we directly manage the backend of the entire value chain such as recruitment, L&D, Support services outsourcing etc. – each one of which behave like a profit center in its own right. This brings in synergy and efficiencies besides generating profits. 

Align is clearly prepared for the change and to be honest, we are well poised to lead the change-especially in the GCC region.”

To find out more about Align, visit  https://alignmanpower.com/

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