Christopher J. Dwyer, Author at The Future of Work Exchange

Delivering Innovation and Agility to the Extended Workforce

Contingent Workforce Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/30/2022

The Future of Work Exchange‘s inaugural live event, FOWX Live, was just two weeks ago, but it seems like yesterday that we convened with HR, talent acquisition, and procurement executives to discuss the Future of Work and its many implications on the greater world of work and talent. Amongst the stellar lineup of discussions, keynotes, and presentations, one of the core focal areas for the event was the growth and impact of the extended workforce.

We are excited to share video from our “Delivering Innovation and Agility to the Extended Workforce” panel from the June 14 conference, featuring Sage‘s Jessica Wall, Utmost‘s Dan Beck, and Atrium‘s Nancy Maren:

Digital and Human Convergence: The Art of Managed Direct Sourcing (MDS)

Direct Sourcing by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/27/2022

Sixty percent (60%) of organizations actively blend digital and human recruitment processes, according to Future of Work Exchange research, reinforcing the notion that direct sourcing must unify traditional talent acquisition methods with innovative direct sourcing technology. This is exactly the foundation of “managed direct sourcing,” which entails a multi-phased series of strategies, underpinned with technology, that drives a continuous flow of candidates who can be engaged and hired in an on-demand fashion. MDS differs from traditional direct sourcing in the sense that it is more controlled, repeatable, and, most critically, highly-scalable.

MDS is typically offered as a services-based solution through a Managed Service Provider (MSP) and augmented with direct sourcing technology offered by an ecosystem of platform partners. An MDS offering will typically drive talent curation and other key program elements, while the direct sourcing platform partner will enable a series of repeatable processes including referral campaigns, nurture strategies, messaging and collaboration, and diversity engagement. What sets MDS apart from traditional direct sourcing is its symbiotic relationship between full-lifecycle, human-led services and agile digitization.

What enables MDS to stand out from traditional direct sourcing programs is its “beating heart,” comprised of a technology stack that can build on the human-led strategy and transform hiring processes to be repeatable and scalable, while establishing new prospect channels for hiring managers. As described earlier in this report, the major differences between MDS and traditional direct sourcing are the factors that frequently impact how the whole of the business finds, engages, and sources its top-tier talent. Businesses with direct sourcing automation are able to execute on “deeper” elements of this talent-led program. With less dependence on traditional, resource-heavy sourcing and recruiting approaches, a “digital-led” direct sourcing program that relies on deep CWM expertise can drive superior talent outcomes.Businesses that have tapped into direct sourcing automation are able to improve their programs with scalable processes that can drive superior talent engagement, help nurture top talent, and boost the overall candidate experience:

Direct sourcing automation is an ideal tool to improve candidate matching and talent engagement. A technology-led model requires less dependency on internal staff, drives greater “talent funnel” generation, while also improving the identification of and engagement with high-value candidates. For example, human curation is an excellent strategy for businesses that requires a high-touch approach towards talent pooling. However, the impact of direct sourcing automation adds additional value by improving the overall targeting of candidates by enhancing the alignment of enterprise requirements and available skillsets, and, most importantly, by enabling direct sourcing processes and strategies to be streamlined and standardized across the enterprise. Best-in-Class direct sourcing solutions also offer robust candidate referral functionality that can drive additional talent engagement without the organization spending significantly more time and resources. These capabilities are generally available and optimized within a solution’s mobile application
Direct sourcing platforms enable repeatable, collaborative processes with key candidates. The most overlooked aspects of direct sourcing are within its “secondary” phases, particularly talent nurture strategies and candidate communications. While MSP leaders in a managed direct sourcing program will guide businesses to craft/use the messaging they will need to engage candidates after they have been curated and locked into talent pools, the direct sourcing platform can transform these processes into repeatable campaigns that involve both email and SMS/text message communications, ensuring that all candidates feel valued and “in touch” with what is happening within the greater
organization. This is a key element in fostering an environment of connectivity, openness, and inclusivity. These attributes are becoming more critical for today’s evolving workforce and they allow independent workers to better align their skillsets with specific projects and pick-and-choose how they want to work.
Direct sourcing solutions enable users to tap into the power of their brand and culture to attract the best candidates. Compensation is not the only aspect that today’s workers (either traditional or contract) value in a potential employer. Aspects such as culture, diversity and inclusion, and the overall corporate social responsibility of a businesses are crucial factors that can determine whether a candidate wants to be engaged with a potential project or employer. Direct sourcing solutions offer functionality that can help users build “job portals” that leverage the enterprise’s brand, colors, and other unique, marketing-specific attributes. Candidates that align with a company’s brand are more likely to opt-in to receive news about job postings, new roles, upcoming projects, etc. This can be an incredibly powerful lever for managed direct sourcing because it taps into the power of an enterprise’s culture to attract star workers and candidates. This can also foster greater loyalty between contingent workers and their employers, something that is often missed by legacy talent acquisition models.
Direct sourcing automation enables holistic reporting that can cascade into other talent acquisition strategies. The intelligence gleaned from direct sourcing platforms and MSP-driven direct sourcing programs can be harnessed for greater workforce planning, particularly when forecasting future utilization of both contingent and full-time talent.

FOWX Notes: June 24 Edition

General Insights by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/24/2022

Some picked-up pieces, news, and insights from across the evolving world of talent and work:

Beeline announced the appointment of Teresa Creech as its new Chief Corporate Development Officer (CCDO). Creech, an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience (TalentWave, Randstad, Kelly, etc.) in the workforce solutions space, will lead corporate strategy, including mergers and acquisitions, for the VMS giant. In light of the company’s recent acquisition by Stone Point Capital, it is expected that Beeline will be quite active in the M&A market in the second half of 2022 and into 2023.
Direct sourcing platform LiveHire and “people activation” solution Enboarder announced a strategic partnership. Enboarder’s digital, experience-driven onboarding functionality will be integrated with LiveHire’s total talent and direct sourcing offerings, providing candidates with a seamless journey from recruitment through onboarding.
A seasonally adjusted 229,000 unemployment claims for the week ended June 18 reflect a tight labor market. And to add to this news, another 4.4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in April, proving that, yes, The Great Resignation (and the upcoming Great Resettling) continues on unabated.
Citing 2% utilization of its offices in three major regions, Yelp embraces the Future of Work. Offices in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. will be shuttered by July 29, a big move for the company’s remote-first work model that was adopted 18 months ago. With record revenues in 2021, Yelp is a representation of how flexibility can drive value in today’s transformative world of work.
Staffing the Universe announced a rebrand to Equiliem. The New Jersey-based staffing giant, which also includes fast-growing MSP solution Evaluent under its umbrella, announced the rebranding news this week.
Deel stated that it plans to acquire Melbourne-based payroll and compliance provider PayGroup. Deel, which was valuated at $5.5B late last year, continues to expand its global presence with the acquisition (AUS $119.3 million, US $82.6 million) of the global payroll solution.

We’re Still Having This Conversation, Aren’t We?

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/22/2022

From a great article at Business Insider:

Despite doing “everything” to get employees to return to the office, Starbucks’ CEO said, they’re not returning “at the level” he wants. Speaking at The New York Times’ DealBook policy forum in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Howard Schultz — who returned as interim CEO in April after Kevin Johnson stepped down from the role — said swaying staffers away from remote work and back to the office hasn’t been productive.

“I have been unsuccessful, despite everything I’ve tried to do, to get our people back to work,” Schultz, 69, said. “I’ve pleaded with them. I said I’ll get on my knees. I’ll do push-ups. Whatever you want. Come back.”

He continued: “No, they are not coming back at the level I want them to. And, you know, we’re a very collaborative, creative group. I realize I’m an old-school person, and this is a different generation.”

So, they’re not coming back at the level he wants them to. Re-read that sentence again above: “…they are not coming back at the level I want them to.” There is no need for every employee to return to an office setting full-time ever again, Howard, and not when the only reasons are 1) misguided conceptions regarding creativity, 2) your age and generational perspectives, and 3) the fact that you want them to, but don’t need them to.

We’re not going down the road of “let’s read why the Future of Work Exchange believes remote work has so many benefits.” We’ve done it before…many times. By now, we know the deal. Flexibility, agility, and scalability are all valuable components of remote and hybrid work, as well as the very concept of talent acquisition now requiring to offer hybrid options for new positions to truly attract candidates (h/t to last week’s FOWX Live panel on remote work and the great insights of JLL’s Caitlin Klezmer and WorkLLama’s Kevin Leete, and a wonderful phrase from the audience: “The office should be a magnet, not a mandate.”).

We chat so much about the “next normal” and the “new world of work” that the very innerworkings of remote and hybrid work are just a formally-accepted reality for the vast, vast majority of workers today. “Working from home” is no longer a foreign concept, nor is the idea that millions upon millions of workers now require flexibility in how they address their roles. It’s worth mentioning that remote and hybrid work aren’t just “safety reactions” to a pandemic, but rather types of working that finally became commonplace and are now driving the biggest exodus of workers from traditional roles.

When the Exchange writes about the “Talent Revolution,” we discuss the reasons why the “Great Resignation” is happening: workers want flexibility and control over their schedules and work structures whilst also desiring purposeful worker and better working conditions. We just wrote recently that if businesses are truly on the fence regarding how to deal with “return-to-office” plans, they should use this time to experiment with various models to see what works…and what doesn’t.

Decisions regarding how workers work should not be based on archaic thinking, nor should they follow a very outdated mindset that professionals cannot be creative unless they are face-to-face with their peers. Elon Musk believes that Tesla will benefit from a return-to-office mandate. Howard Shultz claims he’s “pleaded” with his workers to come back. These types of executives should just realize that:

Remote and hybrid work are the foundation of the Future of Work. The businesses that cannot adopt or adapt to new work models are the ones that will fail to thrive in these dynamic times.

The Future of Work Always Comes Back to One Thing: People

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/21/2022

The Future of Work means many things to many people. Some may position technology as the front-and-center nexus of all things related to the Future of Work movement, while others will point to the evolution of robotics and artificial intelligence as a harbinger of how work will be done in a nebulous future state of business.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the way we now get work done is dependent on access to the tools and technology necessary for total interconnectivity and on-demand collaboration. There should be no more silos of innovation, but rather a free-flow of ideas and insights that permeate a “open” and automated realm from which to strategize the way projects, operations, product development, manufacturing, etc. are executed.

No matter how far we traverse into the ether of technology, however, the Future of Work always comes back to one thing: the people. The workers. The professionals. The leaders. The expertise. The skillsets. The humans.

If we just take a step back, the answers are vividly clear. Why did the Future of Work and its accelerants sweep through the world over the past two years? Because of the human elements of work and the workforce, of course. Consider that:

The so-called “Great Resignation” happened (and is continuing to happen in some form) because of a human-led desire for flexibility and better working conditions.
That need for flexibility is a driven by a human-level need for a better balance between personal life and professional life.
The concepts of remote work and the hybrid workplace reside firmly in the greater need for businesses to support the human elements of the workforce while boosting productivity and attempting to curb burnout.
The very idea of “open talent” was catalyzed by the need to address skills deficiencies with agile talent…especially extended labor that is tethered to socially “open” concepts of working and collaborating.
The value of an empathy-led, inclusive workplace culture has sparked business leaders to lead with a nurturing touch that, of course, takes into context the fact that workers are human.
The role of purpose (and purposeful work) are perhaps the most critical drivers of the Future of Work today, with enterprises focusing on passionate and talented individuals who prioritize the ways their work contributes to something greater in their lives and aligns with their overall human journey.

The great revolution of talent and work is upon us. Technology, artificial intelligence, and innovative tools with surely lead and direct us, but is is the people, the humans, that spark the real Future of Work.

FOWX Live: A Recap of the Future of Work Exchange Executive Event

Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/16/2022

Earlier this week, Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange hosted “FOWX Live,” an executive roundtable event focused on the core Future of Work topics that are driving business transformation. For many in attendance (including me!), it was the first time attending a live event since before the beginning of the pandemic.

First and foremost, FOWX would like to thank Utmost, WorkLLama, and Atrium for their support of this event!

John Healy, founder of Whrrr.work and one of the earliest Future of Work evangelists (and a former workforce solutions executive), kicked off Tuesday’s agenda with a spirited morning keynote that distilled various points of research around the Future of Work. “The way people connect with work is broken” is how John began his keynote address, discussing how the world of work has been transformed and requires new and innovative thinking regarding how businesses connect their projects with open talent-led work models.

FOWX Live featured two engaging panels:

Atrium’s Nancy Maren, Utmost’s Dan Beck, and Sage’s Jessica Wall discussed how the extended workforce has impacted today’s businesses and how modern HR and procurement leaders can effectively harness the power of both VMS and MSP solutions to not only connect the enterprise with top-tier talent, but how to also drive true innovation and agility within extended workforce management.
I joined JLL’s Caitlin Klezmer and WorkLLama’s Kevin Leete for a conversation on perhaps the hottest topic of the day: remote and hybrid work. Caitlin, Kevin, and I discussed how businesses are adapting to fully-remote and hybrid workplace structures, as well as how talent engagement and talent acquisition strategies are shifting to account for the desired flexibility in the candidate pool.

One of the major highlights of FOWX Live was the ability for attendees to converse with each other at “roundtable” sessions on core Future of Work topics, such as remote/hybrid work, DE&I, contingent workforce management, and technology strategy. These roundtable discussions featured lively discourse around these important areas of the Future of Work movement, and when it came time to “switch” roundtables (attendees could spend 30 minutes each at two different topic-led tables), it was tough for everyone to wrap up the conversations! Truly a highlight of this week’s event.

MA State Rep. Josh Cutler closed out the day as a special guest lunch keynote; Rep. Cutler was a prominent member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Future of Work Commission. He spent the lunch hour discussing the report’s major findings and how they were applicable to both professionals and businesses alike.

John Healy discusses why the way people connect with work is broken.

FOWX Live attendees listen to Christopher J. Dwyer’s opening address.

Jessica Wall, Dan Beck, and Nancy Maren discuss the agility and power of the extended workforce.

FOWX Live attendees spend the afternoon networking and conversing about remote work, DE&I, contingent workforce management, and technology strategy.

That’s a Wrap on FOWX Live!

Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/15/2022

The Future of Work Exchange held its inaugural live conference yesterday at the Harvard Club in Boston. The event featured engaging panel discussions, exciting keynote speakers, and a lively interaction between HR, procurement, and talent acquisition executives, who discussed best practices, strategies, and solutions for managing the many transformations inherent in the evolving world of work and talent.

Look for a full recap of the event tomorrow here on FOWX. Big thanks goes out to our event sponsors, Utmost, WorkLLama, and Atrium, our fabulous speaker lineup, and of course, everyone who took time to spend a half-day with us yesterday in the heart of Boston!

The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 617 (SEASON FINALE): The Future of Work’s Tipping Point

Podcast by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/09/2022

This week’s Future of Work Exchange Podcast, sponsored by Beeline, is the season finale of Season Six and features a discussion around the Future of Work’s possible tipping point. With so many changes within the workforce and the contemporary business, what does the Future of Work actually look like?

Tune into Episode 617 of The Future of Work Exchange Podcast below, or subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.

“FOWX Live” is ONE WEEK AWAY!

Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/07/2022

Don’t miss the Future of Work Exchange’s inaugural live event, “FOWX Live,” happening a week from today (June 14, 9:30am to 1:30pm) at the Harvard Club in Boston, MA. If you’re interested in learning more about the strategies required to enhance management of the contingent workforce, distributed teams, remote work, DE&I, and direct sourcing, this is the event for you! We’ve got a fantastic lineup of speakers and thought leaders, as well as the opportunity for attendees to not only network with each other, but spend time at topic-focused roundtables to discuss hot-button issues in the world of work and talent.

We’ve Changed As People, So Shouldn’t The Way We Work Change, As Well?

Uncategorized by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/06/2022

If we look back to those earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could almost feel the anxiety and dread dripping from those memories. From being cut off from family and friends and learning how to cope without school and daycare to understanding what it was like to live though a global health crisis, the first few months of the pandemic forever altered the way we think, live, laugh, and learn. Two-plus years later, we can confidently say that it may be the watershed moment for this era of human history.

Many of us grew a newfound appreciation for the nuances of live, while others had the opportunity to truly focus on how they should shape their futures based on the struggles of those early days. There was profound societal change in the air, as well, which shifted the way we as humans think about culture, race, gender, and other core aspects of what makes us, well, us.

The role of empathy was in front view, too, in the many ways the country showed appreciation and support for those on the frontlines of the pandemic. We grew more connected in an age when physical, in-person unions were paused for months on end.

We have fundamentally changed as people and it’s incredibly difficult to think of our pre-pandemic personas and wonder if we could ever go back and recapture those frameworks of thinking. Our lives were altered and nearly every facet of life was transformed…including the way we work.

There’s more to the changing world of work than the increase in remote work and a volatile labor market, however. The very concepts and ideas behind the Future of Work movement dictate that we continuously innovate not just within the realm of technology, but within the way we address work as the humans who power the enterprise. If we can take that same ideology behind mankind’s transformation over the past two years and apply it to the way we work, then professionals, people, and enterprises all win.

We need more of a focus on the fact that humanity and empathy are the foundation of the workforce, not just skillsets and expertise. We’ve altered the way we think about ourselves and each other, and maybe that’s what the world of work needs to evolve during these interesting times: a reimagined workplace that prioritizes its people and the flexibility they require to effectively get work done. It’s not a far-fetched theory by any measure: we’ve seen business leadership shift to an empathy-led structure, with more and more executives understanding that their staff needs the utmost support from both emotional and operational perspectives.

When we compare the 2022 editions of ourselves to the 2019 versions, there are many, many differences that have made us better people and better humans. We can certainly apply these progressions to the way we work, too. It may be the best way to thrive in the months and years ahead.