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The “Digital Staffing and Talent Marketplaces Technology Advisor” is Now Available

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingTalentTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Upcoming Future of Work Exchange research finds that 82% of all businesses state that the challenging times of 2020 created a bigger need for extended and non-employee talent. The past 18 months have clearly revealed that workforce scalability is an essential link to economic survival in the now-chaotic, hyper-competitive world of global business. Operationalizing that scalability is the very root of workforce agility, from which businesses can tap into talent pools, marketplaces, clouds, and communities to enhance how work is done, and support a range of services and other recruitment streams to build, in real time, a dynamic response to crucial enterprise initiatives.

It has long been our view that the teams that adeptly engage and leverage talent to support the evolving needs of the business will succeed above all others. As more and more enterprises have come to adopt that view, the development of an “agile workforce,” which represents the ability to engage non-employee talent and integrate it with the traditional workforce to improve the way work gets done, has become an important strategic goal. As a result, the digital and on-demand staffing technology market has grown considerably over the past several years.

Ardent Partners’ research has discovered that the utilization of “talent marketplace” solutions has increased more than 700% since 2015. As we proceed through a global pandemic, an uncertain corporate landscape has placed a premium on finding solutions that can drive alignment between dynamic enterprise requirements and available, vetted, and skilled talent. Enter “digital staffing,” that can enable hiring managers to tap into talent pools and on-demand talent networks while also supporting direct sourcing initiatives. These digital staffing marketplaces are the focus of this report.

(In its research and for the purposes of this report, Ardent Partners defines “marketplaces” as the enterprise-grade solutions that facilitate real-time and on-demand talent engagement with independent, freelance, or contract workers via a web-based network or portal. Talent marketplaces typically offer “white-glove” or high-touch talent management services (akin to Managed Service Providers) to help their clients source the best-fit talent for their project requirements as well as the automation of core workforce management processes (such as requisition management, talent pool development, and back-end financial operations).

The Future of Work Exchange is excited to announce the publication of the 2021 Digital Staffing and Talent Marketplaces Technology Advisor report is now available. The Technology Advisor is designed to help procurement, HR, human capital, and talent acquisition executives navigate the digital recruitment and talent marketplace landscape. This new report will assist executives and professionals understand this evolving solutions landscape and help them find, engage, and source top-tier talent and skillsets.

Download your copy of this critical new research study, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the new report, the digital staffing technology landscape, how to find the best-fit talent marketplace for your organization, etc.

 

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With the Workforce at a Breaking Point, What is the Role of Agile Talent?

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The United States is at an interesting crossroads in relation to its total workforce: after historic unemployment and severe staffing disruption at a year ago at this time, most labor rates concerning FTEs would (typically) indicate that business is as close to a normal state. However, according to The Atlantic and stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “more Americans quit in May than any other month on record going back to the beginning of the century.”

A choice to move away from a steady, paying job in the midst of a global pandemic may not seem like the best of moves. Back in the earliest days of the crisis, I remember telling some close friends (as well as a family member) that were unhappy in their current roles to look past the undesirable aspects of their positions until there was more clarity regarding the continued effects of the pandemic on the global workforce. (Please note: in any other circumstance, I would never offer this once-in-a-lifetime sage advice, namely because I’m a proponent of the talent experience, employee engagement, and both contingent and full-time workers enjoying a positive familiarity with their roles and where they fit into their current organizations rather than gutting out and trudging along in a business that leaves them and their skillsets unfulfilled.)

The US is in an enviable state when compared to the rest of the world. The vast, vast majority of the country has removed coronavirus restrictions, dropped mask mandates (minus medical and specific facilities, as well as public transportation), and generally celebrating a return to normalcy (even though there are still hundreds of deaths daily and an average of ~10,000 new cases a day, but I digress). The culmination of 16 months’ worth of workforce evolution (not all of it positive) has left workers at an odd tipping point: they are not afraid to leave behind less-than-desirable roles anymore.

There are clear delineations in the overall perspectives of today’s workers that could have major ramifications in the months ahead. First off, the majority of businesses are slowly figuring out the best approach (be it hybrid, fully remote, etc.) for its workplace environment. This will surely affect how businesses view corporate real estate, and, to a larger extent, how they strategize around which modes of work result in the most productive business outcomes. Businesses are at a tipping point regarding the value of new work models; no one executive fully knows what is best for its organization after a year of uncertainty. These leaders must experiment and leverage various models until the one, screaming best result is there…and then adopt it for good.

One of the major reasons why the workforce is facing a “quitting crisis” is because so many workers became accustomed to a workplace culture that fostered empathy, flexibility, and evolving ways of measuring productivity. Going back to a 9-to-5 grind, including brutal commutes on both ends, isn’t going to cut it for those workers that thrived during the pandemic and know that their top-tier skills are in-demand. Furthermore, business leaders cannot suddenly shift their emotional attitudes from “supportive” to “drill sergeant” just because it’s safer to welcome workers back to office.

A major fallout from these aspects could be a “reawakening” to the value of the extended workforce vis a vie the realization that workers don’t need to be in the corporation’s backyard to have a critical impact, nor do talented workers have to stay put in an environment that they do not desire. Simply put: the move to remote work (and additional workplace flexibility) opened many doors for non-employee talent and its influence on how work gets done. Take direct sourcing, for example; more and more businesses were willing to invite larger numbers of candidates into their talent pools for the sheer purpose of planning for a future when things were better. When economic conditions recovered, hiring managers could scale up their workforce by tapping into talent communities or talent pools.

Agile talent will play a critical role in the future of the global workforce. Labor market data may look promising on the surface, however, digging deeper only uncovers the fact more and more workers will choose flexibility and independence over a return to pre-pandemic workplace culture. Contingent labor has always been a strategic asset, and, as it continued to evolve into a truly dynamic means of getting work done, the post-pandemic workforce will shine as a direct result of an increased reliance on agile talent.

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Continuing its Unlimited Evolution, PRO Unlimited Announces Acquisition by EQT Partners

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingHRProcurementSolution ProvidersTalentTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Earlier this week, contingent workforce management (CWM) solution PRO Unlimited announced that it has partnered with EQT Partners, who will acquire the company from Harvest Partners and Investcorp. When the acquisition officially closes in the second half of 2021, EQT Private Equity will be the majority shareholder, with Harvest Partners continuing as a large shareholder and management retaining a minority stake in the company.

This major transaction follows a year of aggressive market activity by the veteran MSP and VMS suite of solutions, which has undergone a seismic transformation since mid-2020. A longtime leader in the CWM technology arena, PRO continues to deliver on its promise to reimagine the end-to-end offerings of its core services and automation and become a true “platform” for agile workforce management activity.

“The team at EQT has been following the macro trends around the world of talent and work. They, much like us, see the contingent workforce segment growing at a rapid rate and becoming more and more strategic,” said Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of PRO Unlimited. “PRO was uniquely positioned here because we have the technology, the data, the analytics, coupled with the people / service assets in place, which has been a cornerstone of our MSP business, to not only satisfy the elements of what enterprises need today to manage their agile talent, but also having all of those critical elements inside the same platform.”

In several discussions with Akeroyd over the past several months, PRO’s CEO outlined an assertive range of objectives that mainly included a technological revamp and on-demand facilitation of data, intelligence, and workforce agility. The acquisition by EQT will allow PRO’s executive team to capitalize on an evolving market while enabling quicker time-to-market for burgeoning offerings for SOW/services procurement and direct sourcing, as well as its unique RatePoint solution.

“This is going to allow PRO to do what we want to do much faster and on a larger, global stage,” Akeroyd told CPO Rising. “EQT didn’t come here to change us or alter the fundamentals of who we are or what we want to accomplish. The vision that we had last year (becoming an end-to-end platform for all things contingent labor) can be realized much quicker with the investment from EQT.”

Historically, PRO Unlimited has not been known for major M&A activity, but that line of thinking changed when Akeroyd joined the organization last year, setting off a string of market-shifting moves that positioned the veteran solution for a major transformation in the months afterwards.

“Our organization went nearly 30 years without a major acquisition. It wasn’t until recently [Editor’s note: PRO acquired PeopleTicker and the Brainnet Group in 2020 and 2021, respectively] that the company started to shift its acquisition strategy,” Akeroyd said. “With EQT as a partner, we can accelerate M&A activity much more aggressively. If we need to buy, we can do that. If we need to build, they’ll support us. And we’ll have the power to partner with those solutions that are complementary to PRO’s end-to-end suite.”

The acquisition is certainly timely, as upcoming Ardent Partners research finds that the agile workforce continues to grow in size, impact, utilization, and prominence: nearly 47% of the average organization’s total workforce is now considered “extended” or “non-employee,” reinforcing the notion that businesses require more comprehensive, dynamic tools to effectively converge traditional aspects of contingent workforce management with the deeper elements (such as direct sourcing, services procurement, etc.) required to maximize the inherent value of the agile workforce.

“The contingent workforce is going to lead the economic recovery. If you look at the numbers and employment data regarding traditional workers and FTEs, they aren’t going up…but the agile workforce is,” said Akeroyd. “The Global 2000 enterprise is alive and well, and they’re largely thriving in this market due to their reliance on white-collar, remote, highly-skilled extended talent. PRO is enabling the average enterprise to achieve this level of success on the contingent workforce front; we are a leader in this solutions industry and what EQT has done is allow us to be a bigger, more impactful part of how businesses harness the power of their agile workforce across the globe.”

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Beeline’s Tech Expo Reinforces the Growth and Impact of the Extended Workforce

Contingent WorkforceHRSolution ProvidersTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Going into 2020, 43.5% of the average company’s workforce was considered “non-employee,” a figure that was vastly larger than it was only several years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated many of the Future of Work movement’s most transformational attributes, including a renewed focus on digital transformation, direct sourcing, and workforce agility. Today’s extended workforce, representing nearly 47% of the total workforce, has become a force unto it own, pushing businesses into a new realm of work optimization that promises to forever alter the alignment between talent and corporate initiatives.

Veteran Vendor Management System (VMS) provider Beeline has long been an innovator in the contingent workforce management (CWM) solutions arena, bringing progressive technology to an industry that continues to evolve in the face of incredible market shifts. Last week, the organization hosted its Technology Expo, which featured a series of demonstrations of its core product line and some early peeks at newer offerings, as well as a firm reinforcement of its recently-unveiled Extended Workforce Platform. (Check out our coverage of this recent news here.)

No matter what we call the evolving contingent workforce, its underlying impact is still that of a powerful, market-shifting force that drives competitive value and supports overall business agility. Tweaking its name just slightly to include “extended” is yet another natural progression for this industry; contingent workers are sometimes thought of as mere line-items or “faceless” workers across the greater organization. Calling this spectrum of talent the “extended workforce” reflects the symbiotic link between an enterprise and all of its workers and how that relationship enhances the very idea of how work gets done.

Beeline’s dedication to the technological revolution happening within the world of talent and work was on display during last week’s Expo, including remarks by longtime CEO Doug Leeby regarding “where” the company was in relation to the market’s powerful transformation. “Doesn’t matter how you get paid…in the end, it’s all about people,” said Leeby. “There’s myopia when we think about what VMS is, and we’re so much more than that. Resource tracking, SOW, contingent labor…those pieces are all vital. We just want to be a piece of something greater that has total focus on the individual and the talent.”

One of the highlights of the expo was the “high-volume workforce” session (led by frequent Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast guest Brian Hoffmeyer), which recapped Beeline’s recent acquisition of JoinedUp and how the new solution will help businesses better facilitate and manage its shift-based workforce.

As businesses navigate the “next normal” ahead, they will require strategies, solutions, and technology that can effectively manage the full facet of its extended workforce in order to maximize the inherent skillsets and expertise offered by non-employee talent.

“Every person, given the right opportunity, has the potential for greatness,” said Leeby. “We want to put a spotlight on that talent. Every business, given the right talent, can truly drive great outcomes.”

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Prosperity in the Future of Work: Interview with Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingSolution ProvidersTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Future of Work is founded on change, whether that change is natural evolution or innovative progression. The world of talent and work has been changing at a rapid clip with the advent of new talent acquisition strategies, shifts in how enterprises optimize how work gets done, and the overall transformation of global business.

Crowdstaffing, a longtime market leader in digital staffing and workforce management technology, was an early pioneer with its Future of Work-driven offerings. Just recently, the company rebranded as Prosperix, a solution that aims to “fuel human, workforce, and business prosperity.” I had the opportunity to chat with the provider’s CEO, Sunil Bagai, about the rebrand, the evolution of the platform, and his outlook on the Future of Work movement.

Christopher J. Dwyer: Sunil, thanks for chatting with us. For our readers, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

Sunil Bagai: I have over 25 years of tech experience at companies like IBM, Sun, and EMC, as well as multiple startups. I’ve been working in the talent acquisition space since 2005, and what I love most about it is the intersection between people and technology. Just like in the early days of the Internet, where hardware infrastructure was essential in providing everyone online access, I believe we are in the early stages of deploying similar infrastructure technology that will make it much easier to build and manage a workforce. We’re entering a very exciting time.

CJD: Let’s start with the big news first: Crowdstaffing has officially rebranded itself as Prosperix. Give us the lowdown on the evolution of the solution, the new brand, and what it all means.

SB: When we started Crowdstaffing, we wanted to emphasize the value of building network effects and how the power of the crowd can help in building scalable workforces. While that’s still core to what we do, we’re now inspired by a mission that’s even greater. We believe that hiring can play an instrumental role in helping businesses achieve their dreams and aspirations. Simultaneously, there is an opportunity to influence the design of the modern workforce so it can achieve a level of prosperity that hasn’t been possible in the past. With that in mind, we chose the name Prosperix to align with our long-term vision and mission of helping businesses build an extraordinary workforce and achieve outstanding outcomes.

The good news is that Crowdstaffing is not going away; It’s being transitioned into a product name for our Crowdstaffing Hiring Marketplace and Crowdstaffing VMS offerings. In addition to these core offerings, we have added new offerings to the Prosperix solutions suite, including Direct Sourcing, On-Demand Talent Pools, and a wide range of Workforce Services such as MSP, Payroll, and IC Compliance.

CJD: What strikes me as a major differentiator for Propserix is the sheer breadth of its offerings, from direct sourcing and talent pools to VMS technology.

SB: Our strategy has always been to solve the end-to-end problem of hiring and workforce management. Most clients have a very difficult time using multiple technologies. Not only does data end up living in different places, but you get a poor user experience and it’s very challenging to manage the entire workflow when you use different systems. We believe it’s better to provide a single solution that solves for all facets of workforce management, including talent branding and attraction, sourcing, candidate engagement and nurturing, applicant tracking, candidate assessments, vendor management, onboarding, and redeployment.

CJD: Why do you believe it’s so powerful to have a solution that can literally offer end-to-end workforce management functionality, from talent engagement to total workforce management?

SB: There are many advantages to an end-to-end workforce management solution. First, you simplify the hiring process substantially when you use a single technology rather than several disparate technologies. More fundamentally, you are able to access and utilize data far more effectively to achieve better hiring outcomes. For example, the best candidate can come from a supplier, an internal talent pool, or a variety of public talent pools. When you can see candidates across the entire ecosystem of hiring channels, whether it’s in your VMS, ATS, Talent Pools, etc., you can match candidates more effectively to open jobs, speeding up time to hire.

This is just the beginning. There are multiple other use cases that you can unlock, including large network effects, that are only possible when you impact the entire value chain.

CJD: We’re experiencing a much different summer than we did last year thanks to the business world somewhat returning to normalcy. How do you think the world of talent and work respond to the major shifts it experienced over the past year?

The new normal means that remote work is here to stay. Many businesses are hiring workers remotely even for core positions, especially if they are having a hard time finding talent in their local geography. To hire remote workers more effectively, businesses are requesting a more nuanced way to outline their needs, by specifying whether a position is Local Only, Remote with Local Access, Remote Only, or Offshore.

CJD: What’s the long-term vision for Prosperix?

SB: Our long-term vision is to fuel human, workforce, and business prosperity. We plan to accomplish this by developing innovative solutions that help businesses build and manage an extraordinary workforce.

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What Does 2021 Hold for the Agile Workforce and the Future of Work? (Part II)

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Last week, we discussed the many tenets of the Future of Work that will play invaluable roles in 2021, direct sourcing, new talent channels, the depth of transformational business thinking, flexibility- and empathy-led leadership, and the overall impact of new technology and innovative solutions.

I once again spoke with several contingent workforce, HR, and talent acquisition technology leaders over the past week to gain their perspectives on what’s in store for the Future of Work and the agile/extended workforce in the months ahead:

The rest of this article is available by subscription only.

Introducing a New Subscription Model

To continue providing valuable insights and resources on the future of work and extended workforce management, we’re transitioning our site to a paid subscription model. While some posts will remain free, subscribing will grant you exclusive access to in-depth analysis, market research, expert interviews, and actionable strategies that will help improve your business. Solution providers and practitioners are invited to join today and gain a competitive edge by tracking the industry’s important innovations, emerging trends, and best practices.

Click here to learn more.

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What Does 2021 Hold for the Agile Workforce and the Future of Work? (Part I)

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

If you caught last week’s Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast, we chatted about several distinct attributes of the world of work and talent that will be transformed in the year ahead. In the span of just under 30 minutes, we just barely scratched the surface of the vast possibilities that the Future of Work movement will have on businesses across the globe over the next 12 months, given the many “accelerants” that contributed to work optimization in 2020.

There are many tenets of the Future of Work that will play invaluable roles in 2021, including direct sourcing, new talent channels, the depth of transformational business thinking, flexibility- and empathy-led leadership, and the overall impact of new technology and innovative solutions.

I spoke with several contingent workforce, HR, and talent acquisition technology leaders over the past week to gain their perspectives on what’s in store for the Future of Work and the agile/extended workforce in the months ahead:

The rest of this article is available by subscription only.

Introducing a New Subscription Model

To continue providing valuable insights and resources on the future of work and extended workforce management, we’re transitioning our site to a paid subscription model. While some posts will remain free, subscribing will grant you exclusive access to in-depth analysis, market research, expert interviews, and actionable strategies that will help improve your business. Solution providers and practitioners are invited to join today and gain a competitive edge by tracking the industry’s important innovations, emerging trends, and best practices.

Click here to learn more.

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What’s the Next Big Thing in Contingent Workforce Management?

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

When I started my industry analyst career (way back in 2006; please, don’t make me feel old!), the contingent workforce was one of several high-profile “complex spend categories,” ones that typically fell under the purview of the procurement or purchasing function but kept their own specific and unique attributes (i.e., marketing spend management necessitated much different sourcing techniques than business travel, facilities management was miles away from typical procurement processes, etc.). In short: there were some stark differentiators that proved it was a growing, distinctive area of corporate spend, however, at the time, it was just that: another area of spend.

What I describe as the “perfect storm” occurred during the Great Recession of 2008-2009: rough economic times forced businesses to reimagine their staffing strategies. Two key things happened: 1) enterprises realized that non-employee labor could be a gamechanger in terms of expertise and skills-related value (in addition to the cost benefits), and 2) the individuals that were forced (or chose) to adopt a flexible workstyle ended up finding that this setup was more productive and an overall better choice for their careers.

Over the years, the results of this “perfect storm” paid incredible dividends, so much so that the contingent workforce was no longer an augmentative talent strategy for businesses across the world, but a true value-driver that brought unique skillsets and top-tier expertise to mission critical projects and initiatives. And, as we all know, the years that passed resulted in this swath of talent evolving into the “agile workforce” that now allows businesses the workforce scalability from cost and skill perspectives.

With a full year living a pandemic environment that has caused disruptions to both personal and business worlds, however, a key question remains: what’s the next big thing in contingent workforce management? Well, there are actually several key “things” instead of just one…

The “Platform Approach” to Extended Workforce Management Technology

The contingent workforce has seen a consistent stream of progression over the past 15 years. With this type of talent firmly ensconced in the “agile workforce” or “extended workforce” mold, it’s not enough for businesses to have a condensed technological approach. As initiatives around direct sourcing, talent pools, total talent management, and other crucial elements of talent acquisition and talent management become more entwined within CWM, it will be incredibly important for businesses to have the proper technology stack (or a single platform with these modules) to execute on these strategies, whether it’s via a deep ecosystem of “peripheral” providers (such as direct sourcing platforms or digital staffing marketplaces) or in-system offerings that can address more than “core” (i.e., requisition management) aspects of contingent workforce management.

And, as total talent management becomes more of a reality in 2021, businesses will require a deeper technological approach to ensure that they are deriving the richest possible total talent data via interconnected systems and platforms.

The Impact of Non-Tech Attributes of the Future of Work Movement

On the Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast, I’ve frequently discussed the “non-technological” components of the Future of Work movement, which range from the transformation of business thinking to the value of flexibility-led workforce strategies. In the face of a business environment which is actively struggling to return to normal (and with factors like burnout, fatigue, and mental health as common workforce issues), technology isn’t the top cure. Strategies such as empathy-led leadership will transform the talent experience and ensure that the workforce is engaged to bring innovative voices into the business as it seeks deeper and unique skillsets and expertise.

“Workforce Agility” Becomes Table Stakes…For Real

The agile workforce. The extended workforce. Business agility. These are all hot-button phrases that can sometimes mean different things to different executives. However, the crux of these terms is so very simple: harness the relative on-demand nature of today’s talent to develop the most dynamic responses possible to enterprise needs and requirements.

If there’s one thing that 2020 taught us, it’s that workforce scalability is essentially linked to economic survival in the now-chaotic world of business. Taking that scalability one step forward is the very root of workforce agility, from which businesses can tap into talent pools, talent marketplaces, talent clouds, talent communities, their own trusted FTE workers, and a range of services and other recruitment streams to build, in real time, a dynamic response to a crucial enterprise initiative.

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The Future of Total Talent Management

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Back in 2016, I wrote and developed a research study called The Modern Guide to Total Talent Management, which included this passage:

The very simple argument for building or developing a total talent management program (defined by Ardent as the standardized and centralized program for engaging, acquiring, sourcing, and managing all types of talent via linked procurement and human capital processes, integrated contingent workforce management and human capital management systems, and utilization of total talent intelligence) that can be stripped down to a primary advantage: the contemporary talent supply chain is multifaceted and spread across numerous sources (both legacy and fresh). Thus, the businesses that can effectively find, engage, source, and ultimately manage this talent under a centralized program will be rewarded with the visibility to execute far superior business decisions in a real-time manner. Relative to the adoption and implementation of total talent programs, it is no wonder that while only 16% of organizations have this type of program in place today, a majority (58%) expect to make total talent management a reality within the next two years.

Over the past few years, Ardent’s deep collection of contingent workforce management (CWM) and talent acquisition research data reflects a similar refrain: companies believes in the concepts and ideals behind total workforce management (a phrase I use interchangeably with “total talent management”), understand its value and impact, and even anticipate having the ability to build such a program within a matter of just 18 months or two years.

So, here we are, in 2020 (albeit a very strange year, indeed), and Ardent’s research reflects similar messaging around the notion of total talent management. Why is this the case? A few reasons come to mind, including:

  • Most obvious: a global pandemic disrupting all HR-, talent-, and procurement-related operations.
  • A misalignment within talent engagement and talent acquisition processes (contingent workforce management included).
  • A great divide between functional units, such as procurement. HR/human capital management, and talent acquisition, and;
  • A lack of the proper solutions and technology to bring together the core pieces of total talent management.

The foundational elements of total talent management include a total talent network, integrated procurement/HR/CWM competencies, integrated contingent workforce and HR technology, and total talent intelligence (gleaned from the aforementioned integrated capabilities and platforms). The benefit: real-time decision-making when it comes to talent, resulting in a truly agile workforce.

It may be a running joke that 2020 is one of the worst years on record, however, if anything, businesses must look to the experiences of the past seven or eight months and use this knowledge to better understand how they manage the many facets of their workforce to not only get work done, but drive overall better business outcomes. Total talent management is often a polarizing topic because of what seems like its core limitations: there are serious compliance concerns for treating non-employees like FTEs, procurement-led CWM programs will never fully understand or buy into hardcore human capital concepts such as succession planning, an inability to offer across-the-board reskilling/upskilling opportunities, etc.

However, the very future of total talent management depends on how well we’ve adapted to these uncertain times, and, most importantly, how agile we can transform our businesses based on this knowledge. Total talent management isn’t the same set of ideals it was just a few years ago, but rather takes into account the innovation within the workforce management technology landscape, the new strategies that can help businesses tap into new and deeper channels of talent, and the adaptation to new staffing/workforce trends.

With this in mind, the future of total talent management hinges on:

  • The success of direct sourcing programs and initiatives and how businesses continue to drive incredible value from talent pools. (And, to a larger extent, how candidates from these talent pools are widely reflected in enterprise recruitment streams).
  • Procurement and HR working together for the greater good of business agility.
  • The ability for business leaders to tap into total talent intelligence that is a true, real-time representation of the total workforce (via data gleaned from HRIS, VMS, ATS, etc. platforms).
  • Capabilities for scaling learning and development across types of workers.

I’ll reiterate a phrase I’ve been saying for years: total talent management is for real. Businesses just need to reimagine its foundational components, understand the technological aspects involved, prioritize the collection of total talent data, and, most importantly, begin to build a culture of change around all attributes of talent. We’ve learned one incredibly useful aspect from a strange 2020: agility is crucial, thus, agile talent is critical. Total talent management, for most organizations, may still be months (or years) away, however, its underlying elements are what will assist in driving true workforce agility now (in challenging times) and in the future.

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The Next Evolution of the Agile Workforce

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The concept of business agility is not a new ideal, but in fact an evolving set of attributes that describe a company’s overall dynamic responses to real-world pressures and barriers of all sizes and types (economic, supply chain, internal, etc.). Business agility, in essence, translates into the modern business’ overall ability to react in real-time to the challenges that they face on a daily basis. And, in 2020, the very notion of agility is something that has been embraced by enterprises across the world as a key facilitator of survival in these strange times.

Just a few years ago, the contingent workforce was (still) in the midst of its years-long trajectory of growth and impact, as it continues to be today (Ardent Partners research finds that 43% of the average workforce is considered contingent/non-employee, including temporary workers, gig workers, freelancers, independent contractors, and professional services). As the reliance on non-employee labor continued to increase, so did its link to true business agility. Thus, the natural evolution of the contingent workforce was its transformation into the agile workforce.

The agile workforce can be described by its four key benefits: 1) natural cost flexibility, 2) speed-to-hire and speed of engagement), 3) adaptability of expertise, and 4) its productivity gains. However, during the current business climate, there is one attribute of the agile workforce that represents its next natural evolution: its progressive skillsets and how they fit into the ongoing transformation of the modern business.

The next evolution of the agile workforce will help businesses build:

  • A more dynamic talent acquisition strategy that focuses on skills and expertise gaps. The number one reason for leveraging agile talent today aren’t the cost savings that long were associated with this workforce, but rather the depth of skillsets and expertise it brings to the average organization. Businesses can build talent acquisition strategies that are enhanced with skillset-led tactics to develop the best-aligned, deepest bench of workers.
  • A workforce that does not have to account for traditional barriers in engaging new talent. The remote work angle has always been a piece of contemporary businesses, however, in 2020, it’s become the norm. Eschewing location and traditional barriers will allow businesses to expand their relative talent pools, expand active and passive recruitment, and promote expertise ahead of “where” a potential candidate is located. Too, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics will enable contingent workforce, HR, and talent acquisition leaders with the ability to develop more expansive recruitment marketing strategies that are not limited by traditional barriers.
  • A way to shift resources as both market conditions and corporate competition evolve. “Adaptability” has become a common refrain, especially nearly seven months into a global pandemic that has caused economic and business disruptions across the world. A truly agile workforce and skillset-led talent management strategies will allow businesses to “shift” their workers based on current market conditions, as well as enable them to position necessary expertise to where it is needed as products and services evolve. Talent pools can be further segmented, while both FTEs and non-employee workers can align their unique expertise to the functional areas that need them based on how the business progresses in regards to market, economic, and competitive factors.
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