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THE BEST OF 2021: What is the Future of Direct Sourcing?

Direct SourcingTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

[We hope you are having a great holiday season! This week, the Future of Work Exchange will highlight the “Best of 2021” as we feature some of our favorite pieces from the past five months since the site launched.]

Businesses learned a harsh lesson in 2020: those that could not adapt to the major shifts in work optimization were the ones that could not survive months of extreme disruption. As 2021 careens towards its end, another new year is on the horizon, and businesses must prepare for perhaps the most critical period of their history given the direction of the economy and the labor market.

The shift towards “flexibility as the Future of Work” means that enterprises must execute in a more dynamic manner. The companies that thrived and continue to thrive are the organizations that understand and embrace 1) how they want to get work done, 2) the talent and technology needed to get that work done across both the short- and long-term, and 3) the proper balance between human and automation.

In looking at various perspectives in how work was transformed over the past 18 months, there is one strategic program that businesses seem to gravitate towards in convergence with the talent-led world in which we now live: direct sourcing.

Going into 2020, direct sourcing and talent pools were the #1 and #2 (respectively) priorities for businesses; even the most forward-looking organization could not imagine at that time just how critical a program it would be in the face of unprecedented change. Even the most basic direct sourcing programs drive table-stakes value to their owners through a combination of on-demand, plug-and-play talent and a level of hard cost savings. However, many attributes of the world of work and talent were fast-tracked over the past 18 months due to the most serious public health crisis of our lifetimes and its long-ranging ramifications across the scope of business, worker, and personal perspectives.

Direct sourcing went from being an additional way to find talent to a revolutionary means of tapping into the extended workforce to drive better business outcomes. As the business world continues to evolve, even in the throes of a “Great Resignation,” the lowest unemployment since the pandemic began, and “power” shifting to the worker, the continued transformation of talent engagement is now a standard. The question then becomes: How do businesses continue to respond in the wake of being forced to reimagine talent acquisition, human capital, and the agile workforce?

Direct Sourcing 2.0.

“Direct Sourcing 2.0” follows the next generation of direct sourcing strategies and is fundamentally rooted in the linkage between key technological arenas, a renewed focus on the candidate experience, a seamless connection between talent pools and the projects and roles that require specific expertise, and a retooled “hiring manager experience” that takes into account Future of Work-era innovation.

Why the shift to Direct Sourcing 2.0? Isn’t direct sourcing effective in its “1.0” version? Of course. Direct sourcing and its traditional phases (including talent curation, talent pool segmentation, integration into core recruitment streams, talent nurture, etc.) are driving increased value within those organizations that are currently leveraging standard programs. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t evolve. Take into account the major shifts in both business and candidate behavior over the 18 months, and, especially, over the past several months:

  • The “candidate experience” is far deeper than we ever imagined. It’s not just about ensuring that candidates have a positive experience when engaged, but rather extending that experience into areas such as when they are engaged, how they are engaged, the communication methods used for reach out, methods of onboarding and offboarding (seamless, digital, and virtual!), etc. Recruitment marketing automation, digitized referral campaigns, and a mobile-optimized means of communicating with hiring managers all contribute to the next great era of the candidate experience.
  • Hiring managers should be engaging and sourcing talent in a consumerized and enhanced manner for the sake of efficiency and quality. This doesn’t mean that we have to completely meld e-commerce technology with direct sourcing platforms, however, it does translate into taking into account just how effective existing processes are within the hiring managers’ total workload. The greater business must provide hiring managers with the necessary trust and education to ensure that these leaders are converging the company’s main goals and objectives with how they find, engage, and source talent (which will result in superior role-to-candidate matches). In addition, harnessing the power of next-gen direct sourcing automation, recruitment marketing technology, and similar solutions will boost the hiring manager experience.
  • Businesses must go “beyond the brand” and prove that they are fostering truly inclusive workplace cultures that resonate with candidates. An organization’s “brand” can be a powerful tool for direct sourcing; candidates tend to flock to those companies that align with their own beliefs and values. However, businesses must move beyond the brand and incorporate deeper elements of the organization in how it applies Direct Sourcing 2.0 strategies, including communicating its purpose and vision (and ensuring that it resonates with candidates) and how well its preferences in how work is done are broadcast to workers (fully-remote, hybrid, on-site, etc.). A purpose-driven organization wants to establish a more trustful relationship with its candidates, share its core cultural values with them (particularly on the DE&I front), and communicate how open it is to the attributes desired in today’s “Age of the Worker,” such as flexibility, career development opportunities, and the enablement of core skills growth.

Look for the new Ardent Partners/Future of Work Exchange research study, Direct Sourcing 2.0, in January 2022.

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Here’s Why Direct Sourcing Should Be The Top Priority for 2022 Workforce Planning

Direct SourcingTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

A few years ago, I began noticing a trend in the greater workforce industry: more and more businesses were eager to integrate “alternative” talent channels into their recruitment mix. By “alternative,” By this, I don’t mean adding new staffing suppliers or a “touch” of talent marketplaces here-and-there…this was the beginning of a full-on progression of talent engagement that is actively culminating in a reimagining of talent acquisition and workforce management approaches.

As said many times here on the Future of Work Exchange, the top two priorities for businesses entering 2020 were, respectively, direct sourcing and talent pools. These two inherently-linked attributes, at that time, represented a way for businesses to blend new channels of talent into their existing expertise network by developing “BYOT” (Bring Your Own Talent) pools, freelancer benches, and more formally integrating talent marketplaces into recruitment stream (i.e., new requisitions having the ability to pull talent from marketplaces and direct sourcing channels connected to the VMS or HRIS platform).

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a two-fold opportunity for businesses in regards to this “reimagining” of talent management: curate top-shelf talent and expertise for when the need arose to utilize these highly-qualified skillsets, and, nurture and foster curated candidates in such a way that they felt connected and engaged to the employer culture and brand, so that when they were required for a critical project or initiative, they would be more likely to accept an assignment. The main business workforce strategy was direct and simply, yet incredibly difficult to execute: create true workforce scalability.

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has found, over the past two years, that the top benefit of leveraging contingent or extended talent is the ability to be scalable and flexible in how the typical enterprise structures its workforce architecture. This level of workforce scalability (and flexibility) allowed businesses to navigate uncertain times, especially when the rollercoaster early months of the pandemic created boom-or-bust demand for specific industries and sectors.

Direct sourcing no longer represents one of many alternative channels of talent, but rather a repeatable, scalable, and digitized way of developing a deeper pipeline of top-tier skillsets and expertise. Here’s why it should lead workforce planning for 2022:

  • Direct sourcing is a set of processes and solutions that actively drive workforce agility and flexibility. Today’s professionals are more focused on work-life balance, while also desiring greater independence. Among many things, the “Great Resignation” of 2021 indicates a seismic shift in power towards the worker and away from the employer. This may or may not be permanent (the “power shift” to the worker seems likely to be a critical aspect moving forward), but businesses, nonetheless, face constant pressure to deepen human capital and future-proof skillsets within their total workforce. Now, more than ever, enterprises require a steady flow of new workers to keep pace with their competitors. Now, more than ever, enterprises need superior engagement capabilities. Now, more than ever, enterprises need a new approach…all factors that tie back to direct sourcing.
  • DE&I and direct sourcing are now inherently linked. Layering DE&I into direct sourcing is about changing behaviors and removing hiring barriers and unconscious bias from talent engagement and talent acquisition. Utilizing technology to help guide and enforce a new mindset can be extremely valuable and create awareness that the deepest talent pools are diverse talent pools.
  • The concepts behind “Direct Sourcing 2.0” are what will take direct sourcing programs to the next level. The new Ardent Partners/Future of Work Exchange research study, Direct Sourcing 2.0, unveils the nuances of DS 2.0 and what they mean, including: supercharging talent pipelines, leveraging AI and machine learning to enhance candidate assessments and screening, identifying the best modes (time, style, etc.) of candidate outreach, digital recruitment marketing, automated referral management, enhancing the hiring manager experience, etc. The very ideas behind Direct Sourcing 2.0 are transformational approaches (both strategic and technology-led) that push direct sourcing programs into a new Future of Work stratosphere by enabling enterprises with more powerful and agile tools for new candidate engagement, collaboration, nurture, and hiring.
  • Direct sourcing is the gateway to thriving in 2022 via a powerful, self-sustaining agile workforce. Direct sourcing is very effective in its current state, but the stakes keep rising. The increasing need for talent and the ongoing challenges competing for it mean that enterprises must continue to challenge the status quo and operate on the bleeding edge in order to stay on top. By blending traditional direct sourcing approaches (curation, segmentation, etc.) with “2.0” attributes (digital recruitment marketing, AI-led assessments, more focus on the candidate experience, etc.), businesses will ensure that, in yet another year of uncertainty, they will be positioned to optimize how work is done.
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The Key Differentiators of Best-in-Class Extended Workforce Management

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Technology utilization and core competencies are the backbone of the Best-in-Class contingent and extended workforce program. However, there are other next-level differentiators that are driving innovation within these organizations and positioning them to become more agile and dynamic as the world of talent and work around them continues to shift and change:

  • Eighty-two percent (82%) of Best-in-Class enterprises have integrated SOW management and services procurement into their core CWM programs, a fact that reinforces the need for businesses to effectively track, monitor, and manage all elements of their extended workforce (not just staff aug). Often enabled by VMS or extended workforce solutions (and outsourced to MSP offerings), Best-in-Class businesses have integrated capabilities into their programs that include resource-tracking, milestone and delivery date visibility, full sourcing and bidding processes, and other processes required to manage what is often considered the largest chunk of non-employee workforce spend.
  • Nearly 75% of Best-in-Class businesses have a direct sourcing program in place today. Direct sourcing has become synonymous with the continued evolution of talent; businesses that desire true organizational and workforce agility are actively harnessing the power of talent pools (and injecting those candidates into enterprise recruitment streams) as a viable means of reducing talent acquisition costs, ensuring top-tier skillsets and expertise, and structuring a truly dynamic workforce. Direct sourcing allows a business to leverage its culture and brand to attract top-tier candidates that are easily engaged for future projects and initiatives. In a world that has become more digitized (especially in the HR and talent arenas), direct sourcing is becoming a differentiator for the Best-in-Class businesses that actively pursue workforce agility.
  • Seventy percent (70%) of Best-in-Class organizations are currently leveraging a “hybrid” talent acquisition model that utilizes equal parts digital and RPA-led processes (such as artificial intelligence and bots) and traditional human-led strategies and support. This hybrid approach ensures that aspects like repeatability, speed, and efficiency are top-of-mind in talent engagement efforts, while the human elements can deter unconscious bias in any digital talent acquisition initiatives. This differentiator is also a major reason why Best-in-Class businesses have thrived in challenging times; next-level digitization on the front end enables agility, while the human touch on the back end ensures that core cultural objectives are met.
  • Nearly 60% of Best-in-Class businesses currently have the ability to drive total talent intelligence within their programs. As explained earlier in this chapter, total talent intelligence is an incredible differentiator, as it helps businesses determine which candidates and which types of talent are the best fit for a new role, position, or project based on deep total talent data. More Best-in-Class programs are enabled with the required capabilities to execute informed and intelligence-led talent decisions in a real-time and dynamic manner…which, in essence, is the core of true business agility.

In looking at Best-in-Class organizations, the key to success is multifaceted and wide-spanning: embrace the evolution of talent, tap into both traditional and progressive platforms, and leverage next-generation strategies to best align the workplace environment with the best-fit talent and skillsets. Top-performing organizations are leading the next era of work optimization because they are actively adapting to the major shifts in the talent and work arena while also cultivating a culture of agility and flexibility.

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Workforce Management Recommendations for 2022

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingHR by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The extended workforce has, for several years, represented the natural advancement of contingent labor and its greater impact on critical enterprise objectives. Coupled with a sharply shifting business landscape, changing market dynamics, and the reimagining of how work gets done, today’s organizations must harness the influence of the symbiotic relationship between talent, technology, and business leadership to usher in a new era of work.

Heading into 2022, businesses in the throes of workforce planning are facing pressure-filled quandaries: how will the pandemic affect their operations in the new year? Will scalability be as critical as it has been over the past two years? How does technology and innovation influence talent acquisition and talent management? The below recommendations will assist enterprises as they continue to plan around the inherent agility of their extended workforce and its impact on the greater business:

  • Embrace the extended workforce as a means of tapping into top-tier talent and fostering enterprise flexibility. The past 20+ months have shown adaptability is key weapon in changing times. There is a major reason why 82% of businesses expect an increase in the utilization of non-employee labor in 2022. The extended and agile workforce enables organizations to better access top-shelf skillsets, deep expertise, and a dynamic relationship that is founded on flexibility. Short-term engagements and mission critical projects supported by agile talent is specifically what empowered business during the pandemic…and that will not change in the months and years ahead.
  • Prioritize dynamic channels of talent, such as talent communities, to fuel critical business endeavors. Real workforce agility is developed through dynamic outlets of talent that can be engaged in a real-time and on-demand way. Talent marketplaces and other digital staffing channels offer simple “search and select” functionality within their deep networks of expertise that allow organizations to build remote teams of appropriate and well-aligned skillsets for crucial corporate initiatives.
  • Develop a strategy to boost the impact of direct sourcing and talent pools. Direct sourcing emerged as a viable talent acquisition strategy within the United States several years ago (after more than a decade of massive adoption in Europe) allowing businesses to act as their own recruitment firms, saving dollars and time on talent engagement. In a post-pandemic world, direct sourcing can help businesses bypass traditional talent acquisition processes (which are often slower and more manual in nature than direct sourcing initiatives), nurture candidates in a meaningful way, and tap into top-tier skillsets as specific needs arise. Direct sourcing can also empower the enterprise brand and culture to attract candidates, a differentiating factor that can be incredibly effective way to attract top talent in competitive markets.
  • Continue to lean on the extended workforce to support business continuity and market competition. The year ahead brings a wealth of optimism to the world of work even though fears of a new coronavirus variant are sparking surges across the world. As such, the global market continues to face considerable risk as these emerging coronavirus variants, particularly Delta and Omicron, continue to raise concern. If the winter brings new surges, businesses will be able to replay the strategies of 2020 and adopt a flexible mindset towards its workforce; the agility inherent in the extended workforce will support (once again) business continuity and allow enterprises to remain competitive.
  • Rethink the application of core skillsets and expertise towards enterprise roles and projects. When markets shift, businesses must frequently pivot to new work models to get work done, survive challenging scenarios, and/or keep up with the demand for products and services. “Work models,” in this instance, are not limited to where work is performed (i.e., remote work or distributed teams), but also include the strategies that apply core employee and non-employee skillsets in a way that promotes flexible alignment between open roles/projects and available talent. In addition, the executive team should invest in upskilling and reskilling opportunities for its workforce to keep up in an age when digitization is a crux to relevancy.
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“Talent Sustainability” Is the Next Great Workforce Strategy

Business LeadershipDirect SourcingHRTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

It’s not easy out there for hiring managers, HR executives, and talent acquisition leaders. Besides both the personal and professional panic over the Omicron variant (even though we’re still in the throes of Delta’s continued rampage), these roles must consistently battle the ramifications of the so-called “Big Quit,” aka “The Great Resignation,” and otherwise known as “The Great Reassessment,” etc. Around these parts, we understand it’s instead a “talent revolution.”

There have been many theories, approaches, and strategies proposed that could curb some of the effects of The Great Resignation, but even now, there is no cure-all series of processes that can outright solve all of the current talent issues that are plaguing organizations across the world. And, to be honest, having more and more attributes of the traditional employer-employee relationship shifting towards the worker in regards to “power” is something that has been a long time coming. Aspects such as flexibility, empathy, better working conditions, and more inclusive workplace environments are all now table stakes for the modern-day workforce.

One of the key facets of the Future of Work movement in 2021 (and even more so in 2022) is the enterprise’s renewed focus on its human capital and overall depth of skillsets across the greater organization (as 62% of organizations are prioritizing right now, according to Future of Work Exchange research). So many major workforce shifts over the past two years, including the overall desire for real business and workforce agility, mean that enterprises must reimagine how roles, jobs, and projects are executed over the short- and long-term, given the natural progression of market, economic, and corporate factors (not to mention the ongoing uncertainty regarding a true end of the pandemic in the United States and across the world).

In 2022, enterprises must build towards “talent sustainability.” The concept of talent sustainability revolves around the idea that businesses can, through their workforce solutions (such as extended workforce technology, VMS, etc.), direct sourcing channels, and both private and public talent communities, build self-sustaining outlets of talent that 1) map to evolving skills requirements across the enterprise given product development and the progression of the greater organization, 2) reflect existing expertise and skillsets across the enterprise that can be leveraged for real-time utilization, and, 3) allow hiring managers and other talent-led executives to leverage nurture and candidate experience strategies to ensure that all networked workers are amiable and open to reengagement for new and/or continued projects and initiatives.

There are, of course, several caveats to a true talent sustainability strategy that represent several key innovations and forward-thinking ideas. These items, listed below, all meaningfully contribute to this progressive approach:

  • A workforce management “system of record” (i.e., VMS, extended workforce platform, etc.) that can blend both non-employee and FTE data to generate true “total talent intelligence.”
  • Access to on-demand talent communities and talent pools via both direct sourcing platforms and talent marketplace solutions.
  • An artificial intelligence-led architecture that augments and transfers the mobility of talent to where it is needed most.
  • Machine learning- and AI-led candidate assessment, skills validation, and talent fraud prevention.
  • A robust DE&I initiative that prioritizes both diverse hiring and inclusive workplace culture.
  • A major emphasis on the depth of skillsets, expertise, and human capital available across the greater organization.
  • Creating a “culture of learning and development” (via upskilling and reskilling opportunities) help the organization hedge against future skill gaps.
  • Joint collaboration between HR and procurement to facilitate total talent management-like capabilities, and;
  • Deeper automation of recruitment marketing, referral management, and other facets of direct sourcing to expand talent pools.

Businesses do not want to be caught off-guard when they have a critical need for specific skills, especially in an era when the vaunted “war for talent” rages on at a level never seen before in workforce management history. The Future of Work is many things, and, talent sustainability is becoming one of its most crucial elements.

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The Power of Talent Communities

Direct SourcingTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

As we wrote last week here on the Future of Work Exchange, there are many innovative platforms today that are changing the dynamics of talent engagement and workforce management. No longer can enterprises traverse the transformative landscape of talent on their own; technology is no longer the wild card for better enterprise outcomes, but rather the foundational core of how businesses can optimize how work gets done through the power of top-tier talent and expertise.

The very concept of “talent communities” lies somewhere within the power of talent pools (via direct sourcing strategies, and, more specifically, talent curation), the global reach of talent marketplaces, and the continued progression of digital staffing technology. These attributes, combined with the evolution of core workforce management technology (such as Vendor Management Systems and extended workforce automation), present business leaders with something that they’ve truly never had before: the ability to build dynamic, on-demand communities of talent that are comprised of various types of workers that can be engaged in such a way that they drive real workforce scalability.

We’ve all heard various phrases tossed around the past several years: talent pools, talent clouds, talent channels, talent marketplaces, etc. In some way, they are unique depending on usage and purpose. However, many more times, they are similar in scope and deliver exactly what drives real-time responses to new enterprise challenges: agile talent. [While I’m aware that these phrases, over time, have come to mean different things to organizations, the evolution of the labor market and its corresponding technology means that “community” is an ideal catch-all term. The one caveat to talent communities is whether or not they are public or private.]

Talent communities, then, can be described as any network a business relies on to engage talent, foster collaboration with independent workers, and augment the overall breadth of the extended workforce. Contemporary direct sourcing technology allows users to build deep networks that resemble social channels in which businesses can both nurture and engage talent, while today’s VMS and extended workforce platforms offer functionality for injecting that talent directly into organizational recruitment streams. Talent marketplaces, while also offering end-to-end workforce management automation, also play a pivotal role in pushing talent from their networks to directly where hiring managers need them.

Together, these solutions offer businesses the opportunity to build robust talent communities that serve several purposes, including:

  • Creating a groundswell of skillsets and expertise for ongoing talent acquisition initiatives. Just knowing that businesses can leverage on-demand accessibility to top-shelf talent means that any new project or initiative will be supported with the necessary skillsets for completion. In an ongoing war for talent and amidst the so-called “Great Resignation,” many business leaders can be assured that critical objectives will leverage the best-fit talent when, where, and however it is required. Many industries today are facing staff shortages that are draining revenue, alienating customers (and consumers), and, worst of all, destroying productivity. Agile skillsets available in near-real-time? A boon for the enterprises that are feeling the ramifications of “The Big Quit.”
  • Driving true workforce scalability. “Scalability” took on new meaning during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some businesses faced a revenue shock that forced them to lay off chunks of staff, while others experienced a spike in demand for products and services. The extended workforce became the de-facto face of scalability, and one reason that direct sourcing and talent pools took on such a high profile was that enterprises had the ability to tap into an engaged community of workers that were ready for new opportunities. And, as the ebb-and-flow rollercoaster petered out for some organizations, the temporary staff they had leveraged were free to take on new projects with other businesses.
  • Contributing to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives. Let’s say it once more (with feeling!): a diverse talent community is the deepest talent community. A common refrain here at the Exchange, the realm of DE&I should never again be considered a “check-a-box” initiative but rather a way to showcase new voices and new talent that will contribute greatly to the greater organization. By attracting and engaging underrepresented voices, businesses effectively ensure that they tap into the innovation that these workers can bring to critical enterprise projects and objectives.
  • Fostering a level of engagement with talent that helps to develop a better overall candidate experience. The concept of the “candidate experience” didn’t begin during the era of COVID, but well before the crisis. However, the pandemic and its continued labor ramifications (yes, the Great Resignation) exacerbated the criticality of the overall talent experience; business leaders have been pumping more time, energy, and resources into building and curating deeper talent pools by leveraging the power of the employer brand and all that is associated with it (positive culture, spirit of charity, social responsibility, etc.). Too, an enhanced level of candidate engagement is often what is needed to sway passive candidates and convince them to join a talent community.
  • Improving the overall hiring manager experience. Often overlooked because of the bullet directly above, there should be tremendous focus on the overall hiring manager experience, given that these leaders are the ones that are at the forefront of talent engagement and talent acquisition activity. Hiring managers are facing somewhat of an existential crisis: they, too, are feeling the anxiety of staff shortages with added pressure from several stakeholders and functional units to find each department a top-tier level of talent in a short amount of time. Talent communities give hiring managers a built-in leg up on their engagement activity, enabling with them on-demand access to a network of pre-vetted, known, and highly-skilled candidates…making their overall experience that much more seamless (and positive).

We experienced first-hand what is was like to live in a business world perpetuated by uncertainty and consistent worry over the future. The necessary agility required by businesses to navigate the first year of the pandemic was driven by initiatives that began before the crisis took shape, such as utilization of direct sourcing strategies and digital staffing channels. We’ve been learning (actively, mind you) that thriving during the second full year of the pandemic occurred mainly in those organizations that realized the power of talent communities would provide longer-term and deeper workforce scalability whilst boosting initiatives around DE&I, emotional connections to candidates, and the development of networks that would amplify the workforce agility that is now a prerequisite to moving onto yet another year that will be challenging given the evolving nature of a public health crisis that seems to throw roadblocks even when things seem hopeful and optimistic.

The power of talent communities is driven by the innovative ways businesses are leveraging talent pools, talent networks, and talent clouds, converging with the nuances of the employer brand, social and emotional connections with both active and passive candidates, the the ultimate development of omnichannel, experience-driven candidate engagement.

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A Sneak Peek of the Upcoming “Direct Sourcing 2.0” Research Study

Direct SourcingTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Heading into 2020, direct sourcing and talent pools were the top two priorities for businesses in regards to talent acquisition and workforce management. The strategy and its programmatic components (talent curation, talent pool segmentation, talent nurture, etc.) represented a way for enterprises to tap into a veritable “bench” of talent that is curated by the organization (and would typically include silver medalists, alumni, past contractors and freelancers, candidates driven to career portals or job boards, etc.). By acting as its own recruiting firm, the business (and its hiring managers) are able to reduce hard costs, improve time-to-fill rates, and enhance the overall alignment between open positions and candidates.

Direct sourcing went from being an additional way to find talent in pre-pandemic times to, today, a revolutionary means of tapping into the extended workforce to drive better business outcomes. As the business world continues to evolve, even in the throes of “The Great Resignation,” the lowest unemployment rate since the pandemic began, and “power” shifting to the worker, the continued transformation of talent engagement is now an enterprise standard. The question then becomes: How do businesses continue to respond in the wake of being forced to reimagine talent acquisition, human capital, and the agile workforce?

The answer lies within the evolution of direct sourcing, where the strategy, program, and its associated technology not only take into account core attributes such as talent curation and talent pool segmentation, but also deeper, critical aspects like the candidate experience, candidate skills assessment, the hiring manager experience, automated recruitment marketing, going “beyond the brand,” and the overall “reach” of direct sourcing across all elements of enterprise recruitment.

And now, a sneak peek of the Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research study, Direct Sourcing 2.0:

While direct sourcing as a strategic workforce program is relatively new when compared to more established areas, such as contingent workforce management and talent acquisition, its impact in highly-competitive job markets can be game-changing. Truth be told, even basic direct sourcing programs can drive value through a combination of on-demand, plug-and-play talent, and hard-cost savings. But the pandemic’s impact on the workforce has dramatically accelerated market shifts. Today, talent is scarce and comes at a premium.

As a result, workers are demanding greater flexibility from their employers. They are more focused on work-life balance, while also desiring greater independence. Among many things, the “Great Resignation” of 2021 indicates a seismic shift in power towards the worker and away from the employer. This may or may not be permanent, but businesses, nonetheless, face constant pressure to deepen human capital and future-proof skillsets within their total workforce. Now, more than ever, enterprises require a steady flow of new workers to keep pace with their competitors. Now, more than ever, enterprises need superior sourcing capabilities. Now, more than ever, enterprises need a new approach.

Now is the time for “Direct Sourcing 2.0,” the next generation of sourcing strategies that blend innovative solutions with a renewed focus on the candidate experience and an ability to use talent pools to populate the key projects and roles that require expertise and experience. Today’s business climate has accelerated the need for a reimagined approach to candidate engagement. As the market for talent continues to tighten amidst the lingering pandemic and a surging number of resignations, businesses find themselves in a new kind of “war for talent,” one that is far more extensive and complicated than anything experienced pre-pandemic.

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What is the Future of Direct Sourcing?

Direct SourcingTalentTalent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Businesses learned a harsh lesson in 2020: those that could not adapt to the major shifts in work optimization were the ones that could not survive months of extreme disruption. As 2021 careens towards its end, another new year is on the horizon, and businesses must prepare for perhaps the most critical period of their history given the direction of the economy and the labor market.

The shift towards “flexibility as the Future of Work” means that enterprises must execute in a more dynamic manner. The companies that thrived and continue to thrive are the organizations that understand and embrace 1) how they want to get work done, 2) the talent and technology needed to get that work done across both the short- and long-term, and 3) the proper balance between human and automation.

In looking at various perspectives in how work was transformed over the past 18 months, there is one strategic program that businesses seem to gravitate towards in convergence with the talent-led world in which we now live: direct sourcing.

Going into 2020, direct sourcing and talent pools were the #1 and #2 (respectively) priorities for businesses; even the most forward-looking organization could not imagine at that time just how critical a program it would be in the face of unprecedented change. Even the most basic direct sourcing programs drive table-stakes value to their owners through a combination of on-demand, plug-and-play talent and a level of hard cost savings. However, many attributes of the world of work and talent were fast-tracked over the past 18 months due to the most serious public health crisis of our lifetimes and its long-ranging ramifications across the scope of business, worker, and personal perspectives.

Direct sourcing went from being an additional way to find talent to a revolutionary means of tapping into the extended workforce to drive better business outcomes. As the business world continues to evolve, even in the throes of a “Great Resignation,” the lowest unemployment since the pandemic began, and “power” shifting to the worker, the continued transformation of talent engagement is now a standard. The question then becomes: How do businesses continue to respond in the wake of being forced to reimagine talent acquisition, human capital, and the agile workforce?

Direct Sourcing 2.0.

“Direct Sourcing 2.0” follows the next generation of direct sourcing strategies and is fundamentally rooted in the linkage between key technological arenas, a renewed focus on the candidate experience, a seamless connection between talent pools and the projects and roles that require specific expertise, and a retooled “hiring manager experience” that takes into account Future of Work-era innovation.

Why the shift to Direct Sourcing 2.0? Isn’t direct sourcing effective in its “1.0” version? Of course. Direct sourcing and its traditional phases (including talent curation, talent pool segmentation, integration into core recruitment streams, talent nurture, etc.) are driving increased value within those organizations that are currently leveraging standard programs. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t evolve. Take into account the major shifts in both business and candidate behavior over the 18 months, and, especially, over the past several months:

  • The “candidate experience” is far deeper than we ever imagined. It’s not just about ensuring that candidates have a positive experience when engaged, but rather extending that experience into areas such as when they are engaged, how they are engaged, the communication methods used for reach out, methods of onboarding and offboarding (seamless, digital, and virtual!), etc. Recruitment marketing automation, digitized referral campaigns, and a mobile-optimized means of communicating with hiring managers all contribute to the next great era of the candidate experience.
  • Hiring managers should be engaging and sourcing talent in a consumerized and enhanced manner for the sake of efficiency and quality. This doesn’t mean that we have to completely meld e-commerce technology with direct sourcing platforms, however, it does translate into taking into account just how effective existing processes are within the hiring managers’ total workload. The greater business must provide hiring managers with the necessary trust and education to ensure that these leaders are converging the company’s main goals and objectives with how they find, engage, and source talent (which will result in superior role-to-candidate matches). In addition, harnessing the power of next-gen direct sourcing automation, recruitment marketing technology, and similar solutions will boost the hiring manager experience.
  • Businesses must go “beyond the brand” and prove that they are fostering truly inclusive workplace cultures that resonate with candidates. An organization’s “brand” can be a powerful tool for direct sourcing; candidates tend to flock to those companies that align with their own beliefs and values. However, businesses must move beyond the brand and incorporate deeper elements of the organization in how it applies Direct Sourcing 2.0 strategies, including communicating its purpose and vision (and ensuring that it resonates with candidates) and how well its preferences in how work is done are broadcast to workers (fully-remote, hybrid, on-site, etc.). A purpose-driven organization wants to establish a more trustful relationship with its candidates, share its core cultural values with them (particularly on the DE&I front), and communicate how open it is to the attributes desired in today’s “Age of the Worker,” such as flexibility, career development opportunities, and the enablement of core skills growth.

Look for the Future of Work Exchange‘s upcoming Direct Sourcing 2.0 research study later this month.

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Unlimited to the Core: PRO Unlimited Bolsters Direct Sourcing Technology With WillHire Acquisition

Direct SourcingSolution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Just a few years ago, many business leaders were aware of the benefits of direct sourcing but had not yet fully embraced its value. In 2019, direct sourcing as an extension of non-employee workforce management caught steam when enterprises realized that they could drive both hard and soft benefits through direct relationships with known and vetted candidates; by bringing these workers into curated pools and internal talent communities, enterprises had a cost-effective and on-demand way of injecting new, top-tier talent into their projects and initiatives.

Going into 2020, direct sourcing and talent pools were, respectively, the top two priorities for businesses entering a new decade. Although the early months of the pandemic may have put a damper on many talent acquisition and contingent workforce program initiatives, the truth is that direct sourcing (and its many unique attributes) emerged as an ideal means of both keeping top-tier candidates engaged and positioning the greater organization with workforce agility. And today, direct sourcing has become one of the preeminent means of driving higher talent quality and supporting true workforce scalability. Nearly 55% of businesses across the globe, according to Future of Work Exchange research, have a proper direct sourcing initiative in place today (compared to only half this figure just two years ago).

MSP and VMS provider PRO Unlimited has long demonstrated its direct sourcing efficacy, with its DirectSource PRO offering one of the market’s strongest solutions for direct sourcing. While the provider’s end-to-end power is industry-leading, achieving the “platform” vision that CEO Kevin Akeroyd laid out last year would not be possible without both organic growth and aggressive market activity to bolster the solution’s already-impressive range of innovative functionality.

“Direct sourcing is no longer a “hype cycle” topic, it is a mission-critical priority for enterprises and one that is finally being invested heavily in and adopted. The historical problem has been the utter fragmentation and immaturity of solutions,” said Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of PRO Unlimited. “Large global brands have needed MSP services, curation Services, direct sourcing SaaS, VMS SaaS, analytics SaaS, market rate data, and payroll just to get off the ground. So, they’ve gone out and hired seven small vendors that each do their own little piece, and that large brand spends the next several years doing nothing but managing people/process/systems integration and vendor management instead of driving business outcomes, winning the war for talent, and driving hundreds of millions of savings out of their organizations every year. DirectSource PRO has solved that; it’s the one holistic platform that does everything, at scale, globally, and provides that single platform and system of record for direct sourcing…Hence the adoption of over 40 Fortune 1000 clients adopting it just in the last five months (with that number expected to be over 80 by the end of the year).”

Yesterday, PRO Unlimited announced that it had acquired WillHire, one of the industry’s leading direct sourcing technology offerings. The acquisition allows PRO to reinforce the strength of its DirectSource PRO solution and tap into additional functionality; this acquisition also enables PRO to leverage WillHire’s comprehensive end-to-end campaign management technology for recruitment marketing, as well as its “marketing automation-like” self-scheduling and communication with talent. Other highlights of this acquisition include:

  • PRO Unlimited, WillHire, and Eightfold are a winning trifecta for direct sourcing. PRO’s direct sourcing technology was already a leading solution due its innovative stack and partnership with Eightfold. The addition of WillHire not only bolsters the total power of the DirectSource PRO offering from a pure functionality perspective, but also complements the DE&I and candidate assessment data that is funneled through the Eightfold partnership.
  • WillHire brings an added layer of repeatable “Direct Sourcing 2.0” technology to PRO’s existing functionality. One of WillHire’s core strengths (as written about in Ardent’s 2021 Digital Staffing Platforms Technology Advisor) is its ability to enable “Direct Sourcing 2.0” capabilities, such as recruitment marketing, automated referral management, and deeper candidate matching algorithms. This acquisition will surely increase the overall power and impact of Direct Source PRO.
  • WillHire’s relationships and integrations with major job boards and career sites will deepen the overall talent reach of DirectSource PRO. The very crux of direct sourcing is building a repository of known, vetted, and top-shelf talent; WillHire’s existing integrations with leading industry job boards translates into a more robust swath of high-quality candidates. This will fortify DirectSource PRO’s talent engagement reach.

“Adding WillHire enables us to add large-scale digital talent board/network/FMS integrations, deeper AI/MBL matching, candidate/worker recruitment marketing and ongoing engagement, and skills assessment to the platform,” Akeroyd added. “And, as importantly, it is robust across ALL job types – including shift workers, light industrial, not just white collar, so it allows us to enable direct sourcing for an enterprise’s ENTIRE contingent worker population.”

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The Agile Workforce Runs on Talent Marketplaces and Talent Communities

Direct SourcingTalentTalent AcquisitionTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Last year, Ardent Partners predicted that the global business landscape would experience a sharp uptick in the utilization of non-employee labor as a direct result of the pandemic’s sweeping impact on business and human interaction. Going into 2020, 43.5% of the average organization’s total workforce was considered “contingent.” In 2021, that number sits at nearly 47% and there are strong indications that this percentage will grow as the transformation of talent and work continues forward.

Additionally, 82% of all businesses state that the challenging times of 2020 created a bigger need for extended and non-employee talent. The past 12 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 the work done by the 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. The contingent workforce has become the foundation of workforce scalability, and rightfully so: businesses that survived 2020 and look forward to thriving in the second half of 2021 are actively harnessing the dynamic power of the agile workforce to get work done.

In its upcoming Future of Work Exchange Report for 2021 research study, we discovered that Best-in-Class organizations (top-performing enterprises based on a series of key workforce, quality, visibility, etc. metrics) are 32% more likely to tap into digital staffing outlets for talent acquisition needs. These solutions, which typically include talent marketplaces and talent communities/clouds, offer vetted and high-quality talent for either general positions or specific verticals (such as light industrial, engineering, graphic design, coding, etc.). These offerings are often considered 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 utilization of talent marketplaces and digital staffing outlets has increased by over 700% over the past six years, according to our research.

Ardent Partners recently published a definitive guide to the digital staffing and talent marketplace solutions arena, the 2021 Digital Staffing Marketplaces Technology Advisor. Click here to register and download your copy today. 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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