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General Insights

Four Predictions for the Future of Work in 2021

General InsightsTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Ardent Partners defines the “Future of Work” movement as a series of ideas across the talent, technology, and business transformation spectrum that augment how enterprises ultimately optimize how work is done. The challenging events of 2020 did not just stress the limits of business operations, but also accelerated key facets of the Future of Work movement; in fact, some key aspects of the “new normal” that enterprises face in 2021 are, in fact, innovative strategies and solutions that just several months ago were necessary approaches to survive in unprecedented times.

Several critical aspects of the Future of Work movement, amongst others, are crucial beacons of innovation that will assist enterprises in navigating through the initial, unsteady early months of the year ahead:

  • The (faster-than-expected) evolution of talent engagement and talent acquisition. Less than five years ago, only 12% of talent was engaged and sourced via “real-time” or “on-demand” means, such as digital staffing technology, tech-enabled talent marketplaces, and direct sourcing/talent pool-based programs. Today, that number hovers around a third (33%) of all talent engaged/acquired via real-time means, with a heavy increase expected as 2021 drags on. Ardent Partners expects, for instance, the utilization of direct sourcing strategies to increase threefold over the next 12 months, owed to the fact that talent pools (and their subsequent link to global enterprise recruitment streams) allow businesses to tap into “known and vetted” talent in an on-demand manner. Too, as businesses opt for less in-person interviews and a need for faster time-to-fill rates as a result of workforce scalability, other solutions, particularly talent marketplaces, will become critically important for shoring up the total workforce.
  • The acceleration of work optimization via true digital transformation. The concept of “digital transformation” has been part of business vernacular for several years, with many C-level executives (hello, CIO!) spearheading initiatives to digitally enhance specific (or all) enterprise processes for maximum optimization, speed, and efficiency. In 2020, businesses quickly experienced the pitfalls of social distancing and closed offices as scores of workers could not execute traditional and repeatable processes without access to a physical location (or, even worse: lack of access to archaic manual processes). Digital transformation in 2021 must be “table stakes” for the typical enterprise as the pandemic continues to disrupt live and in-person tactics.
  • The rise of flexibility-led leadership. 2020 was the most “human” year of the average business professional (and, thus far, 2021 will surely continue this trend). Pandemic-led anxiety, a lack of schooling or daycare (and the stress of remote learning), and general health concerns sat in constant alignment with the typical stressors of corporate life. Flexibility- and agility-led strategies were quickly employed (i.e., the agile workforce) during the initial phases of 2020’s challenging times, however, there was an undercurrent of another interesting attribute that quietly separated business leaders from one another: the rise of “empathy-led” leadership. Business leaders that led with an empathetic approach are the ones that will be able to build trust, confidence, and, most importantly of all, retention, within the ranks of their highly valued workforce. Converging empathy and agility into flexibility-led leadership allows business leaders to assist their workers during moments of need by providing more flexible work arrangements, measuring productivity by outcomes instead of hours worked, and, in general, being more inclusive of what is happening with the personal lives of their staff.
  • And…the biggest prediction of 2021: a critical spike in the utilization of the extended workforce. This prediction may have the biggest impact of all: the business world will draw the closest it has ever been to half of its total workforce comprised of non-employee and agile talent. As businesses employ staffing scalability with the optimism of vaccines and economic recovery ahead, the contingent workforce will become ever more critical in helping enterprises across the globe not only survive in these trying times, but also thrive as they seek to truly optimize how work is done.
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21 Thoughts for 2021: Future of Work Edition

General InsightsTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Below we have 21 thoughts for 2021 related to the Future of Work:

  1. Whether or not you despise terms such as “new normal” or “next normal,” most of 2021 for businesses will be spent dealing with 2020-esque issues on top of adapting to a “changed” world of work.
  2. To that effect, is it time for businesses to create a “Chief New Normal Officer” role?
  3. Before we even get started on technology and innovation, no business should be thinking about the optimization impact of automation without first reevaluating their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
  4. And, speaking of D&I, this idea traverses beyond merely checking a box: in 2021, more so than ever before, diversity and inclusion will be true competitive drivers in an increasingly-globalized economy.
  5. And let’s talk about that economy: businesses must know the difference between a weirdly-strong stock market and the reality of unemployment on the ground, and how this major gap will continue to affect the scalability of hiring in the first half of 2021.
  6. That word, scalability, means so much more than ever before. Businesses must equate scalability with agility if they want to thrive in yet another uncertain and unprecedented year.
  7. Procurement, meet HR. HR, meet procurement. Let’s make 2021 the year of true total talent management by blending the best attributes of each function!
  8. Pre-pandemic, direct sourcing was perhaps the hottest topic in the world of talent. Mid-pandemic, it proved to be an invaluable strategy in the face of hiring uncertainty. In 2021, direct sourcing continues this push…and every organization should implement some measure of talent pool development if they haven’t done so already.
  9. Also, on that topic: businesses should understand that direct sourcing automation (i.e., true direct sourcing platforms) and branded direct sourcing services (ala MSP-like services) will be the solutions that push direct sourcing even further in the year ahead.
  10. Supply chain disruptions were expected to occur even before the pandemic hit due to escalating trade tensions around the world. With the pandemic’s unprecedented disruptions upsetting the world’s global supply chain, there were major lessons to be learned. Old-school and traditional supply chains are now primed for touchless, agile, and AI-led processes to improve the overall flow of goods and products.
  11. Another ramification of the pandemic? “The biggest remote work experiment in global history.” Now that we’re nearly 10 months removed from the initial shock of the “work-from-anywhere” approach, businesses are finding that productivity hasn’t waned, but rather been enhanced due to a lack of unnecessary in-person meetings, long commutes, etc.
  12. And there’s so much more to the remote work revolution than just acceptance and implementation of WFH approaches: embracing the work-from-anywhere model is just the initial step. Business leaders must optimize the remote work infrastructure through unified communications and more innovative collaborative tools, like virtual reality. While I’m not advocating for every business to create video-game-like VR environments for their workplaces, slowly integrating similar technologies into the remote infrastructure should help boost the overall employee experience, even if they’re at home.
  13. Speaking of business leaders: leadership must change in 2021. It’s not an option. 2020 was an unprecedented year (take a shot, those still playing 2020 bingo!) and many facets of traditional corporate leadership were tested beyond their limits. Flexibility and empathy should be the foundational elements of business leadership not just in 2021, but also moving forward.
  14. I understand that it can be difficult for business leaders to give more of their patience in the year ahead. However, the one common element of the pandemic was that it affected everyone…meaning that white-collar and blue-collar workers alike experienced similar hardships, such as a lack of daycare due to remote or closed schools. Talent is a company’s #1 competitive differentiator, so: business leaders, do what you can to lead with an empathetic approach if you want to keep that talent.
  15. The “talent experience” was an incredible facet of the pre-pandemic business world, and, if there’s one attribute of life in 2019 that should make a return to 2021 it’s the overall experience of all types of work (both FTEs and non-employees). Individuals with unique or advanced skillsets will have amazing opportunities as the world gets back to a steady state; therefore, it is imperative that businesses do all that they can do to keep their highly-valued workers on-board through robust talent experience efforts.
  16. There’s another concept with the word “talent” in it that is oft-overlooked: talent sustainability. Businesses already understand the value of both agility and flexibility in regard to their staffing and workforce initiatives. However, what happens if principles such as talent redeployment, talent pools, and direct sourcing become even more integrated into the realm of agile talent? The answer: a sustainable, “redeployable,” and agile stream of talent that is leveraged as needed in a dynamic manner.
  17. The elephant in the conference room: do businesses mandate that their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it is available for their age group (besides the front line, of course)? Can businesses even mandate something like this? Expect this conversation to occur soon if it hasn’t yet already.
  18. We haven’t even discussed data yet! Wow. Well, to no one’s surprise: data and intelligence are going to be critical in a post-COVID world. Businesses must do whatever they can, and, of course, harness the power of innovation and automation, to gain as much visibility into their total workforce as possible. Not only is “total talent intelligence” a gateway to the realm of total talent management, but it will also help business leaders (hello HR, hello procurement) understand where their workers are, what they are working on, and any compliance risks that are apparent. Also, in a public health-conscious environment, businesses can leverage total talent intelligence to move on-site work to remote if needed (and vice versa) and measure global locations in relation to virus hotspots and more.
  19. Another discussion about data: in 2019, news regarding artificial intelligence and machine learning ruled the business realm. This, of course, took a backseat over the past year. Businesses lightly understood the value of bringing AI into how they execute strategic talent, staffing, and workforce decisions, however, 2021 is the year that AI is fully ensconced into both contingent workforce management and talent acquisition. Businesses must harness the power of AI to better understand how to attract passive candidates, the markets in which to target, and the variability around skillsets and expertise around the world.
  20. If you read the news (how can you not?), the early weeks of 2021 are literally an extension of 2020. However, the one major difference: there is more hope. There is optimism. The fantastic Angela Rasmussen said on Twitter: there is a light at the top as we continue to climb up from the dark well that was 2020. There will be hard work ahead, but we must keep climbing. We know these times will soon get better, that the darkness will subside. It’ll just take some time; and, that is what business leaders around the globe must drill into their minds: that we’ve already spent nearly a year living in the strangest of times and that the end is in sight. Hope and optimism can be incredible levers when the collective personal, social, and business realms are already exhausted.
  21. Finally: if there’s anything that we learned from 2020, it’s that businesses should expect the unexpected, that the steady ground we seek from the past is still a bit shaky from the experiences of the past 12 months. Innovative thinking can be a force to get through these challenging times. Looking ahead, the Future of Work movement has so much to offer from strategic, talent, staffing, technology, and business transformation perspectives. In 2021, businesses will get back to doing what they do best: optimizing how work is done.
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