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Talent Experts on FOWX — The Current and Future State of Direct Sourcing and More

Our “Talent Expert Series” on FOWX features podcast excerpts of today’s Future of Work thought leaders who appear on The Future of Work Exchange Podcast. The series continues with an excerpt from Season 7, Episode 15 featuring Christy Forest, CEO and Executive Director at LiveHire, who discussed the current state of direct sourcing, the future of this high-impact strategy, the reality of total talent management, and much more.

Click to listen to the full interview. Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.

Christopher Dwyer: For this week’s edition of The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome Christy Forest, CEO and executive director at LiveHire, for a discussion about the current and future state of direct sourcing, the role of skills-based hiring, and the ever-decisive concept of total talent management.

Christy, you’ve been in our space for a long time and have first-hand knowledge and expertise in our industry. Things are evolving rapidly, particularly workforce technologies which are very transformative these days. What are your thoughts on the workforce solutions market in general?

Christy Forest: The workforce solutions market is constantly evolving. It is this intermix of technology and humanity and all these different players in the ecosystem. Today, we’re seeing some structural shifts in skills coming through. And that’s about as old as time in how often that occurs. However, what’s different is that everything truly happens faster. It’s all about agility for corporates. We experienced this with COVID-19 in such a short period where some companies boomed and others busted. Presently, even if hiring is down, it’s the opportunity to adopt approaches that ready you for the rebound.

Organizations just keep pedaling hard and fast. And the workforce solutions industry is evolving rapidly to keep pace with that. We’re at a moment where executives are asking how they can move faster and smarter and evolve their organizations in the face of such change. Looking at the workforce solutions market through the lens of technology, it’s about what gives you visibility and data for insight to make good decisions as well as what gives you candidate and staff engagement because the (candidate and employee) power has shifted forever. It’s not going back. I think about those three things — the insights from data for better decisions, the engagement, and the speed of outcomes — that’s agility. Executives who are thinking about how they’re transforming in the face of change and partnering across the ecosystem are experiencing the evolution firsthand.

CD: Let’s shift now to direct sourcing. Data, intelligence, agility, and scalability are all hallmarks of direct sourcing. LiveHire has been a direct sourcing pioneer for over a decade. Where are we at with direct sourcing from a place of technology, maturity, and the like?

CF:  It’s certainly been interesting to see the maturity and the evolution. One of the great things is the convergence on the definition of direct sourcing, which is a milestone in many ways. Along with this is also the commitment to scale when undertaking direct sourcing — it is not solely about cost savings. Scaling is so important and powerful.

At LiveHire, we make data-driven decisions and consider how our technology faces off at scale and delivers outcomes. For one client, we built a talent community of nearly 100,000 candidates within a year. Achieving a powerful talent community gives you quality and scale. When thinking about direct sourcing at scale and how our technology faces off, we’re constantly interrogating our data and examining it at a precise level  level — how to achieve stronger recruiter productivity and candidate experience. Doing so at scale is what leads to corporate results.

CD: Defining direct sourcing is not straightforward. Simply having a curation partner or technology to build talent communities is not enough for a successful direct sourcing program. You need more than that. How can businesses be truly successful at direct sourcing?

CF: You first need to focus on the fundamentals. Be clear about direct sourcing and that it’s more than redeployment in a small part of your talent program. It is leveraging your brand at scale. There are three legs of the stool widely discussed: technology, a curation partner, and an EOR. You must have those pieces of the puzzle. However, go the next step and be willing to engage the hiring managers and drive an expectation and commitment to the program to establish a priority window and help the organization feel confident as the talent pools build and scale. We have found that an MSP can be a very strong partner in this effort. TAPFIN leads and champions this for its clients and does it very well. Having that dialog and success conversation that’s led by the data and insights relative to the talent in the pools is vital. Those are the biggest factors we’ve seen.

CD: As we look at the future of direct sourcing, where does it go from here? And why does it go there?

CF: The future needed now is if you’re not doing direct sourcing using your brand and adopting it at scale, then start there. Create a world where stronger candidates fit with the organization as well as offer a better experience for the candidate and hiring manager — and do it with cost savings in mind. What evolves from that is more data and insight into the potential of your workforce. The  question is how do we use this information to lift our competitiveness? This opens an opportunity for HR and procurement to come together in a powerful way to answer that question. Ultimately, you want to bring those answers to the executive committee and the board showing how direct sourcing increased the enterprise’s competitiveness by being smarter with the data available and knowing what needs development to win. Candidate pools, skills, and on-demand insights help lead that conversation. This ultimately takes us back full circle to where you’ve got agility.

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The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 715: A Conversation With Christy Forest, CEO and Executive Director at LiveHire

The Future of Work Exchange Podcast welcomes Christy Forest, CEO and Executive Director at LiveHire, to discuss the current state of direct sourcing, the future of this high-impact strategy, the reality of total talent management, and much more.

This week’s podcast, sponsored by Worksuite, also highlights the importance of “balance” between human-centricity and digital evolution.

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Talent Experts on FOWX — Trends and Strategies in 2024

Our “Talent Expert Series” on FOWX features podcast excerpts of today’s Future of Work thought leaders who appear on The Future of Work Exchange Podcast. The series continues with an excerpt from Season 7, Episode 14 featuring Jen Torney, Global Vice President of Client Experience and Partnerships for Talent Solution TAPFIN, and Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP of Market Strategies for Beeline, as they discuss talent trends and strategies for 2024.

Click to listen to the full interview. Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.

Chris Dwyer: Jen and Brian, thank you so much for joining me today. Before we jump into 2024, what surprised you most about 2023?

Brian Hoffmeyer: Good question. It means you think we’ve been doing this for so long that nothing surprises us anymore. One interesting thing is that Beeline is pushing heavily into what we call the mid-market, which are smaller companies with under a billion in corporate revenue. What’s been surprising and educational are the needs of mid-market companies and how similar they are to larger enterprises we’ve worked with around contingent labor. The mid-market is using more contingent labor and looking to balance cost, quality, and how long it takes to find people. So, there are similarities there. Equally interesting is how the mid-market is looking for this very turnkey, fast-to-deploy, nimble solution. That’s been very educational for everyone.

Jen Torney: Those are great points, Brian. Two things surprised me most. The first was a disappointment. With the legislation we saw in 2023 around affirmative action and the pace of change around diversity, the attention toward it is evolving. Thankfully, there are a lot of champions in the industry making sure there’s still a focus on diversity.

The second was the chaos of the economy and the impact on our clients’ workforces. There were layoffs, then rehiring, then layoffs. It’s never been that unpredictable. It was a lot of change, which shouldn’t be all that surprising with the last couple of years we’ve had. But the unpredictability that happened was interesting.

CD: As we move through 2024, what are your biggest predictions for the year?

BH: We’re going to see real total talent management start to happen and I’m excited about that. I also believe we’re going to see an AI correction if you will, where companies are realizing that the providers they’re relying on are not using AI in the right way and exposing them to risk. And because areas like large language models (LLMs) are growing so quickly in a variety of industries, we can expect some form of regulation put around them. This is already occurring in the EU.

JT: I couldn’t agree more on the AI aspect. There’s a sort of false understanding of what providers are even doing with AI. There’s a lot of hyperbole. In terms of predictions, I’m going to throw my hat in the ring and say there won’t be a recession … but maybe a slow recovery. I may very well be wrong. It might still be a tricky year. I do think there’s going to be more mergers and acquisitions activity. We’re already seeing some acquisitions. In this type of economy, with the 2023 books closed, there will be more acquisitions in the market.  

CD: I have dual questions here. Where do both technology and services go in 2024? We’ll begin with Jen and managed services.   

JT: I’ll be so bold as to say some of the work we’ve been doing with our partners, Beeline specifically, will begin to converge and intertwine with what we do with our core technology partners. Some of the direction that MSPs are going is becoming more outcome-based focused and less processing management. We have so much expertise to lend and truly believe that organizations are seeking advisory direction and support — particularly on supply and procurement strategy. In addition to recommending a supplier, it’s more about how you are buying and understanding the right strategy to engage and achieve the most value for what you’re trying to drive toward. That’s going to be a big but slow shift.

BH: We’ve started this evolution of who Beeline is because of the new things we have rolling out. We have products that are available to serve parts of the market we have never had before. That will continue. It’s part of what we want to be, which is offering great experiences and products for every persona involved in contingent labor. We’re already doing that with Beeline Professional, our solution for the mid-market, as well as some of the work we’re doing with suppliers that I’m incredibly excited about.      

CD: We’ve talked about what surprised us and some 2024 predictions. Let’s close with what each of you would to see most in 2024 — not what you expect to happen — but what you would most like to see.

JT: I have two. The first is I’d like to see Beeline top its 80s party from the CWS Summit. Very much looking forward to that. My real honest answer, and not to sound beauty pageantry, is I’d love to see more world peace. 2023 was a volatile year concerning civil unrest. There’s nothing more I’d like to see than some of that quiet down. I know that’s probably not realistic to see it completely resolved, but that’s my utopian answer.

BH: Challenge accepted for the Beeline party. My answer was going to be similar. The word I’d use is normalcy. We had two-and-a-half years of the pandemic. And 2023 with economic uncertainty, the war in Ukraine for the last few years, and what’s going on in Gaza. We’re now in a year of a political presidential election cycle that’s going to be horrible, no matter what side you’re on. I would just like to see normalcy and civility. I’ve always loved the saying, “moderation in all things, including moderation.”

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Talent Experts on FOWX — Evolution of Staffing and Growth of Extended Workforce

Our “Talent Expert Series” on FOWX features podcast excerpts of today’s Future of Work thought leaders who appear on The Future of Work Exchange Podcast. The series kicks off with an excerpt from Season 7, Episode 12 featuring Kara Kaplan, CEO of High5, as she discusses a range of topics from the evolution of staffing to the growth in the extended enterprise to the next stage of direct sourcing.

Click to listen to the full interview. Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.

Christopher Dwyer: Let’s begin with your general insights into the staffing industry, especially given your unique vantage point with High5. When you think of the evolution of staffing and the rise and continued growth of the extended workforce, where are we today?

Kara Kaplan: For starters, the evolution of staffing and the emergence of the extended workforce has ushered in this profound transformation that we’re seeing. It’s a fundamental shift in how companies view and engage with talent. The traditional employment model has been supplemented and, in some cases, supplanted by an extended workforce. Thus, you see many organizations today, if not most, embracing the extended workforce as an integral component of their talent strategy.

And when we look at the term “employee” in general, it’s really evolving with these new models. You have everything from full-time, part-time, contract, gig, remote, hybrid, shared and other terms emerging. Those organizations that rigidly stick to the traditional relationship are going to find themselves fighting an uphill battle. Conversely, enterprises that appreciate and use a mix of workforce models will ultimately be the ones that succeed and have access to more talent and better talent.

It’s more of an adaptation to the new global economy that we now live in and all the complexities and opportunities that are part and parcel of that global shift. At the end of the day, organizations need to embrace this evolution not as an option but more as a strategic imperative. The exciting thing is that organizations are starting to do that.

CD: There is definitely a talent revolution occurring and obviously companies like High 5 fit into that. However, how do you see companies like High5 and other digital staffing platforms fitting into this change in talent acquisition?

KK: Today’s talent revolution signifies a profound shift in how organizations acquire and engage talent. We’re seeing it become much more commoditized. Talent is more dynamic and diverse, as well as more digitally connected than ever before. With the rise of talent marketplaces and digital staffing solutions, they’ve been instrumental in reshaping talent acquisition strategies and truly enabling organizations to adapt and thrive in this global landscape.

At their core, talent marketplaces democratized new access to a global pool of talent. These platforms are empowering organizations to source talent with levels of speed and accuracy that were not possible just a short time ago. For example, in the recent past, when working with many staffing agencies, there was a significant amount of manual effort required in matching a worker with a shift — even if they had a robust ATS, it would only benefit them to a degree. However, today’s digital staffing solutions driven by artificial intelligence and automation have redefined the recruitment process and streamlined nearly everything from candidate sourcing to screening to onboarding and payrolling. It saves a vast amount of time and resources.

CD: In our industry when you think about digital staffing, what comes to mind is BMS, MSP, direct sourcing, total talent, workforce management technology, and artificial intelligence. AI has moved beyond hype and is generally accepted as table stakes in our industry. What are your views on AI and its impact?

KK: To your point, we can’t have this conversation without talking about generative AI and what it means. However, the idea that AI is table stakes for competitive differentiation may be overly simplistic. While AI can undoubtedly provide a significant edge, it’s not a cure-all as companies are seeing. Enterprises still have to remain focused on their core offerings and the human aspect of talent as well as customer relationships to build a sustainable competitive advantage. It’s certainly an exciting time for AI but also a scary one as well. AI is not going away and we’ll continue to hear frequently about the technology, but going forward we need to think about AI in the right way and in the smart way.

CD: Let’s pivot to direct sourcing which was gaining momentum even before the pandemic and is now another table-stakes strategy for businesses if they want to deepen their talent pool and scale their workforce. There’s so much more to direct sourcing than simply contingent recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). With that in mind, where do you see direct sourcing heading?

KK: So much has changed in just the year since I started High5. There’s no doubt that direct sourcing has emerged as a pivotal force in recruiting and is definitely here to stay. There are sessions at major conferences dedicated to direct sourcing with brands like Northern Trust, Toyota, and Meta espousing its benefits. When that starts to happen, the more prominence direct sourcing will have. Clearly, in terms of the future of direct sourcing, the benefits are there. However, its adoption will require an education process. Anytime an education process is involved, it’s going to slow things down, particularly from a sales cycle perspective, but that process plays a vital role in ensuring that organizations realize the efficacy of direct sourcing. To be successful means ensuring that best practices are being followed. When direct sourcing initiatives fail, it’s because they didn’t follow best practices. Again, I’m extremely bullish on the future of direct sourcing, but I do think it will take some time for that education to catch up.

CD: Before we wrap up, 2023 is quickly coming to an end. What do you see on the horizon in the year ahead?

KK: I wish I had a crystal ball. For us, 2024 is about strengthening our position in the market. Being known as the “tech first” company, we’re making heavy investments in our tech enablement, our marketplace, and our other platforms. We have a great deal of excitement around some of our recent tech acquisitions and the compelling value proposition that creates for us going forward.

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The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 714: A Conversation With Jen Torney (Talent Solutions TAPFIN) and Brian Hoffmeyer (Beeline)

The Future of Work Exchange ends 2023 with a fun conversation featuring Talent Solution TAPFIN‘s Global Vice President of Client Experience and Partnerships, Jen Torney, and Beeline‘s SVP of Market Strategies, Brian Hoffmeyer. We chat about the major trends that shaped 2023 and look ahead to which strategies, concepts, ideas, and technology will impact the year ahead.

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The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 713: A Conversation with Matt Ryan, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Upwork

The Future of Work Exchange welcomes Matt Ryan, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Upwork, to discuss the company’s new partnerships, the future of digital staffing, the state of workforce solutions, and much more. We also chat about the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on talent engagement and talent acquisition, how the workforce continues to evolve, and the growth of the extended workforce.

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DE&I and Balancing Business and Human Imperatives

The Future of Work movement would not be what it is without Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) playing a significant part in the paradigm. A decade ago, diversity was associated more with supplier initiatives focused on Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses. The term has evolved and expanded into DE&I where the human element is now the priority.

A recent Future of Work Exchange Podcast hosted by Christopher Dwyer, managing director for FOWX, featured Rocki Howard, chief equity and impact officer for The Mom Project, who discussed the role and impact of DE&I on the Future of Work movement.

The Mom Project is a digital talent and community platform serving 1.2 million users (the majority being moms as well as over 3,000 companies from small- to medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500).

This article recaps some of that discussion. Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.

Christopher Dwyer: While the Future of Work relies on technology and innovation, it also brings focus to the humanity of the worker. Workers crave flexibility — not just work-life balance — but also work-life integration. Describe what the renewed interest in workers being people not just commodities means to you.

Rocki Howard: Often when I’m speaking and coaching about diversity initiatives and what makes them sustainable, there are two core components to consider. You have to consider diversity as a business imperative and as a human imperative. When I made the purposeful pivot in my career to focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), one of the things I found was that many companies were focused on the systemic issues that take place or that need to be fixed and then take place. And that is critical and important, and we have to do it.

But one of the things that I was extremely disappointed by was the lack of conversations that were happening around people. Not talking about what is the experience for Rocki Howard as she works for company XYZ and how that should impact how we are recalibrating our systems at work and how we treat people. Because there has been a power shift in terms of the world of work. Employers used to hold all the power. That’s no longer the case. There needs to be a partnership.

Quite frankly, that’s one of the reasons I came to work for The Mom Project. Our mission is always about people. We’re always talking about mom and how we can support mom. Even when we think internally at The Mom Project, we listen to the voices of the people who work for us. We’re not trying to create systems or programs in a checkbox or in a performative way.

Even as we partner with organizations, we are looking for those who have respectful workplaces and respect the voices of moms and their dual working status. It can’t just be the business imperative. The human imperative has to be there as well. For companies that are going to get this right, it can’t be just about the human imperative either. There has to be a balance between the business imperative and the human imperative.

CD: There are many organizations that have their hearts in the right place, but they don’t know where to start with a DE&I initiative. They want to be more diverse in the way they think as well as have more diverse voices in their organization, while also being more inclusive. Based on your vast experience, knowledge, and expertise, how should businesses recalibrate the way they think about DE&I?

RH: I could talk for hours on this topic. First, you need to start with an honest assessment of what diversity means within your particular culture. Begin with the end in mind. When you define success in your organization, what does that look like? What pillars of diversity do you want to focus on? Have you talked with your employees? When I started at The Mom Project, I spent significant time doing focus groups with various employees asking questions about how authentic they thought our initiatives were. What did they want to see? What was important to them? What would make them proud as we move forward? I don’t think we spend enough time doing this. Often, we fall into comparison syndrome where if X company is approaching diversity a certain way, then we should be doing that. But that may not be what works for your specific environment.

Second, I think we need to start moving towards integrated DEIB solutioning. There’s been a tremendous amount of focus on DEIB during the recruiting cycle, but we haven’t moved beyond that through the talent management lifecycle. That’s important for us to do. One of my clients once said they couldn’t recruit their way out of the problem. However, if they’re not thinking about the experience throughout the lifecycle, then they’re not going to reach equity, inclusion, and belonging. They won’t see successful sustainable initiatives as a result.

Lastly, DEIB is not a singular “problem to solve.” We need to be more collaborative. It is not something that can be solved by one person or one company as a competitive advantage. Coming together as a global community as we work together to solve this is going to be important as will leaning on partnerships with organizations like The Mom Project. Everyone has a role to play. And no one can be removed from the conversation. When I think of companies that are at the starting line, those are the conversations to get started. And then you drive everything else from there.

CD: When we look at the landscape (i.e., workforce solutions and the talent acquisition industry) a year from now, where do you feel DE&I and diversity as a whole will be?

RH: That question is one that keeps me up at night. We’re starting to see an erosion of diversity resources, whether it’s people, money, or time resources. But what I’m really hopeful of is that we’re not going to take steps back. Collectively, I think society and our communities are going to hold us accountable for the promises that we’ve made to continue to move forward. If there’s one hope I have for DEIB initiatives moving forward, is that we crack the frozen middle. Many times where diversity initiatives go to die within our organizations is at middle management. What I’d like to see is for us to crack that frozen middle and get our middle managers involved and integrated into being inclusive leaders. I think the leadership framework must change. And we must crack that frozen middle in order to have real impact. That’s what I’m hoping we will see moving forward.

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The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 710: A Conversation With Cara Kresge, VP of Workforce Advisory at HireGenics

Another all-new edition of the Future of Work Exchange Podcast features a discussion with Cara Kresge, Vice President of Workforce Advisory at HireGenics. Cara and I chat about the impact of return-to-office (RTO) mandates on employee engagement, the evolution of the MSP model, the future of the labor market, and much, much more.

This week’s podcast also highlights business leadership lessons learned from coaching little league baseball, including empathy-led management styles and the importance of “cheerleading.”

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The Future of Work Exchange Podcast, Episode 709: A Conversation with Vanessa Miller, VP of Strategic Alliances at Graphite

This week’s all-new Future of Work Exchange Podcast welcomes Vanessa Miller, VP of Strategic Alliances at Graphite. Vanessa and I discuss the impact of omni-channel acquisition, the critical role of expert networks in today’s Future of Work movement, the power of digital staffing, and much more.

In addition, this week’s podcast highlights how rigid remote work policies and return-to-office mandates are critically harming talent retention, recruitment, and employee engagement.

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