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Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Need to Be Core Future of Work Tenets, Part II

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Last week’s article discussed why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) should be considered core tenets of the Future of Work movement. Although the Future of Work is often synonymous with automation- and innovation-led attributes, the truth is that strategy-fueled principles are just as critical as their technological counterparts. As we wrote last week:

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion represent, perhaps, the most important of these strategy-led Future of Work tenets and deserve a rightful place in the pantheon of work optimization approaches. Diverse workforces, inclusive workplaces, and an overall environment of equity can pay massive dividends for businesses seeking to spark innovation within their total talent community.”

I once again spoke with several technology leaders across the contingent workforce, digital staffing, and HR arenas for their unique perspectives on DE&I as core Future of Work tenets:

Jody Mohammed, Vice President, Partnerships and Solutions, Geometric Results, Inc. (GRI)

“DE&I is no longer considered buzzword bingo but rather this important initiative has elevated to a business imperative. This essential, crucial focus has the attention of the C-Suite and we see enormous investment in hiring not only DE&I leaders to establish policies but the importance of partnering with talent partner organizations that deliver against the goals. Companies now expect their partners to deliver a diversified workforce and provide the data to demonstrate trends/progress. Simultaneously, top talent is assessing an organization’s DE&I DNA and when evidence is presented, it is much easier to attract and retain talent. We see significant investment dollars in this important area and know it’s a journey. By engaging with talent partners who are committed and have a mature strategy of attracting and hiring diverse talent, we are contributing to the client’s goals and objectives. Clients’ internal focus, commitment, and training on DE&I means they are better equipped to recognize signs of bias and exclusion and act. This concerted effort to design policies within our clients is delivering teams that diverse in their thoughts which is netting greater innovation, a positive brand and culture.”

Judy Ellis, Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory (Americas), AMS

“There’s no denying that business leaders are placing a greater emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within their workforces. When we consider the future of work, leaders will need to adapt and evolve their talent acquisition strategies to take into account not only the make-up of the workforce of tomorrow, but also what each segment seeks from a potential employer. Changing demographics will be an extremely important consideration in the ‘Future of Work’ movement and, as a result, dynamic workplace strategies will be needed to manage the changing expectations of future talent which will skew across each new generation. Younger generations, for example, are more in tune with an employers’ brand, mission and vision, and a commitment to DEI will be a key influencer in affinity for prospective employers. And if we look at demographic predictions from the Economic Policy Institute, which predicts that by 2032 people of color will become a majority of the American working class, employers will also have to adapt their strategies to reflect this. As groups that were once underrepresented look likely to become the majority of the workforce, their unique needs, perspectives, and contributions will have even more importance and therefore must be considered in future talent acquisition strategies.”

“With the rise of contingent populations, business leaders will also need to take this growing segment of the workforce into consideration when developing future strategies. Many of our clients are actively doing so and there is certainly a deeper appreciation for how diversity within contingent populations can positively impact diversity within permanent employee groups. This is not only because of the propensity for contractor conversion – which allows workers to almost ‘test’ a company’s culture – but also because in some leading organizations there are more contingent resources than permanent employees. Consequently, at a time when different segments of the workforce – including emerging generations and underrepresented groups – are undoubtedly placing culture and a clear commitment to DEI as key requisites of a future employer, employers must ensure that their workplace strategies reflect this.”

Catherine Candland, President, nextSource

As a certified woman-owned business enterprise, diversity and inclusion is always front of mind at nextSource.   We strive to provide an inclusive culture within nextSource, where 45% of our staff identify themselves as being members of a diversity category.  We actively recruit MWBE, Disadvantaged Small Business, and Veteran-Owned suppliers.  nextSource has for many years conducted a supplier diversity nurturing program in which we leverage our buying power to increase the competitiveness of minority suppliers, encourage customers to automatically include diversity suppliers for Tier 1 distribution, and we share market intelligence data and business development leads.  To ensure candidate diversity, we launched a Community Workforce Development program to recruit and place workers from within disadvantaged neighborhoods.  We assign a community liaison who partners with representatives from community/civic organizations, business groups, churches, technology centers, educational institutions, cultural centers, local media, and government agencies. And, we work closely with each client to ensure the smooth transition of minority candidates into their workforce. 

However, we recognize that achieving a truly diverse, inclusive culture does not happen without continuous focus and innovative initiatives.  We conduct internal training to ensure that our staff has the knowledge and skills needed to manage culturally and demographically diverse groups.  We then serve as diversity advocates with our clients, helping to build programs that work effectively across differences and support diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Rasmus Pedersen, VP Customer Experience, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Pontoon

“At Pontoon, we help our customers activate their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategies by providing candidates who are representative of the communities our customers serve. When our customers have an inclusive culture where people can truly bring their full self to work, our ability to attract diverse talent increases dramatically, as does our customers’ ability to innovate.”

“You cannot talk about innovation without also discussing diversity. At its core, innovation is about serving the unmet need of your customer base, current or future. To enable innovation, you must ensure your workforce is representative of the communities you serve and the customer base you pursue.”

Kevin Poll, Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, D&I Champion, WillHire

“By 2023, over 52% of the workforce will be made up of freelancers. With this being such a large portion of an organization’s total workforce, those organizations which are committed to D&I must consider their diversity and inclusion strategies across all categories of workers.”

“Millennials will dominate the workforce by 2025 (75%) and most of them prioritize diversity when evaluating work engagements.  We have all heard the phrase “war for talent” and recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion to the talent supply chain is critical to attract and engage great talent.”

Nina G. Vaca, Chairman and CEO, Pinnacle Group

“In addition to DE&I being the right thing to do – always and forever – there are three critical reasons to include it as a core tenet in the Future of Work movement. First, it upgrades your talent. Second, it makes you a more desirable place to work. Third, more diverse organizations consistently outperform their peers. I simply can’t think of a more obvious strategic imperative for any organization than to elevate its DE&I strategy.”

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Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Need to Be Core Future of Work Tenets, Part I

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

If you’ve listened to the Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast over the past few years, you may have heard me utter this phrase many times: when it comes to the Future of Work movement, non-technological attributes are just as critical as technology and innovation. Aspects like flexible business thinking, transformative leadership, and an overall agile culture can be just as crucial to an enterprise as the new technology they leverage to get work done.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion represent, perhaps, the most important of these strategy-led Future of Work tenets and deserve a rightful place in the pantheon of work optimization approaches. Diverse workforces, inclusive workplaces, and an overall environment of equity can pay massive dividends for businesses seeking to spark innovation within their total talent community.

I spoke with several technology leaders across the contingent workforce, digital staffing, and HR arenas for their unique perspectives on DE&I as core Future of Work tenets:

Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP of Market Strategies, Beeline

“Leaders should place the same (or – frankly – more) emphasis on DE&I when compared to other Future of Work topics because, first and foremost, it is the right thing to do; we believe that companies and individuals have an imperative to ensure that historically underrepresented people are treated inclusively and equitably. Second, diverse teams win – study after study shows that more diverse teams and companies out-innovate and outperform those who are not. Finally, based on the first two reasons, there is so much opportunity to drive DE&I initiatives in the extended workforce as these programs often lag their full-time counterparts and companies can more quickly hit their DE&I goals due to the transitive nature of this critical part of the workforce.”

Allison Robinson, Founder and CEO, The Mom Project

“By 2025, millennials will make up 75% of the workforce, and they are the most diverse in American history. If you aren’t actively creating a diverse and inclusive environment for future talent that is front and center in every aspect of your business and culture, you will miss out on this talent. Technology investment and digital transformations mean little without the commitment to a more diverse workforce behind them to drive results.”

David Trachtenberg, Chief Marketing Officer, Workforce Logiq

“For too long, organizations have focused their DE&I programs on dollar diversity – their percentage of spend with diverse suppliers. While important, there must be equality of focus on an organization’s most critical asset: its people. An organization’s talent, both contingent and full-time, must reflect the broader sense of community in which it works – and from which it recruits. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s good for business. For example, our proprietary AI-powered insights quantify how visibility in the workplace impacts employee retention: women are over 1.5X more at risk and open to leaving their current role vs. their male counterparts when there are fewer women colleagues represented in their workplace. So, while technology, innovation and other Future of Work aspects are key areas of focus – DE&I is a proven investment to ensure organizations have the engaged talent with which to succeed.”

Rebecca Perrault, Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion, PRO Unlimited

“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) has been a topic for the traditional workforce for decades. Research has shown that a diverse and inclusive workplace increases revenue growth and the ability to innovate gives you access to highly qualified talent. Ultimately, we are talking about dynamics that impact people and will see the same amazing results from a focus on DE&I in the workforce of the future. It is long overdue that the contingent workforce be included. The workforce of the future is rapidly expanding and presents a huge opportunity for organizations as they consider their business strategies. Now is the time to embed DE&I —  not after the processes have been instituted. To fully realize all the many benefits of DE&I, we need to seize this opportunity.”

Brooke Stovall, Inclusion and Diversity Marketplace Manager, Allegis Global Solutions

“A strong DEI strategy is vital to an organization’s ability to attract and retain great talent. And in the Future of Work, your ability to leverage technology, innovate and evolve at today’s accelerated pace of change hinges on your ability to attract and retain a talented and engaged workforce.

The challenge that arises from bringing DEI into the conversation as a core tenet of the Future of Work movement is that unlike a lot of conversations around technology and innovation, DEI cannot be automated. Developing, nurturing and prioritizing a truly inclusive culture that prioritizes belonging takes sweat equity. It involves conversations and evaluating processes and cultural norms, and bringing DEI into more conversations beyond HR.

Globally, the DEI conversation has expanded from a focus on talent attraction – sourcing, networking, recruiting – to talent retention. It is not enough to bring diverse hires through the door, if the environment and culture they’re coming into isn’t one that prioritizes inclusion and belonging, which are core to the employee experience. It is a financial and time investment to hire someone, you want (and need) them to be successful.

A challenge to business leaders emphasizing DEI like other aspects of the Future of Work, is that you can’t automate or purchase a technology to do all of the work for you. While quantitative and qualitative data and analysis is required to identify gaps and opportunities, and help you track progress, the real work on inclusion and belonging in the workplace requires sweat equity from people across the organization. Inclusion and belonging is everyone’s responsibility, requiring active participation from the highest levels of the company to people a few desks over.”

Maria Luoni, President, RightSourcing

“The past few years have brought to the forefront that a focus on diversity is only part of the equation.  Inclusion is another. Both of these concepts will remain a top focus for organizations in years to come.  Equity is something altogether different. Many innovative organizations are also focusing on the idea of “equity” as part of their overall strategy. This focus in the workplace will be a magnified topic as organizations are being called to operate with a deeper level of transparency around compensation reporting, board representation, harassment reporting, advancement and other talent management practices.”

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

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

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

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

Murali Mazhavanchery, VP of Product, Utmost

“The Future of Work is here. Clearly, we now know that new business models and workforce dynamics are needed – and that means almost all of what we know is not useful. Agility in all dimensions is the only certainty – and that starts with the talent to run these businesses. What is the talent profile I need, how much, when, and where do I need them, and what do they cost? The organizations that thrive in 2021 and beyond will be the ones that embrace flexibility in talent – using a mix of employees and extended workforce, direct employment, direct sourcing, staff augmentation, and strategic services – and have extreme elasticity in logistics such as location, hours, and qualifications. This requires enterprises to define a continuous, always-on process that involves multiple channels, pipelines, and worker scenarios. To enable this transformation, there’s an acute need right now for modern, purpose-built technology that manages large ecosystems of workers and worker channels that each look and act very differently.”

Geoff Dubiski, Chief Solutions Officer, Workforce Logiq

“Leveraging a unified brand, remote and agile work engagements, and the prospect of a boundary-less talent pool – Contingent, FT, and Gig – allows organizations to challenge traditional hiring mindsets; the benefits of total talent acquisition is closer than you think.”

Sunil Bagai, CEO, Crowdstaffing

“We are seeing trends that businesses are increasing their use of direct sourcing to take advantage of their existing talent pools like their Career Website, ATS, Alumni and Referral Networks, and Silver Medalists, as well as extend their reach into additional talent pools like online marketplaces, job boards and other digital sources to more effectively search for the right candidates across a variety of available talent pools. Not only does direct sourcing improve hiring outcomes, but it provides tangible cost savings.”

Mike Wachholz, CEO, Geometric Results, Inc. (GRI)

“As organizations wrestle with the “post-pandemic” work paradigm, those companies that are best positioned to bring relevant jobs at the right moment to candidates will win the competition for top talent. In addition to flexibility in work location, and perhaps more importantly, is how organizations find, engage, vet, and attract the right talent. By leveraging a Direct Sourcing model and proactively developing and cultivating private talent pools, companies will be on the front foot in 2021 when it comes to talent engagement.”

Chris Johnson, Director of Industry Strategy, Checkr

“Jeff Bezos once said, “Customers are always beautifully, wonderfully dissatisfied. Even when they don’t yet know it, customers want something better, and your desire to delight customers will drive you to invent on their behalf.”

This intense focus and desire to meet our growing consumer expectations has conditioned the world to expect access to instant data driven results in the palm of their hands.  The most successful retailers have sophisticated systems that enable real time access to availability, pricing, peer reviews, and additional product recommendations that give us insights that simply can’t be had in the brick-and-mortar experience. 

This expectation has become table stakes for all of us in almost everything we do from ordering food to finding a vacation rental.  Think about names like Uber, Amazon, and AirBnB…now think about how integrated these brands are in our daily life.  We “Uber” to work, we “Prime” a red dress, and we stay at an “AirBnB” on vacation.

You can use any of these services with just a few clicks and in less time than it takes to order a coffee.  They have compressed processes that took multiple steps and people into ones that take minutes and are now self-service – This is the “Sign up Culture” and what the modern candidate expects.

Staffing agencies are now adapting to this world of dissatisfied consumers. The growth of signup culture combined with the unprecedented digital shift of 2020 has changed the job market forever. Agencies that want to keep up need to understand what has changed and how it impacts them. You have a split second to capture a candidate’s interest. That means staffing recruiters have to think like marketers.”

Tim Meehan, Global Head, Innovation Lab at Pontoon Solutions

“When it comes to talent pools or, Talent Rivers, as we call them at Pontoon, finding talent with a just-in-time approach is the most effective way to proactively establish, develop and maintain a selection of screened, pre-selected candidates for our clients. Talent Rivers incorporate workforce demand, D&I targets and strategic routes to new candidate markets.”

Joey Frasier, Co-Founder and CEO, Shortlist

“Shortlist has always been a family-first organization out of necessity but also believe that in order for our talent to bring the best to our customers they first needed to be ‘whole’ themselves – mentally and physically. The challenges of 2020 demonstrated more than ever that getting the best out of people isn’t about balancing work and life but instead integrating our family into our work. The pandemic, economic crisis, social injustice debates have made it clearer than ever that organizations can’t treat people as ‘just workers’ but need to focus on talent as whole individuals. I feel confident that the organizations that will be most successful in the year(s) ahead will be those that decide that a family-first culture, where health is the top priority, and that is a manager’s top focus day-to-day.”

“The past year has unfortunately shown us how “at risk” contingent labor can be as most organizations made quick cuts to contractors as they were the easiest line item in the budget to reduce spend in. That said, there is a new recognition that global health crises, global social unrest and related or unrelated global economic disruptions can all affect businesses and their supply chains more rapidly than ever before. Therefore, in the year(s) ahead, I believe that organizations are going to be more focused on improving their Capital Workforce Agility – or simply stated, the amount of total talent spend that is flexible and agile (contingent) vs fixed (full-time employees) is going to continue to increase in favour of flexibility and agility. This isn’t a negative but a positive for talent. Organizations will need to enhance their focus on improving how they engage with this non-full-time workforce and how they ensure mutually beneficial relationships with this talent as they’ll want to be the “first choice” or talent when multiple opportunities come up. Workforce capital agility and overall workforce capital efficiency will be a top C-Suite priority across all functions with a priority place on HR and finance.”

Taylor Ramchandani, Product Manager, VectorVMS

“Something we have been asked more frequently about by our clients is how to move from having diverse suppliers to having a more diverse candidate base. I foresee over the next year increasingly more interest in tracking and measuring diversity and inclusion in the contingent workforce and using that data to identify gaps in not only engagement but attraction of candidates.”

“We have seen organizations work in interesting ways over the past year to keep up with the changes that have been thrown at us. We have seen our clients turn to talent pools to help them manage furloughed staff, create pools of pre-credentialed healthcare staff, and bring back alumni talent to reduce ramp-up time and save cost.”

Bernie Caputo, President of Contingent Workforce Solutions, Atrium

“Imagine the strength of talent acquisition when you connect our dedicated recruiters to your brand influence and existing resources to rapidly fill temporary roles — without additional overhead, but with significant cost savings.”

Kelly Couto, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions, Atrium

“As the rise of remote work removes sourcing barriers, and social responsibility shifts corporate mindsets from value streams to valuing the people who influence them, the possibilities of a flexible workforce are boundless.”

Marlon Rosenzweig, CEO and Co-Founder, WorkGenius

“Digital staffing and traditional staffing models are converging. Talent is working remotely and online platforms process W2s just as well these days. Finding the right talent is key and while humans may have an edge at it, that edge is declining as technology gets better and better. Hybrid models of humans and machines provide for a smooth transition in the meantime.”

“Fractional employment requires new models for mortgage underwriting, health insurance pricing and more. While some of this will be taken care of by the free market, governments should ensure not to get in the way of providing freelancers with the freedom they sought in the first place when becoming freelancers.”

Jan Alexander Jedlinski, Founder and CEO, Gustav

“The staffing agency and recruiter market will see a massive digital transformation. Staffing agencies and their talent supply will become more accessible online through deployment platforms. Staffing agencies and recruiters who will adapt to this shift will look more like talent curators and use technology to provide faster access to available talent for their end clients.”

“Staffing agencies and recruiters will have a massive opportunity to put millions of people back to work. You will see technology and services around the traditional staffing agency model evolve. The agency will become a talent curator and technology platforms and services like EOR will play a dominant role driving the operations for the agency in the background.”

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

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

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

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

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

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

The “Platform Approach” to Extended Workforce Management Technology

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

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

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

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

“Workforce Agility” Becomes Table Stakes…For Real

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

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

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Total Workforce Management’s Place in the New World of Work

Contingent WorkforceTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in learning more about the progressive workforce model discussed in today’s article, download our latest report, The Modern Guide to Total Workforce Management, by clicking here, here, or here.

Any executive that takes a short peek outside of their business will notice something astounding: founded on innovative talent engagement methods, the world of work has evolved in just a short period of time. New demand for talent, along with the fading of archaic recruitment strategies and rise of real-time talent engagement, have revolutionized nearly every facet of work within the modern business:

  • Jobseeker behavior, now more than ever, is changing to reflect the desire for a more flexible lifestyle that promotes entrepreneurship.
  • Online talent platforms, labor automation systems, and digital staffing outlets (as well as social networks) have transformed how talent is found and engaged.
  • Everything, from data and intelligence to process delivery, is expected on-demand within the average business…and talent engagement is following suit.
  • Mobility and mobile applications are taking their cue from the consumer world and expanding into the business realm.
  • Skillsets and expertise (and their alignment with enterprise projects), not costs or budgets, have become the top requirements for new talent.
  • Management of an increasingly strategic element of business (the contingent workforce) has had to evolve such that the “great divide” between organizational functions like procurement and human resources/human capital management is starting to fade. More and more businesses understand that all talent, regardless of its source, must be managed under a standardized and centralized program that promotes visibility, skillset alignment, adherence to budget, real-time engagement, and an open network that can be tapped for talent in an on-demand manner.

The above attributes of the new world of work are magnified by a simple fact: the non-employee workforce shows no signs of slowing down in the coming years. Ardent Partners has, for the last four years, predicted that, by 2020, between 45%-to-50% of the world’s total workforce will be classified as non-employee, which includes freelancers, independent contractors, professional services (and consultants), temporary workers sourced via staffing agencies/suppliers, “gig” workers, and robotics. The time is now to bridge the gap between traditional and non-traditional talent management and truly define the means by which all workers can be managed under the same standardized and centralized program.

Total Workforce Management: The Time is…Now

Many of today’s business functions are either built on a foundation of holistic and seamless processes, or the desire to reach a similar state knowing the core benefits of such a model. It would only make sense, then, for the world of talent to follow suit. The very simple argument for building or developing a total workforce management (TWM) program (defined by Ardent as the standardized and centralized program for engaging, acquiring, sourcing, and managing all types of talent via linked procurement and human capital processes, integrated contingent workforce management and human capital management systems, and utilization of total talent intelligence) that can be stripped down to a primary advantage: the contemporary talent supply chain is diverse, multifaceted, and spread across numerous sources (both legacy and fresh). Thus, the businesses that can effectively find, engage, source, and ultimately manage this talent under a centralized program will be rewarded with the visibility to execute far superior business decisions in a real-time manner. Relative to the adoption and implementation of TWM programs, it is no wonder that while only 16% of organizations have this type of program in place today, a majority (58%) expect to make total workforce management a reality within the next two years.

The crux of any total workforce management is deep and complex. The underlying structure of such an initiative is usually wrought with functional, technological (i.e. integration), cultural, and strategic shifts, all of which contribute to a development plan that is near impossible to implement within a short time span. Unlike larger, better “known” initiatives related to talent acquisition or even contingent workforce management (CWM), TWM is a new area, and industry-wide standard practices have not yet been fully-developed. Thus, many organizations are unsure of where to start and which functions to engage. Sixteen percent (16%) of businesses today have some form of a total workforce management program in place (9% in place for several years, 7% only just within the past 12 months), but the real value in this set of findings is not found in looking at the “haves” within today’s marketplace…it is knowing that many of the “have nots” do have something that proves that TWM’s place in workforce, labor, and talent management history is now: a desire to implement this forward-thinking concept sooner rather than later.

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FOWX Notes, May 5 Edition

General InsightsSolution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

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

  • Magnit, a leading integrated workforce management platform that offers MSP, VMS, direct sourcing, services procurement, EOR, etc. solutions, announced the appointment of Teresa Carroll as its new CEO. Carroll spent nearly three decades at Kelly Services, where she served as President of Global Talent Solutions, and also served as President of Oasis, a Paychex Company. In a press release on Wednesday, Carroll noted, “I am excited to lead the business and look forward to working with the Magnit leadership team and Board of Directors to achieve our ambitious strategic goals. The opportunity that lies ahead for our business is tremendous. We will continue to focus on our guiding principle of driving the evolution of work through our unique position in the talent supply chain. I am confident about the continued success and the positive impact we will have on our clients, suppliers, workers, and other stakeholders.”
  • WorkLLama, technology provider of an AI-driven, talent marketing, relationship management, and direct sourcing suite, and High5, a leading provider of global talent solutions, together have formed a strategic partnership to bring direct sourcing and curation of talent to leading healthcare organizations. According to Sudhakar Maruvada, CEO and Founder of WorkLLama, “The healthcare industry has undergone a fundamental shift in the past few years. One of the biggest challenges is a shortage of workers to support it,” he says. “We believe our platform, along with High5’s unprecedented access to talent, will enable these organizations to find and engage the talent they so desperately require.”
  • Worksome, an external workforce management platform that helps enterprises compliantly hire and pay contractor workforces globally, announced the launch of revolutionary direct sourcing and global independent contractor compliance. According to Morten Petersen, co-founder and CEO of Worksome, “The current economic situation, coupled with a boom in contractors, means companies are expanding and leveraging their non-employee workforces to increase agility,” he says. “For our customers, having access to the global talent market to find the right skill sets —regardless of where the worker is operating from — is imperative when working at an enterprise level. This is why we’re introducing new functionality that provides an even more centralized approach to external workforce management,” Petersen adds.
  • Coupa Software, a leader in business spend management (BSM), announced that Rob Bernshteyn has departed the company after more than 14 years as CEO and Chairman. According to Bernshteyn, “It’s been the professional and personal privilege of my lifetime so far to lead this company and help to define Coupa’s community-driven strategy and vision. With Business Spend Management, my Coupa colleagues and I proudly galvanized an entirely new category of software innovation,” he said.
  • The World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Future of Jobs Report 2023, revealing that over the next five years, the world will lose 83 million jobs but will create 69 million new positions. The survey included responses from 803 companies from across 45 economies. While a 2% reduction in worldwide employment is expected by 2027, job opportunities will grow for specialists in artificial intelligence and machine learning, sustainability, business intelligence analysis, and information security. The fields with the largest absolute growth are expected in education, agriculture, and digital commerce.
  • Worksome, an external workforce management platform that helps enterprises compliantly hire and pay contractor workforces globally, announced the launch of revolutionary direct sourcing and global independent contractor compliance. According to Morten Petersen, co-founder and CEO of Worksome, “The current economic situation, coupled with a boom in contractors, means companies are expanding and leveraging their non-employee workforces to increase agility,” he says. “For our customers, having access to the global talent market to find the right skill sets —regardless of where the worker is operating from — is imperative when working at an enterprise level. This is why we’re introducing new functionality that provides an even more centralized approach to external workforce management,” Petersen adds.
  • Tundra, a direct source curation provider, and Magnit are working together to create the a scalable direct sourcing solution. The partnership enables companies to leverage the power of their brands to attract and grow talent more efficiently through direct sourcing. According to Ryan Buma, EVP, Growth & Innovation at Magnit, “Magnit has a 30-year history of building tailored workforce management programs, and our partnership with Tundra will help us keep true to our mission to deliver what’s next to organizations and talent,” Buma said. “Bringing together these two powerful portfolios will enable the rapid growth of direct sourcing programs within client organizations, providing them with a critical competitive advantage across evolving hiring markets.”
  • Artificial intelligence is being integrated on many platforms and Salesforce is no exception. The company announced Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI customer relationship management technology. In a statement to Yahoo Finance Live, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said, “With this next generation of generative AI, what it means is that AI is going to be able to do even more for you. It can code for you. It can write letters for you if you’re a sales executive or a service executive. It’s going to be able to create content. There’s a lot of things that AI is able to do today that we couldn’t do 10 years ago.”
  • The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has obtained a default judgment in U.S. District Court in its sex discrimination lawsuit against Green JobWorks LLC, the federal agency announced today. According to EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence, “It has been almost 60 years since the passage of Title VII, yet many staffing agencies continue to believe that they can indulge discriminatory customer preferences and engage in stereotype-based selection practices with impunity — and they’re wrong,” she said. “The EEOC will continue to carefully scrutinize the conduct of staffing agencies and employers in construction-related industries and the skilled trades, and the agency will take forceful action to redress violations of federal law.”
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FOWX Notes: June 24 Edition

General Insights by Christopher J. Dwyer on

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

  • Beeline announced the appointment of Teresa Creech as its new Chief Corporate Development Officer (CCDO). Creech, an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience (TalentWave, Randstad, Kelly, etc.) in the workforce solutions space, will lead corporate strategy, including mergers and acquisitions, for the VMS giant. In light of the company’s recent acquisition by Stone Point Capital, it is expected that Beeline will be quite active in the M&A market in the second half of 2022 and into 2023.
  • Direct sourcing platform LiveHire and “people activation” solution Enboarder announced a strategic partnership. Enboarder’s digital, experience-driven onboarding functionality will be integrated with LiveHire’s total talent and direct sourcing offerings, providing candidates with a seamless journey from recruitment through onboarding.
  • A seasonally adjusted 229,000 unemployment claims for the week ended June 18 reflect a tight labor market. And to add to this news, another 4.4 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in April, proving that, yes, The Great Resignation (and the upcoming Great Resettling) continues on unabated.
  • Citing 2% utilization of its offices in three major regions, Yelp embraces the Future of Work. Offices in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. will be shuttered by July 29, a big move for the company’s remote-first work model that was adopted 18 months ago. With record revenues in 2021, Yelp is a representation of how flexibility can drive value in today’s transformative world of work.
  • Staffing the Universe announced a rebrand to Equiliem. The New Jersey-based staffing giant, which also includes fast-growing MSP solution Evaluent under its umbrella, announced the rebranding news this week.
  • Deel stated that it plans to acquire Melbourne-based payroll and compliance provider PayGroup. Deel, which was valuated at $5.5B late last year, continues to expand its global presence with the acquisition (AUS $119.3 million, US $82.6 million) of the global payroll solution.
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FOWX Notes: May 20 Edition

General Insights by Christopher J. Dwyer on

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

  • PRO Unlimited announced the appointment of Dr. Christy Dempsey to its board of directors, which is a formidable addition to the solution’s already-robust level of expertise and experience. Dr. Dempsey will no doubt help to influence PRO’s presence in the healthcare industry, where it has seen much success with its RightSourcing offering. As the healthcare vertical continues to see a stratospheric rise in the utilization of extended talent, this appointment will surely augment PRO’s approach to optimizing contingent workforce management operations within this industry.
  • Industry veteran Kevin Leete, formerly of Atrium, joined direct sourcing platform WorkLLama last week, as did former SAP Fieldglass, The Mom Project, and WillHire executive Kevin Poll. The innovative direct sourcing provider, which has become an industry leader over the past couple of years due to its unique solution set, welcomes two major workforce and staffing industry luminaries to its executive team.
  • Direct sourcing giant LiveHire announced a partnership with Viventis Search Asia. The partnership will help to advance LiveHire’s technology in the APAC region by enabling Viventis (a career consulting and human capital solution) to build and develop a truly agile and seamless ecosystem of candidates, fueled by LiveHire’s wide range of direct sourcing, recruitment, and candidate experience functionality.
  • Although initial unemployment claims increased 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000 for the week ended May 14, the rate is still at its lowest over past 52 years. The Future of Work Exchange expects this number to remain steady, given that the United States business market has increased payroll by 400,000 jobs for 12 straight months. As The Great Resignation continues its impact, there will be, however, some “settling” of the labor market as displaced workers find new homes and career trajectories.
  • Randstad Sourceright introduced its innovative Services Procurement 360 solution, which is led by the company’s Global Head of Services Procurement, Paul Vincent. The new solution “reimagines” services procurement and SOW management by leveraging flexible solutions, AI-fueled intelligence, and a dynamic framework of offerings and tools.
  • Accenture’s global managing director of applied intelligence, Salema Rice, joined Opptly’s board of directors. MSP leader GRI’s former , Rice will certainly bring her vast expertise and knowledge and apply to the direct sourcing platform’s intelligence-led technology offerings.

Also, just a quick reminder that registration is open for the Future of Work Exchange‘s inaugural live event, “FOWX Live,” on June 14 in Boston. Click here or on the image below to register.

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Why Tech is the Crux of Direct Sourcing 2.0

Direct Sourcing by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Direct sourcing has dominated discussions around talent, work, and staffing for the past few years because, when executed well, it can deliver incredible value to the greater organization through hard benefits (such as cost savings and a quicker average time-to-fill rate) and soft benefits (greater talent quality, better engagement with highly-skilled candidate, etc.). And, as the overall HR market evolves in the wake of rising worker resignations, smart businesses will prioritize the need for deeper assessment and validation of skillsets and place a greater emphasis on the candidate and hiring manager experience.

The starting point for most will be to build on their existing direct sourcing capabilities and work to develop a true Direct Sourcing 2.0 program…which, of course, is only achievable through the convergence of strategic and automated competencies.

The path to Direct Sourcing 2.0 is paved with technology. While elements such as talent curation, talent pool development, talent pool segmentation, and recruitment stream integration are core to any direct sourcing program, HR leaders and their teams must incorporate digitization and advanced direct sourcing competencies to get to the next level of performance. Achieving Direct Sourcing 2.0 requires advanced capabilities to be coupled with digital recruitment functionality in order to boost talent quality, enhance candidate intelligence, and develop repeatable and scalable methods for reengaging talent to build a truly agile workforce.

While predictive analytics are not commonplace today, soon, a majority of enterprises will look to scenario-building as a way to enhance overall talent intelligence. Predictive analytics, in this realm, will augment the organization’s overall knowledge of its in-house skills as well as the expertise available externally (across all talent communities, including talent pools).

This level of intelligence will spark new and targeted initiatives to find better-aligned candidates with stronger talent engagement efforts and push business leaders to better understand who the strongest candidates are for future roles, positions, and projects.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of businesses plan to link the candidate experience with hiring manager experience. As discussed in the Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange Direct Sourcing 2.0 research study, transforming talent acquisition into a consumer-like journey is just one side of the Direct Sourcing 2.0 coin. The other side focuses on the hiring manager experience, which should be seamless in order to streamline the means of finding, engaging, and sourcing talent for a full spectrum of open roles and positions.

While only a third (33%) of businesses have automated candidate experience capabilities in their direct sourcing programs today, 50% more plan to do so within two years. Personalization and sharing more specific details regarding a project/role match, when automated, are repeatable and scalable to ensure that all candidates have a more positive and compelling experience when recruited.

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