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The First Thing You Must Know About the Future of Work

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce Direct Sourcing Events General Insights Talent Talent Acquisition Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 10/17/2022

The Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) and Ardent Partners recently hosted their complimentary webinar, The Five Things You MUST KNOW About the Future of Work, which discussed the critical capabilities that enterprises can unlock to truly optimize the way they address talent acquisition, extended workforce management, and, most importantly, work optimization. Over the next five weeks, we’ll be recapping each of the five things discussed during the event. In our first installment this week, we’ll be diving into the evolution of talent and the ever-present phrase, “The Future of Work.”

The Evolution of Talent and Talent Acquisition

When it comes to the Future of Work, one of the first things to know is the evolution of talent and talent acquisition. And this idea of the “evolution of talent” can be ambiguous. Talent is always evolving and has been for a long time. The way that businesses perceive their talent is also evolving. And, the way that those businesses get connected to talent, and vice versa, continues to evolve. It’s also being innovated through technology and new strategies and new programs.

The fact is nearly half of our workforce today is comprised of extended workers or contingent workers. We have aspects like direct sourcing and digital staffing that are making it much easier for businesses to find the talent they need to get work done to address those mission-critical projects and fill the appropriate roles. FOWX and Ardent research has been focused historically on the extended workforce and contingent workforce, but we’re talking about all types of talent.

Thus, talent acquisition as a function and as a series of processes has also progressed. We need to consider aspects like the candidate experience, and the way that our culture and our brand attract new talent into our organization. Many business leaders think of the Future of Work as being centered around technology, revolving around the idea that technology drives the Future of Work. And we wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that; technology is a critical piece. And for some aspects and attributes of the Future of Work, technology and innovation are the nexus of those areas.

Technology is a Future of Work Centerpiece

Talent and the growth of the extended workforce represent the first leg of the stool with such things as diversity and candidate experience, but also digital staffing, direct sourcing, online talent marketplaces, and core workforce management solutions (such as MSPs and VMS platforms) These technologies are helping us to redefine the way we think about work. We’re living in a world where even though we don’t want to hear the word “pandemic” anymore, the pandemic really did shape what we think about the Future of Work.

It’s really critical to think about aspects like remote work and the technologies that support a hybrid workplace and how we leverage digital workspaces, digitization, and the idea of the digital enterprise, all rolling up into this notion of digital transformation. New technology and innovation are not the totality of the Future of Work, but certainly a centerpiece of it. And when we look at the transformation of business leadership, we often juxtapose this with business transformation or business leadership transformation, as well. It is leadership that dictates strategy, it dictates vision, and it dictates culture. And by proxy, we transform the way business leadership manages itself, manages its workforce, and how it expands its power and control over the organization.

Thus, the transparent transformation of business leadership is really critical, and honestly has nothing to do with technology. It all revolves around aspects like conscious leadership, empathetic leadership, empathy at work, and flexibility — thinking about how we lead in very new and different ways. It’s turning on its head the idea that “the boss” is always this very strict person who’s known for rigidity in how he or she perceives and manages the workforce. Business leaders are transitioning to be more flexible in their thinking. When you combine all these aspects together, that’s the future of work and the view of the Future of Work Exchange and Ardent Partners as well.

Ever-Present Future of Work

Thus, the “Future of Work” phrase is ever-present. It’s everywhere. Back when our FOWX architect, Christopher J. Dwyer, started using this phrase in 2013/2014, there weren’t many others using it. Today, we see so many conferences named “The Future of Work” as well as many websites and research studies. But unlike a lot of phrases that are hot today, it’s anything but hype. It really is this idea of permanence. Much of the change that we’ve gone through as people, as leaders, as workers, and as businesses, it’s not hype…nor is it a fad. The Future of Work is permanence. It’s not going to fade from view.

Future of Work “accelerants” that were once seedlings to the world of work and talent are now table stakes. Remote work, for example, is not new. Many of us have been working in a remote or hybrid workplace for most of our careers. And there are many others who have done so, as well. But for some business leaders and workers, it’s a very new aspect of their daily work lives.

The “Future of Work” phrase is ubiquitous. It’s an omnipresent way of looking at the current and future state of work. We are now focused on how we can improve the way we get work done, the way we manage talent, the way we engage talent, and the way that we treat our workforce. But we’re also thinking about tomorrow and the ways we’re going to get work done depending on several factors, including the economy, politics, global markets, and other aspects that could change the business arena.

The Heightened War for Talent

Contingent Workforce Direct Sourcing General Insights Podcast Solution Providers Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 09/19/2022

The Future of Work Exchange podcast features coverage of industry news, software developments, Future of Work happenings, and, most importantly, conversations with industry thought leaders.

Several months ago, I chatted with Steve Dern, EVP of Talent Solutions at Evaluent (click to listen to the full interview). Steve and I discussed the growth of the extended workforce, its impact, and what lies on the horizon. Today’s article is a recap of our conversation. [Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.]

Christopher Dwyer: You’ve been in this space for such a long time. From your viewpoint, you probably have a dynamic take on the state of the contingent and extended workforce. What are your thoughts on the growth of the extended workforce, its impact, and where do you think we’re heading?

Steve Dern: As I look back on all this, especially the last 2.5 to 3 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything in terms of how we work, not only with contingent labor but also traditional employee labor. Remote work structures became the norm because they had to. And that challenged some organizations and maybe pulled the blinders off. Many companies with staffing offices and remote office locations closed their brick-and-mortar buildings because the investment wasn’t necessary. We can work effectively being remote or have a hybrid model, which is becoming the norm as people return to the office. Interview processes changed, as did the time to act when hiring talent. Whether it’s traditional, permanent, or contingent hiring needs, you’ve got to act very quickly now. Today’s talent has the leverage due to talent economy dynamics. As a result, companies are increasing wages for premium talent.

In the production and manufacturing environment specifically, there’s a heightened war for talent. And from a partnership and sales perspective, it was more difficult to build and cultivate newer relationships over the last two years. We were remote talking through a computer camera and a headset as opposed to shaking hands with people and breaking down social barriers that may exist. Reading body language was difficult as well. We work in a very different way now.

In terms of workforce trends, there’s a demand for more flexibility on the part of the hiring organization. Do we need employees to come into the office five days per week? What is the flexibility of some pre-pandemic requirements, such as college degree mandates or pre-employment screenings? With legalization of marijuana in some states, there may be some flexibility there.

There is also a significant gap in talent for manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment centers. Here in Ohio, where we’re only 10 hours away from half the U.S. population, there’s a huge presence of retail distribution and fulfillment centers. And those fulfillment centers are having a tough time finding workers. To widen the talent pool, they’re considering Second Chance talent. These are folks coming out of jail with possible felonies in their background. However, many distribution and fulfillment center operators are seeing good retention rates and performance output.

From a company perspective, we (Evaluent) handle both direct hire and contingent labor placement. On our staffing entity side, we saw a large increase in the direct hire needs — one of our sales reps said 80% of new business activity was direct-hire related. So, there has definitely been a shift from a client perspective overall. Ten years ago, we were just hearing about this concept called direct sourcing. I was fortunate to see it succeed early in a couple of my accounts.

Back then, direct sourcing was pitched as having the ability to take over 80% of the staffing leads that we had. And it really didn’t end up being that way. Instead, it was focused on high-volume needs that were repeatable, with evergreen types of requisitions. That’s where companies were able to leverage direct sourcing not only for contingent but also for direct hire as well. Flash forward to 2021/2022, we’re now beginning to see direct sourcing gain some traction. More and more, I see RFPs coming out asking about direct sourcing partners and strategies, as well as what the technology, curation, and AOR models look like. Two years ago, I was rarely seeing that showing up in RFPs. That’s where some of the biggest changes have been in recent years.

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange Launch Definitive MSP Report

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 03/01/2022

New Study Evaluates the Leading Managed Service Providers (MSPs) for the Workforce Solutions Market

BOSTON, MA, March 1, 2021 – Ardent Partners, a leading research and advisory firm, along with the Future of Work Exchange, a top destination for executives focused on the evolution of work and talent, announced today that its new 2022 MSP Solution Advisor report, which evaluates the Managed Service Provider (MSP) marketplace, is now available. MSPs, as the most mature offering in the greater workforce management solutions market, are continue to drive innovation in the rapidly shifting labor market and Future of Work landscape and tailor their services to suit the needs of a dynamic, agile, and extended workforce.

“The world of talent and work has changed tremendously over the past two years, forcing enterprises to reimagine their core talent engagement, talent acquisition, and extended workforce management strategies,” said Christopher J. Dwyer, senior vice president of research, managing director of the Future of Work Exchange, and author of the new MSP Solution Advisor report. “This report will help readers identify the MSP provider that best-fits the needs of their agile workforce and educate them on the different approaches that each provider takes towards key workforce management areas, including direct sourcing, SOW management, services procurement, DE&I, and reporting and analytics.”

The 2022 MSP Solution Advisor is the leading assessment report for MSPs that guides HR, procurement, human capital management, and talent acquisition leaders through a deep solutions landscape by discussing the key functionality, capabilities, competencies, offerings, and performance of the main providers in the MSP industry. The new report highlights dozens of feature-specific offerings and market differentiators from which Ardent and the Future of Work Exchange evaluated the industry’s top MSP solutions.

The Ardent analyst team identified and selected eleven key providers – Atrium, Evaluent, GRI, Guidant Global, KellyOCG, nextSource, Pontoon Solutions, PRO Unlimited, Randstad Sourceright, RightSourcing, and Talent Solutions TAPFIN – in the MSP solutions market for inclusion in this research study.

“Since 2010, Ardent Partners has been a guiding voice for professionals managing their extended workforce management programs and the solutions that they use to drive them,” said Ardent’s Chief Research Officer, Andrew Bartolini. “The new MSP Solution Advisor report is a reflection of this expertise and delivers a clear and insightful report that is a must-read for leaders seeking to optimize their extended workforce.”

Click here to download the new MSP Solution Advisor study (or click on the image below), which will be followed by the VMS Technology Advisor in the spring.

The Industry Is At A Crossroads

Technology and Innovation by Featured Contributor on 02/08/2022

[Editor’s Note: Today’s article is a guest contribution from Neha Goel, Vice President of Marketing at Utmost.]

We are interconnected in all aspects of our lives, and work is no exception. We have become global citizens, and organizations are utilizing talent outside traditional full-time employees in record numbers. In fact, a company’s workforce is becoming inherently external, made up of episodic, variable, and dynamic engagements.

People are choosing careers that are no longer hierarchical or linear, and demanding flexibility in how and where they work. Similarly, companies want to capitalize on collaborating with a talent ecosystem that can deliver speed and value with highly-skilled, hyper-specialized workers.

Today, this looks like a large and complex network of extended global workers, spanning staff augmentation contractors, Statement of Work (SOW) project-based workers, independent consultants, freelancers, gig workers, and consultants. Now, it’s up to the enterprise to determine how best to capitalize on this new world of work.

Many companies are doing just that. New data from LinkedIn (via Forbes) finds there has been a 60% increase in “future of work” job titles and a 304% increase in titles where “hybrid work” has been included in the past two years. The job title Head of Future of Work was listed as one of the most in-demand job titles available today.

Once you have the people in place, leadership also must get on board with how all talent wants to be engaged. Today’s market “requires leaders to develop a much deeper empathy for what employees are going through and to pair that empathy with the compassion—and determination—to act and change,” said a recent McKinsey article on the role leaders play in understanding attrition. “Only then can employers properly reexamine the wants and needs of their employees—together with those employees—and begin to provide the flexibility, connectivity, and sense of unity and purpose that people crave.” Our findings support this to be true.

Finally, the next challenge becomes finding a technology that can support the risk, size, and complexity of today’s workforce. This must be done in a way that makes it easier to find, engage, and attract top talent while meeting them how and where they want to work.

As I’ve said before, it’s not just about managing suppliers and vendors and merely augmenting a contingent workforce management agenda on the world of talent, but rather looking at how to manage the workforce effectively in optimizing how work gets done.

Whether you believe in acquisition and consolidation of the VMS/EWS market to expand functionality or are skeptical of the “FrankenSuite” approach and believe a purpose-built system is favorable, many organizations find themselves at a crossroads now that almost half their workforce is made up of non-employee labor with no seamless, scalable way of managing it.

As companies compete for greater access to on-demand, agile, highly specialized talent at better rates, faster access to information and analytics, and the ability to meet today’s workers where and how they want to work is imperative.

Whatever companies decide, it’s clear workers need to be redeployed faster, have agency over their information (with PII and diversity top of mind for all parties), and have a positive user experience that makes it easy to come in and out of companies and projects with ease. This is the new world of work, and if companies don’t embrace the changes quickly, they may be left behind when it comes to finding talent that ensures their success in the market.

Why SOW and Services Procurement Should Matter To Your CEO

Business Leadership by Featured Contributor on 10/21/2021

[Today’s guest contribution was written by Paul Vincent, Global Head of Services Procurement at Randstad Sourceright.]

The origins of modern commerce can be traced back to the eighth century in India, where early organizations, called shreni, first started to emerge. Shrenis were associations of crafts persons and merchants and the people who worked for them performed various functions. They provided services such as training, the purchasing of raw materials and the distribution of finished products.

In all the time that has followed since, the world of business has undergone tremendous amounts of change. But the one constant is that few, if any, commercial organizations are ever likely to be totally self-sufficient. They will always need to spend a proportion of their operating costs on some form of external services support.

With more than 1,200 years of practice under our belt, you would think that we’d have the procurement of external services down to a fine art. Requirements would always be well-considered and clearly articulated. Service providers would know exactly what they have to do and how their customers will be judging their performance. Price negotiations would always be fair and equitable. And all parties would be working seamlessly together to create bi-directional best value.

Unsurprisingly, this is not the reality of the business world we live in.

Buying services involves people, and people have different perceptions of value. People have different tolerances of quality. They have differing levels of budget, knowledge, patience, urgency, and ambition.

Every day we talk to organizations who would like to buy services better, who know they should be buying them better. Some are not sure what they need to do and how to do it. Some know what to do but they never quite get around to doing it. Some are ready and willing, but they are waiting for someone else to make the decision for them before getting on with it.

And this is precisely why services procurement should matter to your CEO.

Firstly, because a CEO is ultimately responsible for maximizing shareholder value. And if they are to do that, then they need to be aware of what might be diluting it too. It is highly likely that the assumed ROI of procured services is being negatively offset by the inefficiencies and procrastination embedded in your organization’s buying processes. For example, according to the World Commerce and Contracting association (formerly IACCM), the most frequent source of claims, disputes and disrupted relationships is due to poorly drafted contracts, most notably around the scope and objectives of the work.

Here are five insights that your CEO should have ready access to:

How much is your company spending on external services in their entirety?
How much is your company spending on different types of services?
How has your company’s spend profile changed over time and what is driving that change?
Who are your company’s key suppliers and how strong are your relationships with them?
How do your company’s buying processes compare to recognized best practices?

If these insights are not readily available to your CEO, then it is implausible to claim that shareholder value is being maximized.

The second reason why services procurement should matter to your CEO is because they are the guardians of your organization’s reputation. There are increasing legal and compliance risks associated with the engagement of external service providers, such as disguised employment off-payroll, and so it is crucial that executive leadership are not only wise to these risks but that they implement appropriate and workable mitigation strategies, too.

The third and final reason is because CEOs need to ensure their organizations are continually scanning the market for competitive advantage. Organizations that purposefully adopt a win-win approach to their engagement of external service providers are much more likely to become a customer of choice. Customers of choice are much more likely to be given access to the most current, innovative, and progressive thinking from their service providers because the relationship is mutually beneficial.

Clearly a CEO should not be spending their time down in the weeds of spend analytics, contract negotiations, and supplier relationship management. However, at the macro level, if they can’t be certain your organizational approach to buying services is fit for purpose, it could have serious repercussions for the long-term health of your business.

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn, or visit Randstad Sourceright for more information on their solutions and offerings.

Modern EOR, Agile Workforce Transformation, and the Future of Work: An Interview with myBasePay Co-Founder, Angela Alberty

Business Leadership Solution Providers by Christopher J. Dwyer on 10/18/2021

myBasePay is transforming what it means to be an agile workforce management technology platform. The Future of Work Exchange is excited to welcome the solution’s co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Angela Alberty, for an engaging discussion on the Future of Work, the evolution of the agile workforce, and more:

Christopher J. Dwyer: Thanks for joining us, Angela. It’s great to chat once again. Tell us a little bit about your background.

Angela Alberty: Thank you for coordinating, Chris, its an honor to be able to join, and congrats on the launch of FOWX! Well, my background is probably consistent with most in this space, meaning: I didn’t necessarily grow up wanting to be in the staffing / human capital space. But one year out of college I quickly found myself in a position at an agency and the rest has consisted of the last 10 years in the employer of record (EOR) space, with a specialization in the contingent workforce sector for some of the largest EOR providers out there. A year ago, I had the opportunity to partner with Cesar Jimenez and co-found myBasePay. With similar backgrounds, we launched in March of this year and its been exciting to see our brand grow into one of the new waves of the modern EOR platform, with an aligned mission in representing the advocacy for the temporary worker.

CJD: One thing that I’ve experienced thus far getting to know you and the myBasePay team is the camaraderie between your executive team. How important is that level of peer engagement when it comes to MBP’s level of success thus far?

AA: Its tremendously important and in terms of gauging it adequately, its been pragmatic on what I would consider our progress thus far. We each lend different areas of insight and have leveraged a team with the same level of conscious input and subject matter expertise. Adding to that is a layer of genuine companionship that has just organically seeped into the culture we’ve established amongst our staff. So I definitely feel that there is this positive, residual effect that our internal identity has benefited from as well.

CJD: You spent time in the staffing and contingent workforce industries before joining MBP. How does that expertise help the platform solve the problems it was designed to do?

AA: Well, I’ve been fortunate to see the contingent workforce ecosystem from many different angles: working with teams of general counsels to administer contracts, communicating with brokerages to establish risk management programs and portfolios of business, onboarding and processing payroll for hundreds of temporary workers under different verticals, working in and out of various VMS platforms for day-to-day procedures and running costs analysis to build and devise implementations for teams of contingent worker types while gaining fundamental concepts of HR and compliance oversight. These are all areas that are vital to a proper formation of an EOR business model, and coupled with the expertise our team brings to tie the technology behind the user and worker’s experience within our platform, are truly what we want to enable to solve these problems.

CJD: I very much admire the main goals of the myBasePay solution: provide EOR functionality, support contingent workforce management, and connect businesses with top-tier talent. How did the team develop this unique approach?

AA: You know, I think the best way to answer this question can probably apply to so many different areas of life in general: you live and experience the problems you eventually seek out to fix. I’ve mentioned this in prior presentations of our company but we’ve lived in the shoes of the independent contractor on 60-day payment terms, the temporary-waged worker trying to make ends meet during the holidays because they don’t qualify for PTO, the staffing agency owner reading through mounds of legal language to qualify as a supplier, the processor trying to gauge the risk threshold for a worker’s classification, and the enterprise customer dealing with a retention issue in their contingent workforce management (CWM) program because the benefits are subpar (or in some cases, non-existent). These experiences have been foundational in the creation of our goals.

CJD: One major strength is myBasePay’s support of the contractor, freelancer, and gig worker community (by offering the benefits that are normally out of reach). How will this help MBP continue its differentiated approach from others in the market?

AA: You said perfectly when you mentioned the “others” in the market. The EOR concept is nothing new; it has been around for decades, in fact. But we knew from day one our differentiator was going to begin with our prioritization around the worker. Market conditions are ever more poignant on the control that the candidate has in this current climate. But beyond that, what is the indirect benefit that an enhanced benefits structure can lend itself to in a more successful CWM program? That’s exactly the sort of analytical approach we take with each new opportunity. We firmly believe and have been able to showcase through various case studies that an enhanced benefits model can improve retention, increase productivity, and establish loyalty while offering a more aligned level of proper talent curation.

CJD: We’re entering yet another inflection point for the agile workforce, especially after eighteen months of a pandemic. Where does non-employee talent go from here?

AA: Simply put: UP! In fact, the pandemic has pressed the “fast-forward” button on an already increasing segment of the market. The full-time worker model is, dare I say, reaching antiquated levels. Tenure is dropping, the “Great Resignation” is here, generational impacts are shifting talent’s prioritization where increased skillsets, work-life balance and independence are more important than ever, and enterprise organizations are seeing the value of a more formalized CWM programs (hence the direct sourcing trend we see happening). Times are changing and many reports, including those found within Ardent Partners and FOWX, indicate more investment, participation, workforce market share, etc. being devoted to the non-employee talent segment and the formalization of the programs/departments that will need to grow in order to properly support it.

CJD: What does the Future of Work mean to you?

AA: I’ve asked and have been asked this dozens of times; it’s almost reached a level of philosophical surmise. I am simplistic on this approach: the Future of Work ends and begins with the worker and the technology that encapsulates this notion. The Future of Work is knowing that any person can go online and within seconds have dozens of opportunities waiting for them. How we enhance their working life thereafter with the technology that enterprises and third-party platforms invest in to create that optimum experience will be the ones at the top in the quest for talent. That, to me, is the essence of the Future of Work.