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The Second Thing You Must Know About The Future of Work

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceGeneral InsightsHRTalentTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

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 second installment this week, we’ll be diving into the “first-mover advantage” and what that means for innovation and resiliency.

Adoption of Future of Work Accelerants

The number two must-know about the Future of Work is that the first-mover advantage (in this case, early adopters of Future of Work-era strategies and solutions) translates into urgency for innovation. During the scary early days of the pandemic, businesses were either struggling for survival…or were thriving. When we think about where we are today, let’s look at the organizations that adopted some of these Future of Work accelerants: they tapped into remote work, became brought in a broader set of workers and in their workplace, while also improving their workplace culture and overall work optimization strategies.

Businesses also embraced aspects like artificial intelligence and used their technology more expansively. For example, a Vendor Management System (VMS) wasn’t used just for requisitions, but also to build scenarios and leverage predictive analytics to scale the workforce and understand what could happen tomorrow based on today’s numbers. Doing so could lead to smarter and more educated and intelligent-led talent decisions. Thus, there is an urgency for innovation.

This is not simply about thriving, but surviving as well. Those businesses that have adopted some of these accelerants, whether they’re strategic or technology-led, are much more likely to thrive in the months ahead. The first-mover advantage sets these organizations up very nicely for the future.

Thrive Through Understanding and Embracement

The Future of Work Exchange’s architect, Christopher J. Dwyer, highlighted a discussion he had with a director of talent acquisition, who said it was easy for her company to transition to a remote workforce because it was already a hybrid workplace. The company took what it learned in pre-pandemic times over so many years that it was fairly simple to transition to remote work. It already leveraged both HR and contingent workforce technology and had those systems integrated, so it knew where its workers were across the globe — a company with approximately 300 global locations. She said the company had the capability to know who was working on what projects, where they were located, when their assignments ended, and what locations were being hit hard by a COVID-19 surge, which allowed them to react in real time. Speaking with her months later, said Dwyer, the company was thriving because of the lessons learned and its embrace of Future of Work accelerants during the early days of the pandemic.

This is not to say that a business struggling in 2020 couldn’t be thriving today. The first-mover advantage means that enterprises shouldn’t sit back and watch others pass them by in terms of what they’re adopting and embracing from Future of Work, innovation, and progression perspectives. What else is happening out there? What are their peers and competitors adopting from a technology perspective? How are their business leaders managing the workforce? How are they treating their workforce? Why are they losing talent to other organizations? Why are they getting hit harder by The Great Resignation than others?

The next economic recession will be unique because of existing inflation; however, many industries are doing well and thriving because of lessons learned and the collective trauma experienced over the last three years from the pandemic. During the next downturn, companies are likely to weather the storm much better because of the technology they’ve adopted and the new strategies they’ve embraced. The innovative thinking that comes from those decisions makes companies better suited to handle the challenges of today.

Flexibility Cannot be Underestimated

What does this mean for the workplace? In many respects, hybrid is the ideal workplace model because of the flexibility that workers crave. Obviously, many workers are unable to work remotely because of their job description. And, some businesses look at remote and hybrid work models with concerns about productivity and workforce control. However, time and time again, workers have proved that avoiding a 90-minute commute to and from work allows them to be more productive each day.

It also speaks to the flexibility of taking care of life events. The ability to go to the dentist or pick up a sick child from daycare or school can mean a great deal to workers. Workers are humans, not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It doesn’t matter if you’re a contractor that worked 4.5 hours or an employee who has been with the company for 40 years. These are not faceless workers. We are humans and humans crave flexibility. We want the ability to feel connected to the organization.

A famous CEO of the world’s largest search engine said that “the Future of Work is flexibility.” We’ve been saying this for a long time on FOWX and it’s true: the Future of Work is built on flexibility.

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Supporting the Future of Work Through Innovative Technology

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One of the defining characteristics of the Future of Work is digitization. Enterprises are now operating with more remote and hybrid workplaces. Thus, technology is imperative to a cohesive and efficient workforce. What this means for the individual employee is more daily immersion in various technological platforms and solutions. Upskilling will be a critical aspect for workers as they harness more advanced technologies to communicate, collaborate, and execute their roles.

Digital employee experience (DEX) is a term that describes how effective workers are in using digital tools. DEX is a growing area of interest as companies adopt a plethora of digital tools to augment their dispersed workforces. Companies want to ensure the tools they have integrated into the workplace are intuitive and enhance worker productivity.

Tom Haak, director at the HR Trend Institute, says, “Technology offers enormous opportunities to improve the life of people in and around organizations. In HR, the focus is still too much on control and process improvement, not enough on really improving the employee experience.”

Today, with remote and in-person workers, enterprises must bridge those two environments and focus on technologies that both attract and retain workers regardless of where they work. Technology that supports the Future of Work comes in a variety of forms. Often, artificial intelligence (AI) permeates many digital solutions, providing automated processes and data outputs for better workforce decision-making.

Throughout the remainder of the year, the Future of Work Exchange will be highlighting several technologies from blockchain to e-wallets, and how they impact Future of Work strategies. However, the following are technologies that business leaders and employees are using now and, in the future, to enhance the DEX and drive workplace efficiency and community.

Communication and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic put communication and collaboration to the ultimate test. Enterprises and employees experienced first-hand the potential of digital communication as they grew accustomed to using Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms proved that remote work could, in fact, be accomplished with the same productive and strategic outcomes as in-person work models. It is one of the major reasons why remote and hybrid workforce options were embraced by enterprises post-pandemic.

There are several communication and collaborative tools to serve the enterprise and its remote and in-person workforce. Basecamp provides both a communication and collaborative platform to keep projects on schedule and lines of communication open. Trello also makes project management run smoothly regardless of where an employee is based.

Beyond these more common collaborative solutions, companies are utilizing chatbots for internal use for collaborative purposes and employee support. ServiceNOW, for example, offers its Virtual Agent solution to bring people to the same collaborative workspace or provide answers to employee questions.

Another evolving collaborative offering is the virtual whiteboard for use during company and team meetings. Companies such as Miro, MURAL, and Stormboard provide effective tools for diagramming and presenting in real time.

Big data (predictive and people analytics). Volumes of data flood enterprises from a variety of sources. For HR and other business leaders, big data is crucial to their Future of Work strategies, generating analytics across the talent acquisition and talent management landscape. Predictive analytics, for example, will grow as a key component of direct sourcing initiatives to curate a pipeline of potential job candidates.

According to a post on the Future of Work Exchange (FOWX), “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).”

Where predictive analytics will help prepare the enterprise for its future talent needs, people analytics are necessary to understand how employees are embracing digital tools and applications. Are shared applications being utilized by the workforce? Is there participation in virtual workspaces? What are employee sentiments around an enterprise’s digital transformation? People analytics help answer these questions and provide key insights into employee productivity, well-being, and digital adoption.

Virtual reality. In a previous post, FOWX explored the possibilities of the metaverse. Virtual reality will stretch the limits of employee interaction and community. Virtual workspaces where employee avatars can converse and strategize are likely to come to fruition in the coming years. It levels the playing field for remote and in-person employees by creating a setting for everyone regardless of location.

Artificial intelligence is also a major piece of the virtual reality offering. Currently, employees can create an avatar to complete repetitive tasks using AI or communicate with customers to answer product questions. As technology advances, the potential influence of virtual reality on the Future of Work will only increase. Today’s chatbots are just the beginning of how enterprises can leverage the virtual world and bridge humans with AI.

Just as the Future of Work evolves, so too will the technologies that support it. There are dozens of software applications on the horizon to benefit business leaders and their employees. Explore the options and how they align with your workforce strategy.

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On-Demand Webinar: The Five Things You Must Know About the Future of Work

Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Last week, Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange hosted an exclusive webcast, The Five Things You MUST KNOW About the Future of Work. During the event, we discussed how the Exchange defines the Future of Work movement, the innerworkings of work optimization, the technology-fueled and non-technological attributes of the Future of Work, and so much more. If you happened to miss the event, we’ve got you covered. Check out The Five Things You MUST KNOW About the Future of Work on-demand webinar below, and stay tuned for details about our next exclusive event.

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Key Providers for 2022: Toptal

Solution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Background:

One of the key attributes of the Future of Work movement revolves around the concept of “talent evolution.” Businesses across the globe have realized that, in a world that requires agility to be truly competitive, they require real-time access to top-tier talent and skillsets. Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has routinely discovered that the utilization of alternative talent channels, particularly digital staffing and talent marketplaces, have experienced upwards of 10x adoption over the past several years.

Why such an extreme uptick in utilization? The answer is quite simple: in order for enterprises to tap into a global market of Best-in-Class talent without the restrictions of archaic talent acquisition capabilities, they need to tap into solutions that offer on-demand talent that reinforces the Future of Work-led world we live in…especially attributes such as remote work.

Enter Toptal.

Why They Were Selected:

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has found that nearly 70% of executives leaders anticipated increasing their reliance on talent marketplaces and digital staffing platforms over the next two years, an astounding fact that reflects the dynamic benefits of such models. For over 12 years, Toptal has been a market leader in the digital staffing space, owed to its top-tier network of skillsets and expertise, as well as an on-demand foundation that allows business users to scale their workforce remotely in near-real-time fashion.

Toptal’s Enterprise offering is a services-oriented solution that enables a wide range of agile talent acquisition models. Toptal is well-known for leveraging its deep talent marketplace, talent community, and expanded freelancer network to enable true workforce agility and flexibility in its client base. And, what sets this solution apart from others in the industry is its ability to offer its clients the ability to build a fully-scalable team of distributed talent.

In Their Own Words:

Toptal is an international network of highly skilled freelancers in technology, design, and business that enables companies to innovate, meet business challenges and scale their teams, on demand. The company serves thousands of clients from hyper-growth start-ups to the Fortune 500, connecting them with top software engineers, product and project managers, designers, and finance experts from more than 100 countries. Founded in 2010 by CEO Taso Du Val,  Toptal has the world’s largest fully remote workforce. Toptal is also regularly recognized as one of the world’s top companies hiring for work-from-anywhere jobs.

The Outlook:

Toptal continues to be a pioneer in the talent marketplace industry; as such, their years-long commitment to remote work was an idyllic means of combating the many challenges during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a trailblazer in assisting business leaders and hiring managers across the world with building and developing fully-scalable teams of top-tier, remote talent, Toptal has positioned itself as a continued market leader in the digital and on-demand staffing realm.

Toptal’s long track record of success in delivering on-demand, top-shelf talent and expertise to clients across the world position the solution as an ideal platform in a world driven by Future of Work accelerants.

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The Future of Work is not Static, So Where Is It Heading?

Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The latest episode of the Future of Work Exchange Podcast (listen here) discussed how the Future of Work movement is and will never be “static.” In essence, the continued evolution of talent acquisition, the unrelenting pace of new innovations and technology, and the complete transformation of business leadership will always be moving forward in some sense, especially considering the breakneck pace of the economic, political, and social aspects of the corporate arena.

Sometimes leaders will ask the question, “What IS the Future of Work, really?” However, the question we should all be asking ourselves at this very moment is “Where will the world of talent and work go in the months and years ahead?”

To this end, the Future of Work Exchange is excited to host an exclusive event tomorrow (Thursday, October 6 at 1pm ET) focused on the five things that every leader must know about the Future of Work. I’ll be joined by Ardent Partners’ Chief Research Officer, Andrew Bartolini, as we discuss what’s ahead for the extended workforce, the technology that supports strategies such as direct sourcing and remote work, the impact of non-tech attributes like conscious leadership, and so much more. Register below…and I hope to see you there tomorrow!

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Upwork’s Work Without Limits: Grand Redesign with Tim Sanders

Business LeadershipEventsSolution Providers by John Yuva on

Upwork, a global talent and work platform, recently held its Work Without Limits summit as an in-person and streaming event in Chicago. The main stage was filled with customer and enterprise presenters, including Upwork’s Tim Sanders, vice president of client strategy, who discussed the grand redesign opportunity and what the breakdown of the old rules of work means for companies today. (Check out the Future of Work Exchange‘s coverage of the event.)

Defining Grand Redesign

Sanders began his session with a fascinating story about the rise of Shantanu Narayen to CEO of Adobe Inc. in 2007. Adobe was a behemoth software company known for its innovative products like Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, and many others. In the industry, it was second only to its rival Microsoft.

However, in 2007, the company experienced the ramifications of software piracy, losing $1 billion. A year later, the Great Recession took its toll on the company’s flagship Adobe Creative Suite product offering. At a $1,800 price point, companies closed their wallets and revenue declined 20% within the first eight weeks of the recession.

What was Adobe’s response? Mark Garrett, Adobe’s chief financial officer in 2008, recognized the potential of cloud-based subscription models. Thus, the company embarked on its grand redesign, transforming from a physical product-oriented company to a 100% digital, cloud-based subscription service. In 2012, Adobe released Creative Cloud to the world with an entry-level price point of less than $60 compared to $1,800.

Sanders noted that Adobe’s grand redesign was one of the biggest turnarounds in corporate history, growing its market cap from $15 billion in 2012 to more than $200 billion today. Knowing not to rest and accept the status quo, especially during a recession, the company leveraged the opportunity to combine desktop, mobile, and services into a single customer package — shutting the door to the competition.

Our Present Grand Redesign Opportunity

This brings us to today. Sanders explains that companies are experiencing another period of great disruption — the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts. Now is the time to move beyond the status quo and redesign the workplace. He says there are six workplace design options on the table.

  1. Remote first. Companies that choose this design option fully embrace remote work and use it strategically as part of their operational and talent acquisition models.
  2. Remote-friendly. More organizations are choosing a remote-friendly design that embraces a distributed workforce for certain roles, talents, and situations. It is not a complete remote first transition, but companies are willing to consider it as a possible default. Sanders says that if companies are not remote first, they must accept remote-friendly to be competitive.
  3. Remote for now. This has been the workplace design model for many companies since the beginning of the pandemic. However, this model will disappear as companies commit to a long-term design strategy.
  4. Hybrid by role. Essentially, certain roles (e.g., doctors, nurses, warehouse workers, etc.) must be in-person due to the work type. Other roles can be accomplished remotely.
  5. Hybrid-by-day mix. In many ways, this is simply a compromise for those who want to be remote. It allows remote work for two to three days per week. The drawbacks? There are no savings on real estate costs and there’s a reliance on local talent.
  6. Onsite first. Everyone is required to work on-site with few to no remote work options. For retail organizations, Sanders questions whether it’s necessary for marketing or back-office technology employees to work on-site. There are remote work opportunities that could be leveraged.
Tim Sanders, VP of Client Strategy at Upwork, discusses “The Grand Redesign.” (Photo credit: Upwork)

Identify Your Model to Rewire Your Organization for Remote-First

Which workplace design model represents your company? Answer that question first, says Sanders, then pose three additional questions.

  1. Are you satisfied with the talent in your local markets to make you competitive to achieve digital transformation and stand-up artificial intelligence? Are you ready? Are your local markets really that strong?

And as a follow-up question, are there any remote-first companies running recruitment ads in your market? If so, that’s going to change the picture even if you think you’re comfortable with the strength of your local market.

  1. Have your leaders figured out managing based on outcomes or are they still stuck in the past of AAA management — attendance, attitude, and aptitude?

If your leaders have learned how to manage based on outcomes, then they’re completely equipped to manage without seeing people physically every day in the office.

  1. Have you invested in tools and training for people to learn how to collaborate and culture-build at a distance?

Culture is not about your office. Instead, culture is a conversation led by leaders about how we do things here. It’s about storytelling and how we succeeded in the past. If you want to build a better culture, focus on cadence, not location.

Sanders says these are the questions to ask yourself. The good news? As you embrace remote-first (or at the very least, remote-friendly) workplace design, you are going to rewire the organization.

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Four-Day Work Week Put to the Test

General InsightsHRTalent by John Yuva on

While remote and hybrid work models are nearly synonymous with the Future of Work, the four-day work week is gaining renewed attention as a characteristic of workplace flexibility. Certainly not a novel concept, the pandemic helped elevate four-day work week discussions as companies sought to bring employees back into the office. Advocates of the four-day work week are encouraging companies to join pilot programs to test the waters and determine its viability.

It is important to differentiate the four-day work week model from a compressed work week. Employees who work a compressed week are still working 40 or more hours over four days. A four-day work week means working 8 hours per day, 32 hours per week with the same pay as a 40-hour week.

However, various studies have shown that a four-day work week can produce higher productivity levels compared to employees working more days with longer hours. A four-day work week can also lead to lower stress levels as well as a happier and more loyal workforce. When employees know that their company values flexibility and work/life balance, there’s a greater commitment toward enterprise goals. It is this insight that led to a drastic change in work hours/days in the early 1900s.

Work Hours and Days Not Etched in Stone

Historically, until the 20th century, the work week spanned six days, averaging 80-to-100 hours per week, with the majority of labor working in factories or heavy manufacturing. In 1926, however, the Ford Motor Company transitioned to five days, 40 hours per week due to productivity insights of its workers. TIME highlighted Henry Ford’s philosophy on this in his company’s Ford News in October, “Just as the eight-hour day opened our way to prosperity in America, so the five-day workweek will open our way to still greater prosperity … It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either lost time or a class privilege.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938 and amended in 1940 by Congress, made the 40-hour work week standard. Thus, the notion that the work week cannot be anything less than five days, 40 hours per week is not realistic given our current times. As evidenced by the Future of Work movement, today’s workplace landscape shows yet another tectonic shift in workforce productivity and engagement.

Now, more than ever, with remote work becoming a mainstream workforce model, it is relevant to further explore the four-day work week concept. And that’s exactly what hundreds of companies are undertaking across the world from Europe to North America and beyond.

Largest Four-Day Work Week Pilot Launched in the UK

The largest-ever four-day work week pilot is occurring in the United Kingdom from June to December 2022. Led by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with leading think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College, and Oxford University, there are more than 70 organizations varying in size and sector participating in the six-month trial, including over 3,300 employees who are being paid one day off weekly during the six-month pilot.

According to Joe O’Connor, 4 Day Week Global CEO, “The organizations in the United Kingdom pilot are contributing real-time data and knowledge that are worth their weight in gold. Essentially, they are laying the foundation for the future of work by putting a four-day week into practice, across every size of business and nearly every sector, and telling us exactly what they are finding as they go,” he says.

“We are learning that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some there are some understandable hurdles — especially among those which have comparatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems, or cultures that date back well into the last century,” O’Connor adds.

With the pilot now at its halfway point, all participating organizations were sent a series of questions with multi-choice answers on a scale of 1 to 5. According to 4 Day Week Global, of those that responded (41 out of the 70 companies), here are some insights on the four-day work week at this juncture in the trial:

  • 88% of respondents stated that the four-day week is working “well” for their business at this stage in the trial.
  • 46% of respondents say their business productivity has “maintained around the same level,” while 34% report that it has “improved slightly,” and 15% say it has “improved significantly.”
  • On how smooth the transition to a four-day week has been (with ‘5’ being “extremely smooth” and ‘1’ being “extremely challenging”), 29% of respondents selected ‘5’, 49% selected ‘4’ and 20% selected ‘3’.
  • 86% of respondents stated that at this juncture in the trial, they would be “extremely likely” and or “likely” to consider retaining the four-day week policy after the trial period.

A Bright Future for Workplace Flexibility

The outlook is encouraging for four-day work week adoption for some of the companies involved in the pilot. The fact that 49% of the company respondents are seeing an improvement in business productivity is something to note as well. The Future of Work Exchange will follow up once the pilot concludes in December.

In the meantime, if your company is interested in a 4 Day Week Global pilot in the United States or Canada, information can be found here.

Ultimately, companies will need to determine how a four-day work week impacts their business and workforce model. Flexibility of any kind within today’s enterprises is critical to talent acquisition and retention. Companies that tested but decided against adopting a four-day work week have still realized the importance of flexibility and implemented other measures from no-meeting Thursdays to seasonal half-day Fridays. Determine what is meaningful from a stress and work/life balance perspective and use that as a starting point for a flexible workplace program.

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Direct Sourcing’s Future of Work Impact

Contingent WorkforceDirect SourcingGeneral InsightsPodcastSolution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

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 Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix, for an insightful Future of Work-oriented discussion (click to listen to the full interview). Sunil and I discussed the changes in how businesses engage talent, the continued growth of direct sourcing, and some interesting Future of Work predictions. Today’s article is a recap of our conversation. [Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.]

Christopher Dwyer: Seeing how our world of work and talent has been changing so much, you’ve had a front-row seat being where you are in workforce management software space. From your perspective, what do you feel are the biggest changes in the way businesses engage talent and get work done, and how the pandemic has shaped those aspects over the past couple of years?

Sunil Bagai: That’s a really good question. Several changes have been happening. Some of them were obviously sped up by the pandemic. For example, businesses are now much more open to hiring remote workers. And when we say remote, it’s kind of like an umbrella where everybody can be under that remote category. But the reality is we need to slice it a bit further. Remote can be onshore where they’re local to that office, so they can at least still come into the office. Remote can be not local to the office, so some other state or anywhere else in the country. Remote can also be offshore where a person can be in the Philippines, Colombia, India, or somewhere else in the world supporting that organization. There are a variety of different ways to slice and dice what remote really means. And that nuance is new. And it’s important going forward.

Another trend that I’ve seen happen in the last few years is much more openness to a variety of different marketplaces. And that means being able to hire talent directly by going onto a portal, for example. So, that trend has taken off. What that does, however, is create a challenge in these organizations. Why? Because enterprises are not equipped to deal with the nuances of being remote or how to integrate hiring marketplaces into their existing hiring processes. So, for example, their ATS and VMS platforms are not fully equipped to integrate with those new ways of hiring. That’s creating some more challenges and friction, which will get ironed out and addressed as the next few years go on.

CD: Direct sourcing has become such a hot strategy. And the more we talk about it on the Future of Work Exchange, the more we’re educating the market on something that seems to be dominating conversations not only around the Future of Work but also talent acquisition and workforce management. I think back to some of my first encounters with the Crowdstaffing platform, and you were one of the pioneers of direct sourcing. What are your thoughts on where direct sourcing is going and where it could be headed?

SB: Let’s start by differentiating what is traditional direct sourcing. What we’re doing with a hiring marketplace is a step towards direct sourcing without having to necessarily, say, get rid of your suppliers. Because direct sourcing today assumes that you’re sourcing every candidate on your own without the use of suppliers. And I believe there’s a middle ground where you can still use suppliers — your incumbents or your initial supplier pool. The network can be a second supplier pool that can give you more access to talent as well as lower costs. And then you have a third option which is the bucket of direct sourcing, where you can engage talent directly using your brand. I believe that all can coexist.

And the aim is to use technology to publish your jobs across all diverse hiring channels. Each of these becomes a hiring channel…and may the best channel win. It shouldn’t matter where the talent comes from, as long as it’s the best talent and the best price (hopefully). From there, it’s about optimization and being able to select based on quality, based on price, and based on speed for your talent fulfillment. If you can do that, then that’s your ideal solution. It’s not one or the other, it’s a mix of all the options available through one common technology platform to help you achieve your talent needs.

CD: What are some of your 2022 Future of Work predictions — not just technology, but the space in general?

SB: For 2022, you’re already starting to see some interesting things happen in the industry. We’ve seen some large acquisitions, and we’ll probably continue to see consolidation where certain companies try to acquire other companies to have a larger presence in the space and diversify their solution portfolio. And there will be more consolidation of customers, as well.

We’re also starting to see MSPs really up their game and add much more value than they were traditionally accustomed to. Before, MSPs were managing programs, and now they’re really trying to differentiate themselves by offering more capabilities within their solutions. New technology will also continue to surface and add a different spin on how the workforce should be managed. That’s what I’m seeing for the remainder of this year.

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The Many Extensions of the Future of Work

Business LeadershipDirect SourcingPodcastTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

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.

The Season Seven premiere of the Future of Work Exchange Podcast, sponsored by Beeline, featured in-depth, Future of Work-oriented discussion with Jen Torney, VP of Client Engagement at Talent Solutions TAPFIN, and Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP of Market Strategies at Beeline (click to listen to the full interview).

Today’s article recaps a piece of the podcast discussion focused on several key Future of Work-focused topics. [Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.]

Christopher Dwyer: We’re going to close things out with what I call the “Future of Work lighting round.” Let’s start with remote work.

Brian Hoffmeyer: Remote work is here to stay. We’re talking to our clients considerably about it and doing several workshops with them about the best way to handle it from a contingent workforce perspective. Because it’s not as easy as saying, “I want to hire from low-cost areas.” What does that really mean? What are the tax implications of doing that? There’s a different tax rate and a lot of complexity behind the scenes to work out. I’m still seeing companies make pretty arbitrary decisions about remote work, saying you have to come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays — when that doesn’t make sense. Companies need to be very purposeful in making these decisions as they go through the process.

Jen Torney: Yes to all of that. I would say this is so much bigger of a conversation than whether or not you’re going back into the office. We’re encouraging organizations to really look at their true workforce plan and strategy. Because this changes everything. It changes how you can hire, where you can hire, and at what cost. It becomes a much bigger holistic conversation around the opportunity to completely rebuild organizations. There is a lot of hybrid work, but it’s very arbitrary in approach. Now that I’ve been back to traveling at a pre-pandemic level, in-person makes a difference. It really does. But I’m not sure that clocking in at eight and leaving at five to fight traffic and get home is really going to be a part of our culture anymore — except when there’s a requirement. There are several smart ways to get work done, and that eight-to-five model doesn’t need to be the model to do that.

CD: Up next: direct sourcing.

JT: Direct sourcing is smart sourcing. We think direct sourcing is blowing up. It is definitely a new layer of workforce strategy. I don’t think this is going to replace traditional staffing, but it has its place in niche areas within our workforce. I’m certainly excited to see how this proliferates in the organizations that we’re working with. The smart sourcing aspect of layering and upskilling is going to be the future.

BH: Just do it. Just do it. I think too many companies are taking too long and overcomplicating things. Pick an area, pick a geography, pick a skillset, and get the right providers together and start somewhere.

CD: Off to the next one: purposeful work.

BH: I love this. We’re in this position in our industry to help people find meaningful employment and to get them the skills they need to improve their lives. That’s the ultimate purpose that I see in what we’re doing. I want to continue to see companies not treat contractors as less than and make them part of the workforce. Yes, there are rules you have to follow, but include them in D&I initiatives and company events.

JT: One of the things we’ve realized as a global society over the course of the pandemic is that it’s critical to be part of something, to feel that you are contributing value, and to be able to show up as your best self. Purposeful work is so important to the younger generations, especially those coming up into the workforce. So, figuring out ways as employers to build that into your culture so that you’re creating an environment for the future leaders to feel it is the right place for them from an employment experience.

CD: Let’s roll into conscious leadership.

BH: Jen mentioned letting people be their true selves at work and I think that’s incredibly important. Because that’s going to make them feel included and allow them to bring up ideas that give them the space to fail. As leaders, we must do the same thing — show our own vulnerabilities and give people that space. The blending of work and life is going to continue to happen. And that to me is a good thing. Because you don’t want people to be fake, you want them to be who they truly are. While it seems obvious, the world didn’t use to be that way. The more those separate work and home personalities go away, the better.

CD: Crystal ball for the second half of the year into 2023?

BH: With respect to our industry, you’re going to continue to see an emphasis on the worker themselves and giving the worker good experiences because so many people want to work in this way. You know, permanent employment isn’t really a thing. Even if you take a so-called “permanent job,” your tenure is 18 months on average…or even less now. We’re focused on several things around that to make sure the worker can continue to advance their career in the ways they want to. You’re going to see a lot more of that.

JT: With obvious recession concerns, we’re going to continue to see organizations be more cautious. It’s about hiring and making very intentional decisions to get in front of that. There will probably be a curb in the aggressive hiring that we’ve been seeing over the course of this year. And then absolute radical growth in our travel MSP clients. Travel is returning to pre-pandemic levels and certainly out pacing their expectations. There will be some growth there despite the recessionary concerns.

A recession is an economic trend and part of the cycle. It’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. This recessionary period will be a bit more interesting for our business because there will be some contraction but also some expansion in certain categories as well.

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The Business World of 2019 is Extinct

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsHRTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I’m sure many of the Future of Work Exchange’s readers remember the fantastic television series LOST. Sure, it floundered for a bit during the middle seasons, but in the long run, it was one of the most memorable TV shows of the past 20 years.

In the infamous Season Three finale, the directors of the show tossed in a “rattlesnake in the mailbox” twist ending: the famous flashbacks that were routine during every episode were, in fact, during this season finale, flashforwards to moments several members of the cast were off the island and back home. Remember when Jack met Kate in a dark parking lot and screamed, “We have to go back!”?

Well, that’s what it sounds like every time a business leader, writer, pundit, etc. insists that pandemic-era organizational attributes are either going to fade or lose their steam in the months ahead. There was the “very bad take” on remote work from Malcolm Gladwell last week. CNN recently featured a piece from SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. that featured a take on why remote work will dissipate:

Though seen as a necessity during the pandemic, some business leaders doubt the current level of remote work is sustainable. And they’re right. A fully virtual workplace misses some of the key drivers for performance, productivity and growth, which are top of mind right now for businesses facing the prospect of a potential recession. Understandably, they want workers back in the office because they’re preparing for an ultra-competitive environment, which calls for maximizing efficiency. Fully remote work doesn’t cultivate the level of interpersonal relationships that business leaders see as vital to workplace synergy, collaboration and innovation. It can’t replicate the rich, robust, direct two-way, in-person communication that is critical to complex and creative work.

When companies are responding to market shifts and economic stresses, new ideas, problem solving and brainstorming all become essential. And brainstorming sessions are much easier to conduct in person, where workers can hash out their ideas on collaboration boards in conference rooms or shared workspaces. Remote workers, meanwhile, are more prone to distractions at home that can inhibit their concentration and participation.

Taylor, like many others, speaks from a pro-business perspective. And…that’s okay. It really is. This is a discerning time for the corporate world: still in the throes of a pandemic, inflation still rampant, and the specter of recession lingering overhead. Some businesses have already ignited layoffs in fear of the recession’s impact. Others have tightened budgets and have begun forecasting what their revenue, finances, and expenses will look like in the months to come if a recession truly hits. So, it’s no wonder that many executives point to the coming months as some sort of gateway to the past, particularly those fond days before a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic brought unrivaled havoc to the world at large.

It’s become a common refrain for professionals to say the phrase “getting back to normal” when it comes to the way businesses operate. However, as we’ve learned time and time again, we’re not going back. Never. While many executive leaders have realized that the transformative shifts we’ve experienced are permanent, there are unfortunately many others who have not. One aspect that Taylor, Jr. evokes in his piece for CNN revolves around the concept of flexibility: “The flexibility we embraced during the pandemic should go both ways. Workers will need to bend a bit, especially when the viability of the workplace is in jeopardy.”

The viability of the workplace is not in jeopardy. The workforce itself is in jeopardy. We can all agree that The Great Resignation wasn’t going to last forever, however the millions of quits happening so frequently (even if they slow during these late summer weeks) prove that workers will never go back to a business arena that lacked remote work, better working conditions, and access to the flexibility that has allowed them to balance their work-life integration in such a way that both their personal and professional lives are purposeful.

The great war for talent will still rage on no matter the economic conditions of our business world. In 2019, remote work was a piece of corporate life. In 2022, it’s a permanent and foundational fixture. When we hear someone say “we have to go back!” in regards to dining at restaurants or attending concerts, yes, by all means, it would be great to get to that point as COVID becomes endemic. However, when we hear that same phrase in regards to business life, it’s an unfortunate desire to go back to a world that no longer exists (for many good reasons).

No, we don’t have to go back. We need to keep progressing forward. It’s the Future of Work, after all.

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