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

Contingent Workforce Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/21/2021

If you caught last week’s Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast, we chatted about several distinct attributes of the world of work and talent that will be transformed in the year ahead. In the span of just under 30 minutes, we just barely scratched the surface of the vast possibilities that the Future of Work movement will have on businesses across the globe over the next 12 months, given the many “accelerants” that contributed to work optimization in 2020.

There are 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 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:

Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP of Market Strategies, Beeline

“The events of 2020 make me a bit reticent to make any predictions for 2021, but I’ll try! As the pandemic comes to an end due to a combination of vaccine distribution and herd immunity, I think we’ll see companies adopt a blended in office and remote work strategy for their entire workforces. Some jobs will be 100% in the office and others will be 100% remote but, for a large number of professional workers, we’ll see a mix where key activities return to being in person. At the same time, specifically as it relates to the extended workforce, companies will continue to engage workers in locations where they don’t have a physical presence as they’ve learned that they can grow their talent pools and drive down both time-to-fill and costs by doing so.”

William T. Rolack, Sr., VP of Diversity and Inclusion, Workforce Logiq

“With real incentives for tangible results, D&I leaders are in a better position to move beyond tracking diverse supply chain expenditures to drive real impact on overall employee representation. And, those often overlooked contingent workers must be a part of the diversity dialogue. With the call for workplace equity, regardless of worker type, and because contingent workers are strong talent pool for full time positions, organizations risk missing the mark if they focus their D&I efforts solely on their full-time workforce.”

“Diversity and inclusion isn’t a “program.” Too many organizations today treat it as an ad-hoc initiative. Employers that have fostered real cultures of belonging understand D&I needs to permeate the organization at the core, and be a lens through which senior leaders invest, act, and make decisions. Real progress can only occur when employers understand this interconnectivity and link D&I initiatives with their larger business objectives.”

Allison Robinson, CEO and Founder, The Mom Project

“We are seeing more and more companies turn to The Mom Project for help building diverse talent communities. That signals to me that, while there’s a real commitment and willingness to invest in diversity and inclusion, many companies are still trying to identify the right partners that will actually help them move the needle. We developed our Diverse Talent Cloud offering to connect our partners and customers with the best talent communities of diverse candidates. I think you’ll see more companies look for solutions like The Mom Project as they get serious and strategic about converting their diversity objectives into impact.”

“Forty percent of our community of 400,000 working parents are women of color. When I see stats saying approximately 60 percent of the jobs eliminated the first months of the pandemic were held by women and that women of color were disproportionately affected, I am reminded that our mission of finding moms jobs is more important than ever. One of the things we’re doing beyond connecting diverse talent with flexible, professional work is funding initiatives like RISE, an upskilling and opportunity-creation program for women and families. It’s a virtuous circle that bolsters the program and the mission benefiting everyone involved.”

Kevin Akeroyd, CEO, PRO Unlimited

“A world where more than 50% of the workforce is not FTE is not too far into the distant future. In fact, the contingent workforce landscape is growing at an unprecedented rate – with approximately over 40% of all skilled workers being contingent vs. full-time. As employers begin to augment their human capital strategies to accommodate for this shift in the market, many leading organizations are supplementing traditional sourcing channels by creating private talent pools of known (alumni, silver medalists, referrals, retirees) and unknown (brand-attracted) talent. Done correctly, direct sourcing powers significant cost savings, improved talent quality and faster time to fill. However, some organizations are finding the execution of direct-sourcing programs more difficult than anticipated and struggling to realize the full benefits. Often, the use of multiple vendors is the culprit, creating bottlenecks, discontinuity and inefficiencies. When powered by cutting-edge technology and human expertise, a single direct-sourcing platform eliminates disjointed communication between parties, reduces confusion and inefficiency created by overlapping responsibilities, and aligns all interactions to one service team.”

Jim McCoy, SVP of Talent Solutions, ManpowerGroup

“Increasing DE&I in existing markets where local demographics do not align with targeted skill sets has limited success unless remote sourcing is leveraged properly. Increasing candidate diversity is best achieved in markets where diverse candidates actually reside. 52% of school age children are learning remotely at least part-time and 1/3 of children under 12 years old lack adult supervision. To attract diverse candidates, accommodating the priority needs of workers, such as childcare, is increasingly critical.”

“In 2020, many employers had to contend with employees who had to log off or step away from their jobs for 10-to-14 days at a time, requiring them to reallocate skills to their remaining workforce or assign managers to take on additional responsibilities. The willingness of workers to take on dual roles is a short-term reality as competitors seek to hire singular skills, increasing risk and rate of turnover, and the trend of overperformers taking on extra work will not continue indefinitely.”

In industries such as IT, where the demand for talent increased due to COVID-19, competitive pay has been critical. There was little to no unemployment for IT workers, who shouldered essential responsibilities of helping companies deploy most of their employees to work from home while also maintaining the highest levels of cyber security. As long as IT workers are receiving appropriate compensation, they are less inclined to switch jobs and move to a new company where they will have less tenure.”

Saleem Khaja, COO and Co-Founder, WorkLLama

“While the usual priorities around cost optimization and DEI will stay top of mind, there will be an increased focus on talent wellbeing and tools that will contribute towards that, e.g., tools that maximize efficiency while minimizing stress in the new way of doing work, tools that predict outcomes towards achieving this objective both from a talent and organizational perspective, etc.”

Vanessa Janus, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, DZConneX (A Yoh Company)

“Direct sourcing and proactive talent pools have quickly become a critical component to a total talent strategy as organizations seek ways to provide a unified high level candidate experience and strong employee value proposition regardless of labor type. Direct Sourcing, as part of a holistic vision of your talent acquisition program, is more important than ever in order to attract the most qualified and diverse talent faster and more cost effectively.”

“The challenge going forward will be to ensure a company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are happening for all labor types and talent acquisition streams. Thus, the rise in direct sourcing and total talent management to help not only increase visibility but to also unify and maximize D&I efforts.”

Dave Putt, SVP Sales and Marketing Strategies, ELEVATE

“We see the adoption of direct talent sourcing has been slow and steady. More importantly, there is an on-going appetite from customers and partners to include talent pooling and other direct sourcing capabilities into our ELEVATE VMS.”

Four Predictions for the Future of Work in 2021

General Insights Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/17/2021

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.

Evolution, Agility, and the Extended Workforce: A Conversation with Doug Leeby, CEO of Beeline

Talent Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/14/2021

I’m thrilled to welcome Beeline CEO Doug Leeby for an exclusive Q&A session today on CPO Rising. Doug and I chat about the platform’s big news, the evolution of the agile workforce, direct sourcing, and so much more.

Christopher J. Dwyer: Doug, it’s great to have a chance to chat with you. Thanks for spending some time with us. Let’s get to the big news first. Earlier today, Beeline made a major announcement: introducing the solution as an extended workforce platform. Tell us all about it.

Doug Leeby: Thank you, Chris. It’s always great to be with you. Yes, we announced the Beeline Extended Workforce Platform today. In a word, it’s about evolution. We’ve long outgrown the moniker of VMS (vendor management system). While the functionality of a VMS is still core and extremely important, it’s too limiting. The value of external talent has evolved. Talent is talent – it doesn’t matter whether they are employees or non-employees. As such, it needs to be managed not as a procurement category but as a strategic component of the workforce.

Evolving to the extended workforce platform means adding talent-centric value streams to all constituents on the platform – clients, MSPs, suppliers, and the talent itself. It also demands a thoughtful and deliberate approach to building an ecosystem with other great companies. This gives our users access to superior capabilities and benefits that are not associated with VMS today.

CD: One thing that Beeline has been known for is its commitment to both the “talent side” of the industry and the power of intelligence and analytics. How do those attributes factor into the revamped platform?

DL: I appreciate you pointing that out because it is core to Beeline. This is not about managing a commodity – it’s about people. That’s an important starting point. This manifests in the beautiful new hiring manager experience that considers our users as consumers vs. business entities, our integration with behavioral and psychometric solutions, and our new resume visualizer that elevates people from a mere resume. The data (and therefore, analytics) serves as another massive point of differentiation in the market. Beeline’s extended workforce platform leverages our $700B in global talent spend data to provide insights that align behavior with the enterprises’ goals.

The power of data is leveraged in multiple facets of the Beeline extended workforce platform, but perhaps the most exciting and innovative is in the “SmartBuyer” solution we are developing with our long-trusted ecosystem partner, Brightfield. Industry marketing is replete with buzz phrases like “powered by AI.” Much of that is pandering. Machine learning is promising, but it is predicated on having a deep and historical data set that can actually inform with statistical veracity.

CD: Beeline will forever be known as a pioneer and an innovator in the VMS space. How do you foresee current and prospective customers perceiving this exciting new development?

DL: I believe they will appreciate the industry leadership and the fact that we are finally ascribing an accurate descriptor to our solution. The reality is, we’ve been an extended workforce platform for several years. We benefit from exceptionally close relationships with our clients (I define clients as end clients, MSPs and suppliers) and everything we do is geared at listening to their challenges and endeavoring to solve them.

In the early years, our problem solving was more reactive. Over the last decade, we’ve been far more proactive in addressing them. Beeline’s extended workforce platform is clearly future focused and it’s flexible. Early adopters leverage much from our ecosystem now while others take more time but appreciate that these solutions are in place for when they are ready. I’ll give you a couple of examples. Many are taking advantage of our offering via The Mom Project as it is both noble and simple. Direct sourcing offers tremendous savings but requires more planning and not everyone is ready quite yet to pull the trigger.

CD: How do current clients benefit from the extended workforce management functionality?

DL: Well, they are already benefiting as we have been offering many components of our platform and ecosystem for some time, but on March 26, we have one of our biggest and most exciting releases in recent years. This is the culmination of a focus on our three pillars – user experience, data and innovation, and connectivity. There is too much to discuss here but we believe job descriptions and resumes are outdated and ineffective. Despite consistently receiving the highest grades for our user experience, we believe it should be even more intuitive and data driven. We also believe trust is paramount and thus, data security must always be top-of-mind. These are foundational and we must never pursue shiny objects in favor of the core. Having said that, there is a lot of “shine” that’s just really cool as well.

CD: How critical is for our industry to have this type of technology in regard to where we are now in the business world: growing agile workforce, more focus on diversity and inclusion, and (hopefully!) on the back end of a public health crisis?

DL: I believe it is crucial. Twenty years ago, when I started, workflow geared at driving rates down after an uneventful Y2K was a gamechanger. Much has changed and evolved over the last two decades. Finally, the value of the extended workforce is, in many cases, understood to be strategic. The variability of the model is exceptionally attractive, and companies are leveraging this important talent more than ever before. Accordingly, it must be managed as talent and as a key component of the overall workforce strategy. That requires a more robust solution set from which to draw from. Beeline does a lot, but we don’t do it all. The platform remedies that and enables us to introduce extraordinary and proven solutions to the table.

Diversity and inclusion are now making its way from the supplier to the talent and that’s a great thing. The Beeline extended workforce platform not only informs on some of the key metrics but provides a channel to do something about it. We recently launched the Beeline Diversity Talent Pool under The Mom Project, for example, which helps organizations source and hire diversity candidates.

In relation to the pandemic, yes, let’s hope this is soon to be in the rear-view mirror. But to answer your question, this type of technology is paramount to operating in an agile and nimble manner. It enables companies to source remarkable talent that now operates remotely. The idea, for many positions, that the contractor or consultant has to be local is forever shattered. Only a system such as this can provide the reach to find this talent.

CD: What other pathways does this open for Beeline in regard to engaging, sourcing, and managing talent for businesses across the globe?

DL: Great segue, thanks. It opens a lot of pathways. We’ve been vocal that it is our responsibility to open channels of talent next to the traditional PSL (preferred supplier list). I want to be clear – suppliers are a crucial element of this ecosystem and should be honored accordingly. There are opportunities, for specific geographies, goals, etc. to consider complimentary sourcing channels. Direct sourcing is one example. Diversity sourcing is another. I just referenced remote ability and that clearly provides opportunities across the globe.

We hear a lot about “Total Talent Management.” We think this is more about “Total Workforce Optimization” but soon, via our platform, we’ll introduce some compelling solutions that bring this notion to life and finally render “TTM” more than just a buzz phrase. I still contend companies have a long way to go in terms of getting their arms around their extended labor force and should focus on that prior to thinking about “TTM”, but in keeping with our belief that we should solve tomorrow’s problems today… we’ll be ready.

CD: This is a major shift for not just Beeline, but the industry itself. What is the future of the extended workforce and the technology required to manage and control it effectively?

DL: Workforce agility has risen to the top of the priority list. Nearly everyone is focusing on digital transformation. Thoughtful planning and deployment of the extended workforce is more critical now than ever before. This will only increase, and you’ll see more and more organizations finally address this important talent component as strategic.

The future of all workforce management, not just the extended class, is outcome-based sourcing. We all yearn to unlock the insights historical data offers so that we can be more contemplative and deliberate in how we get work done. This goes back to my comment about this really being about Total Workforce Optimization. Knowing, on the front end, the appropriate “mix of talent” (full time, contractor, freelancer, project based) will be the next profound transformation. The underpinning is data and machine learning.

And we must remember this is about people. Thus, the future will exploit the insights from machine learning while treating labor with dignity and offering value to them as well. Remember, a platform is about its network and as stewards of this platform, we must consider all who engage on it and ensure that we are providing more value to each constituency. Beeline’s VMS is a proven and trusted global leader. It isn’t going away – it is an integral component of the Beeline extended workforce platform. We are simply, but judiciously, adding to the overall value proposition by offering future-proofed, well thought out, talent-centric solutions from one platform.

Extending into High-Volume Workforce Management: Beeline Acquires JoinedUp

Talent Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/12/2021

There is no question that the past 15 months have brought an incredible amount of transformation to the world of work. Although much of the focus was placed on the trials of the great shift to remote work and distributed teams, there was (and continues to be, of course) a large and impactful group of talent that trudged along with their “essential worker” status in the face of a global health crisis: the blue-collar, shift-based, and field service workforce.

While managing the white-collar workforce requires a standard set of operations and processes, there are unique differentiators inherent in tackling the nuances of shift-based and blue-collar workforce management. From workflow and scheduling to time and attendance and complex rate calculations, businesses require a comprehensive set of tools and strategies to effectively manage this intricate sector of talent.

Ardent’s upcoming State of Contingent Workforce Management research study (publishing later this spring) reveals a telling statistic: nearly 75% of businesses state that the pandemic forced them to reimagine traditional workforce management processes, such as interviewing, onboarding, scheduling, workflows, etc. And this was the number-one impact of the pandemic within the world of talent and work, a factor that is even more crucial when applied to the sectors that rely on shift-based and blue-collar labor.

Last week, global Vendor Management System (VMS) and Extended Workforce Management (EWS) solutions provider Beeline announced that they acquired JoinedUp, a high-volume workforce management platform known for its high-impact automation of shift-based, blue-collar processes concerning talent and work. This acquisition will allow Beeline to expand its already robust and end-to-end functionality into a market that is expected to continue to grow steadily.

“For organizations that rely upon shift-based temporary labor, coordination and communication with partnered staffing agencies is critical,” said Doug Leeby, CEO of Beeline. “The world of high-volume staffing is very different from that of long-term assignments and has many nuances and complexities that have, to date, been underserved. The JoinedUp solution is, without question, a Best-in-Class product designed specifically to improve fulfillment, speed, and accuracy for both the client and the staffing agency.”

VMS technology is not traditionally known for its prowess with shift fulfillment, a hallmark of the JoinedUp platform. As more and more industries, particularly those within healthcare, light industrial, and manufacturing, increasingly tap into and rely on agile talent to get work done, it will become even more critical for site managers to meet goal-fill shifts and ensure positive impacts on overall productivity and production.

What is particularly interesting about this union is the convergence of Beeline’s extended workforce management (and VMS) functionality and JoinedUp’s unique automation around time capture and its link to complex rate calculations. By acquiring JoinedUp, Beeline users (particularly staffing suppliers in high-volume and blue-collar industries) can transform shift fulfillment from being mostly manual in nature to become fast, efficient, and data-fueled.

JoinedUp’s platform offers on-demand automation of unique high-volume workflows that influence the ultimate productivity of a given shift; afforded a deeper and intelligent view of these tasks and processes will allow Beeline’s users to transform how they staff critical-impact shifts and execute on real-time issues that require agile talent decisions.

“Having owned a staffing agency catering to shift-based labor, we experienced the inefficiencies in scheduling, onboarding, reconciling invoices, and manually tracking SLAs,” said Adam Thompson, JoinedUp co-founder and owner. “We created JoinedUp as a solution uniquely focused on improving process and profitability for both clients, and staffing agencies. We are thrilled to be a part of the Beeline family and believe that together, we offer something nobody else in our industry does.”

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

Contingent Workforce Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/10/2021

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.

Could NFTs Signal Another Future of Work Pathway for Blockchain?

Talent Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/05/2021

The first time I learned about nonfungible tokens (NFTs) occurred while perusing Twitter last summer. Seeing that Topps, perhaps the most-revered name in collectable trading cards, was going “full blockchain” a little over a year ago sparked an interesting dive down a rabbit hole of blockchain, the evolution of e-commerce, and, perhaps, yet another link to the Future of Work movement. Will blockchain finally take its rightful place within the pantheon of Future of Work-era innovation, or will it be limited to the crypto-fueled world of NFTs?

NFTs, Explained…Quickly

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are, in essence, a digital record that confers ownership of a specific asset. This record does not bestow “rights” but rather ownership of the asset, details of which are permanently recorded in a public database.

The NFT is stored in a shared global database that runs on, yes, you guessed it…blockchain!

Decentralization is the Future of Work Key

The biggest claim to fame (besides cryptocurrency, of course) for blockchain’s impact within the greater world of business was always its decentralized means of permanently recording information and data in an unalterable way. Back in 2016, which now seems like forever ago (thank you, pandemic!), I wrote about blockchain’s near-limitless potential in transforming how business was done. Innovation, of course, is the pumping heart of the Future of Work movement; blockchain, then, represented a way for businesses to not only transform the way they record information (such as contracts, IP, SOWs, and impactful data), but could also help to streamline the human touchpoints inherent in finance, accounting, payment management, and contract management to permanently eliminate errors and inconsistencies. In the continuing crossover between personal and business worlds, “digital wallets” or “e-wallets” leverage blockchain as a storage device for funds, gift cards, personal information, and more, furthering the growth and impact of blockchain technology.

Even with a pandemic raging across the globe, blockchain still had moves to make in 2020. “Decentralized finance” was a big hit for the blockchain movement as more and more consumers and business leaders alike bought into peer-to-peer transactions that eschewed traditional measures (such as banks and standard payment outlets), and, digital wallets became a trusted means for consumers that wanted to shun cash as a safer payment option while shopping.

“Decentralized commerce,” also known as dCommerce or DeFi, has a simple goal in mind that traverses beyond decentralized banking or finance: untether commerce from monopolistic giants in retail and other major markets. Blockchain-driven dCommerce networks, such as the Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX), which specializes in the creation and sales of NFTs and similar assets, in addition to the already-proven advantages of digital wallets, could be harbingers of the future of blockchain in other business realms…even in how talent is engaged in the years to come.

“Open Talent,” Frictionless Talent Acquisition, and the Next Great Era of Workforce Management

The concept of digital wallets could point to how talent is engaged and sourced in the very near future. John Healy, Vice President at the World Employment Confederation, believes that this technological progression could very well be the Future of Work movement’s most crucial pathway into connecting people with projects and work.

“Digital wallets are emerging as an essential asset to our personal privacy and safety, and as governments recognize the need to leverage such a tool as a way to have trusted access to verify vaccinations, the next question they are asking is, “What else should be in that digital wallet?” Healy said. “Information regarding your identity, eligibility to work, your education, employment history, certifications and licenses, any assessments, awards or achievements…all part of the solutions that are actively being deployed using blockchain technology. 100%, this is part of how we will reduce friction in the ways that people connect with work – speeding up the time from application to paycheck, and interview to productivity, while also helping improve wellness for individuals and communities.”

If NFTs are the hot tech attribute du jour and bring more attention to digital wallets and the decentralization of commerce and finance through the advent of blockchain, we could certainly soon live in a world that untethers traditional talent networks and places more emphasis on the unalterable permanent scale of information enabled by blockchain. The freeform sharing of ideas, projects, information, intelligence, and yes, even talent, could lead to a relatively frictionless “open talent movement” as a Future of Work undercurrent.

Vaccine records (a topic worth digging deeper into), portfolios of work, certifications, education, and assessments are all critical measures of the true impact and alignment of talent with work and business projects. As decentralization and blockchain continue to transform the world of work, as non-traditional/non-employee talent continues to grow in both size and prominence, and as business leaders continue to rely on talent clouds and talent communities for agile workforce needs, it’s not too difficult to think of an environment in which a peer-to-peer, frictionless, and “open” culture permeates into the next great era of workforce management.

21 Thoughts for 2021: Future of Work Edition

General Insights Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/03/2021

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

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

The Next Evolution of the Agile Workforce

Contingent Workforce Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/28/2021

The concept of business agility is not a new ideal, but in fact an evolving set of attributes that describe a company’s overall dynamic responses to real-world pressures and barriers of all sizes and types (economic, supply chain, internal, etc.). Business agility, in essence, translates into the modern business’ overall ability to react in real-time to the challenges that they face on a daily basis. And, in 2020, the very notion of agility is something that has been embraced by enterprises across the world as a key facilitator of survival in these strange times.

Just a few years ago, the contingent workforce was (still) in the midst of its years-long trajectory of growth and impact, as it continues to be today (Ardent Partners research finds that 43% of the average workforce is considered contingent/non-employee, including temporary workers, gig workers, freelancers, independent contractors, and professional services). As the reliance on non-employee labor continued to increase, so did its link to true business agility. Thus, the natural evolution of the contingent workforce was its transformation into the agile workforce.

The agile workforce can be described by its four key benefits: 1) natural cost flexibility, 2) speed-to-hire and speed of engagement), 3) adaptability of expertise, and 4) its productivity gains. However, during the current business climate, there is one attribute of the agile workforce that represents its next natural evolution: its progressive skillsets and how they fit into the ongoing transformation of the modern business.

The next evolution of the agile workforce will help businesses build:

A more dynamic talent acquisition strategy that focuses on skills and expertise gaps. The number one reason for leveraging agile talent today aren’t the cost savings that long were associated with this workforce, but rather the depth of skillsets and expertise it brings to the average organization. Businesses can build talent acquisition strategies that are enhanced with skillset-led tactics to develop the best-aligned, deepest bench of workers.
A workforce that does not have to account for traditional barriers in engaging new talent. The remote work angle has always been a piece of contemporary businesses, however, in 2020, it’s become the norm. Eschewing location and traditional barriers will allow businesses to expand their relative talent pools, expand active and passive recruitment, and promote expertise ahead of “where” a potential candidate is located. Too, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics will enable contingent workforce, HR, and talent acquisition leaders with the ability to develop more expansive recruitment marketing strategies that are not limited by traditional barriers.
A more diverse workforce that will spark innovation and new ideas. Diversity and inclusion initiatives are an idealistic means for businesses to bring in new and fresh voices to its functional units as a way to spark innovation across key enterprise strategies. A truly agile mindset towards talent acquisition and contingent workforce management translates into the ability to find, engage, and source talent that can bring more dynamic ideas into the greater organization.
A way to shift resources as both market conditions and corporate competition evolve. “Adaptability” has become a common refrain, especially nearly seven months into a global pandemic that has caused economic and business disruptions across the world. A truly agile workforce and skillset-led talent management strategies will allow businesses to “shift” their workers based on current market conditions, as well as enable them to position necessary expertise to where it is needed as products and services evolve. Talent pools can be further segmented, while both FTEs and non-employee workers can align their unique expertise to the functional areas that need them based on how the business progresses in regards to market, economic, and competitive factors.

Even in a Remote World, Workplace Culture is More Important Than Ever

Business Leadership Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/21/2021

Many friends and family, upon hearing about my remote work habits, may not understand how I can be so productive. There’s often music playing in the background, or, sometimes, like this week, television simulcasts of popular sports radio shows. The truth is this: background noise isn’t just noise but serves a sometimes-interesting link between our business world and other arenas. Today’s article, in fact, was sparked by overhearing a sports radio show that was, up until that point, serving as a mere backdrop to pouring over new research data.

Last week, sports radio icon Colin Cowherd, on his daily “The Herd” show (simulcast on Fox Sports One), brought in legendary NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings (former standout wideout for the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings) to talk about the cultural fit between high-paid free agent players and their respective new franchises.

Cowherd brought up several examples of unique team culture, such as Green Bay’s “lunch pail” mindset of “show up everyday and work hard” to my hometown New England Patriots’ mantra of “do your job.” Jennings, a Super Bowl-winning wide receiver when he was with the Packers in 2010, signed a big money deal with division rivals (Minnesota Vikings) in early 2013. Cowherd pressed him on the balance between being a big-name, highly-paid free agent star and adapting to a new team’s overall culture.

Jennings’ response echoed the same sentiments as many of us in the business world feel when it comes to talent and culture: it doesn’t matter the depth of a player’s skillset nor their pedigree or experience; if the culture isn’t a proper fit, the player will not be productive. No, we need not traverse through the very, very long lists of sports free agents who were hailed as franchise saviors and ended up hurting their teams more than helping.

It is quite true that workplace culture plays a pivotal role in the ultimate success of a new worker or candidate. In-person onboarding, frequent chats with cubicle mates, and proximity collaboration around the water cooler or in the office kitchen are all very valuable elements in indoctrinating a candidate to an organization’s workplace environment and culture. Even though an anticipated “fourth wave” of COVID-19 cases is predicted for the spring, there seems to be a heavy balance between businesses that are slowly welcoming workers back to the office and those that continue to offer a fully-remote workplace structure.

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned over the course of the past year, it’s that workplace culture permeates within even those organizations that maintain a work-from-home environment. In fact, we could even argue that culture is more important than ever given the unique circumstances of today’s work setups, the majority of which are following a remote-lead environment:

Businesses that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion are more apt to drive true innovation…even remotely. DE&I initiatives aren’t just limited to supplier diversity, but rather a larger movement that pushes for equity across the entirety of the talent supply chain. Businesses must spark innovation across all functions and roles, and the only way to do that is by instituting boundaryless structures that are inclusive and open to voices of all genders, cultures, and backgrounds. The deepest talent pool is a diverse talent pool…and because we are (mostly) working remotely today, that shouldn’t change a bit.
The “moments” that we relied on in-person, even transferred to video- and conferencing-led collaboration, are still critically important. Imagine being a new worker (FTE or contractor) at a new organization during pre-pandemic times. You’d wander the halls, the kitchen, the break rooms, the conference rooms, etc. and run into a variety of voices, with each positive interaction, be it a smile or some words of encouragement, helping you feel more comfortable with your role in the organization. It is critically important that businesses push a culture of openness regardless of it is in-person or via a remote infrastructure. Even the best and brightest workers can feel their productivity drain if they don’t feel like they’re a valued player on the team. Fostering a culture of connection, communication, and collaboration is the key.
Culture permeates along the lines of every facet of management, so, leaders take note. As I noted much earlier in this article, culture in sports boils down to a teamwide “feeling” that is experienced across the board. Some teams have their own unique spirit that players either buy into…or not. This is why it is so crucial for business leaders, no matter their functional role, to promote a positive “talent experience” for all of their workers (both FTEs and non-employees). The further on down the line that culture and positivity is experienced, the better off the business will be. And, that shouldn’t be paused because of a remote work environment. An enterprise’s workers are essentially its brand ambassadors. Just like a major sports team doesn’t want a current or ex-player complaining about a toxic environment, not does a business when it pertains to the overall level of employee experience and engagement of its workforce.
The adoption of work models that promote productivity, growth, and balance will be the ones that are ideal in a remote environment. Business leaders must be flexible in how they push their workers to be productive; work/life balance has never been more complicated than it was over the past year. It is important for executives to create an environment, even in a remote setting, in which their workers feel like they are enabled to take the personal time they need while also having the space, equipment, and communication necessary to get work done. Similarly, there must be opportunities for growth. Just because traditional performance reviews have been on pause does not mean that hardworking individuals shouldn’t have a clear path to the next steps ahead. Self-directed learning, reskilling, and upskilling should all be critical elements of the remote workplace handbook.

The Workplace of the (Near) Future

Business Leadership Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/19/2021

During the course of my professional career, I’ve worked in both remote/virtual and traditional office environments. I’ve spent time in seemingly-endless conference room meetings and hours-long conference calls. Water cooler talk about Game of Thrones, office kitchen conversations about whether the Patriots were still a dynasty, and mid-hallway “hellos” to peers were all typical parts of my work days over the past two decades, as have been writing research at 2:00am, whiteboarding ideas at my home office, and silently hoping that the dog wouldn’t bark at the UPS driver while I was on a webinar.

In short: I’m one of many business professionals that understands and respects the many forms of workplace structure, be it traditional office settings or fully-remote, home-office-led environments.

Several months into a pandemic and a cursory scroll through a LinkedIn news feed will uncover swaths of articles and how-to guides on being productive while working from home and the best ways to effectively manage a newly-remote team (Ardent, of course, is no stranger to contributing to these displays of thought leadership).

Based on over 15 years of covering, research, and analyzing how businesses engage, acquire, and manage their talent and how that talent addresses how work is done, I’ve come to a stark conclusion about the “office vs. remote” debate that has now been raging for weeks and months.

The workplace of the (near) future needs both structures to truly thrive.

In essence, the workplace of the future blends the core benefits of an in-person model with the flexibility enhancements and productivity gains of the remote environment. Today, obviously, it isn’t the safest bet to bring back any more than 25% (or less) of a workforce to traditional office environments given health and safety concerns and out of respect for social distancing guidelines. Businesses that can continue to drive productivity from a remote workforce must do so until the pandemic begins to fade. In the greater discussion of how to approach the future workplace given what we have experienced and will continue to experience in business over the next several months, however, there is inherent worth in balancing a hybrid workplace structure to drive the most value from both traditional and remote setups:

Bi-weekly or monthly team meetings are often catalysts for new and innovative ideas. A research organization like Ardent Partners is heavily reliant on my team and I hunkering down to develop, organize, and write research and content, sometimes without meeting in-person for a week or two at a time. The pandemic’s forced remote work structure has resulted in many business leaders struggling to recreate “proximity collaboration” that only happens in-person and losing the “spark” of a room filled with eager voices, something I often crave after two consecutive weeks of home office work. Hybrid work structures should require some frequency of in-person team meetings to capture those new and innovative ideas and ensure that collaboration between leaders, workers, and stakeholders can drive fresh concepts.
Workers are human, and, rightfully so, crave human connection. Today, we are ensconced in video meetings and conference calls. Many of us have had to, in an age of social distancing, cancel birthday parties and family gatherings in favor of FaceTime conversations and Zoom meetings. From both the business and personal perspectives, none of these outright replace the face-to-face, human connection that is made in an in-person environment. Simply put: humans need human connection. It’s energizing when we can see someone standing in front of us, smiling and receptive to our thoughts and ideas. Remote work has been transformative over these last several months, but the biggest missing element has been that level of human connection.
Sanity! There are various points throughout the year when I am working on a large-scale research project and spend a week or two confined to my home office. I can take quick breaks to recharge, eat lunch while listening to a podcast, and pop downstairs to say hello to my kids before getting back to work later in the evening. After 10 or 11 business days within this routine, it is incredibly beneficial to “step outside” of this environment to be around like-minded individuals who share my passion for this profession. Fatigue is a real factor for fully remote workers who find that everyday home office routines often grow stale, resulting in a lack of motivation or drive. Likewise, traditional office workers can feel the same without a standing “work-from-home day” or something similar. Changing up the routine and the environment can help prevent mental fatigue.
The spirit of camaraderie. Many business leaders are passionate about their professions and how they approach their goals and objectives. Sharing that energy with like-minded colleagues is what builds true camaraderie between functional groups and teams. Although a weekly team video call may be efficient in today’s new normal, holding an in-person meeting (when it’s safe to do, of course) can help team members level-set on expectations, ask questions, and address concerns in a close-knit environment in which everyone is striving for the same outcomes.

There is incredible merit to the engaging discussions happening in businesses across the world. The so-called “biggest remote work experiment in history” happened out of necessity and has taught so many lessons about business trust, productivity, and flexibility. Some businesses will find that they can move significantly larger numbers of their workforce to remote work infrastructures, while others will attempt to reclaim traditional office environments. The value, however, lies somewhere in the middle: the ideal workplace of the (near) future is one where businesses can enhance productivity, provide flexibility to their workers, and maintain some semblance of human connection and camaraderie.