Webinar Archives - The Future of Work Exchange

Five Things You Must Know About the Future of Work (Revisited)

Business Leadership General Insights Talent Talent Acquisition Uncategorized by John Yuva on 12/19/2024

As we reach the end of 2024, now is a good time to look back at the Five Things You Must Know About the Future of Work. The Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) and Ardent Partners hosted this complimentary webinar, The Five Things You MUST KNOW About the Future of Work, discussing the critical capabilities that enterprises can unlock to truly optimize the way they address talent acquisition, extended workforce management, and, most importantly, work optimization. What follows revisits the five critical FOW areas.

#1 The Evolution of Talent and the Future of Work

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

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

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

Technology is a Future of Work Centerpiece

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

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Unlocking Success in the Future of Work: Maximizing the Potential of the Extended Workforce (Upcoming Webinar)

Contingent Workforce Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/16/2023

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has recently discovered that the extended workforce (also known as the contingent workforce) now comprises 49% of all enterprise talent. This astounding figure represents nearly 15 straight years of growth and represents the agility, flexibility, and value of non-employee talent.

For many businesses, leveraging contingent talent is table-stakes to thriving during uncertain times. Thus, the question at hand is: “How does the extended workforce impact the Future of Work?”

On Tuesday, June 20 (next week!), Beeline is hosting an exclusive webcast that will tackle this question and deep-dive into the elements of the extended workforce that have tangible value in a talent-centric corporate arena. Brian McCourt, the extended workforce platform’s Senior Client Relationship Manager, will join me to discuss:

How leading businesses are not only surviving but thriving in times of uncertainty through Best-in-Class extended workforce strategies.
Valuable insights on the transformative impact of next-generation automation on talent acquisition.
The effective solutions for optimizing the management of today’s rapidly growing and evolving contingent workforce.

The Future of Work is Now: Five Key Workforce Trends

Events by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/17/2023

There is no doubt that the way we work continues to change. From remote and hybrid work to major transformations across the business leadership spectrum, the “Future of Work” means many things to today’s forward-thinking organizations.

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange are excited to team up with Guidant Global for an exclusive webcast on April 26 (11am ET) that will unveil the five key workforce trends that all businesses should prioritize as they look to thrive in 2023…and beyond. I’m excited to speak alongside Guidant’s SVP of Client Relationships, Sara Gordon, and the solution’s Client Solutions Director, Joel Forrester, for what will be a memorable live event. Register now!

The Age of Omni-Channel Talent Acquisition Is Here

Uncategorized by Christopher J. Dwyer on 03/13/2023

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange have written extensively about the shifts happening in the greater world of work and talent. One such transformation, omni-channel talent acquisition, revolves around the concept of enterprises are enabled with a variety of candidate sources that can be converged to drive real-time skills alignment, on-demand hiring, and enhanced visibility into deeper attributes of candidates. While traditional staffing suppliers are still a critical piece of the contingent workforce, the “omni-channel experience” represents a new era in which enterprises can expand their talent searches through the advent of innovation, direct sourcing automation, new candidate channels, and next-generation and AI-fueled technology.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Exchange hosted an exclusive webcast focused on the evolution of the omni-channel talent acquisition experience and its expected impact in 2023 and beyond. If you happened to miss the live event, check out an on-demand edition of the webinar below.

Getting Started With Skills-Based Hiring

Events Talent Talent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on 03/06/2023

The Future of Work Exchange has frequently discussed the advent of the skills-based organization, and rightfully so: Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research finds that 73% of businesses currently face a critical challenge in the months ahead: a lack of candidates with the required skillsets for open positions. This is yet another representation of why the skills-based organization (SBO) is a true opportunity to, essentially, reimagine the ways they think about talent acquisition and the role of talent in getting work done.

The foundational elements of the skills-based organization revolve around the concepts of rethinking the parallels between talent and work; thus, the very future of the skills-based organization depends on forward-thinking strategies, ideas, and, of course, technology. And it all begins with skills-based hiring.

I’m excited to join my friend and fellow Future of Work expert Mark Brodsky on an exclusive Q&A panel discussion on Wednesday, March 15 at 11am ET. The staffing and recruitment expert panel, hosted by innovative skills intelligence platform Glider AI, will address:

Migrating from a job-based to a skills-based hiring strategy.
How to identify the required skills.
How to assess candidate skills.
Evaluating skills-based hiring tools and AI.
Uncovering hidden skills from current employees.
Securing executive and finance stakeholder alignment.

Next week’s event will also feature some brand new Future of Work Exchange research and statistics that will illuminate the criticality of the skills-based organization and its role in the evolving world of talent and work. Join us!

Procurement 2023: Big Trends and Predictions

Business Leadership Events Procurement Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 01/11/2023

For the past decade, Ardent Partners analysts Andrew Bartolini (Chief Research Officer) and Christopher J. Dwyer (SVP of Research and Managing Director of the Future of Work Exchange) have taken executives on a late January ride through the big trends shaping the business arena and the predictions that could come as a result.

2023 will be no different, as Bartolini and Dwyer will join Beeline and iValua for a lively discussion on Thursday, January 26 (10am ET) regarding the big trends impacting both the procurement arena and Future of Work movement right now…and what’s just up ahead for these two distinct areas in the year ahead. Join us as we discuss:

How economic factors will impact the procurement function in both the short- and long-term.
Why the extended workforce will play a pivotal role in business agility.
How next-generation technology and innovation are driving enhanced value to the modern enterprise, and;
The big Future of Work predictions that will shape enterprises operations in the year ahead.

Click here to register for this exclusive webcast. Hope to see you there!

The Role of Talent Marketplaces in the Future of Work

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 03/15/2022

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research finds that nearly 80% of leading organizations are currently leveraging digital staffing channels and talent marketplaces to fuel their talent acquisition strategies. And in today’s hyper-competitive, Great Resignation-led labor market, enterprises require on-demand solutions that not only align with their talent-based needs, but also support greater extended workforce management processes, operations, and programs.

Last month, the Future of Work Exchange partnered with Bluecrew for an exclusive webcast focused on the role and impact of talent marketplaces and digital staffing within the Future of Work movement. If you missed the event, now’s your chance to check it out:

Let’s Demystify AI in Hiring

Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 02/18/2022

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the premier technologies under the Future of Work spectrum. Along with machine learning, AI has transformed the way businesses think about data and insights, adding an additional layer of depth that was previously out of grasp. As AI became more prominent within the business stratosphere, it quickly moved from merely augmenting existing “Big Data” strategies to becoming a means of transforming both tactical and strategic enterprise operations.

As talent became even more of a competitive differentiator over the years (especially in these evolving times), businesses realized that they required additional support in executing more educated talent-based decisions. Today, AI is prevalent in both full-time/traditional talent acquisition and within the extended workforce arena. Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research finds that nearly 60% of organizations are effectively “blending” AI and human-led processes into the current hiring initiatives, with another 34% expected to do the same over the next 12-to-24 months.

I am excited to join Beeline and HiredScore next Thursday, February 24 (11am ET) for an exclusive webcast on demystifying the role of artificial intelligence in hiring and extended workforce management. I’ll be joined by Beeline’s Colleen Tiner (SVP Strategy) and HiredScore’s Athena Karp (CEO & Founder). We’ll tackle (and answer!) such questions as:

Can AI really help my program hire the best talent?
What will my legal team say?
How can we use AI safely without bias?
Are there laws regulating the use of AI for employment decisions that I need to know about?
How do I get started on this journey?

Click here or on the image below to register for next week’s event. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Digital Staffing, Talent Marketplaces, and the “Elastic Workforce”

Talent Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 02/16/2022

It’s no great secret that the many layers of talent acquisition and talent engagement have been transformed over the past two years. Businesses, dealing with both a “Talent Revolution” and “The Great Resignation,” continue wage war for skillsets and expertise in an on-demand economy that demands agility and flexibility.

Digital staffing solutions and talent marketplaces have been augmenting talent engagement for a number of years. Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research have been covering, evaluating, and following these platforms for nearly a decade; we have discovered that adoption of these solutions has increased nearly 725% since 2015, a surefire marker of the high-impact, top-tier benefits of these platforms.

There’s a reason why talent marketplaces have become such critical pieces of the Future of Work puzzle: they drive true workforce agility, scalability, and flexibility. Future of Work Exchange research found that, in 2021, nearly 84% of digital staffing and talent marketplace users stated that their extended workforce drove true scalability and flexibility in the face of challenging times. Being able to plug-and-play talent as the market dictates is a powerful competency that can empower enterprises of all sizes with an ability to engage with many of the best and brightest minds in an on-demand manner. Throughout the toughest days of 2020 when uncertainty reigned, companies were constantly reshuffling their workforce strategies.

In 2021, those businesses that could effectively harness the power of a scalable workforce were the ones that entered 2022 with the ability to thrive during evolving labor market conditions. Best-in-Class organizations are 32% more likely to tap into digital staffing outlets for talent acquisition needs. These offerings are often considered enterprise-grade solutions that facilitate real-time and on-demand talent engagement with independent, freelance, or contract workers via a web-based network or portal. Talent marketplaces typically offer “white-glove” or high-touch talent management services (akin to Managed Service Providers) to help their clients source the best-fit talent for their project requirements as well as the automation of core workforce management processes (such as requisition management, talent pool development, and back-end financial operations).

I encourage you to join Bluecrew, Ardent Partners, and the Future of Work Exchange on Thursday, February 24 at 1pm CT for an exclusive webcast on the advantages of the talent marketplace model, its impact on building an “elastic workforce,” and the core workforce strategies required for successful extended workforce management. Click here on or on the image below to register.

The Age of Direct Sourcing 2.0 Is Here (Upcoming Webinar)

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 01/12/2022

There’s a primary reason why direct sourcing has become one of the hottest topics in the greater world of talent and work: it represents the next evolutionary means of talent acquisition and is actively transforming the way businesses tap into the extended workforce. Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange have coined an apt phrase to describe the progressive nature of direct sourcing in 2022: “Direct Sourcing 2.0,” which is meant to reinforce the relative power of additional elements (both technological and strategic) added to the already-vaunted measures inherent in typical direct sourcing programs.

By leveraging the “traditional” elements of the program (particularly talent curation, talent pool segmentation, talent nurture, etc.) and adding additional functionality, such as AI-fueled candidate assessment, deeper recruitment marketing technology, advanced referral management automation, etc.), enterprises can take direct sourcing to the next level. From our new Direct Sourcing 2.0 research study:

Workers are demanding greater flexibility from their employers. They are more focused on work-life balance, while also desiring greater independence. Among many things, the “Great Resignation” of 2021-2022 indicates a seismic shift in power towards the worker and away from the employer. This may or may not be permanent, but businesses, nonetheless, face constant pressure to deepen human capital and future-proof skillsets within their total workforce. Now, more than ever, enterprises require a steady flow of new workers to keep pace with their competitors. Now, more than ever, enterprises need superior sourcing capabilities. Now, more than ever, enterprises need a new approach.

Now is the time for “Direct Sourcing 2.0,” the next generation of sourcing strategies that blend innovative solutions with a renewed focus on the candidate experience and an ability to use talent pools to populate the key projects and roles that require expertise and experience. Today’s business climate has accelerated the need for a reimagined approach to candidate engagement. As the market for talent continues to tighten amidst the lingering pandemic and a surging number of resignations, businesses find themselves in a new kind of “war for talent,” one that is far more extensive and complicated than anything experienced pre-pandemic.

I’m incredibly excited to join WorkLLama later this month (Thursday, January 27, 12pm ET) for an exclusive webcast that will not only highlight the core research findings from the upcoming Direct Sourcing 2.0 study, but also discuss how business can leverage direct sourcing as a viable, flexible, and nimble talent engagement strategy. Saleem Khaja, WorkLLama’s COO and Co-Founder, will present alongside me, as well as other special guests (to be announced soon). Click here or on the image below to register for this exclusive event. Hope to see you there!