Today’s article includes a “sneak peek” of the upcoming Ardent Partners research study, The State of Contingent Workforce Management 2020, which is slated for publication in early May.
To say that the business world has been disrupted is a vast understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced enterprises across the globe to not just reevaluate, but effectively reimagine, how work gets done. In the face of critical supply chain disruptions, massive concerns over short-term revenue, customer and client anxiety, and an uncertain future, the way businesses operate will shift dramatically in the weeks and months ahead.
Well over a decade ago, the contingent workforce proved to be an incredibly valuable lever in economic recovery and business survival, helping organizations pivot from “survival mode” to “revival” quickly and efficiently. Today’s uncertain times are wreaking havoc on the global economy; however, when these tough times pass, most businesses will require an on-demand source of talent that can help them emerge as demand for their products and services return to pre-pandemic levels.
As such, the contingent workforce of the new decade follows a dynamic shift in how talent and work converge, propelling non-employee skillsets into the forefront as a truly agile workforce that can drive significant work optimization. As businesses understand the foundational elements of the Future of Work movement, the relative criticality of the evolving, growing contingent workforce comes to light. For enterprises to thrive in changing times, the year ahead must bring about revolutionary attitudes in how the totality of talent can play a pivotal role in succeeding within a globalized, fast-paced marketplace.
With 43% of the average company’s overall workforce considered “non-employee,” now is the time to embrace the seismic shifts that have come to bear as a direct result of innovation, business strategy transformation, and the Gig Economy. It is also time for businesses to apply these shifts to what should be considered an incredibly valuable component of the typical enterprise. The real Future of Work follows the path tread by the progressive “future of talent,” with attributes such as reskilling / upskilling, diversity and inclusion, and the radical advancements made in how workers are found, engaged, and sourced.
How the Remote Work “Experiment” Influences the Agile Workforce
One by-product of the current state of business is the rise of remote work and distributed teams. To call it the “biggest remote work experiment in business history,” as many have done, is an understatement: the vast majority of organizations across the globe, in the face of social distancing and shelter-in-place orders, have executed incredible digital transformations in a very short period of time.
“An already on-going trend towards remote freelancing has now been accelerated during this public health crisis,” said Marlon Rosenzweig, co-founder and CEO of WorkGenius. “We expect a significant part of that change to get entrenched, which further increases demand for human cloud solutions in enabling sourcing, vetting, managing, and paying remote talent.”
There is a convergence between these two distinct movements: the continued reliance on agile talent and a newfound focus on the concept of remote work. As we highlighted in last week’s Three Pillars for Managing a Remote (and Productive) Workforce webinar (available on-demand here), the undercurrent of work-from-home infrastructures is actively providing businesses across the globe with the ability to get work done given current difficulties.
A crucial piece of this “getting work done” focus, of course, revolves around talent. As businesses face unprecedented times, they can look to other times of crisis as possible beacons in how to navigate these challenges. During the Great Recession of 2008/2009, the realm of contingent labor was a guiding light in how to survive, scale, and ultimately succeed during trying times. While the circumstances are certainly much, much different this time around, those talent and workforce strategies can still be incredibly applicable today, given the speed of engagement, the digital infrastructures available, and the overall flexibility inherent in today’s agile workforce.
The CPO Rising 2K20 Virtual Series
Instead of our typical related research section, we are inviting our readers to investigate our new virtual series, CPO Rising 2K20 – The Resiliency Imperative. Click on the session titles below to learn more and register for them. Here is a list of upcoming sessions planned for this week:
