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.

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Tagged in: Christopher Dwyer, Contingent Workforce, Future of Work, People, Strategy, Talent Management, Technology