With companies having to adapt to a new remote way of working, and skilled workers and jobseekers expecting more flexibility, workforce solutions have had to change with the post-pandemic times. Any business that wants to remain one step ahead in the competition for top global talent must keep up with the latest insight and technology for fast and effective hiring.
But to be able to stay ahead and adapt to the new world of work, we first need to better understand what we’re working with now.
A changing landscape for workforce solutions
We’re living through what many are calling the ‘Great Rehire’, with employers all over the world rebuilding their teams post-pandemic. But the make-up of the workforce has changed, and so has the nature of work itself.
Never before has there been such a need for a scalable and diverse workforce. How talent is engaged has evolved and will continue to do so as the importance of contingent labour grows. Today’s organisations need to shift their thinking around how and where they engage their skills – and that includes looking at new talent acquisition channels such as:
- direct sourcing for temp and full-time employees
- private talent clouds
- freelance management systems
- redeployment programmes, and
- diverse talent pools.
While these may be challenging times, HR and procurement leaders have a golden opportunity to tap into new talent technologies to help them attract the top-quality people they need, often at short notice. By linking up with talent partners who have expertise in areas such as AI, machine learning and automation, as well as extensive global candidate databases of digital nomads, they can move quickly to acquire those hard-to-find skills – without compromising on quality. The scope of their workforce programmes can also be increased by adding services procurement, contractor spend and Statement of Work (SoW).
Indeed, SoW or project based spend, which can be up to five times that of its contingent counterpart, is often not included in traditional workforce programmes and therefore cannot be monitored. Next gen MSP models, however, seek to include SoW as part of their process to better manage the risks associated with data security, misclassification, overpayment and non-compliance.
Future-ready global workforce solutions
The real transformational change in global workforce solutions, however, lies in the access to industry expertise and guidance that enables you to optimise all your process flows. Tech is also going to be a significant driver of future workforce solutions and the investment your firm makes now will direct the route it takes in the immediate future. For large organisations in particular, partnering with a reputable MSP will provide the access they need to the innovative talent technology solutions that are key to finding, assessing and managing the talent their businesses need.
Contingent workforce programmes can, of course, also support equal opportunities and enhance your organisation’s equality, diversity & inclusion (ED&I) agenda. Boosting equality and diversity of thought has long been recognised as a driver of organisational performance – but it’s not just about the potential for financial gains, it’s also about creating a level playing field for everyone to thrive and achieve their full potential. The right partner will not just help you source diverse talent, they will also promote your employer brand and cultural attributes to further engage with potential new hires.
Having the right technology to support diversity and inclusion in your workforce solutions is hugely important as it removes bias from the hiring process and ensures that your workforce reflects the society in which we live, while also catering for diverse models of working such as remote, onsite and hybrid. Using the right tools will enable you to assess, hire and interview quickly, reducing your time to fill and submittal to hire ratios, boosting productivity and providing a user experience that increases candidate engagement.
As the world of work evolves, so too must workforce solutions. Now more than ever it is essential to incorporate the likes of SoW into MSP programmes to generate cost efficiencies and tap into broader and talent pipelines. But to fully realise these benefits requires a combination of the latest technology and a track record in identifying and vetting talent to meet the ever-changing business needs while meeting the work search needs of candidates.
Using the latest emerging technologies and data analytics, the next generation of contingent workforce programmes and talent strategies will provide access to talent, while overseeing spend and greatly increasing visibility and control.
Want to learn more? Get the guide
To dive deeper into this subject, we joined up with Coupa, the leaders in business spend management, to produce the guide, ‘Is your contingent workforce management strategy prepared for a post-pandemic future?’ Get your copy here.