Blended Workforce: The New Norm

As companies recruit the talent they need to execute their growth strategies, talent leaders are finding that the nature of the workforce is changing in fundamental ways. The use of free-agent workers, such as consultants and contractors, is rising rapidly. For more than a year, there have been quarterly increases in demand for contingent workers. According to the Littler Mendelson employment law firm, as much as 35 percent of the U.S. workforce will soon be made up of such workers.

A blended workforce — one that consists of employees, consultants, independent contractors and contingent workers — is quickly becoming the norm among enterprises globally. To take advantage of this new reality, organizations will need to think not simply about filling jobs, but rather about accessing the talent and skills they need, regardless of its source.

The Rise of Free Agents
The blended workforce is more than a short-term response to an acute economic problem — it’s a long-term trend. Spending on contingent workers has risen steadily for years, and has more than doubled since the mid-1990s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The key advantage of a blended model is that the use of free agents lets companies have an on-demand workforce, which is critical in a world where global competition, new technologies and products, and shifting business strategies require greater agility in the workforce. Combined with a foundation of full-time employees, this gives companies a scalable and balanced mix of depth and access to changing skill sets.

Concurrently, workers tired of career disruptions and insecurity are embracing the free-agent role as a way to have greater control of their lives. Often, these are the highest-quality talent with the most desired skills — people who are confident marketing their own abilities.

Leveraging the Blended Workforce
To make the most of this changing landscape, companies should consider new opportunities to acquire, nurture and manage a blended workforce:
• Take advantage of new recruiting tools. With nearly 50 million tweets sent out per day and more than half a billion users on Facebook, it’s no secret that social media tools are becoming a key channel for reaching professional talent. Building upon the media concept, innovative organizations are adopting multimedia solutions — ranging from mobile texting that can reach high-value talent within seconds to cost-effective digital technologies, such as video interviewing and virtual job fairs.
• Nurture key talent relationships. In this new war for talent, the ability to reach sought-after talent requires creating a connection both intellectually and emotionally. For instance, talent communities are a collaborative tool that keeps the company connected to specialized talent through mutual topics of interest, while WebTV programming lets companies engage targeted “fan groups” through rich, entertaining content.
• Think holistically about the blended workforce. Leveraging analytics platforms, companies can aggregate workforce-related data from various sources — such as applicant tracking, vendor management, ERP and HRIS applications — to create a single view of the entire blended workforce. This single view lets companies measure a range of employment metrics across business units, employee levels and various hiring groups or managers. It also opens the door to identify trends and take a more predictive approach to workforce planning. For example, analytics can provide a better understanding of the skills that will be needed to support a new business strategy, the in-house talent that is available and the external talent that is required as the company enters new markets.

Making the Change
Taking an integrated approach to the blended workforce requires changes on several fronts. Front-line hiring managers will need to understand the importance and value of having a blended workforce, and both managers and HR need to master new tools and techniques. Because these efforts will touch on many parts of the organization, it will require change management communications.

Companies will also need to make sure such efforts come together to project the right employer brand into the talent marketplace. From the design of interview questions to job ad content and placement and overall sourcing strategies, companies will need to make it clear that they welcome — and value — free-agent workers.

In the end, companies that can tap into various talent sources to create a flexible, skilled, cohesive, blended workforce will have a leg up in the war for talent. And those that can’t are likely to fall behind, and find themselves struggling to compete.

Rebecca Callahan is the president of SourceRight Solutions, a division of SFN Group. She can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com.