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How to Build & Implement A Strategic Workforce Plan?

Published on October 30, 2024

Introduction 

Today we are seeing a fundamental change in the nature of work – humans and machines collaborate to make decisions. The future entails further technology integration into work and life, even to the point where ‘adaptive continuous intelligent systems take over decision‐making’. The result – uniquely human traits such as emotional intelligence, creativity, persuasion, innovation, become more valuable. We may eventually even reach a point where the ‘future of humans at work is questioned’!

This digital-led redesign of work is forcing organizations to relook at human capital and its linkage with business performance, with a new lens. A lens that focuses on building organizational capability to meet both current and future needs. It calls for a more strategic approach to workforce planning.

What is Strategic Workforce Planning? 

Strategic workforce planning is a continual process of identifying gaps in the workforce and developing a methodical people plan to ensure an organization has the employees, skills, and knowledge needed to meet current and future business goals. The goal of strategic workforce planning is outlined in the 7 Rs of strategic workforce planning :

  • Right size: The right number of people to do the job effectively and efficiently.
  • Right shape: Management structures, hierarchies, layers and spans, DEI focus, etc. which shape the organization to achieve the business goals.
  • Right location: The right location, geographically and structurally for best talent outcomes.
  • Right time: In today’s skill-based economy, deploying the “the right skills at the right time” is critical to organizational success.
  • Right cost: Financial costs, opportunity costs of talent decisions, and larger costs like cost-to-society.
  • Right risk: How decisions create or alleviate risks, be it people or business risks like compliance and regulatory.
  • Right capability: To arrive at the right capability for the organization, one must delve into aspects of Skills, Knowledge, Accreditation, Mindset, Physiology, and Environment. 

Why is Strategic Workforce Planning Important? 

The employer-employee relationship is changing, shaped by the Future of Work. On one hand, we see employees seeking more meaning and purpose from work. Tech advancement is creating a skills-shift and jobs-shift – 19% of the workforce could have over 50% of their tasks automated by AI. As a result organizations must build a forward-looking, skills-based talent strategy. The shift is already happening…

More organizations will prioritize skills-based hiring and upskilling to help widen their talent pools and find qualified workers.

Identifying one’s ideal workforce mix will help organizations build relevant future skills, such as agility, learning, innovation and resilience. It is the starting point to build effective capability and talent management practices that attract, engage, and retain the right-skilled talent. A great workforce strategy will help leaders be prepared for the future and drive sustained business growth. 

How to Build a Strategic Workforce Plan: A Detailed Guide 

A step-by-step detailed process will help arrive at your ideal workforce plan

  • Business Goals and Objectives: Any talent strategy must be designed in conjunction with the business strategy. It is critical to first define and understand the goals and objectives of the business, long term and short term. A great starting point is defining the Vision, Mission, and then the Annual Operating Plan.
  • Talent Supply Analysis: This is about understanding the organization’s current workforce status. A core question to ask is, “How well does the current workforce align/support your business strategy?”. Assess the current state of one’s internal workforce on each of the above 7Rs, and define the talent goals in line with the business goals.
  • Talent Demand Analysis: A demand analysis is about understanding the organization’s future workforce requirements. This includes workloads, staffing needs, and factors that affect workload such as technologies, policies, legalities and regulations, customer changes.  Leaders must use the power of predictive analytics and ascertain future needs by leveraging data sources such as labour market statistics, future of work trends, technological predictions, etc.
  • Gap Analysis: Assess the gaps between talent demand and talent supply and arrive at the best way to close the skills and capability gaps identified between supply and demand. One can use a framework such as the Kurt Lewis Model of Change to arrive at the current state versus the desired state, from both perspectives i.e. people and organization. These can be skills gaps, capability gaps, alternative talent pools, policies and processes, organizational structures and critical roles, compliance and legal, etc. One must prioritize the top gaps by assessing how much they impact overall organizational performance.
  • Action Planning: A concrete action plan stems from a holistic people strategy. HR and business leaders must together plan workforce interventions around organizational development, talent management, learning and development, talent acquisition, total rewards, etc. One can use Dave Ulrich’s five talent management levers – buy, build, borrow, bind and bounce – and two demand optimisation levers – bot and balance. Design of key talent interventions requires building clarity around operational aspects like budgets, manpower, and other resources.
  • Implementation: Taking design to actual delivery requires a strong commitment towards execution of people strategy. One can carve out a detailed RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted and informed) to outline who is responsible for which part of the workforce plan. A critical aspect is stakeholder management involving communication, governance, monitoring and reporting, and execution.
  • Monitor and evaluate progress: Defining the key success factors, outlining metrics, measuring and tracking them periodically is a must to maintain an ongoing commitment to the cause. It helps continuously improve the solutions to maximize their effectiveness. This is essential to highlight the ROI of the workforce planning initiatives, and maintaining a sustained buy-in from top leadership for the long term.

A strategic workforce plan will be effective only when backed by Right-Reliable-Valid data.  Unfortunately, there lies a deep gap here…

67% of respondents feel HR professionals are not effective at using data for workforce planning.

Strong data backing can help business leaders consider talent implications when making strategic business decisions by assessing current state, anticipating talent risks, and visioning future possibilities. 

Drive Your Business Forward With SolveCube   

The first step to workforce planning is to invest in a high quality Workforce Planning Intelligence solution. Best is a blend of tech and touch. i.e. deep domain expert-led services, along with next-gen HR technology and tools. SolveCube’s integrated talent platform offers this and much more…

  • Business-focused solutions, aligned with company goals and needs.
  • A multidimensional platform provides access to domain experts -an on demand talent pool of 20,000+ and an aggregated talent pool of 580+ millionAl engine which Sources, Searches, Indexes and Rank-orders the right talent match.
  • Cutting-edge tools like ice.cube, hr.ready and p.three to empower HR leaders and business leaders. ice.cube and p.three help diagnose people practices and devise workforce strategy, while hr.ready offers ready to use templates for HR policies.
  • Global reach and access
  • Innovative solutions tailored to organizations’ specific needs.

SolveCube’s suite of Advisory, People Strategy and Blended Workforce Solutions solves for a wide range of workforce challenges, revolutionizing the talent and business strategy for the better. 

Strategic Workforce Planning is not just an HR prerogative, it is a business priority at the CXO level. To gain the required buy-in and support of the CXO Suite, it is critical for HR leaders to build a business case for workforce planning. This will help integrate strategic workforce planning into the business planning process, and pre-empt any potential challenges on bringing the people strategy to life. Such a talent strategy will help unlock business success.

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How is Gig Economy going to shape the future of work?

Published on July 25, 2024

Gig Economy & Future of Work

Realization entails change. Change creates the drive for possibilities. And, the search for possibilities ends with a choice!

The world looked at the pandemic as a storm that took away everything. But, there is another side to the disruption that laid a foundation for the workforce revolution.

Working from Home or remote working was yet another corporate concept that people had known but never tried for long.

During the pandemic, remote working was not only a savior but also paved the way for new career avenues for the workforce.

The Gig Economy

Gig – A single professional engagement.

As the name suggests, “Gig Economy” refers to professional engagement for a temporary or short duration of time, with a single or multiple employers.

In simple words, a person with certain skills is employed to get a certain project or task done, within a stipulated amount of time. Once the job is done, both parties decide on collaborating further, or, part ways.

Professionals and domain experts opt for gigs to exercise career flexibility and freedom of choice; and the ones who offer gig engagements, scout for the expertise to get a specific job done with no strings attached.

The people who work on Gigs are often referred to as freelancers, consultants, independent contractors/professionals.

According to a report by McKinsey, 1 out of 6 workers in traditional jobs would appreciate an opportunity to become a primary independent earner.

And, this is not all!

About 55% of Gig workers also maintain full-time or regular jobs – PYMNTS.

The independent workforce is shaping up rapidly and is building a reputation like never before.

As per American Staffing Association, 78% of Americans are looking at Gig Economy as a modern way of representing the independent workforce.

Why should companies prefer Gigs over Permanent Employment?

Well, why not?
What an employer expects from a permanent employee is:

  • Expertise in the field of work
  • Ability and willingness to take responsibility for the work and be productive
  • Professional commitment

These are also basic expectations that an employer sets from a non-permanent domain expert.
Today, the job market is highly competitive, and hiring a full-time candidate is not any less of a hassle.

About 68% of recruiters agree that investing in a new recruitment tech is the best way to improve the hiring function – Thrive.

However, recruitment is just the tip of the iceberg, the real challenge lies with engagement and retention. Companies in a similar space are enforcing out-of-the-box workforce strategies to attract the right talent and address the challenges of traditional employment.
It’s raining opportunities and expertise is limited. Loyalty isn’t a safe bet to take within this cut-throat competition for talent.
Even when the desired candidate with the right skill set and attitudes is hired, despite the odds, the process of engagement and creating a work environment that facilitates retention is a challenging task.

About 80% of the organizations say they are facing difficulties in filling the open positions due to the ongoing skill shortage – Monster.

Here, in this perplexing situation, the Gig Economy can actually sail you to the shore safely. Let’s understand how.

As we discussed earlier – A gig is nothing but a single professional engagement.

As an employer, what you can expect from the person you offer a gig to is as follows:

  • Cutting-edge expertise in the field of work
  • Complete ownership of the assignment
  • Timely delivery and work proficiency
  • The plug and play nature of the assignment means a vastly reduced time to productivity.

Herein, you save up on efforts and costs involved in hiring a full-time employee and building retention strategies to keep them aligned with you. And, most importantly, don’t forget about the costs that may incur due to a bad hire!

With Gigs, you go on in full control and you can also choose to divide the activity into smaller sub-activities and distribute them around several Gig Workers. This shall help you speed up your development.

For about 44% of gig workers, their contribution to Gig Economy is the primary source of income – Edison Research.

The changing face of the Gig economy

The notions of employment and the interpretation of work is shifting. Today, organizations choose to go with skills and expertise rather than the years of experience on paper.
Gig Economy has been predominant in the blue-collar space for a long. The pandemic paddled the need for the remote working culture and things started to shift left. The same talent, working 9 – 5, with a single employer in a full-time role started scouting for gigs.

This paved the onset for white-collar workers to join the Gig Economy which not only offered them the freedom of choice, greater flexibility in terms of career growth, and nevertheless opportunities to count on those additional sums during unprecedented times.

The pandemic came in as an eye-opener for the potential that existed within but didn’t get a flight to surface and shine.

The startup ecosystem observed a progressive incline when it was least expected and elevated the need for expertise at a greater bandwidth. Meanwhile, technology and the internet of things together united to revolutionize  the future of the gig economy and freelancing were looked at. The Gig Community started to shape up.

It didn’t take long for people to realize that Gig Economy offers them the freedom of choice, mix of skills, work experience that they are craving, flexibility, and last but not least social recognition for the expertise they possess.

When we talk about leadership, the Gig Economy has widened the horizons for otherwise unreachable leaders.

Business leaders who have been through peaks and valleys depict the crazy potential and the Gig Economy has conferred the liberty to utilize their talent in every way possible. Seasoned business leaders or C Suite Executives with deep experience and vast networks developed over the years have the unmatchable expertise that is high in demand with a bare minimum supply.

With Gig Economy, companies now can choose to hire a C Suite executive with powerful strategic expertise on a project-to-project basis. Meanwhile, these top-level leaders exercise their freedom of choice to work with multiple organizations under different roles, the organizations can benefit from their expertise in building scalable business processes and grow.

Gig Economy will continue to flourish as companies are drifting away from hiring based on experience and appreciating workforce strategies to hire based on skill set. Considering the costs incurred to hire top-level or senior level on a full-time basis, it won’t be too long before companies would prefer to hire Gig Professionals, especially at the C-Suite level positions.

How advantageous is the Gig Economy for you?

There is a prevalent misconception with reference to the “Gig Economy” and it’s time to change it.

The perception of a Gig player is that of an AirBNB landlord, Uber Driver, Volunteer, Online Marketplace Seller, and self-employed artist, people who perform tasks that require manual effort which could not be automated.

In reality the list includes freelance domain experts, consultants, multiple job-holders, highly skilled contractors, and other professionals.

Imagine a scenario, you are starting up and you need someone to ramp up the operations and set up business processes. Happily, today the choice is between someone with 10 years of experience and working with multiple companies in a similar space as yours as a part-time COO and, someone with 10 years of experience who has worked with 3 companies within different spaces as a Full-Time COO!

Costs incurred are the major distinguishing factor that stands out when you look at the two options available and choosing a COO part-time would be a great choice for a start-up where both cost and expertise needs are met.

The Future of Work

There is a revolution in people’s relationship with work.

Working professionals today are scouting for a quality of life, opportunities to grow, and freedom of choice.
The current job market is employee-driven and not employer-driven anymore. And people define their own worth.

Post pandemic, no one is relying on, or wants to rely on a single source of income.

With Gig Economy pacing up, while defining an effective workforce strategy,
Gig Workers are going to be a preferred choice, while full-time Employees will be few and relegated to security and core business functions

With the wide range of Gig workers across various roles in the White Collar space, Gig workers will soon be an un-eradicable part of the modern workforces.

The number of Gig Workers which was at around 43 million in 2018 is expected to rise up to 78 million in 2023 – Mastercard.

The Gig economy has helped HR professionals to leverage a global pool of otherwise inaccessible talent due to locational and other employment constraints. They now have the freedom to choose; or nture of engagement skills over experience or visa versa to get the best out of their workforce strategy.

A blended workforce strategy is going cement the skill and experience gap with all the right talent, at the right time and of course at the optimum costs.

It is time for organizations to think about their workforce strategy, the future of work and changing the way they work.

Our talent acquisition experts are here to help streamline your hiring process, contact us today.

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On-Demand Recruiting & Its Benefits

Published on July 18, 2024

What is on-demand recruiting and how can businesses benefit from it?

Regardless of the industry one operates in, every business is bound to undergo fluctuations in hiring. With the impact of the pandemic subsiding and life returning to its normal pace, you may find your internal resources stretched out. In such a time, leveraging on-demand talent could help improve hiring outcomes for the short term.

However, to benefit from this HR solution, knowing about it and how one can use it to advantage is crucial. So, without further ado, let’s dive deeper into -what on-demand recruiting is and how companies can use it to their advantage.

On-Demand Recruiting in a nutshell

On-demand recruiting is a hiring service providing talent on an hourly or per-project basis to meet a firm’s existing talent requirements. The talent resource can either work on-site or remotely based on the job requirement without the need for a long-term contract or a traditional fee structure.

Essentially, the on-demand recruitment model is driven by need or demand. This process is especially beneficial when businesses go through spikes in hiring or face short staffing issues. The on-demand hiring process lets the HR team and business owners reach their goals of acquiring talent without hampering productivity or time.

The most successful on-demand hiring models are designed to be flexible and can be customized as per varying needs and requirements— benefitting both the company adopting the model and the service provider.

What makes on-demand recruitment effective?

The existence of marketplaces and developments in the digital work environment has enabled businesses to meet the immediate demand of customers by providing goods and services faster than ever, making the need for agile business and talent solutions more pronounced.

As more businesses look for immediate staffing solutions for permanent or short-term assignments, the HR team looks for cost-effective, scalable, and quick solutions to address the business’s talent needs. This has in fact, triggered an entire industry of on-demand-centric companies seeking to connect employers to an otherwise hidden talent pool. This industry not only has the ability to satiate the on-time demand of businesses but helps independent experts find suitable work opportunities. A true win-win situation for all!

Components of the on-demand recruitment process

On-demand recruitment services improve the speed and flexibility of hiring and offer better access to talent pools specific to an industry. Some companies consider leasing a recruitment team to power their in-house talent acquisition ability.

The process typically includes these steps:

  • A quick meeting to discuss the recruitment challenges.
  • Assigning a team of on-demand recruiters to source, find, and hire the required talent pool.
  • Engaging the hiring team for a few weeks or months, depending on the hiring requirements on the contract.

This team works closely with existing HR managers during the tenure.
On-demand recruiters help scale up or down the talent pool per business and bring cutting-edge tech and processes to the recruiting program.

When to opt for on-demand recruitment for your business

Businesses of all sizes and operating in different industries can benefit from the flexibility, speed, and scalability of on-demand recruitment.

The best time to reach out to a provider of on-demand recruitment service is when you face any of these HR management challenges:

  • Going through a rapid hiring spurt, swamping the internal recruitment team
  • An unexpected surge in talent turnover that requires backfilling roles
  • Inconsistent and unpredictable hiring needs
  • The need to source talent to fill positions with qualified talent

Besides these, if your firm needs a full-cycle hiring outsourcing solution, then on-demand recruitment could be suitable for you. The process is adept at offering a limited-time pilot program with minimal risk to assess whether outsourcing talent acquisition will help meet your hiring requirements.

Key benefits of on-demand recruitment strategy

On-demand, recruitment proves beneficial for businesses regardless of their size or scale. These are among the top benefits of the recruitment process for businesses:

  • Greater cost flexibility

    One of the top benefits of on-demand recruitment is that it lets businesses calibrate the costs they incur. Businesses pay as per their requirements and choose as per their budget, ensuring they do not over-stretch themselves financially.

  • Offers greater flexibility

    Hiring managers must comply with several laws when hiring a full-time employee, limiting the scope of flexibility in the process. On the other hand, on-demand recruitment offers greater flexibility as recruiters join the team as needed and let them retain or cut off the on-demand workforce as deemed necessary.

  • Enhances resilience during disruption

    On-demand recruiting helps meet unpredictable obstacles in the employment market. This offers a level of comfort by allowing businesses to adjust their recruiting efforts as and when required without stretching out available resources.

Why appoint a professional on-demand recruitment service provider?

Qualified on-demand recruiting service providers understand the need of niche industries, allowing them to customize hiring strategies accordingly.

Typically, in a highly competitive industry, on-demand recruitment comes in
handy for:

  • Hiring a specific job role
  • Extending candidate sourcing and recruitment support
  • Keeping candidate hunting confidential
  • Supporting in-house recruiting team
  • Keeping talent acquisition costs low

Needless to say, on-demand recruiting is a differentiating factor that sets a business apart from its contemporaries. Additionally, the recruitment process helps companies to grow exponentially – a good reason for entrepreneurs to leverage the on-demand recruitment strategy to scale their workforce per requirement without loss of time and speed.

For a hassle-free recruiting experience, pick a professional and qualified talent solution provider, with the ability to blend expertise with technology for quality, uninterrupted talent supply, speed, and scale. SolveCube’s Recruiter On Demand service is a disruptive solution that can instantly provide dedicated talent acquisition experts to your company from their verified pool of 1400+ recruiters on an AI talent marketplace platform. Their flexible hiring model (with a fixed monthly fee and small success fee) has saved their clients 50%+ of talent acquisition costs.

Further, the recruiter-on-demand has access to 480+M talent profiles across 15 domains on the SolveCube platform delivering outstanding results whether you have temporary or long-term staffing needs.

Get in touch with our team at SolveCube now to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

On-demand recruiting is a hiring service that provides talent on an hourly or per-project basis, allowing businesses to meet their immediate talent needs without long-term contracts.

On-demand recruiting helps businesses by providing agility, cost efficiency, and quick access to talent, especially during hiring spikes or staffing shortages.

Companies should consider on-demand recruiting during rapid hiring spurts, unexpected turnover, inconsistent hiring needs, or when they need to fill roles quickly with qualified candidates.

Key benefits include greater cost flexibility, enhanced hiring flexibility, and improved resilience during market disruptions, allowing businesses to adjust their hiring requirements as needed.

On-demand recruiting can significantly reduce talent acquisition costs by providing access to expertise and resources without the overheads of permanent hires, often saving clients over 50% in costs.

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Food for Thought

Published on July 11, 2024

What is the best workforce mix for you?

Opening Lines

In recent years, traditional talent models have been challenged, as organizations and workers grapple with greater degree of discontinuity and disruption than never before *1 . Organizations must experiment, pilot and innovate to define new work fundamentals *1 in today’s boundaryless world. And leaders must give more strategic thought to build a future-ready organization that harnesses the power of both tech and touch. Here is how.

New Realities to Ponder Upon…

According to a PwC Future of Report *6 , the way technology shall progress….

Today Emerging Future
Automating repetitive,
standardized or
time‐consuming tasks and
providing assisted
intelligence.
Fundamental change in the
nature of work. Humans and
machines collaborate to
make decisions.
Adaptive continuous
intelligent systems take over
decision‐making.
Result: Hence Increased
demand for STEM skills to
build new tech ecosystem.
Result: Hence uniquely
human traits – emotional
intelligence, creativity,
persuasion, innovation,
become more valuable.
Result: The future of humans
at work is questioned.

There exists an impending dichotomy – on one hand, technology shall shrink certain jobs as repetitive processes are being automated. On the other hand, new technologies are automating and augmenting work done by humans, and enhancing human and team performance *1 . As a result, we see two polarized reactions to this technological advancement

73% think technology can never replace the human mind. *6

37% are worried about automation putting jobs at risk – up from 33% in
2014.*6

As a result, business owners and CXOs must deeply understand how technological advancement and adoption shall impact business transformation and employment. Here are some perspectives:

  1. Deep-dive into technological implications:

    The below statistics *8 , 2023-2027 ranks technologies by the share of organizations surveyed who are likely or highly likely to adopt this technology over next 5 years:

     

    Deep-dive into technological implications

    Some key points to ponder:

      • The advent of Generative AI, 19% of the workforce could have over 50% of their tasks automated by AI45 and job losses making headlines 

      • Large Language Models can already automate 15% of tasks.

      • When combined with applications which can correct known issues with existing Large Language Models, this share may increase to 50%. *8

    Thus, automation will result in a massive reclassification and rebalancing of work. Some sectors and roles, even entire sections of the workforce will lose out but others will be created.*6

  2. Understand today’s talent needs:

    Today’s talent seeks self-determination i.e. ‘meaningful choice and influence over the work they do (how, when and where they work)’ and activism i.e. ‘alignment of their organizations’ values, strategies, policies, and actions with their own personal values’. They want remote working opportunities combined with genuine flexibility; learning and career growth; strong financial incentives and above-average benefits *3 .

    49% of Gen Zs and 62% of millennials say work is central to their identity and work-life balance is something they are striving for *7

    46% of Gen Zs and 37% of millennials have taken on either a part-time or full-time paying job in addition to their primary job. (+3% versus last year for Gen Zs and +4% for millennials) *7

    The underlying talent-psyches that have transformed talent-needs are – peoples’ ability to live life on their own terms agnostic of societal expectations, ambition to continue learning new skills, willingness to continuously reinvent and inherent passion for their work itself. Theseneeds cannot be met with traditional employment models. Naturally, talent models are evolving, with interest in part-time jobs on the rise. In fact, 60% survey respondents think ‘few people will have stable, long-term employment in the future’. This is the Future of Work and Future of Workplace. As a leader, the sooner you adapt to this reality, the better you may be able to build a talent- advantage.

  3. Comprehend skill dynamics:

    The above two factors, combined with the impending skill shortage creates a skill-dynamic in which that exceptional talent is in high demand. Hence, organizations must look at building the optimum talent-mix. The futuristic talent strategies shall revolve around building a ‘core group’ of pivotal high‐performers (by offering excellent rewards), and buying-in flexible talent and skills as and when needed. This will mean ‘retainer and call‐up’ contracts are frequently used for rare skills *6 .

How can you decide your ‘ideal workforce mix’?

59% of respondents expect to focus on reimagination in the next 2-4 years,
a 2X increase from pre-pandemic (2021) levels *1 .

– Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 2023

A blended workforce is definitely the way ahead, but the moot question remains, “What blend is best?”. “How do you decide what talent model works for your business?”

Only about 30% of an organization’s talent holds the intellectual property (IP) of the company, and the balance of talent can be contingent (Akshaya Garg). But should you blindly follow this mode? Here is a checklist to brainstorm and arrive at your optimum workforce mix, to build a present-savvy and future-ready business.

  • Does your talent mix meet client-needs and talent needs?
  • Do you have adequate talent-access?
  • Do you, as an organization, embrace values such as growth, innovation, agility? 50% survey respondents believe that enabling a culture of organizational agility was of key importance, only 19% believed they had the current capability for this – a 31% gap *3.
  • Are you able to mitigate talent shortages? Focusing on skills helps alleviate talent shortages by providing a more expansive view of work people are able to do *1.
  • Do you have or wish to build a culture of meritocracy-based talent growth?
  • Do you accept moonlighting, from an ethical standpoint?
  • Do you espouse DEI as a culture? 80% of organizations reported purpose, DEI (and equity in how organizations access talent), sustainability and trust as top focus areas *1.
  • Are you able to quickly fill talent-gaps without the worry of what to do with your hire when their specialized skills are no longer required?
  • When refilling top talent, are you able to mitigate the risks?
  • Are your talent costs optimized?

If your answers to the above questions are “No” while hiring talent, bringing on a full-time employee can be wholly unnecessary *8. You may want to devise a talent mix that fits the real-world talent pool by ‘renting’ the skills and experience you need to achieve a specific objective, rather than locking in for the long term. In fact, there is a strong business case for effectively matching workers to work:

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Look-outs while designing the talent mix

A blended talent strategy has its own risks. When tapping into the blended workforce model and hiring contingent talent, it is advisable to think through these look-out areas:

  • Socio-cultural acceptance:

    Similarly, from an organizational-perspective, adopting a blended workforce strategy demands a future-forward mindset. For example, only 17% of organizations are ready for worker agency, and 16% for worker ecosystems*1. Similarly, non-acceptance of different work formats by leaders and managers across levels is an issue. A case in point – when managers use the contingent workforce to work around headcount and labor spend controls, driving increases in baseline costs, with no discernible increase in value *1.

  • Resistance:

    Similarly, from an organizational-perspective, adopting a blended workforce strategy demands a future-forward mindset. For example, only 17% of organizations are ready for worker agency, and 16% for worker ecosystems*1. Similarly, non-acceptance of different work formats by leaders and managers across levels is an issue. A case in point – when managers use the contingent workforce to work around headcount and labor spend controls, driving increases in baseline costs, with no discernible increase in value *1. Similarly, from an organizational-perspective, adopting a blended workforce strategy demands a future-forward mindset. For example, only 17% of organizations are ready for worker agency, and 16% for worker ecosystems *1. Similarly, non-acceptance of different work formats by leaders and managers across levels is an issue. A case in point – when managers use the contingent workforce to work around headcount and labor spend controls, driving increases in baseline costs, with no discernible increase in value *1.

  • Lack of an integrated workforce management strategy *4:

    Even when organizations are willing to adopt blended workforce strategies, the lack of robust infrastructure at the demand and supply end abound. This makes blended workforce management a logistical hassle.

  • Poor data management, inadequate technology*4:

    The lack of a tech-led, intuitive, intelligent and integrated talent marketplace that brings together contingent talent and contingent employers, poses operational challenges. For example, how do organizations access contingent workforce data to be able to harness its true potential?

  • Business continuity:

    Contingent workforce always poses the question of longevity and loyalty. Somewhere at the back of one’s mind, there is the question, “Will this person leave midway?”, hampering business continuity, especially in C-suite and turnkey roles.

  • Legal, regulatory and IP risks:

    The expanding use of contingent workers can expose companies to competitive risk from the loss of trade secrets, intellectual property, and organizational knowledge. Poor management of contingent workers can lead to legal and regulatory challenges due to misclassification of contingent workers. This can lead to significant penalties, fines, and legal costs*4.

  • Human risks:

    Organizations need to move from a lens of potential risks that talent poses to organizations, to a broader view of how risks affect humans at large. These risks have a material effect on a company’s long-term viability, and must be understood by all executives, with ultimate accountability sitting with the board *1.

Closing Lines

Evolving the talent ecosystem is a journey, not a destination. Organizations must mitigate the risks and create the applicable model for ownership and accountability. This starts with first assessing the current state using the right diagnostic tools to unveil your talent DNA. SolveCube tools such as p.three and hr.ready enable this.  Leaders must not shy away from asking the hard-hitting questions, starting with…

“How do we design the workplace to best support the work itself?*1

“Are we ready?” OR “What is our Readiness gap? *1

Then, define the principles of what can and cannot be contingent, using skills, not jobs as the baseline workforce decisions*1. Create a new ownership model focusing on ‘how’ work gets done, not ‘where’. And then design the approach to bring transparency to their contingent workforce spend and management*4.

All this should tie in to…

“What is the ultimate purpose?”

Be sure to measure the impact on communities, governments, global coalitions, and society at large. 75% executives say that hiring, promoting and deploying people based on skills helps democratize and improve opportunities *1.

It is up to today’s leaders to use tech to help humans become better versions of themselves, leading the intersection of ESG and human risk with workplace design.

 

If you’re interested to know more about on-demand recruitment, we can provide tailored solutions to fit your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

A blended workforce is a mix of full-time employees, fractional, contingent and interim workforce. This model allows organizations to combine the expertise of in-house employees with the flexibility and specialized skills of external talent.

The blended workforce model is essential due to changing skill requirements, skill shortages, and changing talent workstyle preferences. It offers businesses the ability to adapt quickly to market demands, access a broader range of skills, and optimize costs by leveraging contingent talent.

Businesses should consider factors such as client needs, talent access, alignment with organizational values (e.g., agility and innovation), the ability to mitigate talent shortages, and the cost of talent. Leaders must also assess whether their current talent strategy is future-ready.

Key factors include:

 

  • The ability to meet client and talent needs.
  • Access to necessary skills and talent.
  • Organizational culture that embraces innovation and flexibility.
  • Mitigation of talent shortages and cost optimization.

Acceptance of diverse work formats, including part-time and freelance roles.

Some risks include socio-cultural resistance to contingent workers, lack of integrated workforce management, poor data management, potential legal and IP risks, and concerns about business continuity when using temporary talent.

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Is the hybrid strategy an effective workforce solution?

Published on May 31, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed our approach toward where we work, how we work, and when we work. The hybrid workforce solutions has been the ‘new norm’ for a while now as many employers and leaders have embraced it wholeheartedly. Whereas for employees, looking for flexible workplace solutions this might not necessarily be enough. What I discovered recently is that from an employee perspective the hybrid work solution does not necessarily mean flexible. The pandemic surely has changed our working style forever, what’s important is that we ask ourselves if the hybrid model is up for a challenge even before it has had the time to settle down.

Companies that encourage a remote work policy and provide flexibility for employees to work from anywhere all the time are way ahead of the game. The pandemic has proved that while existing under such uncertain circumstances, businesses that are currently still reaping financial benefits are those that are resilient and adaptable to a more flexible working structure. Employees are currently more confident than ever, about their capability to be productive within flexible work structures – the freedom to choose where and when they work – and that is overtaking the need for job security.

Our recent experience indicates that hybrid is not the solution

That there are employees who are not in favor of the hybrid strategy because it isn’t nearly enough was a very interesting revelation indeed. Shocking? Not really. The hybrid model still requires one to check in to the workplace a few times a week because of which one still needs to reside in the geographic area of the workplace. Something, we at SolveCube observed while deploying TA experts for our clients, was that many of the candidates [age group mid ’20s- mid 30’s] were keen on quitting their well-paid jobs for full workplace flexibility. It was interesting to see how younger talent, that too in big numbers, placed flexible work structure over job security. Of the 50 Talent Acquisition experts who applied to us had relocated to Tier-II cities in India. 90% said they prefer a completely remote working structure over the hybrid model. When asked about such a preference, the response was the kind that makes you re-think the hybrid workplace strategy. The pandemic caused many people to shift back to their hometowns and (even those who didn’t) had by now built an ecosystem of their own around their “new norm”. This eco-system created around the new normal started working out perfectly. The work-life integration – bringing the two aspects closer together is something they have come to appreciate and do not wish to disturb. This, followed by witnessing a noticeable dip in their cost of living, experiencing less fatigue and burnout, and an overall improved lifestyle seemed to be at the top of the list.

So, what is the new norm if not the hybrid work strategy?

The events over the past two years have finally put a concern experienced by employers and leaders to rest i.e., enabling employees to work remotely would translate into a loss of productivity. If anything, in most cases remote style working has boosted employee productivity, employee satisfaction, employee retention, and to some extent even increased the ability to attract talent. A survey conducted by EY finds that among southeast Asian respondents, nine in ten employees want flexibility in where and when they work, in the absence of which more than half (60%) would consider leaving their job post-COVID-19 pandemic.

So far organizations have been focusing on the aspect of where people might be working in the future, and, what’s the future of our workplace – in short, tweaking workplace structures rather than unleashing their true potential. It is time to gravitate towards the more important questions of how we can unravel work styles; how to develop truly flexible work structures that attract diverse, high potential talent to build organizations that are resilient and successful.

The new norm from an employee perspective works structures flexibility.

This brings us to the conclusion that the hybrid model might not be the solution after all, and that leaders probably do need to change their mindset. The focus now should not be on how to make the hybrid work model work, but instead, on creating a flexible work structure – how to utilize the talent that’s around us, and create job opportunities for remote workers. It is glaringly clear that employee productivity is dependent on factors other than location. A few key elements that the leadership needs to focus on is, ensuring that the right equipment is provided to remote workers (which includes investing in high-grade tech support), staying connected with their teams regardless of location, clarity of goals, and emphasis on forming clear, sharp channels for communication.

It is time for businesses to re-think the Hybrid workplace strategy because for a young talented workforce that runs into millions, it seems that flexible work structures are the solution and not hybrid in its current form.

If you’re interested to know more about on-demand recruitment, we can provide tailored solutions to fit your needs.

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Founders’ Two-pence: How to Harness Tech to Win the Talent War

Published on February 28, 2024

Disruptive market conditions, availability of cross-border talent pools, acceptance of remote working and local skill shortages are forcing businesses to adopt new talent strategies for success. Quick ramp-ups and ramp-downs have become an integral part of running a business. On-demand skills & capabilities are coming in handy to sustain business growth at optimal costs, mitigate risks and maximize value. The blended workforce model aligns well with the evolving employee makeup too, as both mature and new-age talent preferences harbor new ways of working. To make these polarities meet, organizations are relying more and more on aggregator platforms for contractors, professional service companies, gig talent, domain experts, consultants on-demand, crowdsourced contributors, app developers, and even certain technologies to achieve strategic goals and objectives*2. Emerging technologies such as large language models (LLMs), AI, ML, metaverse, etc, are leading to a new-age workforce ecosystem. For example, the advent of progressive talent management practices are leading the shift towards a skills-first workforce management strategy. Such a talent strategy is more focused on ‘skills and capabilities ’ versus ‘jobs and roles’, and person-centered. This is not the far future but is happening now; compelling companies to attract, engage, develop and manage the ‘pivotal’ people i.e. those that contribute and add crucial value to their organization.

A Snapshot: The Current Talent Landscape

We are seeing the rise of the pivotal talent with the critical skills that will become the ultimate prize for organizations’ success.

Deepak Rajasekar, Partner & Director, India, SolveCube elaborates, “As organizations constantly look to grow and expand their businesses, the need for talented individuals is ever-increasing. However, searching for senior-level professionals can be a daunting task, often taking months to complete. This task is further complicated when the need for such professionals is only for a short duration or a specific project. So, we as a leadership team consisting of a HR practitioner, a digital transformation expert, a process transformation expert, an organization transformation expert and two entrepreneurs, set out to transform the talent acquisition space. We leveraged the power of AI and a massive talent inventory aggregated through APIs to create a complete AI Talent platform, which firstly can save time, money and effort, and secondly allow for creative solutions in the talent acquisition space.“

Skills, experience and networks indeed are the keys to bridge the skill gaps*7 and organizations are moving away from the traditional age-old model of narrowly defined ‘jobs and job titles’ to a more needs-based approach centered around ‘skills, capabilities and interests’. Such a holistic workforce ecosystem focuses on the work that needs to get done and on its linkage with business outcomes.

As Chandru Pingali, Founder and Managing Director, SolveCube, puts it, “The three Cs will continue to drive business – Capability, Chemistry and Culture.”

Leaders are realizing this shift in the talent outlook and accordingly upgrading their HR technology. Naturally, the top focus areas for HR leaders are:

#1: 57% #2: 53% #3: 46%
Understanding how the size, shape, skills and organization of the workforce needs to change to meet future needs three years out Improving the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce Building a talent marketplace which allows for the matching of skills to tasks as well as people to jobs

What is the ‘Tech Advantage’?

Digital platforms are matching talent with employers, skills with demand, capital with innovators, and consumers with suppliers faster and smarter. This technological infiltration into work-life will affect every level of the business and its people. Technology has far-reaching implications, it has the power to improve our lives by raising productivity, living standards and average life span, and free people to focus on personal fulfillment. But it also brings the threat of social unrest and political upheaval if economic advantages are not shared equitably. Hence it is too important an issue to leave to IT (or HR) alone.

Blurb: 37% people are worried about automation putting jobs at risk – up from 33% in 2014.*1

Despite overarching concerns around AI, tech is an enabler of holistic workforce management strategy. Not only can it augment and automate work done by humans ,but can drive efficiency and effectiveness for better business outcomes*1. Deepa Chandrasekhar, Principle Consultant, SolveCube resonates her personal connect with this idea, “I love that the talent solution we envisioned and created has built into it what matters to me – equitable access to work opportunities; and efficient outcomes. We made SolveCube into an AI-enabled skill, capability, and fit-for-role-focused integrated talent solution that provides businesses with an uncluttered experience, cost-effective option to get on with the business of acquiring talent; and provide domain experts a foot-in-the-door based on equity and meritocracy. At SolveCube, we’ve made efficiency and equity come alive on a platform!”

This is crucial to drive digital transformation, cost efficiencies, productivity, speed, agility, flexibility, and ramp up the workplace and workforce for future success. Therefore, business leaders must embrace tech solutions for their talent strategy.

How to Harness Tech for Talent Success?

  • Enable automation: Automate repetitive and time‐consuming tasks and use assisted intelligence to build a new-age tech ecosystem. For example, resume-parsing and screening for a faster and better talent acquisition process.
  • Integrate digitization and digitalization: Integrate digital to create a frictionless and engaging working environment. For this, leaders must turn digital in thought, word and deed*5. Closely linked to digital is data. Organizations, governments, and individuals must decide how to share and use data in a human-centric manner, for the greater good.
  • Advance analytics from insights to action: Move beyond tracking of KPIs and dashboards to harness the power of human social networks. Use relational analytics to derive meaningful insights and take business-forward actions*5. Business leaders have jumped onto this bandwagon – 36% of survey*3 respondents believe that delivering predictive insights and business value will be a priority in the next three years.
  • Create AI-enabled talent marketplaces: Create ‘talent in flow’ by integrating talent data, business insights and forecasts*5. Open workforce platforms*3 can help unlock the potential of every type of talent, )whether on-role, off-role, contract, consultant, interim executive, freelancer, fractional executive, or in any other talent model) by enabling omni-channel talent acquisition. It will also help watch costs by institutionalizing legal, compliance and regulatory processes by talent type.
  • Enable access to continuous learning: Learning ‘in the flow of work’ is critical to cultivate a culture of lifelong learning and to push skill development. Build tech tools such as AI-personalized learning recommendations, engaging learning content, and anytime-anywhere access, with a focus on the outcome.

The optimum approach is to move beyond HRIS or HRMS, and choose a technology platform as the basis of the organization’s ‘digital headquarters’ to make the organization more accessible, connected, and communicating seamlessly*3. Mahboob Hussain, Head – Platform Technology shares how this is possible with the SolveCube platform, “SolveCube’s platform built with microservices architecture uses cutting-edge technology – not for the sake of using technology but as a tool to make a difference in the world of work and create social impact. As a technocrat, that appeals to me! The Natural Language Processing (NLP) subdomain of AI has vast potential, which I find exciting”

Paving the way for Agile Talent Management

Business leaders and HR leaders are prioritizing talent transformation using technology. In fact, HR leaders have outlined three tech-priorities*3 as the top #4, #5 and #6 :

#4: 39% #5: 39% #6: 36%
Automating HR service delivery Delivering digital technology into HR beyond the core HR system of record Delivering predictive insight and business value from workforce analytics

Leaders can build an agile talent management strategy by integrating such ecosystem platforms with business strategy, to adapt to the changing business scenarios. *1 Mere tech will not help here, it requires deep human intelligence and cognitive skills, to navigate today’s TUNA (turbulent-uncertain-novel-ambiguous) environment. Hence, leaders must learn to blend tech with human touch, and strike the right balance to harness the business benefits of a blended approach. This endeavor begins with leaders asking some compelling questions:

“How far will tech alone take us in the skill-building race?”
“How can we learn to blend tech with human touch, striking the right balance?”

And ultimately,

“How can we harness the business benefits of a blended approach?”

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Reference Sources:

  1. New fundamentals for a boundaryless world, Deloitte’s 2023 Human Capital Trends Report
  2. Managing the extended and connected workforce, Deloitte Insights
  3. The future of HR: Moving from “function” to value generator, KPMG
  4. HR functional perspectives, Contingent Workforce, Global Business Driven HR Transformation The Journey Continues
  5. The future of HR, from flux to flow, KPMG
  6. PwC Global Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey, 2023
  7. Workforce of the future, The competing forces shaping 2030, PwC

If you’re interested to know more about on-demand recruitment, we can provide tailored solutions to fit your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Technology enables businesses to streamline recruitment, assess candidates more efficiently, and connect with a wider talent pool. Tools like AI-driven hiring platforms and data analytics can help identify the best candidates quickly.

AI can screen resumes, match candidates with roles based on skills, and even predict a candidate’s success within the company. It accelerates the hiring process and ensures more accurate, data-driven decisions.

Yes, technology can assist in talent retention by offering personalized learning and development opportunities, tracking employee engagement, and enabling flexible work options that increase employee satisfaction.

Businesses should start by identifying their hiring needs, selecting the right technology tools, and integrating them into their recruitment process. Continuous assessment and improvement of the tech stack will ensure efficiency in the long run.

Yes, AI can assist with workforce planning by analyzing current talent trends, predicting future skill needs, and recommending talent development plans. This ensures businesses are prepared for future talent demands.

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