Workforce evolution is accelerating. Are you ready?

The workforce has transformed. From the industrial revolution to the dawn of temporary work – led by Kelly – through to outsourcing and the rise of remote work, the workforce looks very different today than it did a couple hundred years ago. Alongside this revolution in how we go to work and the ways we access talent, we’ve also seen huge regulatory, technology, and workforce planning advances. But the pace of workforce evolution is accelerating – particularly following the global pandemic – and changes that in the past took decades (or centuries) to take hold are moving so fast that regulatory frameworks, workforce planning strategies, and even technology can’t keep up.

As the speed of workforce evolution increases, here are three key areas that you need to pay attention to.

Embrace contingent talent

Access to a truly flexible workforce is vital in responding effectively to change. The pandemic demonstrated just how important it is for companies to scale up and down fast, and those who fail to build out their contingent talent strategy risk being left behind. However, HR practices and regulatory frameworks often have a greater focus on risk reduction than on optimizing access to and use of talent. It’s crucial that organizations and individuals can engage with work safely, but we must also allow room for innovation and new ways of working. This means both lawmakers and organizations need to come together to ensure that workforce practices reflect how people are choosing to work and how organizations are engaging the people they need. The human cloud is a great example of changing attitudes towards contingent talent and the eroding geographical boundaries between workers and work. It’s less than a decade old but the human cloud is increasingly vital to how organizations access expertise.

Leverage intelligent staffing solutions

Robotics, automation, and smart staffing tools are transforming productivity and giving business leaders greater control over how they organize essential but repetitive work. Smart tech can allow companies to reduce mundane tasks, empowering their people to focus on work driven by creativity, innovation, and relationships. The way an organization engages and embeds intelligent tools can be a crucial differentiator in how well they can meet and overcome new challenges. Our research found that 44% of talent leaders are interested in saving money by automating, standardizing, or delegating the temporary staffing process, and becoming an early adopter of automation can ensure that you thrive despite rapid and ongoing change.

Lead through technology

The amount of new technology in the workforce space can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to be seduced by the latest shiny new solution. The truth is that workforce tech users usually have two stand-out needs. They want to simplify the user experience and they want to streamline how all of their different tools work together. Understanding these needs can help business leaders to make better buying decisions that enable them to adapt more easily to change. This drive for simplicity is what led to Helix UX – our proprietary portal helps organizations to engage and manage all of their talent in one place. It’s a groundbreaking platform that makes it easier for hiring managers to do their jobs really well; go check it out and find out how we’re doing things differently.

The pace of change isn’t going to slow any time soon. In fact, the next game-changing work idea is probably already around the corner. You can’t anticipate every innovation or predict the future – none of us has a crystal ball – but you can ensure that your workforce strategy is agile, flexible, and ready to adapt to whatever challenges lie ahead.